Giovanni and Rosa Casorso

Image courtesy of Don Rampone Collection

Giovanni and Rosa Casorso

Giovanni Casorso met Father Pandosy on the docks of New Westminister and worked with his pack train on their trip to the Okanagan Mission in 1883.  He worked for the Mission while establishing his own ranch nearby.  In 1884 he was joined by his wife Rosa Bevilacqua and three children: Caroline, Antonio and Charles.  Giovanni established a well run farm that supplied not only the local area but also many of the Kootenay and Caribou gold rush towns.  Rosa and Giovanni’s working relationship with the local first nations peoples was deeply entrenched and played a large role in their survival in early Kelowna.  Many of the subsequent Italian immigrants got their start on the Casorso farm.