Okanagan Historical Society, Similkameen Branch presents

Have you ever walked through the North Cascades west of Princeton and seen overgrown vertical scars on the trunks of trees? Or perhaps you’ve been bushwhacking off-trail and noticed a stretch of ground that doesn’t look like a trail and yet the vegetation there is noticeably sparser than the rest of the forest. If you have then you’ve probably been walking along a Hudson’s Bay Brigade trail or along a stretch of the old Dewdney Trail. The fur traders who travelled through the North Cascades used to slash the bark of trees along their routes to mark the trail. The passage of horses and miners along the Dewdney trail during the gold rushes compressed the soil making it difficult for vegetation to grow.

There have been trails through the north Cascades for thousands of years, travelled by First Nations people while hunting, gathering food and trading. These trails were later used by the Hudson’s Bay Company brigades and then by miners and prospectors. When gold was discovered in the Similkameen and Rock Creek areas in the mid-1800’s, James Douglas, the Governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, commissioned Edgar Dewdney to build a trail to the interior.

These and many other fascinating facts will be part of a historical presentation by Kelley Cook, Princeton’s trail historian, on Wednesday 4 November at 7 p.m.

The presentation is sponsored by the Similkameen branch of the Okanagan Historical Society (OHS). The OHS was incorporated in 1925 and is one of the oldest societies in B.C. dedicated to the preservation of local history. The Similkameen branch of the OHS closed a few years ago, but it has recently been revived and is sponsoring historical presentations on the fourth Tuesday of the month in Hedley, Princeton and Keremeos. The series began in Hedley in September with a presentation by archaeologist/historian Brenda Gould on the ancient history of the Similkameen Valley. The next presentation will be in Keremeos.

This week Kelley Cook will be giving a presentation on the history of the many old trails that run through our landscape. Last month Kelley gave a talk for the Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists on the recreational possibilities of these trails. This OHS presentation will focus on the history of the trails – who built them and when and who travelled them and why. Her presentation will be accompanied by a stimulating Power Point presentation.

The presentation will take place in the Riverside theatre on Wednesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. Admission is free. Memberships in the Similkameen branch of the OHS will be available at the door as will copies of the OHS’s history books.

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