north end of Osoyoos Lake at Nk’Mip; one on the flats between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes at Penticton; one at the north end of Okanagan Lake at Nkamaplix; and one at Spallumcheen near Armstrong. These settlements were used throughout the winter, when the people lived in kekulis (circular structures built partly underground for warmth) and ate the foods that they had harvested and stored throughout the warmer months.
In spring, family groups would leave these settlements to travel throughout the Okanagan territory to a complex array of traditional food-harvesting sites, including spring fishing grounds in the Similkameen, bitterroot (speetlum in the Okanagan language) patches on the southern grasslands, and saskatoon berry (siya) patches throughout the valley. In late summer, families would camp in high mountain meadows to pick huckleberries, while others gathered in larger groups at salmon concentrations in the south Okanagan and at Kettle Falls to the southeast. Hunter families would harvest deer and other game in the fall, but as the days shortened and snow began to fall on the mountains, most families would return to the permanent settlements for the winter. Apparently enough resources could be found around Penticton to warrant year-round residence there, since its name means “people always there.”
The earliest Europeans to visit the Okanagan were fur traders; Scotsman David Stuart is reputed to be the first of these to see the valley, in 1811. The Okanagan quickly became an important trade route; furs were packed south from the northern forests of British Columbia to Fort Kamloops, then down the Hudson’s Bay Company Brigade Trail through the Okanagan Valley to the Columbia River at Fort Okanogan, and from there to the Pacific at Fort Vancouver and Fort Astoria. David Douglas, the famous botanist who first identified the Douglas-fir, travelled north along this route in the spring of 1833. The fur trade waned sharply in the middle of the 1800s when silk replaced beaver felt as the latest style in European hat fashion. The Brigade Trail was also replaced by a more western route in 1846, when the establishment of the forty-ninth parallel as the border between the United States and British North America forced Kamloops traders to travel west of the Okanagan to the mouth of the Fraser River.
British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, and one of the first results of that union was the creation of Indian reserves throughout the new province. Reserve boundaries were drawn over a period of years, starting in the late 1870s, and then often redrawn as ranchers and developers lobbied the government for choicer parts of the valley. The reserves changed the lifestyle of the Native population completely: summer food harvests were gradually disrupted, and traditional habitat management tactics, such as prescribed burns, were essentially outlawed immediately.
Cattle, Cherries, and Chardonnay
One of the earliest impacts of European colonization in the Okanagan Valley was the arrival of the cow. In the 1860s large ranching operations were set up to provide beef for the miners who had flocked to British Columbia during the Cariboo Gold Rush and other, similar strikes. By 1864 there were about 14,000 cows in the valley, and that number rose to 26,000 by 1890—about 20 cows for every human. These cattle were grazed year-round on the arid grassland benches in the valley bottom and drastically altered that habitat. The grass species west of the Rocky Mountains evolved without the herds of bison that continually grazed the prairie grasses, so they were not adapted to constant grazing pressure. Much of the low-elevation grasslands changed from thigh-high bunchgrass to dusty stubble.
By 1900 most of the large cattle ranches were being broken up for development. Townsites sprang up throughout the valley, and the dominant agricultural landscape changed from ranches to orchards. Early orchards were irrigated by a system of flumes and canals that diverted water from local creeks to the upper parts of the orchards. Water was directed through the trees by a series of smaller ditches. In the early 1900s, ground crops such as tomatoes, cantaloupes, and watermelons were extensively planted between trees, but as the trees matured into full production, these crops were phased out. Many early orchardists also kept cattle and chickens for extra income, growing alfalfa between the trees for forage.
Agricultural development continued through the first half of the 1900s, so that by 1950, almost all the private land in the valley bottom was either urban or orchard. Agriculture dominated the local economy; forestry activities in the early 1900s were concentrated on providing timber for local development, including the construction of flumes and apple boxes.
A few vineyards were planted as early as the 1920s, and Calona Wines began production in the late 1930s. The wine industry blossomed in the 1960s and 1970s but generally produced inexpensive and decidedly inferior wines. In 1984 Canada and the United States signed a free trade agreement that allowed duty-free importation of American grapes for processing in the few large Okanagan wineries. Many predicted that this would spell the end of the Okanagan vineyards, and large acreages of vines were pulled up, particularly along Black Sage Road in Oliver. However, a few small estate wineries were having remarkable success with European vinifera grapes, and the number of these small operations began to grow quickly. As of 2008, more than 100 wineries in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys use grapes from more than 3,000 hectares of vineyards. Winemakers have found that the long, hot summers at the south end of the valley are ideal for Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, while vineyards in the cooler, northern sections of the valley are well situated for German wines such as Gewürztraminer, Riesling, and Siegerrebe.
Now the orchardists struggle most with cheap imported fruit, and grape growing provides better monetary returns than almost every tree fruit except cherries. As apple, apricot, pear, and peach prices remain in the doldrums, every winter now brings new scenes of orchards being pulled up, burned, and replaced with the more lucrative vines.
More than just the agricultural scene is changing in the Okanagan. The valley has always been a favoured destination for people, luring them with its mild climate, warm waters, and diverse wildlife. Each year new residents arrive, pushing housing developments upslope into pine forests and filling marshlands with condos. But unlike their predecessors, most of these new colonists are choosing the Okanagan for its natural beauty, and hopefully, they will promote the intelligent regional planning necessary to preserve this richness.
This book explores that natural legacy along a series of highways and byways throughout the valley. Some of the subjects of discussion can be easily seen from a moving car—the black snags of a forest fire, hillsides covered in spring flowers, an osprey landing on its pole-top nest with a big carp. To see other fascinating denizens of the valley requires occasional stops and walks through the grasslands and forests. If the weather permits, drive along with your windows open so that you can smell the soft aromas of sagebrush and pine and hear the meadowlarks sing. Some of the routes described are short drives that can be completed in less than an hour, whereas a few are more ambitious and could be all-day adventures.
( ROAD TRIPS )
{ 1 } ANARCHIST MOUNTAIN TO ROCK CREEK
48 km, all paved highway
This route will take you from Osoyoos to Rock Creek, where you can then retrace your steps, continue east along Highway 3, or travel to Kelowna on Highway 33.
START: Junction of Highways 3 and 97 in Osoyoos; travel east on Highway 3.
HIGHWAY
