70 Mile House is a community situated on Highway 97 in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. Its name is derived from its distance from Lillooet, which was Mile 0 of the Old Cariboo Road. Other examples of towns named by their distance from Lillooet on the Old Cariboo Road are 93 Mile House, 100 Mile House, and 150 Mile House. In its heyday, 70 Mile House was a frequent stop for stagecoaches, such as the ones run by Barnard's Express and for Cataline's mule train. [1]
70 Mile House was the first stopping place built on the Old Cariboo Road. Charles Adrian pre-empted the land in 1862 and built a roadhouse on the property. The roadhouse was used in the winter of 1862-1863 by pioneer road builder Gustavus Blin Wright as a camp for his labourers. [2]
In the spring of 1863, Wright purchased the property and leased it to other operators until 1869 when he sold it to JM Roberts and Edward Fisher. They sold the roadhouse in 1875 to John and William Saul. The Sauls sold it to William Boyd in the 1880s, and he and his family operated it for twenty years. [3]
The roadhouse at 70 Mile House burned down in 1956, but travellers on Highway 97 will still find a store and a variety of other services at this historic location.
Coordinates: 51°18′13″N121°23′50″W / 51.30361°N 121.39722°W
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100 Mile House is a town and district municipality located in the South Cariboo region of central British Columbia, Canada.
Lillooet, formerly Cayoosh Flat, is a community on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, about 240 km (150 mi) up the British Columbia Railway line from Vancouver. Situated at an intersection of deep gorges in the lee of the Coast Mountains, it has a dry climate with an average of 329.5 mm (12.97 in) of precipitation being recorded annually. Lillooet has a long growing season, and once had prolific market gardens and orchard produce. It often vies with Lytton and Osoyoos for the title of "Canada's Hot Spot" on a daily basis in summer.
Highway 97 is the longest continuously numbered route in the Canadian province of British Columbia, running 2,081 km (1,293 mi) from the Canada–United States border near Osoyoos in the south to the British Columbia/Yukon boundary in the north at Watson Lake, Yukon. The route takes its number from U.S. Route 97, with which it connects at the international border. The highway was initially designated '97' in 1953.
Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is the second largest city, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel. The city is famous for its Williams Lake Stampede, the second largest professional rodeo in Canada after only the Calgary Stampede.
The Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, James Douglas. It involved a feat of engineering stretching from Fort Yale to Barkerville, B.C. through extremely hazardous canyon territory in the interior of British Columbia.
The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser Canyon" is often used to include the Thompson Canyon from Lytton to Ashcroft, since they form the same highway route which most people are familiar with, although it is actually reckoned to begin above Williams Lake, British Columbia at Soda Creek Canyon near the town of the same name.
The Douglas Road, a.k.a. the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior. Over 30,000 men are reckoned to have travelled the route in, although by the end of the 1860s it was virtually abandoned due to the construction of the Cariboo Wagon Road, which bypassed the region.
Clinton is a village in British Columbia, Canada, located approximately 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Cache Creek and 30 km south of 70 Mile House.
Soda Creek is a rural subdivision 38 km north of Williams Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Located on the east bank of the Fraser River, Soda Creek was originally the home of the Xat'sull First Nation. Soda Creek Indian Reserve No. 1 is located on the left (E) bank of the Fraser River, one mile south of the Soda Creek BCR (CN) station, 431.10 ha. 52°19′00″N122°16′00″W
150 Mile House is an unincorporated community of 893 people in the Cariboo region of British Columbia. It is located 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Williams Lake on Highway 97.
The Old Cariboo Road is a reference to the original wagon road to the Cariboo gold fields in what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. It should not be confused with the Cariboo Road, which was built slightly later and used a different route.
The River Trail was a main route for travel in the colonial era of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia, running northwards along the Fraser River from to present day Lillooet to Big Bar, British Columbia and points beyond in the Cariboo District. The route was primarily in use during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and associated explorations by prospectors northwards in the search for gold in the Cariboo and Omineca Districts.
The Lakes Route is an alternate name for the Douglas Road, which was the first formally designated "road" into the Interior of British Columbia, Canada from its Lower Mainland area flanking the Lower Fraser River. Also known as the Douglas-Lillooet Trail or the Lillooet Trail, the route consisted of a series of wagon roads connected via lake travel in between. A variety of craft were used on the lakes, from steamboats to sail-driven rafts to, through the early 20th Century, diesel and other engines. Lake travel continued for commerce, passenger travel and heavy freight until after World War II.
93 Mile House is an unincorporated community in 100 Mile House the South Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. It is at the junction of Highway 24 and Highway 97. It is located approximately 11 km (7 mi) south of 100 Mile House. 93 Mile House was the name of a roadhouse built to serve travellers on the Cariboo Road during the Cariboo Gold Rush. The name 93 Mile House results from its location at the 93 mile-post from Lillooet on the Old Cariboo Road, which was built to serve travellers bound to the Cariboo goldfields before the opening of the "newer" Cariboo Road via Ashcroft.
Gustavus Blin Wright was a pioneer roadbuilder and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. His biggest achievement was building the Old Cariboo Road to the Cariboo gold fields, from Lillooet to Fort Alexandria, but he was also a partner in a freighting firm that operated on the Douglas Road, he ran a toll bridge at Bridge River, near Lillooet, and built part of the road from Quesnel to Barkerville. He was also the original owner of the town of 70 Mile House.
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road. It is located on Highway 97, 103 miles (166 km) north of 100 Mile House and 28 miles (45 km) south of Quesnel.
The Cariboo camels were a number of camels that arrived in British Columbia, Canada, as pack animals. The Bactrian camels were used on the Douglas Road and the Old Cariboo Road in 1862 and 1863 to haul freight during the Cariboo Gold Rush. Although the experiment was a failure, the Cariboo camels retained an almost legendary status in local popular culture.
Lac La Hache is a recreational and retirement community in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the shore of Lac La Hache alongside British Columbia Highway 97 near the regional centre of 100 Mile House, the community's origins date to the days of the Cariboo Gold Rush and the Cariboo Wagon Road, for which it provided an important roadhouse. Lac La Hache, or "The Lake of the Axe" as it translates to, was named, during the fur trade era, after the unfortunate incident of a French-Canadian voyageur who lost his axe head while chopping a hole in the ice. It is a town rich in history, as it sits along the Gold Rush Trail.
105 Mile Lake is a small lake located to the nearby town of 105 Mile House. Like the town, the lake is named because of its distance from Lillooet via the Old Cariboo Road.
The Lillooet Land District is one of the 59 cadastral subdivisions of British Columbia, which were created by the Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia in 1859, defined as "a territorial division with legally defined boundaries for administrative purposes". The land district's boundaries came to be used as the boundary of the initial Lillooet riding for the provincial Legislature from 1871, when the colony became a province. In addition to use in descriptions of land titles and lot surveys, the Land District was also the basis of the Lillooet Mining District.