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150 Mile House
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150 Mile House around 1900 (credit: Dr. John Roberts, Williams Lake)
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When Thomas Davidson, owner of the Williams Lake ranch decided to find a larger piece of property in 1861, he settled on a preemption 10 miles to the east, where he built a large, two storey roadhouse, and developed a lucrative business selling garden produce and hay to Quesnel Forks.
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Jerome Harper early cattlemn and owner of 150 Mile House (credit: BC Archives #B-00937)
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With the building of the Cariboo Wagon Road in 1863, the site became the 150 Milepost from Lillooet. Gustavus Blin Wright, road contractor, chose to bypass Williams Lake, taking the road from the 150 Milepost to Deep Creek, and Soda Creek. For over 50 years the 150 Mile House, ranch and store was a landmark on the Cariboo Road with a Post Office, telegraph, and Police Station.
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Sam Adler, who with his partner James Barry built the bridge across
the Quesnel River at Quesnel Forks in 1861 and established a saloon
in Barkerville prior to 1868. (credit: BC Archives #HP-06259) |
There were many owners of the 150 Mile Ranch, roadhouse, and store. Among them was Jerome Harper, Sam Adler, who with his partner Thomas Barry, rented the facility for a short while. Aschel Bates, who owned several roadhouses in the immediate area, Gavin Hamilton, and the partners George Vieth and Robert Borland in the 1890s. The roadhouse burned to the ground in February of 1913.
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Aschel Bates, an early cattleman, who came to own several ranches in the Cariboo, including the Deep Creek Ranch. (credit: BC Archives #A-01085)
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Gavin Hamilton, who retired as HBC factor for Ft. St. James, bought the 150 Mile House from Bates in 1879. He was forced to sell at a great loss in 1883 to Vieth and Borland (credit: BC Archives #G-00396)
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150 Mile House with George Veith and Joseph P. Patenaude, manager
around 1890 (credit: BC Archives #84640) |
Today 150-Mile House is considered an outlying district of the City of Williams Lake. The population is numbered at 1,275, who live mostly on small ranch holdings up and down Highway 97. Many of these are also engaged in logging, sawmilling, and manufacturing of log buildings. (Encyclopedia of B.C., pgs.515, 516.)
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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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