108 Mile Ranch (historically known as 108 Mile House) is a residential community situated in the heart of the South Cariboo region of British Columbia, surrounded by rolling hills, ranches, thousands of lakes and a wide range of recreational activities. Historically, en route to the great Cariboo Gold Rush, a few of the travellers settled here, carving out a place that would withstand the changes in time. For recent history, read The Grand Scheme of the Ranch.
Welcome to the Bridge River Valley, a vast mountain region stretching beyond the grasslands of Gun Creek west to the Bridge Glacier and north to the Chilcotin Plateau. Long known by inhabitants as Skumakum, land of plenty, its lakes and streams abound with Rainbow and Eastern Brook Trout, Kokanee, Dolly Varden & Whitefish. Its valleys and wildflower filled meadows are home to mule deer, grizzly bears, wolves & moose. On its slopes are wolverine, bighorn sheep & mountain goats.
Williams Lake is named in honor of Secwepemc chief William. The story of Williams Lake began in 1860 during the Cariboo Gold Rush when Gold Commissioner Philip Henry Nind and Constable William Pinchbeck arrived from Victoria to organize a local government and maintain law and order.At the time, two pack trails led to the goldfields, one from the Douglas Road and another trail through the Fraser Canyon. Both met at Williams Lake, which made it a good choice for settlers and merchants. By 1861, Commissioner Nind had built a government house and had requested the funds to build a jail. With the center of local government being at Williams Lake, the miners and businessmen all had to travel there to conduct their business and soon the town had a post office, a courthouse, a roadhouse and the jail that Nind had requested.Williams Lake later became a hub for forestry, mining and transportation with the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, later BC Rail and now CN Rail.Williams Lake hosts the annual Williams Lake Stampede, which takes place over the Canada Day long weekend.