Coldstream Vally

Coldstream Ranch was originally preempted in 1863 by

Captain Charles F. Houghton of the 20th Regiment of Foot

 who had applied for and received a Crimean War military

 land grant of 1,450 acres.

 This area forms the central core of the Coldstream Ranch.

A map prepared by Joseph Trutch in 1871

 (the year he became lieutenant governor of BC)

refers to the stream as “Houghton’s Coldstream”

 The stream originates from a spring which was examined

by George Mercer Dawson of the Geological

Survey of Canada in 1877.

The temperature of the water Dawson recorded on

 July 8 that year was 48.5ºF.

Captain Houghton had arrived in the Okanagan with two

brothers who had aalso served in the military,

Forbes George Vernon and Charles Vernon.

Their father was J. E. Vernon, Esq. of Clontarf Castle,

Dublin. In 1871, Capt. Houghton was elected to the

House of Commons in Ottawa and the Vernons bought

Coldstream Ranch from him. Later,

Charles sold his share to his brother. In 1890 the Coldstream

Ranch was referred to as “one of the most extensive

 and finest farms in the Province.”

In 1875 George Forbes Vernon ran successfully as a candidate

 for the district of Yale in the provincial election.

 The following year he became Chief Commissioner

of Lands and

 Works for BC and held this portfolio until 1878

when the government changed, though he retained his seat.

 He took a break from politics from 1882-1886,

but ran again and was re-elected and was again

 appointed Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works.

By the year 1891, Forbes Vernon was spending much

of his time in Victoria, and decided to sell the then

13,261-acre ranch to John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess

 of Aberdeen and Temair,

future Governor General of Canada (1893–1898).

Lord and Lady Aberdeen built extensive irrigation

and domestic water works and began subdividing the land

into lots of 10 to 40 acres, making land available for new

 settlers and encouraging development in the area.

Once this had been done, the Coldstream Ranch

 became the site of the first commercial

orchard in the Okanagan.

Coldstream Vally

In 1906, realizing that additional sources of water were

 required to service the extensive orchard lands,

 Lord Aberdeen brought in other shareholders to

form Coldstream Estate Limited.

 An ambitious construction program was then initiated,

with major capital supplied by James Buchanan,

 a British businessman and owner of the 800-acre

 Lavington Ranch property east of the Coldstream Ranch.

James Buchanan received a Knighthood and became

Sir James Buchanan,

Lord Woolavington.

He purchased the Coldstream Ranch from Lord Aberdeen in 1920

and later conveyed it to his daughter, Lady Catherine

 Macdonald- Buchanan,

 who operated it as a sole proprietorship until 1948. In that year,

 the ranch was incorporated with five directors from BC.

For almost 80 years, ownership of the Coldstream Ranch

 remained with the descendants of Lord

Woolavington until 1994 when they sold it.

 It remains a working catle ranch.

Coldstream Vally

Near the Coldstream Ranch is a ranch called the BX.

 It was established in the 1860s by Barnard's Express

(the BX Company) which operated a freight and stage

 service throughout the Interior.

They used the ranch to winter their horses.

 Find out more about the BX stagecoach company

 on the Gold Rush Tour.

Coldstream Vally

info from http://heritagebcstops.com/home-2/

2013 07 01