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While visiting Wells
Gray Provincial Park, look for the Ray Farm
loop. It is a relatively easy hiking trail found just
off the main road. Wandering through the scenic
countryside, you will come across an abandoned
farm site. Old farm buildings stand guard over
the remainders of ancient fencing rails and
posts that are scattered through the area. While
this might seem out of place, after all, this is
a pristine provincial park, this spot is a
reminder of a true pioneer of the area, John
Bunyan Ray.
Born in North
Carolina around 1885, John Ray and his brother Sam
set out for the wilds of backcountry British
Columbia around the turn of the century. They
first landed at Horsefly Lake, in central B.C.
where they made a living trapping muskrats and
building houses. While they were working in this
area, an epidemic of measles broke out among the
First Nations peoples of the area, John soon
found himself building coffins rather than
houses. |
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Touched by the number of children who were dying
of this plague, John suggested to Chief Sam that
the children should be kept in bed in a darkened
room. This new remedy was extremely effective.
Only two other children died of the disease. As
a reward, a grateful Chief Sam gave him
permission to hunt and trap on their traditional
territory around Azure Lake. |
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In the winter of
1910, John and Sam set out for the territory
around Clearwater, with about 200 pounds of
provisions and gear, by way of Mahood Lake.
While Sam returned to civilization the
following year, John remained, setting up his
cabin by Alice Lake. Over the next several years
in this solitary land, he laid over 83 miles of
trap line on the Clearwater and Azure Lakes.
Each winter, he would come out around Christmas
to trade his pelts from his yearly results.
John decided to stay
in the Clearwater area permanently. In 1926,
John became a Canadian citizen, and applied for
and received land to begin a farm. He also began
guiding other hunters for Moose and Cariboo in
the fall and hauled fishermen’s boats over 23
miles of rocky trail to Clearwater Lake in the
spring. He knew where the mineral springs where,
the best fishing spots, and the secret spots to
find the big game. The only things which kept
him from being a famous big-game guide was the
fact that his monthly mail service kept him from
keeping in contact with any sort of client base,
and the rough nature of the buildings on his
farm. While John may have been comfortable with
dirt floors and bare feet, even in the 1920's, the hunters from the
city preferred things a little more civilized.
John had very few returning guests.
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In 1933, John
married a local girl, Alice Ludtke, and
started a family. They were looked upon as
oddities in the area, even by other
Clearwater residents. Few people had ever
actually met them, but everyone knew stories
about him. He lived quite peacefully on his
farm in the middle of the wilderness.
Completely self-sufficient, John even
thought about his retirement years. To
provide for income as he got older, John
fenced in beavers in a private beaver swamp-
an easy way to obtain beaver pelts. Pack
horses brought in all necessary supplies, up
to and including a mower, hay rake, and a
300 pound iron stove.
In 1946, the Ray family decided to finally
move closer to town and enjoy some of the amenities of
civilization. John and his family moved off
the farm to Blackpool, just south of
Clearwater. However, John didn’t live long
enough to truly enjoy it. |
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Wells Gray Provincial Park |
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Having returned to
his cabin to take out supplies for the winter in
December 1947, John suffered a heart attack, and
died in the snow. He is buried on the knoll
across the little creek from the house.
John Ray had
hundreds of ideas for recreation in the
Clearwater area, and undoubtedly would have
approved that his beloved farm and solitary
wilderness he roamed in is now part of one of
the largest provincial parks in British
Columbia. A mountain in the park, Ray’s Peak,
and Ray Lake are named after him- eternal
monuments to the man who loved solitude. |
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For More Information:
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Hodgson, Ellen, "Trappers of the North
Clearwater Region", Reflections: Thompson
Valley Histories,
ed. Wayne Norton & Wilf Schmidt, Plateau
Press, 1994 , pgs 158-164.
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Pooley, Nigel, "John B. Ray: Wilderness
Pioneer", Pioneer Days in British
Columbia, Volume 2, ed. Art Downs,
Heritage House Publishing Company,
1975-1979, pgs. 117-119
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Wells Gray Provincial Park
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