The Past
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Geography
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Transportation
~ Bridges
~ Canals
~ Paddlewheelers
~ Roads
~ Trains
In 1858, the first wagon train passed
through the Okanagan valley. It was headed by two men, Palmer and Miller and consisted of
nine wagons. The train crossed Okanagan Lake at Peachland and arrived at the mouth of
Mission Creek. Horses and oxen took the east trail through the Wild Horse Canyon taking
supplies. The trail was very rough and so a man called Father Pandosy built a new trail by
way of Chute Lake.
The first road to head north from the Enderby area was a rough track carved out on the western shore of Mara Lake. It was constructed by some of the first settlers and lasted until 1886 when the CPR reached Sicamous; people called it "the stage road" since it was travelled by stage coach. The road was rough with many narrow cuts in the rock and swampy areas that were bridged with corduroy. This opened a third route to the Enderby valley which before could be reached by stagecoach from Kamloops to the Priest's Valley area in Vernon. The only other way to reach Enderby was by Paddlewheeler along the Shuswap River via Mara Lake.
Transportation to the west and.south from Enderby (then Lambly's Landing) was by wagon road which was built through Lansdowne and Otter Lake. This wagon road had connectors to O'Keefe Ranch near Vernon and Kamloops. On foot or on horseback, passage could be made to the southern end of the valley by way of the Hudson's Bay Trail. This trail started near the O'Keefe Ranch and continued through Priest's Valley. passing by Long and Wood lakes to end up finally in Okanagan Mission.
In 1871 a man called Frederick Brent ordered a shipment of supplies from a company in San Francisco which was shipped to Victoria and then to Yale by Steamboat. From Yale a freight wagon took the supplies to Cache Creek and to Savona over the Cariboo Rd. Then they were loaded onto a boat at the East end of Kamloops Lake and freighted to Fortune's Landing (now Enderby). They were placed on a stoneboat and hauled to Okanagan Lake, where they were put on a boat and taken down the lake to the Mission.
1908 would be a very busy year for road works. In the summer Wm. Hancock was appointed as foreman of roadworks for the Enderby area. Numerous areas were to be completed. Repairs began on a dangerous drop-off on the Mara road between Mr. Collin's and Mr. G. Folkard's farms; two miles of the Mara road were graded down and gravelled. Part of the upriver portion of Mabel Lake Road was improved to be second to none in B.C. One mile was graded near the Forster farm on Old Salmon Arm Road. Several more sections of road were straightened, shortened or improved otherwise between Enderby and Salmon Arm. Deep Creek Road was partially graded in several areas adding up to about two miles in total.
During the same year the following sections of road were constructed, mostly to farms in Mara: Mathew's, Folkard's, Anderson's and Ruttan's farms all received crossroads; a half-mile crossroads was also put through between Wm. Hancock's and Wm. Jones' residences. Several more crossroads would be constructed in the general area later that year. Billy Monk's Road, near C. Hancock's home, was repaired and straightened with a 250 ft. bridge added to it; Canyon Road was patched and repaired with a 30 ft. bridge added to it; and in the Enderby vicinity 14 new bridges were constructed within the year.
In September 1911, Mr. W.W. Foster, Deputy Minister of Public Works visited Enderby, Salmon.Arm and Vernon. His purpose for this visit was to investigate the road conditions being complained about over the prior six months. As a result of this visit the government put men to work on the bridge at King Fisher Creek. Work was also started on the Trinity Valley Road and bridge. The cost for the work being done, along with a road on the south side of the river coming out at the Moffet farm on Old Fortune Road, was estimated at $21 000. It was then found that 500 feet of trestle was needed at Cook crossing to go from the bridge over the low land leading up to the bridge. This would cause a considerable increase in cost. Because of this, Engineer Burnyeat came back to the original site at Baxter crossing. With these figures, Mr. Foster and Superintendant Lang arrived at a decision about this issue and chose the original site. The three-quarters of a mile of road, leading from the established road up Mabel Lake Valley to the bridge site selected, was to be built at once.
In September of 1911, Alderman Worthington presented a petition to rescue a right-of-way, from the Indians, through the reserve. This road (with permission fron the Natives) would parallel the railroad from Fortunes crossing into Enderby and connect with the new Hassard road. This would shorten the back road from Enderby to Armstrong by about a mile. This road would also be twenty seven feet lower at its highest point.
In 1914-15 on the east side of Mara Lake a road was built by 500 German prisoners at Two-Mile camp. A Mr. Bruhn was given a contract to haul supplies to camp from the CPR station by boat. He later would become the Minister of Public Works for the Enderby area. Mr. J. Sim Jr. was general foreman in 1914 and Mr. Henry Wood was road foreman at camp. Mr. Cecil Hunt was hired as the bugle boy and Mr. Andy Holm delivered milk to the camp by horse buggy.
In August of 1929. a petition against the highway change in Enderby was made. This change would take place between Belvedere and George Streets and would draw business from one garage to another. This change would open the highway to George Street and would cut out two railway crossings and two blind right-angle turns on Cliff Street. George Street would also be graded to save its face. The protesting citizens questioned the cost of the improvement. The City Council stated that the city can pay its share without adding to the levy. The general improvement was said to be sacrificed by a few businessmen, but the belief of lost business were false worries. overall, the change would advance the town.
Mabel Lake Road was being completed as this was the first year that real effort and development were going on. The heavy ditches caused grief to drivers who were accustomed to skidding in the winter, although they would have the roads dry weeks earlier than before.
On April 11 of 1938, the Cliff Street businessmen swooped down upon the council chamber to question the progress of George Street and the Cliff Street highway. The council planned on hard surfacing the road from the intersection to the bridge over Shuswap River, including the greater part of the business section. This included the railway station, the bank, the post office, Civic hall, and all of the stores. The storekeepers had complained about problems caused by dust, but financial difficulties caused a wait for the hard surfacing.
Mike Hagman, Christi Franks, Patrick Woodford
ALF School 1989