Here is a chronological list of historical events that have occurred in, on and around Kalamalka Lake – the Treasure of the Okanagan. This is a big picture look at some local history and I hope that this can be a useful tool in the study and appreciation of this beloved lake. If you feel there are any other significant details that could be added please comment below with specific dates and sources.
For much more detailed information and stories please see the highlighted links or visit:
Origins
Kalamalka Lake is a glacial lake which remained after the immense Lake Penticton (which covered most of the Okanagan Valley) receded.
Kalamalka Lake is “one of a handful of unique bodies of water known as marl lakes” (BC Parks). In the summer as the lake warms, calcium carbonate, or limestone (left by past glaciers), forms crystals that reflect sunlight. This results in a breathtaking array of blue, green and turquoise colours.
Pre- 1800
The Okanagan First Nations are the first people to live here. They hunted and fished over a wide territory including present day lakes: Okanagan, Kalamalka and Wood.
Kalamalka Lake and Wood Lake, however, were known as a single lake at the time. It was referred to by the Okanagan First Nations as “Chilutsus” (Chil-loot-sus) meaning “long lake cut in the middle”.
Early colonial maps call the isthmus between the two bodies of water "The Railroad" likely after an Indigenous structure made of logs to make the isthmus more passable. The Okanagan People called this isthmus "acyuÊ”c̕us (Ac yutz oos)".
c.1800
Chief Kalamalka is born. This is an estimate based on the census data of his son and granddaughter’s births. He resided at the head of what is now Kalamalka Lake or “N’Inkamuplux” (Head of the Small Lake). Kalamalka is a noble and well respected man by both the Indigenous peoples and later the European settlers.
One theory as to the origin and meaning of Kalamalka is that it may be a form of the Okanagan Indian word “Kenamaska” which refers to the soft velvet of a deer’s antlers. “The word in reference to the Chief, meant he was a mild mannered man, well respected by his people (Antoine)”.
A second theory is that the name has Hawaiian origins (see 1814).
1811
David Stuart, of the Pacific Fur Company becomes the first (recorded) White man to see the Okanagan Valley.
1814
Louis Peon arrives at the head of Okanagan Lake from his native Hawaii. Peon was a “Kanaka” (a native Hawaiian brought over to Canada by the Hudson’s Bay Company).
Historian, F.M. Buckland believes it was Peon who bestowed the Hawaiian word “Kalamaleka” (possibly meaning “Sun of the Americas”) to a family in the Okanagan area. Although possible, Peon arrives about 14 years after Chief Kalamalka’s estimated birth. It is also possible a different Kanaka came earlier to the Okanagan area.
c.1822
Quo-hast-a-mayna, son of Chief Kalamalka, is born according to census data.
c.1847
Katrine (or Catherine), the daughter of Quo-hast-a-mayna and granddaughter of Chief Kalamalka, is born according to census data.
c.1851
White settlers began referring to both lakes (now Kalamalka and Wood) as Long Lake; however, the southern lake (now Wood) was also known as Pelmewash Lake (thus the name of the new parkway). The name Pelmewash is confirmed on an 1871 map of British Columbia by Trutch.
1863
Charles Houghton arrives in the Okanagan Valley along with Forbes and Charles Vernon (all from Ireland).
Upon exploring the area, Houghton finds what is now Coldstream Creek. “The stream he named Coldstream Creek. And on its banks he intended to locate his military grant, which he would call “Coldstream” (Coldstream Nulli Secundus p.2).
