Trail North

Name: Trail North
Brand: Ken Mather
SKU: 9781772032307
Price: 22.95 CAD
Availability: OutOfStock

The Okanagan Trail of 1858–68 and Its Origins in British Columbia and Washington

SKU: 9781772032307

Ken Mather

$22.95

Paperback / softback Trade paperback (US)

Winner (second prize), 2019 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical Writing

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.

[T]he author provides an example of the influence of geography on economic development and settlement patterns. The vivid narration brings to life the fortitude of the men and women who travelled this trail. This resource is also useful for comparing past and present practices in resource management, specifically the cattle industry. There are also chapters devoted to the Indigenous People of the Interior which will assist inquiry into the historical legacy of the issues facing these communities today.