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Dean Cebuliak
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Dean Cebuliak
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Dean Cebuliak
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O'Keefe Ranch
For many people in the world, the media has defined British Columbia by the cities of Vancouver and Whistler. In reality, most of British Columbia was, and still is, a result of the heritage of First Nations people and the ‘taming’ the Old West. Where settlers and cowboys built ranches and towns from a lush, but unforgiving wilderness.
Historic O’Keefe Ranch is two weeks older than Canada and will be celebrating its 148th birthday on June 15, 2015. Cornelius O’Keefe and his partner Thomas Greenhow, who were driving cattle north from Oregon to sell to hungry gold miners in the Cariboo goldfields, established it in 1867. Impressed with the lush bunch grass, ample water, and beauty of the Okanagan, they each pre-empted 160 acres of prime meadowland and began raising cattle. It is one of the earliest cattle ranches in the Okanagan Valley.
In 1872, it became the home of the "Okanagon" Post Office, the first post office in the valley, which was located beside the general store. At the time, the ranch was the end of the wagon road from Fort Kamloops, and became the stagecoach depot for the BC Express Stage lines. Mail and passengers were dropped off and some passengers would stay overnight before going out and pre-empting land in the North Okanagan.
In 1882, the Ranch hosted the Marquis of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada, and a son-in-law of Queen Victoria, on his visit to the area. With a post office, general store, Grist Mill, and overnight accommodation for stage passengers, O'Keefe Ranch became a centre of community life for the settlers of the North Okanagan. The ranch’s founder Cornelius O'Keefe (1838-1919), being of the Roman Catholic faith saw a need for a Catholic place of worship in the North Okanagan, and facilitated the construction of Saint Anne's Church at his ranch, where it was built in 1889.
In 1907, O’Keefe, who had accumulated many thousands of acres of land, sold off much of it to the Land and Agricultural Company of Canada for a very large sum. The ranch continued to operate under Tierney O’Keefe (1911-2000), the youngest son of the founder. It was Tierney and his wife Betty that had the idea of opening the ranch up to the public as a heritage site, just in time for Canada’s centennial year in 1967, exactly 100 years after Cornelius had arrives on the spot.
Today, you can pull in past the large iron gates and step back in time as the beautiful O’Keefe Mansion rises to greet you. Many other Heritage buildings including the famous St. Anne’s Church, the Greenhow Museum, Miniature Railway, General Store, Original Log House, and Cook’s House are all there as well.
This year, the ranch is hosting many fun and exciting new events to immerse visitors of all ages in this significant part of Canada’s history.
The focus this year is to expand on some of the previous events such as the Murder Mystery Dinner show(s), Canada’s Famous Cowboy Dinner Show(s) and the Cowboy Summer Festival. Another popular event has been the Vintage Motorcycle Rally, which has been here at the Ranch since 1989. July and August they are hosting a Children’s Summer Youth Camp, which is being booked through the Greater Vernon Summer Parks Program. O’Keefe Ranch will once again have its famous “Field Of Screams” in the corn maze.
Some of the new events that are planned include: Flat Track Racing -Lowsiders Motorcycle Club, Fiber N’ Fashion Tea on the Ranch for Mother’s Day, Dog Daze at the Ranch, Celebrate the Ranch’s 148th Birthday with Cake, Father’s Day Car Rally, Lawnmower Racers, Car Rally with Wine & Piggy Roast, BC Brew Festival and Trail Rides – 5 days a week (May & June) 7 days a week (July & August).
The children’s summer youth camp (booked through Parks and Recreation) is designed for children ages 7-12 and during the one-week program; children will dress, work and play pioneer style. They will learn how to cook on a wood stove, make butter, make ice cream, learn to spin and weave sheep’s wool, knit, tint cottons with natural dyes, work with leather, take part in farmyard chores, garden and participate in old time fun and games. They will learn who originally came to live in the North Okanagan, why they came, and how historic sites and museums preserve the history for generations to come.
To find more details on upcoming events visit www.okeeferanch.ca, call (250) 542-7868 or email info@okeeferanch.ca - Historic O’Keefe Ranch - Box 955, 9380 Hwy 97 N, Vernon, BC V1T 6M8
The O’Keefe family operated the ranch as a tourist attraction until 1977, when the land, buildings and furnishings were sold to the Devonian Foundation, which in turn gave the historic site to the City of Vernon. The O’Keefe Ranch & Interior Heritage Society, a non-profit society and registered Canadian charity operate the ranch on the behalf of the City of Vernon.