Celebrating 75 Years The name Osoyoos comes from the word sẁiẁs (pronounced ‘soo-yoos’) meaning ‘narrowing of the waters’ in the local Okanagan Nation language (nsyilxcən). The ‘O’ prefix in Osoyoos was added by settlerpromoters wanting to harmonise the name with other place names beginning with ‘O’ in the Okanagan region (Oliver, Omak, Oroville, Okanogan). Thousands of miners heading to the goldfields and farmers driving herds of livestock crossed the 49th parallel from 1858 resulting the building of a customs house in Osoyoos in 1861, with John Carmichael Haynes the tax collector.
Main Street Scene, Circa 1948 Photography by Albert Kalten
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