Trail North: The Okanagan Trail of 1858-68 and Its Origins in British Columbia and Washington

by Ken Mather

A revealing history of the ancient trail that served as a major transportation route between Washington and British Columbia and shaped the cultural and economic ties between the two jurisdictions. Trails are the most enduring memorials of human occupation. Long before stone monuments were created, pathways throughout the world were being worn into hardness by human feet. Travellers along the stretch of Highway 97 from Brewster, Washington, to Kamloops, BC, may not know that they are travelling a route as old as humankind's presence in the region. In fact, this north-south valley, a natural corridor linking the two major river systems that drain the Interior Plateau, has served as transportation route for tens of thousands of years. Trail North traces the origins of this iconic trail among the Indigenous people of the Interior Plateau and its uses by the three different fur trading companies, before turning its focus on the period of 1858 to 1868, when the trail was used by miners, packers, and cattlemen as the major entry point into British Columbia from Washington Territory. The historical use of the trail in both jurisdictions is a fascinating episode in the history of the Pacific Northwest.

Genres: History

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2018

Reviews

[Harold Rhenisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the most thorough research I've ever seen on the trail that made the Pacific Northwest makes this book a must-read. The chapter on Joel Palmer's activity in the British Columbia goldfields is worth the book alone. There is a sturdy chapter on pre-colonial use of the trail, but nowhere near as detailed or as perceptive as the use of the trail by cattlemen, Mather's first love. The lack shows, as it tends to picture Indigenous peoples in a distant past, although Mather's comments throughout show a deep sympathy for their ongoing struggles. Another dimension of the trail that has only been lightly touched upon or not at all is its connections with pre-colonial and colonial California, as well as with the Oregon Trail. Lacking in detail as well is one of Palmer's motivations for reopening the trail in 1858: the drawing off of economic pressure in Oregon, to keep the peace. In fact, the economic struggle between The Dalles and Portland is not mentioned. And there is Father Pandosy in Ahtanum in 1855, making a cameo appearance, and nothing further on him or his role in the ongoing history of the trail in British Columbia. These gaps could have been filled by a better title, which indicated that this was a history of the cattleman's trail only, which is pretty much what it is, and a fine history of that. On that, it is breathtakingly thorough and engaging. The section on the Vaqueros of British Columbia is mesmerizing. If you're reading your way into the Real West, this is a good book to set proudly on your shelf.

[Jack Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of the Okanagan Trail. Really enjoyed the First Nations stories, goldrush fever and cattle drivers. Would have appreciated a full map with everything on it as the geography was confusing at point.

[Ian Beardsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spotted this book in the Manning Park gift store during my last visit to my favorite BC park in the southern interior. Having read a fair amount of BC history, this book caught my attention because it fills in the gap of knowledge I had on the southern interior trails history as the fur trade wound down and the rate of pioneer settlement ramped up in the mid 19th century.

Ken Mather has written a lot about the cattle trade and "cowboys" in the Pacific Northwest of the late 19th century, so his focus is somewhat heavy on the various cattle drives that took place to originally support the thousands of pioneers who flocked to the gold rushes on the Fraser River and then the Cariboo in the 1850s and 60s. However, he does a fantastic job of describing how the routes from the lower Columbia River (modern-day Portland) and eastern Washington State into the Okanagan, Similkameen, Thompson, Shuswap, and Cariboo regions of British Columbia were first established by the indigenous peoples, adopted by the fur traders, and eventually white settlers in general. Mather takes us on a journey through time, geographical space, and history of the region as trade routes developed and expanded in this scenic western frontier, a history that I find is rich with incredible stories that never seem to gather much attention.

I really enjoyed this book as it filled in the previously mentioned gaps in my knowledge. I knew the story of the Okanagan fairly well after the time of Father Pandosy's Mission was settled in the early 1860s, and I had recently learned how the Oregon Territory and Kootenays were opened up by David Thompson and the subsequent fur traders of the NW Company, Pacific Fur Company (Astor), and Hudson's Bay in the early 1800s, but Mather's book filled in that middle era from the 1830s to the 1860s when British interests retreated above the 49th parallel as the border with the United States was firmly established.

My imagination is filled with those early fur traders and cattle drovers, trekking up from Fort Okanogan south of the 49th, up the west side of my beloved Okanagan Lake over to Kamloops and into the Fraser and Cariboo regions beyond, seeing the beautiful natural landscape that was to become my childhood home one hundred years later.