1871
Thomas Wood (from Newfoundland) acquires a pre-emption for land at the south of “Long Lake” (obviously referring to both the north and south lakes as one lake). Wood names his new ranch “Winfield Lodge” and the south lake is later named after Thomas Wood.
c. 1873
Katrine Kalamalka and Forbes George Vernon have a daughter named Louise through a common law marriage. She later marries George Tronson, son of E.J. Tronson. Katrine and Forbes also have a daughter named Mary (later McDougall), birth date unknown. (Source: Q'sapi)
1874
John Jane surveys the Coldstream area and reports: “the land at the mouth of Coldstream Creek is occupied by an old Indian named Francois (*probably Quo-hast-a-mayna, son of Kalamalka), who has about 40 to 60 acres fenced and under cultivation. He has a paper dated 1861 signed by Judge Cox warning people not to trespass on this ‘Indian Reservation’.” (An Early History of Coldstream & Lavington by Anne Pearson p.3-4)
c.1800
Chief Kalamalka is born. This is an estimate based on the census data of his son and granddaughter’s births. He resided at the head of what is now Kalamalka Lake or “N’Inkamuplux” (Head of the Small Lake). Kalamalka is a noble and well respected man by both the Indigenous peoples and later the European settlers.
One theory as to the origin and meaning of Kalamalka is that it may be a form of the Okanagan Indian word “Kenamaska” which refers to the soft velvet of a deer’s antlers. “The word in reference to the Chief, meant he was a mild mannered man, well respected by his people (Antoine)”.
A second theory is that the name has Hawaiian origins (see 1814).
1811
David Stuart, of the Pacific Fur Company becomes the first (recorded) White man to see the Okanagan Valley.
1814
Louis Peon arrives at the head of Okanagan Lake from his native Hawaii. Peon was a “Kanaka” (a native Hawaiian brought over to Canada by the Hudson’s Bay Company).
Historian, F.M. Buckland believes it was Peon who bestowed the Hawaiian word “Kalamaleka” (possibly meaning “Sun of the Americas”) to a family in the Okanagan area. Although possible, Peon arrives about 14 years after Chief Kalamalka’s estimated birth. It is also possible a different Kanaka came earlier to the Okanagan area.
c.1822
Quo-hast-a-mayna, son of Chief Kalamalka, is born according to census data.
 |
| Quo-hast-a-mayna on the right |
c.1847
Katrine (or Catherine), the daughter of Quo-hast-a-mayna and granddaughter of Chief Kalamalka, is born according to census data.
c.1851
White settlers began referring to both lakes (now Kalamalka and Wood) as Long Lake; however, the southern lake (now Wood) was also known as Pelmewash Lake (thus the name of the new parkway). The name Pelmewash is confirmed on an 1871 map of British Columbia by Trutch.
1863
Charles Houghton arrives in the Okanagan Valley along with Forbes and Charles Vernon (all from Ireland).
Upon exploring the area, Houghton finds what is now Coldstream Creek. “The stream he named Coldstream Creek. And on its banks he intended to locate his military grant, which he would call “Coldstream” (Coldstream Nulli Secundus p.2).
1871
Thomas Wood (from Newfoundland) acquires a pre-emption for land at the south of “Long Lake” (obviously referring to both the north and south lakes as one lake). Wood names his new ranch “Winfield Lodge” and the south lake is later named after Thomas Wood.
c. 1873
Katrine Kalamalka and Forbes George Vernon have a daughter named Louise through a common law marriage. She later marries George Tronson, son of E.J. Tronson. Katrine and Forbes also have a daughter named Mary (later McDougall), birth date unknown. (Source: Q'sapi)
1874
John Jane surveys the Coldstream area and reports: “the land at the mouth of Coldstream Creek is occupied by an old Indian named Francois (*probably Quo-hast-a-mayna, son of Kalamalka), who has about 40 to 60 acres fenced and under cultivation. He has a paper dated 1861 signed by Judge Cox warning people not to trespass on this ‘Indian Reservation’.” (An Early History of Coldstream & Lavington by Anne Pearson p.3-4)
1875
Construction begins on the Okanagan and Mission Valley Wagon Road which connects Kelowna to Vernon and beyond. It runs along side Kalamalka and Wood Lakes.
1892
Vernon, British Columbia becomes the first city incorporated in the Okanagan Valley. It is named after local Irish pioneer Forbes George Vernon.
