This marker relates the fact that below, in the Okanagan Valley, was a natural crossroads, used for centuries, first by the natives and later by a series of explorers, fur traders and trappers, gold seekers and, finally, settlers and farmers.
Southern Crossroads
A valley north and south, a sand spit east and west—this was the crossroads of the centuries. First Nations travelled these lands for millennia. Large rocks laid by these early travelers created a bridge between the lake shores. Down the valley on historic trails came the laden hoses of the Fur Brigades from 1824 to 1848. Later, miners, ranchers and settlers streamed northward. The historic Dewdney Trail crossed the sand spit on its way to the distant eastern goldfields and the legendary Wild Horse country. Routes of the past—highways of today.
From the marker