Lytton
Lytton is at the confluence of the
Fraser and
Thompson Rivers, situated on a high terrace on the left bank of the
Fraser.
1 Lytton was sometimes referred to as “the Forks”, and the short-lived HBC post of
Fort Dallas was also located there.
2According to Scholefield, the area was an important centre of the Nklaka’pamux, also
known as “the Thompson” people.3 The site of Lytton was once an Aboriginal village called Camchin, meaning crossing over
or the great fork.
4
In 1858, the area was renamed Lytton by
Governor Douglas, after Colonial Secretary
Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
5 In
this despatch, Douglas writes that due to the influx of miners
the Town site of Lytton was laid out, and now contains 50 houses and a population
of 900 persons.
Lytton is mentioned in numerous despatches, and was known as a site rich in gold,
conflict, and cultural exchange.
- 1. Lytton, BC Geographical Names Information System.
- 2. E. O. S. Scholefield, British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present, vol. 1, 1875-1919 (Vancouver: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1914), 271.
- 3. Lytton, BC Geographical Names Information System.
- 4. Scholefield, British Columbia: From the Earliest Times to the Present, 271.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Lytton, BC Geographical Names Information System.