The main hotel in Vernon is built and named the Kalamalka Hotel in the Chief’s honour.
1893
Cornelius Cosens emigrates from Chichester, England and homesteads on “Long Lake”. Cosens Bay is named for him and his family.
1906
Coldstream is incorporated as an official district municipality.
The settlement of Oyama is named after the Japanese Field Marshal, Oyama Iwao, by the local postmaster and his wife.
1908
There was once a creek joining the two lakes until a navigational canal is built between the two bodies of water and still exists today. It is said that Wood Lake dropped by four feet when the canal was made until it was finally level with Kalamalka Lake.
Egbert and Annie Trask (who moved to the Okanagan from Nova Scotia) purchase “Iris Point” (What is now Kaloya Regional Park) and build a home there.
"In October 1908 seventeen Natives... signed a surrender document which gave the Federal Government the right to sell the Indian interest in the Reserve (Long Lake Indian Reserve No. 5).” (Vernon and District Pioneer Routes by Theresa Hurst p.64-65). Immediately many complaints arose from Indigenous people as well as missionaries as to the validity of the document and how it was obtained.
1909
Despite the complaints about the surrender of the land, the B.C. government issues a crown grant to John Kennedy for the land comprising the Long Lake Indian Reserve No. 5. Kennedy would later sell portions to the city of Vernon and to CN Rail. Many years later in 1984 the Federal and Provincial governments make a payout to the Okanagan Indian Band for the controversial land.
1910
What is now the heritage home “Mackie Lake House” is built on the shores of Kalamalka Lake by architect Robert Findlay.
1912
The Vernon News reports a movement to change the name from Long Lake to Kalamalka Lake.
1913
The Kalamalka Agricultural Association is formed in Oyama
1914
The Kalamalka Women’s Institute is established in Oyama by Annie Trask. Later, wounded WW1 soldiers would convalesce at the Trask home.
1919
Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales (and later King Edward the VIII who abdicated the throne) makes an automobile trip along Kalamalka Lake from Vernon to Kelowna.
1926
An obituary for Mrs. Louis Bercier, aka Katrine or “Coldstream Kate”, is printed in the Vernon News. She was the granddaughter of Chief Kalamalka.
The CN Rail opens its line along Kalamalka Lake from Vernon to Kelowna. It is operated by Kelowna Pacific Railway.
1927
A young boy from the Vernon Preparatory School (near Kalamalka Lake) sets out to get a rattlesnake rattle for his mother. The boy is bit by a rattlesnake and later succumbs to his injuries.
The headmaster of the school, Rev. Austin Mackie, is so overwhelmed with grief at the boy’s death he makes a lifelong commitment to hunt and kill the rattlesnakes of the Coldstream and what would later be Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park.
c.1935
The English spelling and pronunciation of the word “Kalamalka” is confirmed when the owner of the hotel attempts to put up a new sign with the spelling “Kalemalka” (pronounced kaleem-alka). His two daughters and the local old timers insist it should be “Kalamalka”.
c.1940
Kalamalka Lake and its parks are used for combat practice during WW2. “During the war amphibious assaults were practiced on Kalamalka Lake, with the ships launching from Kekuli Bay. Guns would be firing as they approached Cosens Bay” (Know Your Park, www.kalamalkapark.ca).
1944
A.V. Despard publishes a poem called “The Lake of Many Colours (Commonly Called Kalamalka)”. This is the first recorded mention of that nickname to describe Kalamalka Lake.
The Canadian Navy launches a mine-sweeping vessel and names it the HMCS Kalamalka in July. She operated out of Prince Rupert as a patrol vessel looking for possible mines during WW2.
1951
Pioneer, Sara Newton, writes her poem: Lake Kalamalka
1953
The name “Kalamalka” was officially gazetted as a name for the northern lake.
1956
A group of 25-30 American tourists claimed to have seen the Ogopogo ('N’ha-a-tik' in Syilx) in Kalamalka Lake.
