Several places we hike to are included here:

Batchelor (with a t)

• Batchelor Hills, Batchelor Lake, Batchelor Mine
• Named after Owen Salisbury Batchelor who moved to Kamloops in 1895
• He built and ran a stamp mill just below the hills and was involved in several other mining ventures in the area

Mara

• Mara Mountain, Mara Trail, Mara Canyon (Kamloops)
• Named after John Andrew Mara.
• He arrived in 1862 with the Fraser River Overlanders.
• He had success in the Big Bend Gold Rush, but soon moved to selling supplies.
• He was elected to the legislature in 1871 as a Conservative
• Mara owned a store in Kamloops, competing with the HBC store.
• “In 1874, Mara purchased the first Shuswap steamer, the Marten, which became the nucleus for his shipping business, the Kamloops Steam Navigation Company. When the Marten was wrecked on rocks three years later, the company went on to build more steamers, including the 255 ton Peerless, which was then the only way to transport freight and passengers between Savona and Fortune’s Landing, now Enderby.” (Jim Cooperman)
• Mara became the Speaker of the House in 1883.
• He was involved in a scandal with the sister of the Maclean Brothers, who went on a rampage in the Nicola area.
• Later in his life he was an owner of a Shuswap sawmill and was one of the principal investors in the railline from Sicamous to the Okanagan.
• In 1896 he lost the election to Liberal Hewitt Bostck, the founder of the Kamloops Sentinel newspaper.
• Mara Lake, Mara Mountain, and the tiny community of Mara (North Okanagan/Shuswap) were also named after him.

At the Confluence, 1887

Tranquille

• Tranquille on the Lake, Tranquille River, Tranquille Hills, Tranquille Lake
• Tranquille was the nickname for Chief Pacamoos (head of the Lower Shuswap Tribe), by the fur traders in 1827, as noted by Archibald  McDonald, head of the Regional HBC Forts at the time.
• His quiet and serene manner may have been the source of the name, or it could be a reference to the river on which his people lived.

Tranquille Mills, 1871

Tod

• Tod Mountain
• named for John Tod the chief trader of the Hudson Bay Company from 1842 to 1850.
• Todd Road in Barnharvale was named after James Todd, the first landowner in the Barnhartvale – Dallas – Campbell Creek area
• He married Sophia Lolo, daughter of Jean Baptiste Lolo (St. Paul), and had 7 children
• Tod was nominated to the Vancouver Island Legislative Assembly in 1851 and settled in Victoria.
• The Tod House in Oak Bay is a designated heritage home.

John Tod

Published simulatanously on Kamloops Hiking Club and Kamloops Trails.

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Doug Smith

Retired now, I get into the outdoors most days to hike, paddle, camp, snowshoe, run, walk, or explore. More information can be found at: KamloopsTrails.net.

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