Ogopogo: Although this name for the lake monster was first coined in, 1912, a creature in Okanagan Lake has existed in local Indian legend for centuries. It was by them called N’ha-a-itk orNaitaka, Sacred Creature of the Water. Later they called it Lake Demon. Under the name Ogopogo the creature of legend is now the popular tourist mascot of Kelowna.

Reports of sightings of the Ogopogo still crop up, from time to time, as do reports of a number of other monsters inhabiting the waters of British Columbia’s lakes and coasts. Another particularly well-known one is the Cadborosaurus, also known as Caddy, named for Cadboro Bay (one of the places it was sighted) outside Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia.

Jack-a-lope: A horned rabbit-antelope cross commonly seen as a trophy throughout B.C. A similar cross-bred critter is the “horny owl”, now extinct, seen as a trophy in the Yahk Hotel.

Side Hill Gouger: Exploits vary from region to region. In parts of the interior it is reputed to be the creature that makes clearly defined tracks in the sides of hills.

Freeport: 24 kilometers (15 miles) east of Burns Lake is a grave with a picket fence around it, all that remains of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway townsite of Freeport. The grave is that of ‘Denver Ed’ Kelly, a railway worker who was shot by Jerry Mulvinhill for cheating during a card game. The story goes that when the townsite emptied and was put up for sale, Kelly’s sister bought it, then burnt the town to the ground, leaving only his grave in silent tribute.

Premonition: Carpenter, a Toronto lawyer, was one of the Overlanders who came into B.C. from Winnipeg and points east in 1862, in search of Cariboo gold. On Tuesday, September 30th, the group he was with arrived at the Grand Canyon rapids on the Fraser River, eighty kilometers (fifty miles) east of Prince George. While assessing the rapids Carpenter wrote in his diary, “Arrived this day at the canyon at 10 a.m. and drowned running the canoe down: God keep my poor wife”.

British Columbia Mermaids.
Following a plea, for interesting items of folklore, that we sent out to listeners during an interview we did on CKNW’s Nightline, B.C., Gloria, in Burnaby, very kindly sent us the following two articles on mermaids in the waters of our province.
To complement the articles, we searched the internet for interesting artwork and found the beautiful illustration on the left that was created by and is used with the generous permission of the American artist Darrell K. Sweet.

The Mermaid of Active Pass.
In 1967, BC Ferry passengers saw what they claimed to be a mermaid sitting on rocks at the entrance to Active Pass [outside Victoria, BC, Canada]. Reports indicated that the mermaid had long blonde hair, the lower body of a porpoise and was sitting on the rocks eating a salmon. Photos taken by a man in an aircraft support the ferry passengers’ description. The Times-Colonist newspaper reported the sighting and printed the photo. A copy of the newspaper report is available, but unfortunately none of the passengers who reportedly saw the mermaid are available for further comment.

The Mermaid of Point Grey.
I cannot find the book where I originally read the following story but it is a locally published compilation of archival, black-and-white photos on Vancouver’s history. I remember seeing a photo of a newspaper clipping dated from 1870s or 1880s. It described how three local men went out fishing with an Indian guide. They were off Point Grey (the current place of the University of BC) when they saw a mermaid with yellow hair and brown skin rise her upper body above the surface and stare at them. She surfaced very close to the boat. The Indian was quite upset by the sighting and told the men that it was a bad omen as some time before another Indian saw a mermaid in Squamish River, north of Vancouver, and died soon after. The article concuded that there was no reason to disbelieve these gentlemen as they were well-respected around town.