by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
Joseph Hayton was the third owner of the V Bar V ranch in Oyama. Hayton Creek and Hayton Road are named after him. He was born near Ventnor, Isle of Wight to George Hayton, Rector of Niton, and his wife Ellen Louisa (Chadwick) Hayton. He immigrated to Canada from...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
A Railway Runs Through It: The Okanagan Railways Today (June 30, 2005). By David Madison The locomotive feels like a living thing as it rolls from side to side over the weed-covered rail bed. “That’s just the harmonic roll,” says engineer Dean Taylor who is at...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
William Furniss, a 57-year old English-born farmer from Vernon was the second owner of the V Bar V. He married a widow, Almira McCluskey on 30 November 1898 and acquired an instant family. Almira and her husband William McCluskey had been married in Argenteuil,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, Thomson, Duane
Richard and Arthur Chatterton were part of an aspiring, middle class, English family. Their parents, George Joseph and Jane Edwards Chatterton and family appear in the 1891 UK census in Alvaston, Derbyshire, Herts, England. Their father was a metal tube manufacturer...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Brewer’s Blackbird One and perhaps two of today’s birds are probably familiar to you, the other might not be. They are all blackbirds, members of the Icterid family, a group comprising (in our valley) these two, as...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
A new two-room school was built in 1917 and in 1921 a third room was added for the new Oyama High School. The catchment area included Winfield and those students arrived by car or bus. The accompanying photograph was taken of the senior class in about 1926. They are...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
You might suppose that wintertime is not a good time for a bird that spends its life near running water, but in fact this species is able to survive in icy cold water, and manages to feed even under riverside ice. The rather nondescript appearance of the American...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Thomas Wood, cattle rancher and Justice of the Peace from Lake Country, wrote three letters from Vernon to Frederick Hussey, Superintendent of Provincial Police in Victoria requesting his assistance with a rustling case 1 . Hussey replied to these. Some excerpts are...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Animals, Environment, Guest Bloggers, Okanagan birder, Pam Laing
At this time of year, when so many of our colourful summer breeding birds are winging their way southwards for the colder months, it is a pleasure to turn our attention to birds that stay here year round. This time let’s focus on our three species of nuthatch,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Early Days of Okanagan Centre Figure 1:Warf at Okanagan Centre in early Days. Packing house to right. For the first three decades of the twentieth century, Okanagan Centre was the commercial hub of the area. From the late 1800s to the 1930s, Okanagan Centre...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Nov 4, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers
Eyles was born in Bristol, England, in 1925 and joined the Home Guard, the 8th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry at age 17. In 1943 he joined the Royal Navy where he trained as a radar operator. He served on the ships Wessex, Highflyer, Drake, Valkyrie, Golden Hind,...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 13, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized
The life cycle of kokanee is a part of the Okanagan that is visible each year in the fall. When walking down a creek or stream from mid September to mid October, it is hard to miss the bright red fish migrating up. Okanagan Kokanee are unique because one may also see...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 6, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized
~Marie Molloy Lake Country Museum & Archives in Okanagan Centre is a place for sharing stories and making connections with people past and present. The museum’s collections committee is comprised of a fun group of individuals and it’s hard not to notice how...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 6, 2022 | Guest Bloggers, Pam Laing
Don’t call them Seagulls! When we live in a valley with a number of lakes, large and small, as well as ponds, riversand creeks, (not to mention large landfill sites), we are bound to see gulls. Non-birdersoften refer to them as Seagulls. But we have no sea anywhere...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Oct 3, 2022 | Bloggers, Uncategorized
September 17, 2022 On a lovely September Day Virginia and Peter Palma kindly hosted a gathering of Kobayashi Descendents to dedicate their beautifully renovated home to the Kobayashi family. This kind gesture was appreciated by four generations of the family, who...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 26, 2022 | Bloggers, Gibbons, Richard
Every so often we receive gifts that are extraordinarily special, and many of the most appreciated don’t come with a hefty price tag. They usually come from very special people. Some of my gifts this year were the much treasured photo album my sister Sharon gave me...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 19, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers
Flooding is common in the Okanagan. Our post ‘Flooding in Lake Country’ touches on this, as we noted how flooding occurred nearly every year in the early 1900s. In 1908, the Oyama canal was built, connecting Wood Lake and Kalamalka Lake. This lowered the lakes’ water...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Sep 5, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Natural History
Kokanee, a form of landlocked salmon, are Indigenous to the Okanagan and at one time were abundant within Okanagan and Wood Lake. Kokanee adapted from sockeye salmon, who migrated from the Columbia River approximately 10,000 years ago after the last ice age. Once...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Aug 29, 2022 | Uncategorized
John Brixton, commonly known as the Colonel, was born in 1870 in England. He led a life full of adventure, leaving behind an incredible story. At approximately 16 years old he jumped on a merchant ship, the S.S. Sarmatian, headed for New York, where he would join the...
by lcmuseum@shaw.ca | Jul 23, 2022 | Bloggers, Guest Bloggers, Natural History
Written by Deana Asham. Named after the shape of its leaves, arrowleaf balsamroot is an Indigenous species to the Okanagan Valley. Being part of the same family as the sunflower, Asteraceae, they share a similar appearance; however, they flower slightly earlier than...
