James Cameron Dun‑Waters Arrives at Fintry

[Black screen with title: James Cameron Dun‑Waters Arrives at Fintry]

[Slow background music. A panoramic black and white photo with a view of looking down a forested hillside towards a lake. Narration begins in an English male voice.]

One look was all it took. This was where I was meant to be.

[Black and white photo of several cows in a field, with trees and hills in the background.]

The hills reminded me of Scotland so I named the delta ”Fintry.”

[Black and white photo of a field with several posts, a white house at the far edge of the field and hills in the background.]

Originally, I bought 1174 acres for $22,500, but by the time I died I’d more than doubled that – 2,520 acres or 1,929 hectares if you prefer.

[Black and white photo of a garden, lawn and pine trees.]

[Black and white photo of rows of fruit trees in an orchard. The lake is in the background.]

It was a big game hunter’s paradise and hunt I did, with pack horses, a guide and a few friends. I’d be off in the wilds for weeks at a time but there were other things to do too.

[Black and white photo scrolling photo of a casually-dressed man loading packs and a wooden box onto a white horse. A woman in a blouse and long skirt stands beside him. There appears to be another man behind the horse, with only his legs visible.]

[Black and white photo of a man riding a horse and several pack horses heading towards a sparse forest.]

First, I had to build a house for my lady.

[Black and white photo of a woman in a blouse and long skirt standing on the steps of a large house. The house is granite with a large screened porch across the front.]

We’d had enough towering castle-like homes but Fintry proper would still be impressive.

[Black and white photo of the woman standing on the front step of the house and feeding three horses from a bowl. The man is sitting on the step behind her with two dogs. One of the dogs is on its hind legs looking into the house.]

Granite for foundations and walls came from the cliff right here on the delta. All other building materials had to come down Okanagan Lake by sternwheeler. Furniture, beautiful antiques, came all the way from Britain.

[Black and white photo of a large ship – the three-storey sternwheeler SS Sicamous – on the lake. The SS Sicamous was a luxury vessel that was used to transport passengers and cargo to remote communities along the shores of Okanagan Lake. The ship was launched in 1914 from the Okanagan Landing Shipyards, at the north of the lake. The Sicamous traveled from Penticton to Okanagan Landing with 14 scheduled stops throughout. Today the ship is preserved on the shore of Okanagan Lake, in Penticton B.C. and is a museum.]

At this time, the early 1900s, orchards were being planted all through the valley. I had the garden of Eden.

[Black and white photo of orchards and the lake in the background. In the foreground there are several poles with electrical wires running between them.]

The delta offered rich soil and the triple waterfall provided the moisture. I simply had to harness the creek’s power.

[Black and white photo of a rocky cliff with a waterfall.]

I had a fantastic idea for an irrigation system. Several European engineers said my idea was impossible. I showed them.

[Sepia photo of a drawing of a suspension bridge between two cliffs with a ledge halfway. The drawing is labelled, from left to right, ”North Wall,” “Shorts Creek,” “Ledge on South Wall,” “South Wall,” “Dam and Reserve…” with the last word cut off.]

[Sepia photo of a large wire-wrapped wooden pipe protruding from a cement structure.]

We buried a network of wood stave wire, wrapped, or cast-iron pipe all over the delta, then we dammed Shorts Creek above the middle falls, piped water across the gorge by – if I do say so myself – an extraordinary suspension bridge system.

[Scrolling black and white photo of a rockface with a cement and wooden structure and water running between and beside the structure. As the photo scrolls up, two men and a boy are seen standing on the structure. The man on the left and the boy in the middle look serious, wearing long coats and almost standing at attention.]

[Black and white photo looking down towards a wooden suspension bridge. A rocky gorge is below.]

{Black and white photo of the suspension bridge along the cliffside. A large pipe runs along the bridge from end to end.]

From there it was carried down to the delta. Of course, there was terrific water pressure by that time, enough to grind grain, run a sawmill and channel water through those underground pipes to all the houses, gardens and orchards.

[Black and white photo looking down towards a sawmill, stacked logs, barns and corrals.]

We had running water while my neighbours were still using pails, pumps or relying completely on open ditch irrigation.

[Black and white photo of cows in a field, pine trees in the background and water spraying from two large sprayers.]

We even had spray irrigation years and years before anyone else. The crops and gardens were a wonder. I installed a Pelton wheel in the water channel and we had electricity.

[Drawing of a nozzle titled ’stationary nozzle” aimed towards a wheel with eight flat hooks, titled ”bucket.”

A red arrow circles part of the wheel counter-clockwise, to indicate the direction of turn.]

Rather amazing for that time and that isolated an area.

Black screen with title/credits: Dun-Waters Dream: The Story of Fintry. Friends of Fintry Provincial Park Society.]