1958
A popular song by Paul Malysh and Eric J. Hopkins entitled "The Kalamalka Calls (Lake of Many Colours)" is written and recorded.
1974
An orchestral piece composed by Jean Coulthard named "Kalamalka - Lake of Many Colours” is published.
1975
Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park is officially established on land formerly belonging to the Coldstream Ranch.
Kaloya Regional Park is created by the Regional District of the Central Okanagan on what was once the Trask’s property in Oyama.
1981
The Cougar Canyon Ecological Reserve near Kal Park is created.
1985
James Malcolm Macartney publishes his master’s thesis: “The Ecology of the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus, In British Columbia”. Much of the detailed study took part in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park and the lands belonging to the Coldstream Ranch – the same areas that Austin Mackie would have hunted. This study has since become a foundational Rattlesnake study for biologists all over North America.
1990
Kekulia Bay Provincial Park is established on the west side of Kalamalka Lake. It was named after Indigenous subterranean homes (pit houses) with log roofs. There is archaeological evidence of these and other Okanagan First Nations artifacts in both
provincial parks.
1995
Oyama becomes a ward of the newly formed municipality of “Lake Country” (along with Winfield, Okanagan Centre and Carr’s Landing).
2013
CN Rail ends its operation of the railway along Kalamalka Lake. In the years to come the right of way is purchased by local governments and transformed into The Okanagan Rail Trail.
Sources and Further Reading:
http://www.lakecountrymuseum.com/kalamalka-name-re-visited/#top
https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/23969.html
Q’Sapi: A History of Okanagan People as Told by Okanagan Families (Theytus Books)
Vernon and District Pioneer Routes by Theresa Hurst (Published by the Vernon Branch Okanagan Historical Society)
An Early History of Coldstream & Lavington by Anne Pearson copyright 1986 (Wayside Press)
Kalamalka: A Collection of History and Photography by Joseph Harder (Blurb.ca)
1892
Vernon, British Columbia becomes the first city incorporated in the Okanagan Valley. It is named after local Irish pioneer Forbes George Vernon.
The main hotel in Vernon is built and named the Kalamalka Hotel in the Chief’s honour.
1893
Cornelius Cosens emigrates from Chichester, England and homesteads on “Long Lake”. Cosens Bay is named for him and his family.
1906
Coldstream is incorporated as an official district municipality.
The settlement of Oyama is named after the Japanese Field Marshal, Oyama Iwao, by the local postmaster and his wife.
1908
There was once a creek joining the two lakes until a navigational canal is built between the two bodies of water and still exists today. It is said that Wood Lake dropped by four feet when the canal was made until it was finally level with Kalamalka Lake.
Egbert and Annie Trask (who moved to the Okanagan from Nova Scotia) purchase “Iris Point” (What is now Kaloya Regional Park) and build a home there.
"In October 1908 seventeen Natives... signed a surrender document which gave the Federal Government the right to sell the Indian interest in the Reserve (Long Lake Indian Reserve No. 5).” (Vernon and District Pioneer Routes by Theresa Hurst p.64-65). Immediately many complaints arose from Indigenous people as well as missionaries as to the validity of the document and how it was obtained.
1909
Despite the complaints about the surrender of the land, the B.C. government issues a crown grant to John Kennedy for the land comprising the Long Lake Indian Reserve No. 5. Kennedy would later sell portions to the city of Vernon and to CN Rail. Many years later in 1984 the Federal and Provincial governments make a payout to the Okanagan Indian Band for the controversial land.
1910
What is now the heritage home “Mackie Lake House” is built on the shores of Kalamalka Lake by architect Robert Findlay.
1912
The Vernon News reports a movement to change the name from Long Lake to Kalamalka Lake.
1913
The Kalamalka Agricultural Association is formed in Oyama
1914
The Kalamalka Women’s Institute is established in Oyama by Annie Trask. Later, wounded WW1 soldiers would convalesce at the Trask home.
