The Similkameen Country, also referred to as the Similkameen Valley or Similkameen District, but generally referred to simply as The Similkameen or more archaically, Similkameen, is a region roughly coinciding with the basin of the river of the same name in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The term "Similkameen District" also refers to the Similkameen Mining District, a defunct government administrative district, which geographically encompasses the same area, and in more casual terms may also refer to the Similkameen electoral district, which was combined with the Grand Forks-Greenwood riding by the time of the 1966 election. The Similkameen Country has deep historical connections to the Boundary Country and the two are sometimes considered one region, partly as a result of the name of the electoral district. It is also sometimes classed as being part of the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is pa ...

region, which results from shared

regional district In the province of British Columbia in Canada, a regional district is an administrative subdivision of the province that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and governmental authority. there were 28 regional districts in ...

and other administrative boundaries and names. The term "Similkameen District" may also historically refer to the

Similkameen Division Yale Land District Similkameen may refer to: * Similkameen Country or Similkameen District, or "the Similkameen", a historical georegion in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen River, a river that runs through southern British Columbia, discharging into the Okan ...

, which also includes

Osoyoos Osoyoos (, ) is the southernmost town in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia between Penticton and Omak. The town is north of the United States border with Washington state and is adjacent to the Osoyoos Indian reserve. The origin of the ...

and the

Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west o ...

to Osoyoos' east. The name "Similkameen" is said to have originated from the ''Similkameigh'' indigenous people of the region, meaning "treacherous waters". Although the Similkameen River's last few miles are in Washington state, only the British Columbia part of the river's basin is named "the Similkameen". The Similkameen is one of several historical regions of British Columbia whose foundations and settlement lay in the days of the Colony of British Columbia, and was one of the first areas of the province prospected as well as farmed and ranched. The area has seen a number of famous gold strikes and large mining operations, notably the Tulameen Gold Rush of the 1880s and 1890s and the Nickel Plate Mine at Hedley, but also including coal at Blakeburn and Coalmont, and copper at

Allenby Allenby is a surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861–1936), British Army field-marshal ** Named for the above: **Allenby Street, Tel Aviv, Israel **Allenby Bridge between J ...

and Copper Mountain, all of these locations in the vicinity of Princeton. Orcharding and ranching are important to the Similkameen Country, with orcharding and ranching operations in the

Keremeos Keremeos () is a village in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The name originated from the Similkameen dialect of the Okanagan language word "Keremeyeus" meaning "creek which cuts its way through the flats" referring to Keremeos ...

first started by Bohemian immigrant Francis Xavier Richter in 1864. Richter's original of fruit trees at Keremeos Centre are considered to be one of the two foundations of BC's orcharding industry, the other being started by the Oblate Fathers at Okanagan Mission. Today the area is seeing a burgeoning wine industry and a boom in sunbelt-oriented recreation housing and property development.

Major towns

* Princeton *

Tulameen Tulameen, originally known as Otter Flat, is a small community in British Columbia, Canada, about 26 kilometres northwest of the town of Princeton on the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3), and about 185 kilometres northeast from the city of Vancouver, Br ...

* Cawston * Coalmont * Hedley

First Nations

The Similkameen Country is mostly in the traditional territory of the Similkameen subdivision of the Okanagan people or Syilx. There are two Indian Bands in the region, the Upper Similkameen Indian Band at Princeton and the

Lower Similkameen Indian Band The Lower Similkameen Indian Band or Lower Smelqmix, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their office is located in the village of Keremeos in the Similkameen region. They are a member of the Okana ...

at Keremeos. The upper reaches of the Similkameen and its upper tributaries such as the Tulameen and Pasayten Rivers, however, were part of the traditional territory of the Nlaka'pamux and their subgroup the Scw'exmx.

References

{{coord, 49, 13, 00, N, 119, 58, 00, W, display=title History of British Columbia

Major towns

First Nations

See also

References