Old Cabins and Homesteads..........

captonion said:
I don't understand why these arent used for hunt camps....
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That old cabin is in behind Roche Lake here in B.C.
Not far from home.
There are ample lakes around this jewel, so a hunting camp would be great.
Then again, one could take their travel trailer or such and camp on the shores
of Roche Lake and be a bit more secure with your possessions.
The problem around here and in this particular part of the planet is the
commotion in the back forty.
Lots of dirt bikers, quad riders and the young folk who terrorize the bush.
Nothing against them as they have a right to fun too.
The one thing that got me was the smell of the rats infesting this poor gal.
I have ventured past this cabins numerous times, but the last time past, I
was sitting in the passenger seat and got a good glance of the workmanship.
Hence the thread.
Cheers.
 
H4831 said:
Yes, the Fort a la Corne forest preserve is a beautiful place, fifty miles or so, east to west, Saskatchewan River through the entire length and very historic.
Only a very few miles north and west of Smeaton the arable land turns into sand ridges and swamps, and that is the end of farm land. In other words we were on the extreme northern edge of the farmland.
In the early thirties elk were everywhere, eating up the homesteaders hard earned grain crops, and many of them ended up in our roasting pan on a stove that looked a lot like the one in your picture!. As the settlers moved in, the elk moved out. Harper Lake is seven miles NW of our old homestead and an older brother, who was the hunter, used to walk or snowshoe to Harper Lake, stay with a trapper who had a cabin there, and hunt. If (virtually always) he got an elk or moose, he would come home and then go back with the team and wagon, or team and sleigh, to get the animal.
I was too young to go on any of these trips and as a result have never been to Harper Lake. I went with the family on blueberry picking trips to within about two miles of the lake, but that was it. The trail crossed a swamp of about a quarter mile across to get there.
In 1980 they had the fifty year anniversary of Smeaton and I was invited. Wife and I and a son went from BC in our 1978 Ford 150 FWD, with a camper on it. There is cultivated farm land within four miles of Harper Lake, so I thought now surely I could drive my four wheel drive truck to the Lake. Thus, at the celebration I lost no time in asking one of the oldtimers where I could pick up the trail to Harper Lake. He told me I wouldn't be able to drive to the lake! Couldn't get across the swamp, he said. After all those years, not even a 4 wheel drive trail. So, I have never seen the lake where my brother shot so much game around.
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We scouted some grown up fields which were with in 1 1/2 miles of Harper Lake before the season opened. We saw lots of deer there and jumped a moose as well. The land was posted and I hunted on the border of Fort a la Corne but my buddy hunted there anyway and got kicked off. That was some spot, deer everywhere. Also saw an old log cabin in there with no floor in it, and the mud floor in the cabin was covered with deer tracks.
 
Red foreman said:
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You westerners have some of the most beautiful countryside. My heart skipped a beat when I saw that picture, absolutely breathtaking.
 
Here's a few buildings I found in the Merritt area. I'm curious how old do you think some of these would be? When was the interior of BC originally settled?

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The gold rush opened up the interior of BC. The cattlemen and loggers followed. BC interior is fairly young as far as settlement goes compared to much of Canada.
 
Varmit said:
We scouted some grown up fields which were with in 1 1/2 miles of Harper Lake before the season opened. We saw lots of deer there and jumped a moose as well. The land was posted and I hunted on the border of Fort a la Corne but my buddy hunted there anyway and got kicked off. That was some spot, deer everywhere. Also saw an old log cabin in there with no floor in it, and the mud floor in the cabin was covered with deer tracks.
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Actually, when I look at Google Earth, the area NW of Smeaton to Harper Lake appears just the same as it was at the end of the 1930s. It doesn't show fields any closer to the lake than they were then.
Set you're Google Earth at +53 33 and -104 53, so Harper Lake is to your upper left and Smeaton is lower right.
I can pick out our old homestead, 2 miles NW of Smeaton. On GE it shows the building site on the NE corner, a few acres of treed pine ridge that was never cultivated.
 
H4831 said:
Actually, when I look at Google Earth, the area NW of Smeaton to Harper Lake appears just the same as it was at the end of the 1930s. It doesn't show fields any closer to the lake than they were then.
Set you're Google Earth at +53 33 and -104 53, so Harper Lake is to your upper left and Smeaton is lower right.
I can pick out our old homestead, 2 miles NW of Smeaton. On GE it shows the building site on the NE corner, a few acres of treed pine ridge that was never cultivated.
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Yup, found it easy, that's the place. We would have driven right past your homestead. I could fall in love with that piece of territory very easily.
 
Varmit said---"I could fall in love with that piece of territory very easily."

Well now I'm going to post a picture of the house on the homestead, built by my Dad, mostly just with the help of a 14 year old brother. It housed a large family throughout the worst of the great depression.
This picture was taken in 1959. The barn, etc, was where the clover field is now. To the right in the picture was a pine forest, with some outbuildings.
In 1971 I took our 11 year old son to this site. Things had deteriorated from this picture, but I showed him all around, stating how it had been, where I set snares for rabbits and old machinery parts still in a pile.
When he had a good look, he looked up at me and said, "You know, this would have been a neat place to grow up at."
Maybe he was right!
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"You know, this would have been a neat place to grow up at!"
 
Well Mr H, me eyes is play'in tricks on me.
I could of sworn there was a little chap wear'in a funny cap,
sitting on a sleigh being pulled by a big dog.......

Not any ghosts on this site is there per chance..........aye?
 
There are some really neat old homesteads in the knutsford area of Kamloops that my Dad and I used to hike to when I was a kid. It's actually right smack where the new Ajax mine is suppose to go. I don't know if they are still there, but it would be cool to see them. If you walk over the mount where the radio tower is on aberdeen hill, they are right on the other side in some nice grassland.
 
A few years back an antique dealer I know told me that the BC govt. had or has a team going around the province demolishing abandoned buildings on crown land. He was buying stuff that was salvaged by some of the team members before the buildings were torn down. Possibly done to prevent people squatting in them, I don't know. Not sure if that is still going on or not, but it's a policy that could certainly be questioned from a historical point of view.
 
RRCo. said:
A few years back an antique dealer I know told me that the BC govt. had or has a team going around the province demolishing abandoned buildings on crown land. He was buying stuff that was salvaged by some of the team members before the buildings were torn down. Possibly done to prevent people squatting in them, I don't know. Not sure if that is still going on or not, but it's a policy that could certainly be questioned from a historical point of view.
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Now you sparked another memory.
Tranquille Lake.
There was a cabin up there many moons ago that was in decent shape and locked up solid.
Another time I went up there and it was gone.
Burnt down or dismantled.
Rumor has it as you mentioned in your post.
I think this is absolutely horrible.
Then again, if the government built it, then they
have the right I suppose.
I'll bet some of these cabins have saved a lost soul or two.
 
And here is a picture I took from inside the porch of a trappes log cabin, with river access only. It was his home cabin and I stayed a couple days with him.
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