City of Kamloops was invisible to the media due to late night arrivals and early morning departures.

Kamloops Best Kept Secret

The Thompson Valley was never discovered until the early 19th century. Since the arrival of the railroad in 1885, tourists and travellers have passed through Kamloops steadily. The tourist commentaries on Kamloops during the past century has been at best a brief comment on the Kamloops region. Of the city of Kamloops, the travellers wrote little or nothing.

It was noted by Wayne Norton that "the main reason why Kamloops was largely absent from the travel literature, the photographic collecions, and promotional advertising. Travelling west, the daily C.P.R. train arrived at Kamloops at 11:00 p.m., and left for Vancouver at 11:15; travelling east, the train arrived at 24:55 a.m., and departed ten minutes later. Travellers en route quite literally saw nothing of the Kamloops region. They could not comment upon a district that was little more than a train stop in the night." Hence the pioneer Chinese histories in Kamloops were also missing due to the same fact.

In the incorporation as a city in 1893, Kamloops population was about 500 of which over one third was of Chinese descent. The population increased five-fold between 1885 and 1905 and by the outbreak of World War One, there were about four thousand people.

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The CPR railway went through Victoria Street. ThettHE THKDKDDLDN mm M,MMM \ Victoria Street West
C.P.R. Locomotive 3185

KAMLOOPS - A BRIEF HISTORY The junction of the North and South Thompson rivers has been occupied for the last several thusand years. A proud native nation, the Shuswap or Secwepemec, and their descendants lived in the river valleys and the surrounding plateau, hunting, fishing and gathering foods as it became available in different areas. Awell established trade was carried out throughout the many tribes of the Shuswap and with other tribles, especially with the coastal Salish. In November 1811, four traders with the Pacific Fur Company arrived from Astoria, Washington and the following year a permanent post was established on the south side of the river junction. Competition from the orth West Fur Trading Company arrived within the year and lead to the amalgamation of the two trading posts. The Hudson's Bay Company also was trading the area and the competition for furs was so intense throughout Western and Northern Canada that open warfare and bloodshed resulted. In Marh 1821 the two companies merged and in 1842, Chief Tader To built a new post not far from the north end of the current Overlanders Bridge. The gold rush of 1858 opened up much of the interior of BC with various roads and trails. Many miners found that gold was easier to dream about than find and soon realized the potential for ranching in the Kamloops area. By 1870 several ranches were established. The Overlanders arrived in 1862 and gradually a tiny village developed using the ancient Indian a=name of Kamloops. With the promise of a railroad, the colony of British Columbia entered the Candadian Confederation in 1871. The activity of surveyors, land speculatiors, and men seeking employment spurred activity that soon developed the tiny little village into a small city. The first transcountinental train roared down main street in 1886 and the first hospital, school, fire bridgade and newspaper were serving the proud cit\ens of Kamloops. The summer of 1887 saw the first water system built and four years later electric light replaced th few gas lights in the business section. Citizens wanted a more formal civil administration and petitioned the government to grant incorporation. The first council of the new city was sworn in on June 24, 1893. Industry has played a sighificant role in Kamloops developement. The mining industry has long been active int eh area. Mines such as the Iron Mask and Sugarloaf have led to development at Afton and the Highland Valley Copper deposits. The sawmills at Tranquille Creek and at Riverside Park have developed into Weyerhaseuser's modern pulp mill at Mission Flats and the surrounding area supports several sawmills. The ranching industry continues to make a most important contribution to the local economy. The Povincial Bull Sale, initiated in March 1919, and the Provincial Winter Fair, established in 1939 are annual events that enrich our ranching heritage. The indoor rodeo, Rangeland Days and the Cattle Drive (91 & 92) have received nationwide coverage. Traditional trails were our first transportation routes. Since then we have had conoes, sternwheelers, horses, camels, the railway in 1886 and another in 1915, the stagecoach, the motocar and many other means of conveyance. While the railroads gave our first major contact with the rest of Canada and the World, the completion of the Trans-Canaa Highway, the developement of Fulton Field and finally the Coquihalla have established Kamloops as the transportation crossroad of B.C. the City has seen many changes in the last 100 years. The Centenial Committee hopes that we all explore and rediscover and rediscover our past, enjy our Centennial year and contine to work towards a prosperous future. OVERALL VIEWS The City of Kamloops has been incorporated for a century, but in spite of enormous changes in the downtown area, our roots can still be taced through histocic photograhphs from the colletion in the Kamloops Museum and Archives. The contemporary photograh illustrates the way the centre of the modern city has moved about 500 metres east alon /vicoria Street. Wheere the log booms were tied up in 1906 there is a much different contour to the west end of today's Riverside Park. The CPR now runs beside West Victoria Street ratherthan down the middle of the street as it did until 1914. Kamloops has grown out of all recognition since the first city council sat down in 1893. Originally occupying a few blocks near the river junction, the most explosive growth occurred between 1961 and 1981 when the city's population tripled to more than 65,0000. A technological revolution in the Interior forest industry in the 1960s acted as the trigger. The Kamloops Pulp and Paper Company mill which opened on Mission Flats in 1965. Need for housing led to the rapid growth of a number of "bedroom" communities just outside the city limits such as Barnhartvale, Brocklehurst, Dallas, Dufferin, Heffley Creek, Rayleigh, Vallyview and Westsyde. These communities were finally amalgamated in today's City of Kamloops in 1973.