The first map ever published of BC

[Glacier]

This is quite fascinating. Here is the map published in 1871. You can zoom in and click around (with the smaller map).

Not only are the names different today, but the spellings are as well. Looking up the Okanagan Valley we see:
Osoyoos Lake, Chutes Lake (Tuk-el-Nuit today?), Vasuix Lake (Vaseaux), Du chien Lake (Skaha), Okanagan, Srooenm Lake (Duck Lake today?), Pelmeewash Lake (Wood), and Long Lake (Kalamalka Lake). Those are just the lakes. For towns we see Custom Ho[ouse] (Osoyoos today), R.C. Mission (Kelowna), Houghtons Coldstream (Coldstream), and Pal d'Epinette (O'Keefe Ranch today). That was it for settlements on that map.

As for the reason why spellings were not the same back then as they were today, I defer to the Wikipedia page on Tatlayoko Lake (a large, deep lake in the Chilcotin):

The first comprehensive map of British Columbia was produced under the authority of Joseph Trutch, and was published in 1871. This map gives the name as Ta tlah co Lake, which is similar to the Tsilqot'in name Telhiqox. A few years later, George Dawson surveyed the geology of the area, and his 1878 report to the Geological Survey of Canada used the spelling Tatlayoco. Maps of British Columbia published in the 1880s and 1890s continued to use minor variations of Tatlahco Lake, while many geological publications used Dawson's spelling of Tatlayoco.

The existence of many different spellings for a geographic location was not unusual for that era, and the Geographic Board of Canada was established in 1897 to standardize these spellings. Their "Rules of Nomenclature" included the following:
- The name that is published first will be preferred
- If an indigenous name is used, the spelling should approximate the true pronunciation
- The name should not include any redundant or unpronounced letters
- Any hard "c" should be replaced with a "k"

The Geographic Board of Canada was unaware that the lake was named Tatlahco, which they erroneously thought was a name for a tributary to the Bella Coola River. They were only aware of Dawson's spelling of Tatlayoco, which they adopted as the official name in 1911, after changing the hard "c" to a "k". The name therefore came to be spelled Tatlayoko, despite the fact that Tatlahco was published first, is a better approximation of the original Tsilhqot'in word, and reflects the actual pronunciation of the name (TA-tla-ko).

According to the Rules of Nomenclature, Tatlahco should have been respelled Tatlako.

[bumblebuns]

[quote="Glacier"]This is quite fascinating. Here is the map published in 1871. You can zoom in and click around (with the smaller map).

Very interesting, Glacier - thanks for publishing this. I actually have an earlier one, 18th century, but all it says is "These parts intirely unknown". (That's how it's spelt.)
Cheers.

[Rwede]

So did DLC screw up again? DLC says Pelmewash Parkway, the map says Prlmeewash (I zoomed to 100%, definitely a double "e" and that looks like an "r" not an "e" after the P).

All this naming controversy and it's spelled wrong when the dust settles! Ai-carumba!

Thanks for posting, G.

[LoneWolf_53]

Yep I'm seeing an "r" after the P in Prlmeewash also. There's quite a distinct difference between the second letter and the other two "e" letters following the "m" in the name.

It's definitely not an "e" though I suppose it could be a poorly written "v".