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Cache Creek
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Looking at Cache Creek while coming down Rattlesnake Hill (credit: BC Archives #E-01243)
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Land on which the community of Cache Creek is located today, had, in 1861, been part of the preemptions of Donald McLean and his sons. Following the death of McLean in 1864, these claims were abandoned until 1867 when Philip Parke, a cattle rancher, preempted more or less the same land.
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Philip Parke (credit: BC Archives #H-00234)
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Parke left Ireland for the goldfields of Barkerville in 1862. Upon reaching the Bonaparte valley, he changed his mind, and preempted land at Cache Creek. In need of funds to stock his ranch, Parke became a partner of Charles Semlin in the operation of Bonaparte House until 1868.
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Charles Semlin, became Premier of BC in 1878 (credit: BC Archives #A-01645)
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While Charles Semlin was an MLA for the Yale District in 1871, he and Philip Parke lobbied the government to build a boarding School at Cache Creek, on land donated by Parke. Opened in 1874, the school operated until 1890, when enrollment dropped below the required number to maintain the school.
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The Cache Creek boarding school, in operation from 1874 to 1890 (credit: Vancouver Public Library #801)
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Williams Directory of 1892, p.182, describes Cache Creek. Situated 6 miles from Ashcroft, Cache Creek is in the Electoral district of Yale. All stages running from Ashcroft to Barkerville pass through the centre of the valley. It is almost entirely devoted to agriculture, with some of the best farms in B.C. located there. Besides farming, large numbers of cattle and horses are raised. The cattle are driven up into the hills for summer pasturage. This area produces a great part of the meat for the Victoria and Vancouver markets.
The climate is dry, allowing root crops and small fruit to do well. In winter the thermometer often registers 40 below zero. Today the resident population of the Village of Cache Creek is 1,115. The climate is semi-arid. Cattle ranching and agriculture, especially the growing of Ginseng are the main pursuits of the area, although revenue derived from transient and passing tourists provides a large percentage of the income of local businesses. (Encyclopedia of B.C., p.103)
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All text and images
© Quesnel & District Museum and Archives unless otherwise
noted. Thanks to the B.C. Archives for permission to show various
images. Thanks to the BC Encyclopedia for permission to quote information
on the roadhouse communities. Thanks to the Living Landscapes Project,
the Royal British Columbia Museum, Ministry of Community, Aboriginal
and Women's Services for their support of site development.
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