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Pioneers of the Bonaparte

The following account of the Veasey family's life in the Bonaparte Valley is from an article written for the "Northwest Digest" in January 1952 by M.W. Boss, grandson of Mrs. Veasey, who closed with the words "From hearsay I understand the old homestead burned down several years ago and the place much changed, but the natural setting and old red hills that my cherished grandmother loved so well are still there.".

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Veasey and their family of 5 young children arrived in the Bonaparte Valley in the fall of 1869, after a long and tedious journey from New York. Letters received from Mike's brother John Veasey in the Cariboo had spoken of how gold nuggets could be picked up on the roads there, how fortunes could be made in a day, and other easy means of getting rich quick. As a result, Mike got the gold fever, sold his business in the East, and sailed for the West with his family. The trip took them via the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco. Smallpox broke out aboard the ship among some Chinese in the steerage before reaching New Westminster, BC, and the entire Veasey family fell victim to the disease. The oldest child, Katherine at 12 year of age, died after being treated for black pox. The night she passed away, another daughter was born to Mrs. Veasey and the infant received the name of Katherine.

After six months of quarantine and delay, the Veasey family joined the Cariboo Gold Rush. They left Fort Mann by Indian canoe for the upper Fraser River. Reaching Yale safely after a difficult journey up the river, they used a packhorse to carry supplies, blankets, etc., while the family walked 175 miles along the old, rugged and dangerous Cariboo Trail, the mother carrying her baby (three other children were born later in the Cariboo). On arriving near Hat Creek, the family camped in an Indian teepee until a log cabin could be built for better accommodation. No doubt Mike was much impressed by the Bonaparte Valley and saw its possibilities as a cattle range. In fact, he was so impressed with the beautiful, park-like land that he forgot "the gold at the end of the rainbow" and settled down to grow bacon and beans for the miners.

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Veasey, Jack and Pat
Circa 1884 (?)
Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada


Credits:
Ashcroft Museum

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Mike staked 220 acres in the valley with the Bonaparte River flowing through the land for irrigation. He cleared timber and brush, built a two-storied ranch house, corral, outbuildings and snake fences, all of logs. Another early settler and neighbor, Mr. Phillip Parke, presented one of the little girls with a young heifer, which started the Veasey's first dairy herd. As for horses, they were free. Wild horses were herded into the corral from the mountains and broken in for saddle or team work. All this meant hard work, but by the time the Canadian Pacific Railway pushed through Ashcroft, the Veasey's ranch was a well-stocked homestead of mixed farming.

The first time a band of Native Indians came through en route to a potlatch at Williams Lake and stopped at the ranch was a big event in the lives of Mrs. Veasey and the children. Mike was not at home at the time, and the rest of the family ran indoors and hid. Soon a heavy-set Native woman ambled indoors and squatted comfortable beside the fireplace, quietly puffing at her pipe. All of a sudden, she removed the lid from the teapot on the hearth and stuck her hand into the contents. This was too much for the lady of the house, who grabbed a broom, and - shouting "You dirty heathen" - drove the woman out of the door. From then on Mrs. Veasey feared none of the tribe. The same Indians called the Veasey children "Tenas Cayoose Papoose Chinook" after white-eyed colts, due to the children's blue eyes, blond hair and fair complexion.

For several years the Natives picked raspberries off the Veasey bottomland, but as soon as Mrs. Veasey discovered that she was paying them for her own berries, she waited for the next time and quietly took the baskets, emptied the berries into her dishpan, and ordered the Indians off her premises without thanks. Then the Natives were content with tobacco, tea, sugar, matches, or clothes; money was of no use to them as all they knew was trade.

Mrs. Veasey had another interesting encounter one night. In 1879, two of the McLean brothers, whose father Donald McLean had started Hat Creek Ranch, had committed two murders, and for some time were hiding in the mountains with their accomplice Alex Hare, fugitives from justice. Several posses were trying to track them down. During this time, Mrs. Veasey was very concerned as she had known the boys for 10 years and claimed that they were good boys. She thought that they should have received leniency for the first attempt of shooting during a quarrel, but then came their horse stealing, their desperate fight with the police to escape, and finally the shooting of a constable and a rancher who tried to stop them. One evening, while this man-hunt was on, Mrs. Veasey saw the boys coming down the hill to the farm. It was dusk and she nervously pushed the children into the house, then went outside to meet the boys. One of them shouted to her "Do not be afraid, Mrs. Veasey, we will not harm you but we are starving". That was sufficient for Mrs. Veasey, and although she knew that she was breaking the law, she loaded them down with all the food they could carry. Years alter she said "If they only knew how scared I was, they could have had the farm."

