Hat Creek Ranch

Donald McLean
Donald McLean was employed by the the Hudson's Bay Company from at least 1837 to his retirement in 1860. McLean, a Chief Trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, moved to Hat Creek just before his retirement and built and operated a roadhouse and store. It appears that Donald McLean and his family did not remain permanently at Hat Creek, as indicated by an entry in the Kamloops Journal for October 9, 1860:
"Mr. McLeans Family came across and commenced carrying all their private property to their camp on opposite side."
On December 14th William Manson records that he "sent two letters which came to hand yesterday from Lytton to D. McLean's address forward to Bonaparte"; so it would appear that Donald McLean was settled in the valley by the end of the year.

This is supported by the fact that Governor Douglas, on a tour of inspection in British Columbia, reported on July 16, 1861 (B.C. Papers, Part IV, 1862, p.54) that
"Mr. McLean, a native of Scotland, and lately of the Hudson's Bay Company, has recently settled on a beautiful spot, near the debouch of the Hat River, and is rapidly bringing his land into cultivation."

So, McLean was well established near the mouth of Hat Creek in the summer of 1861, but it was not until August 26, 1861 that he recorded a pre-emption, but this was for land at the junction of Cache Creek and the Bonaparte River, not for the land at Hat Creek. The land at the mouth of Hat Creek is however referred to in land records as "McLean's restaurant" or McLean's Ranch. He was killed in a gun battle known as the "Chilcotin War" in 1864.

George Dunne
Dunne purchased the property from McLean's widow Sophia and added it to the parcel that he had acquired bordering on the McLean property.

Jerome Harper
A mortgage was let on the property in 1873, held by Harper. He leased the property to various managers. Harper died in California before he had been paid off by Dunne, and Harper's brother Thaddeus sold the land in 1881.

Steven Tingley BC Archives B-04915

Steven Tingley

A stagecoach driver for the B.C. Express Company who would go on to own it, Tingley bought the property and used it as a stage stop and ranch for the Express.