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Pollard's Cornish Ranch and Roadhouse |
John Salmon, who arrived in the Cariboo during the 1860's was the first to pre-empt the land "situated on the Lillooet/Alexandria wagon road," for which he received a Certificate of Improvement in 1867. A cabin located at this site in 1866 was not known to be a roadhouse (p76, B.Patenaude:1996).
By 1871, John Wright, who was still a partner in Charles M. Beak's cattle and dairy enterprise, had purchased the 137 Mile Ranch, where he lived and worked as a farmer. In 1875 he married Alice, a daughter of a sapper of the Royal Engineers. In 1880 the Wrights "swapped" land with the McCarthy's of the 127 Mile Ranch (p77, B.Patenaude:1996).
Mike McCarthy, his wife Anna, and their nine children had need of the substantial log house built beside the Cariboo Road. While they were not known to have catered to stagecoach passengers, the ranch under the McCarthy's was apparently a popular way station for teamsters on the wagon road.
For over thirty years the McCarthy family farmed and served the public at the 137 Mile House. When Anna died in childbirth in 1893, the daughters carried on as hostesses at the house, until one by one they left. With the children gone, Mike prepared for the sale of the property, Crown granted in November 1904 as Lot 218 of the Lillooet District. Although Mike left home on a trip to St. John, New Brunswick, the home of his birth, he returned to the Cariboo and died at his home in the winter of 1915. Following his death, the lands of 137 Mile Ranch became part of the assets of the Enterprise Cattle Company. When this company failed, the property once again fell into private hands, serving as residence to several owners. The house still exists today including renovations that were made along the way
(p77, B.Patenaude:1996).
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