1919
Edward Albert, the Prince of Wales (and later King Edward the VIII who abdicated the throne) makes an automobile trip along Kalamalka Lake from Vernon to Kelowna.
1926
An obituary for Mrs. Louis Bercier, aka Katrine or “Coldstream Kate”, is printed in the Vernon News. She was the granddaughter of Chief Kalamalka.
The CN Rail opens its line along Kalamalka Lake from Vernon to Kelowna. It is operated by Kelowna Pacific Railway.
1927
A young boy from the Vernon Preparatory School (near Kalamalka Lake) sets out to get a rattlesnake rattle for his mother. The boy is bit by a rattlesnake and later succumbs to his injuries.
The headmaster of the school, Rev. Austin Mackie, is so overwhelmed with grief at the boy’s death he makes a lifelong commitment to hunt and kill the rattlesnakes of the Coldstream and what would later be Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park.
c.1935
The English spelling and pronunciation of the word “Kalamalka” is confirmed when the owner of the hotel attempts to put up a new sign with the spelling “Kalemalka” (pronounced kaleem-alka). His two daughters and the local old timers insist it should be “Kalamalka”.
c.1940
Kalamalka Lake and its parks are used for combat practice during WW2. “During the war amphibious assaults were practiced on Kalamalka Lake, with the ships launching from Kekuli Bay. Guns would be firing as they approached Cosens Bay” (Know Your Park, www.kalamalkapark.ca).
1944
A.V. Despard publishes a poem called “The Lake of Many Colours (Commonly Called Kalamalka)”. This is the first recorded mention of that nickname to describe Kalamalka Lake.
The Canadian Navy launches a mine-sweeping vessel and names it the HMCS Kalamalka in July. She operated out of Prince Rupert as a patrol vessel looking for possible mines during WW2.
1951
Pioneer, Sara Newton, writes her poem: Lake Kalamalka
1953
The name “Kalamalka” was officially gazetted as a name for the northern lake.
1956
A group of 25-30 American tourists claimed to have seen the Ogopogo ('N’ha-a-tik' in Syilx) in Kalamalka Lake.
1958
A popular song by Paul Malysh and Eric J. Hopkins entitled "The Kalamalka Calls (Lake of Many Colours)" is written and recorded.
1974
An orchestral piece composed by Jean Coulthard named "Kalamalka - Lake of Many Colours” is published.
1975
Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park is officially established on land formerly belonging to the Coldstream Ranch.
Kaloya Regional Park is created by the Regional District of the Central Okanagan on what was once the Trask’s property in Oyama.
1981
The Cougar Canyon Ecological Reserve near Kal Park is created.
1985
James Malcolm Macartney publishes his master’s thesis: “The Ecology of the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus, In British Columbia”. Much of the detailed study took part in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park and the lands belonging to the Coldstream Ranch – the same areas that Austin Mackie would have hunted. This study has since become a foundational Rattlesnake study for biologists all over North America.
1990
Kekulia Bay Provincial Park is established on the west side of Kalamalka Lake. It was named after Indigenous subterranean homes (pit houses) with log roofs. There is archaeological evidence of these and other Okanagan First Nations artifacts in both
provincial parks.
1995
Oyama becomes a ward of the newly formed municipality of “Lake Country” (along with Winfield, Okanagan Centre and Carr’s Landing).
2013
CN Rail ends its operation of the railway along Kalamalka Lake. In the years to come the right of way is purchased by local governments and transformed into The Okanagan Rail Trail.
Sources and Further Reading:
http://www.lakecountrymuseum.com/kalamalka-name-re-visited/#top
https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/23969.html
Q’Sapi: A History of Okanagan People as Told by Okanagan Families (Theytus Books)
Vernon and District Pioneer Routes by Theresa Hurst (Published by the Vernon Branch Okanagan Historical Society)
An Early History of Coldstream & Lavington by Anne Pearson copyright 1986 (Wayside Press)
Kalamalka: A Collection of History and Photography by Joseph Harder (Blurb.ca)
