The land now called Vernon lies on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, represented locally by the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB). The Syilx people have lived along these lake shores — Okanagan Lake, Kalamalka Lake, and Swan Lake — for thousands of years, following seasonal food cycles between the valley floor and the highland plateau. Their deep connection to this landscape is embedded in every trail, ridgeline, and watershed in the region.

European contact came through the fur trade. In 1811, American trader David Stuart of the Pacific Fur Company passed through the valley. The French-Canadian trapper Luc Girouard is considered the first non-Indigenous settler. The Pacific Fur Company was acquired by the North West Company, which merged with the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821, establishing trading posts that drew settlers to the area then known as Priest’s Valley.

The town was renamed in honour of Forbes George Vernon, a politician in the BC Legislative Assembly for Yale. The real transformation came in 1891, when the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway connected Vernon to the CPR mainline at Sicamous — opening the valley to settlers, cattlemen, and orchard growers. The railway launched Okanagan Lake’s famous sternwheeler era: the SS Aberdeen began service from Okanagan Landing in 1893, carrying freight and passengers the length of the lake.

Vernon was incorporated as a city in 1892 — one of the earliest city incorporations in BC’s interior. The 1906 Grey Canal irrigation system opened the benchlands above town to orchards and farms. Today, Vernon is the largest city in the North Okanagan at nearly 50,000 people and growing — with a diversified economy, strong military heritage, and a regional identity built on lakes, trails, and mountain air.