The historic Bridge Creek Ranch has been sold to the Province of B.C. as part of the treaty negotiations with Tsq’escen’ First Nation (Canim Lake Band).
The ranch was founded in 1912 by the 5th Marquess of Exeter, William Cecil, and was operated for over 100 years by four generations of the Cecil family.
The Bridge Creek Estate Ltd. website states the transfer of the ranch was completed in December 2022 and “that the people of Tsq’escen’ will now be the stewards of this property. We wish them the very best so that they are able to carry forward our deep care for the land and water in this place.”
Tsq’escen’ Kupki7 Helen Henderson was out of town and could not be reached at press time.
The website noted Bridge Creek Estate Ltd. will continue to operate as a company owned by the Cecil family, but any inquiries about the Ranch should be directed to the new owners.
The origins of Bridge Creek Ranch and the town of 100 Mile House begin in the early 1800s when the region’s bountiful wildlife attracted fur traders, according to the website. When a small settlement was built here it became known as ‘Bridge Creek,’ named for the bridge built circa 1827.
In the summer of 1861 ‘Bridge Creek House’ was built and would later be called ‘100 Mile House’ for its distance from Lillooet, ‘mile zero’ on the Gold Rush Trail.
This is the second ranch in B.C.’s Interior to be sold to the province for First Nations stewardship. Also in December, Ross Beaty, a Vancouver geologist, sold the BC Cattle Co. Ranch, along with its cattle ranching company for $16 million to the Province for Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation (SXFN). The sale included nearly 7,800 hectares of ranch lands, along with grazing licences for 56,000 hectares of land.
Beaty had purchased the ranch from the previous longtime owners last spring with the intent to restore the lands back to their original, pre-colonial ecology. When he learned about provincial discussions with the SXFN to purchase the same lands for the past three years, he decided to sell the ranch.
Using 100 per cent of the proceeds of the sale, Beaty created a trust for environmental stewardship of the ranch lands, contingent on maintaining a biodiversity agreement between himself and SXFN.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
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