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Pollard's Cornish Ranch and Roadhouse |
The 127 Mile House was established as a stopping place during the gold rush of '62 by Henry George Felker and his wife Antonette. Felker, left Hanover, Germany in 1848. Living in New York in 1849, the couple heard of the gold rush in California. They decided to join part of a large wagon train leaving for the west that spring. Felker and two brothers did extremely well in the goldfields and sent money to St. Louis, where Henry had left his wife and mother pending the arrival of Antonette's first child. It was four years before Antonette was to reach California (p69, B.Patenaude:1996).
By 1858 thousands of prospectors were heading for the Fraser River. Accordingly, Henry moved his family from California to Yale. A year later, in 1861 he pre-empted 160 acres there. By 1862 the Felker family had four children and once again moved, this time to just beyond Lac La Hache. There they set up a blue and white striped army to tent close to the size of a creek. They resided at the spot and kept a saloon until a permanent log house could be built. For many years the spot was known as Blue Tent Ranch. The roadhouse they built was a substantial two storey log square with dovetail corners and a fairly sharp shake roof. A full -length flat-roofed porch over the front entrance doubled as a verandah on the upper storey. Felker's pre-emption at 127 milepost was recorded in January 1863. Described as 160 acres, situated one mile north of Lac La Hache. The property later became District Lot 216, G.1., Lillooet (p70, B.Patenaude:1996). The children helped with the roadhouse and ranch chores. By 1864 there was a dairy operating, producing milk butter and cheese. Unfortunately, in 1864, Felker was arrested, on charge of attempted murder. During the trial Felker lost the ranch to E.T. Dodge and Company, a freighting company which held his mortgage. Following the foreclosure on Felker, E.T. Dodge and Company leased the roadhouse to William Henderson until spring 1867, at which time it was purchased by William Wright of Hamilton, Ontario. Wright had, in 1863, pre-empted a claim of 160 acres at 122 milepost. He advertised the roadhouse at Blue Tent Ranch to increase traffic at the ranch and also did business with Charles M. Beak the cattleman. When Wright died on 7 July 1870, in Victoria, his wife Catherine sold the Blue Tent Ranch to her stepson John Wright and her son David Pratt, who had a partnership: Wright and Pratt. This arrangement dissolved in July 1871 due to a quarrel. Wright sold his half of the interest in the ranch to Mike McCarthy and bought John Salmon's land at 130 milepost (p71, B.Patenaude:1996). In 1873 Pratt married and returned to Blue Tent Ranch with his wife. Shortly after, he purchased 100 Mile Ranch from Charles Beak, moved there, and sold his remaining shares to McCarthy. McCarthy married Anna, daughter of Henry and Antonette Felker in 1876. When Pratt died, in 1880, McCarthy and Wright exchanged properties so that Anna could be closer to her parents at 144 Mile Ranch. So the Wrights were now at 127 Mile Ranch. Wright and his wife Alice, and their 12 children ran the ranch and roadhouse until just before the turn of the century when the property came up in a tax sale. It was then held for a short time by James Reid and William Webster. At this time the property was Crown granted. In 1904 the original roadhouse burned to the ground. A second house burned during the First World War. John Wright died in 1916 and Alice and the children continued to run the family business until the 1920'a when the need for roadhouse accommodations in the Valley disappeared. The Felkers then disposed of the place (p73 and 74, B.Patenaude:1996). 
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