Barbara Raue

Penticton British Columbia Canada in Colour Photos Barbara Raue

Penticton is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia situated between Okanagan and Skaha Lakes. In 1866, Tom Ellis, the first European settler in Penticton, built his ranch house. Tom and his wife Wilhemina raised their family, planted Penticton's first fruit trees and established his 30,000 acre cattle ranch. The Penticton Hotel was established in 1892 by Ellis, who positioned it around the local government area, and its first road: Front Street. The sidewalks on the street were made from wood, with coal oil lamps being introduced to the sidewalk. Four Shatford brothers moved to the Okanagan from Nova Scotia and were influential in the area. W. T. Shatford bought out the Ellis Estate and formed the South Okanagan Land Company in 1905; he became rich. Lytton became a senator when Robert Borden was Prime Minister and the Senator Shatford School was named after him. Large dams were built on the upper reaches of the Ellis and Turnbull Creeks creating a gravity-fed irrigation system needed to develop the area into the "Garden of Eden."Horses were instrumental in opening up the interior by carrying goods over the Brigade Trail. Stagecoaches and wagons followed with railways and boats came into use after that. Herds of wild horses roam freely in the hills.