The History of
Lumby - The First Settlers
The gold fever in
British Columbia in the early 1860's brought men
seeking an instant fortune. Some made a fortune.
Others made and quickly squandered their riches.
Some were disappointed and disappeared. Some
realised the real potential was in the lush valleys
of the Okanagan Valley. They became the first
settlers.
One of them was
Louis
Christien who together with
William Peon, was one of the so-called discoverers
of gold in Cherry
Creek. It is both
possible and probable that Louis Christien was the
first white resident of the Lumby area who would
see the future potential for development as an
agricultural community.
He was born in St.
Anicet, a little village in Quebec just south of
Montreal, as were many of the early settlers of
this area. Anyone who has visited the lovely little
village along the banks of the St. Francois River
would wonder why anyone would want to leave such a
beautiful spot. The answer lies in the French
Canadian custom of dividing the land among the sons
as they reach manhood. After several generations
the land will not stand further subdivision and the
young men had to look further afield for their
livelihood. But once one of the relatives had found
Lumby, many seemed to follow. Perhaps because the
land was good or perhaps because the "family" was
so important to them that they stuck together.
There were the Bessettes,
Quesnels,
Deschamps,
LeBlancs and
just about anybody with a French name in Lumby in
those days was related either by blood or by
marriage.
|