Spallumcheen

Indigenous History

Spallumcheen, a word in Secwepemctsin (Shuswap), has been variously interpreted as meaning "beautiful valley," "flat meadow," "flat area along edge," "meeting of the waters," "prairie-banked river.” (See Indigenous Languages in Canada.)

Prior to the colonization of the region, Secwepemc (Shuswap) territory corresponded to the area between the Rocky Mountains (east), the Fraser River (west), Williams Lake (north) and the city of Armstrong (south). (See also Interior Salish; First Nations in British Columbia.)

Colonization and Industry

Among the first settlers were members of the famous Overlanders, who had trekked across Canada in 1862 to reach the gold-diggings of the Cariboo but who gave up prospecting for farming.

The first settlers raised vegetables, grain and a few cattle, but when the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived, giving transportation to markets, wheat became the main crop. In the drier southern part of the district agriculturalists use dryland farming techniques to produce grain, hay, field peas and beans, while in the northern part, where rainfall is somewhat heavier, dairy farming predominates. In recent years new residential development, as well as new industries, have reduced the importance of agriculture.