‘86th report’ – hot off the press
The 86th Report of the Okanagan Historical Society is now available for purchase. This latest “Report” is produced by the Okanagan Historical Society – one of British Columbia’s oldest continuously publishing history-based societies – which was incorporated on Sept. 4, 1925.
This year’s “Report,” compiled and edited by Okanagan historian and author Ken Mather, contains a variety of informative and interesting articles from the Okanagan, Shuswap and Similkameen valleys.
The following articles may be of particular interest to Central Okanagan readers:
• Lake Country, B.C.: by Sharron J. Simpson (Kelowna Branch editor); a detailed social and economic history, supplemented with a wide variety of early photographs, of this historic part of the Central Okanagan, including its four wards: Winfield, Okanagan Centre, Carr’s Landing and Oyama.
• Italian Immigration to Kelowna and its Lasting Legacy: by Erick Christianson; the intriguing economic and social history of Italian settlement in the Central Okanagan – including articles about the Casorso, Capozzi and Turri families – dating back to the 1880s.
• Mary Elizabeth (Kidd) Wilmot: Matron: by Irene Goldstone; the meticulously-researched and documented biography of one of Kelowna’s most beloved and respected citizens, pioneer British Columbia nurse and long time matron of the Kelowna Hospital.
• A Most Unusual Story: by Robert M. Hayes; the grim story of an 1884 cannibalism incident in the remote mountains of British Columbia which attracted national and international newspaper attention and ended up having a connection to Ellison district.
• Characters from Okanagan Lake’s Westside Road: by Shannon Jorgenson; biographies of some of the unique and unusual characters – Captain Thomas Dorling Shorts, Northcote Henry Caesar and his fellow pioneer T. F. Valentine, U.S. Civil War veteran Hercules Love and James Cameron Dun-waters (“Laird of Fintry”) – who lived and worked along the Westside Road in the early 1900s.
The “Lives Remembered” section of the 86th Report contains tributes to many well-known Okanagan residents, including 26 local residents who passed away in 2021 and early 2022:
• Dorothy Evelyn (nee Perry) Baker
• Dorothy M. (nee Fowler) Marshall
• Sylvia Margaret (nee Day) Blackburne
• Gordon Eugene Marshall
• Roland “Rolli” Cacchioni
• Marjorie Joyce (nee Curie) Milroy
• Barbara (nee Fricker) Charman
• Clifford Dyson Perry
• Gretchen (nee Aird) Dawson
• Jean (nee Sandborn) Rankin
• John Peter Eso
• Eileen (nee Steptoe) Robinson
• Mildred Sara (nee Blackwood) Flintoft
• Joseph “Joe” Schneider
• Edith “Sandy” (nee Sanderson)
• Francis Xavier “Frank” Singer Fournier
• Elsa Joyce (nee Bening) Gardner
• Elizabeth “Betty” (nee Ryder) Sperle
• Richard “Dick” Gunoff
• Ursula Margaret (nee Brans) Surtees
• Kioyshi “Ed” Hamanishi
• Bea (nee Samarodin) Taiji
• Ferne (nee Walde) Jean
• Lawrence Wall
• Marie “Madeleine” (nee Gagnon)
• Agnes (nee McGillivray) Wilson Jennens
The executive, directors and members of the Kelowna Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society extend sincere condolences to the families and friends of these people, acknowledging and thanking them for their many important contributions to their community. These people helped to make the Central Okanagan a special place for everyone.
Articles in the 86th Report are not limited to the history of the Central Okanagan, thus appealing to a wide audience:
• Estelle Noakes has written an in-depth account of Salmon Arm’s Carlin House, including architectural and social information about that residence and its inhabitants.
• Summerland historian David Gregory has diligently researched and written a biography of Grand Chief Nicola (N’Kwala), an important Indigenous figure who was born about 1793 and died in the winter of 1858-59.
• The 1939-45 history of the Battle Drill School – a key component of Canada’s World War II effort – at the Coldstream Ranch near Vernon was penned by Megan Hamilton, a Master of Arts student at the University of Waterloo. The introduction to Meghan’s well-researched account of the Battle Drill School’s history reads, “They remember the heat and the dust and the rattlesnakes.”
My late father, James H.L. “Jim” Hayes, trained at the Battle Drill School and often talked about that place, including his close encounters with rattlesnakes while he fought a grassfire at the Battle Drill School.
• Beverley (Crow) Caswell, a lifelong resident of the Similkameen, wrote “The South Similkameen Valley,” documenting life in that part of B.C.’s south central interior, including the communities of Cawston, Keremeos, Olalla and Hedley. Three beautiful vintage photographs round-out Beverley’s excellent article.
Another article, written by Jillian Pearson a student at the University of Northern British Columbia (Prince George), has a clever title: “Rapid Descent: The Rise and Fall of Outdoor Waterslides in the Okanagan Region.”
This fascinating article documents the histories of the outdoor waterslides which dotted the Okanagan landscape in the 1980s and 1990s, providing recreational fun for local residents and tourist alike. Jillian’s article is a reminder that history need not be a hundred or more years old but can involve events, people and places – including waterslides – which have been a part of our lives and contributed to the quality of life in our beautiful region.
To obtain copies of the Okanagan Historical Society’s 86th Report – as an addition to your own personal local history library or as an alwayswelcome and much-appreciated present for that someone special on your Christmas or birthday gift list, please contact Bob Hayes at 250-763-8859 or Chris Jennens at 250-862-2801.
The price of the 86th Report is a bargain – $25 (no tax). Funds generated by the sale of this excellent source of local history are used by the Kelowna Branch for its various history-based projects and sponsoring the bursaries which it awards each year to two local graduating high school students.
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The Kelowna Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society operates on the unceded traditional territory of the Syilx people. It gratefully acknowledges their traditional knowledge, the elders and all those who have gone before us.
This article is part of a series, submitted by the Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Historical Society. Additional information would be welcome at P.O. Box 22105, Capri P.O., Kelowna, B.C., V1Y 9N9.