FILE PHOTO - A view of the Similkameen River taken from the mountain to the north of Highway 3, Aug. 30, 2004.

Image Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Richard Smith

From the long distant past there are First Nations legends about the mysterious powers of the Seven Stones of Similkameen.

One, reportedly, caused an early settler to ride naked from Princeton to Keremeos and another spewed smoke by day and fire by night.

Or did they?

There seems to be some basis to the stories since there is now a Seven Stones Winery, launched in 2000 by George Hanson, near Cawston.

Unfortunately, he died in 2021 and no one at the winery returned calls to talk about the story behind the name.

In 2018, the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos, posted a story about the winery in which it says there are “glacial rock formations that can be found throughout the Similkameen Valley. These extraordinary monoliths endow the region with a sense of spirituality, and their ancient mineral beds comprise the unique terroir that is essential to the world-class wines grown here.”

Jeffrey Sefton, a realtor with Faith Wilson/Christie's International Real Estate, is trying to sell the Seven Stones Winery. He provided a list of stones that includes Bromley Rock in the provincial park by that name.

That stone is not one of those identified in what seems to be the definitive work – and the only one on record at the Princeton and District Museum – that was written by Rev. John C. Goodfellow and published in the 1948 edition of the Okanagan Historical Society.

That focusses mostly on First Nations legends as conveyed by settlers, including the family of John Fall Allison, the first white settler of the area. He arrived in 1860 and the Allison Pass on Highway 3 was named in his honour.

READ MORE: No, Hedley was never for sale

While most of his stories are tied to First Nation legends, Goodfellow describes the seventh of the stones as the Hol(e)ystone which is actually a large rock at the site of the Princeton Museum that has a number of holes in it that were drilled as part of annual Dominion Day drilling competitions for local miners.

That simply doesn’t fit in with the apparent First Nation legends surrounding the Rainstone, Witchstone, Firestone, Ghoststone, Lovestone and Leapstone, some of which are now buried or unidentifiable.

Complicating matters more, is that Goodfellow sometimes described their locations based on the site of old settler homes.

Even so, some of the stories are quite colourful, especially the one surrounding the naked rider.

That was the Rainstone, situated in the Similkameen River near the Allison home. The location of the stone is no longer known.

“According to legend, if this stone was struck, it caused rain to fall,” Goodfellow wrote. “One early settler laughed at an Indian who expressed faith in the Rainstone. It was a bright, sunny day and the sceptic said he would strike the rock and, if rain fell, he would ride naked to Keremeos.

“Seizing a big stick, he struck the rock with such force that he broke the stick. Then the heavens were opened and the rain came tumbling down. The white man was as good as his word and he rode naked all the way to Keremeos. At least, so the legend goes.”

The story of the Witchstone comes from Allison’s wife (likely his second wife, Susan) who, Goodfellow wrote, believed in Ogopogo, sasquatches and witches.

In 1948, it could still be seen near the “old Dignan place” at the base of a large tree.

“The stone in question has markings that suggest the prints of dancing feet. Such ‘footstones’ are to be found elsewhere and local explanations differ. It is on record that ‘our’ Indians avoided the place at night time but they did not hesitate to go near the place in daylight. It is possible that the site was a meeting place for tribal discussions before the white man came.”

The Ghostsone was about 20 miles north of Princeton on the way to Merritt near the foot of a long steep hill. It was buried when the highway was reconstructed.

Goodfellow took his story from David, (Red Paddy) Whitley who remembered when the stone was covered with thousands of pieces of wood.

“According to Mr. Whitley, a battle between the Nicolas and the Similkameens was fought here. The Nicolas were forced to retire, leaving many dead on the field. The offerings presented were in the nature of a tribute to the memory of those killed in battle.”

Mrs. Allison also told Goodfellow about the Firestone but, given her advanced age at the time, could not remember where it was other than some place between Princeton and Hedley near Kate’s Rock. It gave off smoke during the day and fire at night.

Goodfellow suggested that it may have been an ancient volcanic fissure seen by First Nations people and the story was passed down through the ages.

Lovestone is a square-fronted boulder more than 20 feet thigh with an “upright staff” on top. It’s between Hedley and Keremeos, a few miles from Keremeos, Goodfellow wrote.

According to that legend, the daughter of a Similkameen Chief fell in love with a young brave from another tribe. The Chief was not happy, captured the young man and was going to have him put to death.

“The young maid swore that she would ride on horseback to the top of the square rock if this would save her lover.” Goodfellow wrote. “The old chief grunted. He thought he knew that it could not be done. And so he consented. The young maid accomplished the feat and the old Chief was so pleased with this exhibition of horsemanship and chivalry that the young brave was forgiven and received into the family.”

Goodfellow tried to climb the rock on foot and was not able to make it halfway up.

The Leapstone, or Lover’s Leap, is reputed to be the highest point between Coalmont and Tulameen. There are various versions to that story but they all resemble lover’s leap stories from around the world, according to Goodfellow.

READ MORE: How a South Okanagan town got its name from a waterfall that no longer exists

Goodfellow was the minister at St. Paul's United Church in Princeton from 1927 until his retirement in 1958.

That same year, he published a book called The Story of Similkameen that “is still considered to be an accurate and well documented account of the valley's timeline and events,” his grandson, Chris Goodfellow of Coalmont, wrote in a 2013 letter published in the Similkameen Spotlight newspaper.

The letter was to thank regional district directors for signs marking Goodfellow Creek in Manning Park.

“The connection to Manning Park stems from a boys group that Rev. Goodfellow mentored through the church and each year he would lead them on a hike over the Dewdney Trail to Hope,” the grandson wrote. “He completed this nineteen times from 1927 to 1946.”

The senior Goodfellow died in 1968.

iNFOnews.ca did contact both the Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands for this story but neither responded by publication time, so they may have other versions of the legends.

If you have any information or photos of the Seven Stones of Similkameen, please reach out to iNFOnews.ca with the contact information below.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2022