The History of Lumby - Transportation

When the Province of B.C. was formed in 1871 it was promised connection to a transcontinental railway. The first passenger train ran into Sicamous in 1886, bringing change along with it. There were so many new settlers in the Okanagan Valley that the Hudson's Bay Company built its first store here in 1887, at Priest Valley. Priest Valley was so named because Missionaries built a cabin at the junction of Vernon Creek and Swan Lake Creek (near 24th Avenue and 36th Street in present Vernon). This was a stopping-off place," a convenient day's journey from Okanagan Mission."

By 1887 Priest Valley,the community of about forty residents had officially been renamed Vernon, in honour of George Forbes Vernon, although it was not incorporated as a town until December 30, 1892 when it became the first town in the valley to do so. By 1904 Vernon was the largest town in the Okanagan Valley.

In the early days there were no roads, and the only transportation up and down the lakes were steamboats. The CPR steamboats operated on Okanagan Lake until the mid-1930's. Regular steamboat service on the lake began in 1893. Prior to that time, travel was only possible by horseback on primitive roads and trails, or by private boats.

By 1892 the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway was completed, linking the valley with the CPR mainline in Sicamous. The S&O ran through Vernon to Okanagan Landing, where it was connected with the steamboats. All the Canadian Pacific boats were constructed at Okanagan Landing. The most important boats were the Stern Wheelers 'The SS Aberdeen', 'The SS Okanagan', and 'The SS Sicamous'. The combined CPR train and boat service played a large part in opening up the Okanagan Valley. It brought in new settlers; it connected remote settlement; it carried freight, mail and supplies; it took fruit to the market; and it served to some extent, as a focus for social activity.

The economic slump which followed the First World War reduced the need for boat service on the lake. The Kettle Valley Railway had already arrived in the Okanagan and another rail-line eventually linked Vernon and Kelowna. Roads were being built and improved. Though the boats had played a vital role bringing the Okanagan into the twentieth century, they could not keep pace with development of the valley. The last of the paddle wheelers, the 'The SS Sicamous', was retired in 1936. She lay at anchor at Okanagan Landing until 1951, when she was purchased by the City of Penticton for $1. She was towed down the lake where she is moored at the south end of Okanagan lake.

As well as passenger boats the CPR provided a number of tugs on the lake as well. They were tied together by a railroad barge service - barges with tracks on them onto which box cars were rolled. They were handled by tugs. One of the tugs was the steam-powered Naramata, launched in 1914. With the decline in traffic in the 1930's she was moored at Okanagan Landing and given to the Okanagan Landing Community Association, who restored her. She may be seen at Paddlewheel Park in Okanagan landing.