Schools in those days were few and far between. The oldest Veasey boys attended the Boys School at Cache Creek, BC, while their sisters were obliged to get an education at either of the convents at Williams Lake or New Westminster. It was at Williams Lake where Mary, the eldest daughter, met and married C.P. O'Neill, and the couple moved to Barkerville. Six years later Mrs. O'Neill received a letter from the government, informing her of the death of her oldest brother, Pat Veasey. The previous summer, 1884, Pat and other Cariboo cowboys had driven a band of steers in through the Chilcotin Valley to Lorne Creek. The boys contracted typhoid fever from drinking stagnant water, and it Pat's case it proved fatal. Mr. Lewis' letter took several months to reach the Cariboo.

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Veasey, James
1910
Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada


Credits:
Ashcroft Museum

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Three years later Johnnie Veasey died at the Bonaparte of pneumonia, contracted while herding cattle in the Williams Lake district. Another three years later, in 1890, Mr. Veasey was killed when his horse and rig went over the bank of the Cariboo Road opposite his home. Mike had been in Clinton and had made the 16 miles home safely, but when trying to make the turn-off into his own driveway in the dark, he misjudged the distance.

By this time most of the family scattered. Two of the married daughters had left the country, but one, Mrs. Colin McDonald, lived only 3 miles down the road where "Cole" operated the 12 Mile House. Jim Veasey, in partnership with Jack McGilvary, was the proprietor of the "Ashcroft Hotel" for many years. This left Mrs. Veasey and her young daughter Celia with only some farm hands to manage the homestead. Old Mr. Robinson, "Scotty Bill", was quite a figure around there but inclined to be lazy. Kim, the faithful Chinese, was a hard worker and would go out at night to transplant his cabbages after a long day of work. Often, when unexpected visitors arrived, he was seen to grab a towel and toothbrush, hurry to the river to bathe, and later to appear immaculate in a white coat and apron to serve in the dining room. In the meantime, old Bill was stealing forty winks under the currant bushes.

Pioneer ranchers and good neighbours of the Veaseys in the Bonaparte Valley were the Walkers, the Doughertys, the Mundoffs up the road, the Parkes, the Morgans and Doc English. These folks were always friends, sharing each others sorrows and pleasures throughout the years. In the summer, they worked hard and in the winter, they relaxed and enjoyed the old-time country dances along the Cariboo Road. The guests arrived in cutters and robes to the jingling of sleigh bells. The ponies were fed and stabled as these dances usually lasted until daylight. There were many dances then, including the squares, round waltz, polka, jigs, the Highland fling, etc. The orchestra often consisted of a fiddle, accompanied by one or more musical instruments such as an accordion or mouth organ, and everyone was happy. The dance supper tables were packed with cold sliced pork, home cured hams, chicken, all kinds of pickles, relishes, jellies, delicious pies, cream, cheese, hot Johnnie cake and steaming pots of hot coffee. Quite often, distant friends remained for breakfast and were welcome to stay over for a second night of fun and frolic.

When sickness came to these ranchers, Mrs. Veasey often acted as both doctor and nurse. She had many of her own salves and herbal remedies, and always burned her needles against infection before a surgical case. She had just turned seventy years when she handled her last baby case. She travelled 60 miles in 40 below zero weather in an open cutter to attend Mrs. Thomas Darby at the Big Bar Ranch. After the child was safely delivered, Mrs. Veasey expressed a wish that she might live to attend this daughter and a fourth generation.

Unfortunately, this was not to be. After forty years at the old homestead, she sold and spent her last days in Ashcroft. Just previous to the sale, a sister, Mrs. Hubbard of Kerkimer, N.Y., came to visit her in 1909. They hadn't met for 40 years. When Mrs. Hubbard reached Ashcroft, she shouted to the conductor "Any other way of getting back but this?", and he snapped back "Not unless you walk, madam!" She only stayed for four days, swore at everything, and remarked that she never realized she had a sister crazy enough to sit on the side of the Cariboo for 40 years.

Source: Boss, M.W. "Pioneers of the Bonaparte". Northwest Digest Volume 8, January 1952.