by lakecountry | Jul 20, 2020 | Hayes, Bob, History of Lake Country
Lake Country is aptly named. Its four wards – Winfield, Okanagan Centre, Carr’s Landing and Oyama – have access to three major Lakes: Okanagan, Kalamalka, and Wood. The latter lake was named for pioneers Thomas (1841 – 1931) and Ellen Florence (nee Whelan) Wood (1861...
by lakecountry | Feb 12, 2016 | Bloggers, Community Events, History of Lake Country, This Day in History, Thomson, Duane
During some particularly cold winters Kalamalka Lake freezes over. Harold Thomson, who was raised in Oyama, said that in his experience Kalamalka Lake froze once every ten years and the adjoining Wood Lake froze nine out of ten years. Hauling freight on the lake was...
by lakecountry | Aug 21, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
On last week’s blog the mention of the possible origin of the name Kalamalka was interesting but it left the impression that there is agreement on the derivation of the name. Carmen Weld suggests that Kalamalka may be a form of the name Kenamaska, the name of the...
by lakecountry | Feb 27, 2015 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
In the days before good road and rail communication serviced Oyama orchardists, the most efficient way to move fruit to market was via steamer to the north end of Kalamalka Lake where it was transferred to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station at Vernon. This...
by lakecountry | Sep 19, 2014 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Carol
December 12, 1918. Vernon News A rather unfortunate accident happened on “The Railroad” last Saturday. Rev. Mr. Cassidy was driving and his team of horses became frightened and ran away throwing Mr. Cassidy out of the rig. Mr. Henry Irving who had just been offered a...
by lakecountry | Jan 3, 2014 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
Before the navigation canal was built in 1908, a creek drained Wood Lake into Long (Kalamalka) Lake. Wood Lake was initially four feet higher than Kalamalka, perhaps five or six feet higher during the spring freshet. In some years the water gushed down the creek...
by lakecountry | Jun 14, 2013 | Bloggers, History of Lake Country, Thomson, Duane
“The Railroad” was the name used on the earliest colonial maps, before the settlement in Lake Country, to refer to the isthmus at Oyama. The term certainly did not refer to any European-made feature; it had to refer to either a natural or an Okanagan Indian structure....
