Kamloops history, from the meeting of the waters

The name: Tkʼemlúps

"Kamloops" comes from the Secwepemctsín word Tkʼəmlúps (also written Tkʼemlúps), meaning "meeting of the waters," the place where the North and South Thompson rivers join. You'll sometimes hear that it comes from the French Camp des loups, "camp of the wolves," but that's a folk story, not the accepted origin (Wikipedia).

Secwépemc homeland

The City of Kamloops notes that the Secwépemc and Nlaka'pamux peoples have lived in this area for close to 10,000 years (City of Kamloops). Secwepemcúl’ecw, the Secwépemc traditional territory, covers about 145,000 km² of the BC Interior.

Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc (TteS), formerly the Kamloops Indian Band, is one of 17 Secwépemc bands. It had about 1,550 members in February 2024, and its main reserve, Kamloops Indian Reserve No. 1, covers 13,283 hectares at the confluence. The current Kúkwpi7 (chief) is Rosanne Casimir. Chiefs of the contact era include Kwa'lila and his nephew Nicola, as well as Chief Tranquille and Chief Lolo (Jean Baptiste Lolo, "St. Paul"), after whom Paul Lake and Mount Lolo are believed to be named (Wikipedia).

The 1862 smallpox epidemic killed roughly two-thirds of the Secwépemc. From 1890 to 1969 the Kamloops Indian Residential School operated in Kamloops, and in 2021 TteS announced the detection of about 215 potential burial sites there. That history belongs to the community to tell. The Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc website is the place to learn more.

For home buyers, this history has a practical side. TteS lands, including the Sun Rivers community, were excluded from City boundaries in 1976 and are governed by the Nation, not the City. See leasehold buying.

Fur-trade forts (1811–1842)

1. 1811Traders with David Stuart of the Pacific Fur Company (John Jacob Astor's firm) winter with the Secwépemc.
2. 1812Alexander Ross builds "Fort Cumcloups." The rival North West Company builds Fort Shuswap nearby the same year.
3. 1813–1821The NWC takes over, then merges into the Hudson's Bay Company. The post becomes Fort Thompson, then Fort Kamloops.
4. 1842The HBC moves the fort to the west side of the North Thompson, in what is now North Kamloops.

Sources: Wikipedia, North Kamloops, City of Kamloops.

Gold, cattle and the railway

The gold rush of the 1860s "did not pan out" here, as the City puts it, but provincial land incentives turned would-be miners into homesteaders and started the ranching economy. The bunchgrass benches you see from Batchelor Heights and Juniper were cattle country long before they were subdivisions.

The Canadian Pacific Railway was built through Kamloops between 1883 and 1885 and the line was finished in 1886. The Canadian Northern arrived in 1912. Later, Dallas on the east side grew from a Veterans' Land Act settlement on the farm of Dallas Johnston (1887–1964). Barnhartvale is named after Peter Barnhart, conductor on the first CPR train through town. The area was called Campbell Creek until 1909.

From town to city

1. 1 July 1893The City of Kamloops is incorporated with about 500 residents. Aberdeen is later named for the Earl of Aberdeen, Governor General from 1893 to 1898, who visited in November 1894.
2. 1896–1907Ernest Brocklehurst lives on the flats that now carry his name.
3. 1939Kamloops Airport opens beside Brocklehurst.
4. 1946North Kamloops becomes a village.
5. 4 Nov 1967North Kamloops amalgamates with the city.
6. 1970–71The Yellowhead Highway (1970) and Trans-Canada (1971) are completed. Cariboo College, forerunner of TRU, opens in 1970.
7. 1 May 1973The city re-incorporates, taking in Brocklehurst, Dufferin, Valleyview, Barnhartvale, Dallas, Heffley Creek, Rayleigh, Westsyde, Knutsford and the Kamloops Indian Band lands.
8. 1976The band lands are excluded again.
9. 1992–2006The Riverside Coliseum (now Sandman Centre) opens in 1992, the city hosts the 1993 Canada Summer Games, and the Tournament Capital Centre opens in 2006. The "Tournament Capital of Canada" name comes from this era.
10. 2005The university college becomes Thompson Rivers University.
11. 29 June 2021Kamloops hits 47.3 °C, its all-time record.
12. 19 Sept 2024The Red Bridge, a 1936 Howe-truss crossing and the third bridge on the site since 1887, is destroyed by fire.

Sources: City of Kamloops history; Wikipedia articles on Aberdeen, Brocklehurst, Dallas, Barnhartvale, the Red Bridge.

The Red Bridge, two years on

The Red Bridge carried traffic between downtown and the TteS lands for 88 years. On the second anniversary of the fire, 19 September 2026, the City and Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc called on the public to rally and urged the province to replace the Red Bridge. A replacement is still under provincial study. A 98-unit rental building has been proposed right next to the site.

Interesting facts

Curious about the Okanagan's history too? Sean's Coldstream guide covers the Coldstream Ranch, which the same Lord Aberdeen owned from 1891.