the site of the city was discovered by the okanagan first nations people, who named the community nintle moos chin, which means "jumping over place where the creek narrows". this name refers to a section of the swan lake that passes through downtown vernon, the community's central business district. the okanagan people settled around the city's two lakes, okanagan lake and swan lake, eating seasonal foods. later, the land was renamed priest's valley because of the priests living in the valley around 1859. a town was created in 1885 and was named vernon in 1887 in honour of forbes george vernon, a settler who became part of the british columbian government.