Crime on the Cariboo

12/31/2024

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Historically whenever gold is discovered, it's rapidly followed by a swell of strangers all vying to strike it rich. With it comes opportunity, but also trouble, and even murder.

William's Creek, Cariboo BC c.1867

Cariboo, British Columbia

In 1862, Nehemia T. Smith, better known as Blackjack was involved in the discovery of gold in the Cariboo mines, and the famous strike on William Creek. He had been part of the Fraser River Gold Rush in 1858.

Along the 385 miles of the Cariboo Road a continual stream of humanity poured in composed of miners, drovers bringing in herds of cattle, and long trains of pack mules. Entrepreneurs and those suffering from gold fever descended on the area. One of them was William Roper, who in 1863 bought 320 acres and within four years he built a stopping house or post house named the 108 Mile House. For an unknown reason he left in 1871 and moved to Cherry Creek.

In 1875, legend goes that 108 Mile House was owned by a certain Scottish woman named Agnus McVee, who had fled her native land to escape charges of murder. She ran the inn with her husband Jim and her brother-in-law, Al Riley.

The trio operated the hotel, along with serving meals and a brothel. Then one day opportunity came knocking in the form of Henry Dawson. After eating a meal, he told Agnus he wanted to buy one of her girls, since he was settling down and needed a wife. Whether he had one too many drinks or was just plain stupid, he told Agnus he carried with him about $11,000 in gold dust and nuggets. Agnus put him off, telling him she needed to speak to her husband about the deal. The story goes he was shot in the back while eating supper, or he was ambushed after he left the inn. His body was disposed of in a nearby lake.

108 Mile House c.1867

In the next five years over 50 men were killed. Those selected were traveling alone, and made mention of returning from the goldfields. Agnus' group made a small fortune from robbing and killing miners, and the brothel where it was rumored the girls were chained.

It turned out that one day Agnus fell in love with a traveling miner named Jim MacDonald, who like others before him came to purchase a wife from the girls working for Agnus. Despite Agnus' admonition to her husband not to kill MacDonald, he did so, but worse of all his new would-be-bride was able to escape.

Agnus retaliated against her husband by poisoning him. In the meantime the escaped girl told authorities of what happened, and also that young women were kept imprisoned.

Agnus McVee was taken to Fort Kamloops with her brother-in-law (in some instances he's referred to as her son-in-law), who confessed to all their deeds. Agnus committed suicide since she knew she was headed for a necktie party. Al Riley did swing, and authorities recovered 49 bodies and skeleton in lakes north of the 108 mile. They also found bones and teeth in the some fireplaces.

Through the years rumors spread that Agnus buried gold on the property, and in 1924 a rancher dug up a cache of $2,500 near where the hotel once stood. In later years $6,000 in gold coins and nuggets were unearthed by a machine operator clearing the site for the 108 Mile airstrip.

Even tainted with its murderous history, the 108 Mile House was bought by William Walker. In 1885, he hit a vein of silver quartz, 61 miles above Clinton near 108-Mile House on the Cariboo wagon road.

He then sold the inn to Steve Tingley a BX stagecoach driver and owner of the B.C. Express Company, who ran it with his son Clarence. By 1890 Tingley had purchased an additional 640 acres.

In 1892, the hotel was torn down, and built across the road.

On the Cariboo Road c.1867

In 1903, Captain Geoffrey Launcelot Watson became the owner. Watson was a veteran from the Boer Wars, and being connected to the Watson Scotch Whiskey distillery, he was wealthy enough to acquire 50,o00 acres in the area.

In the meantime he closed the inn and in 1904, started building a new home at Watson Lake, about 4 miles away. He poured money into the house, installing Italian marble, embossed wallpaper and rich, wood paneling. This was in preparation to received his fiancée from England. The house was finished in 1911, however by then the young woman heard stories of the murderous Indians attacking settlers, and decided the wilds of British Columbia were not for her.

Captain Watson stayed living in the Cariboo, and operated it as a ranch. He went on to build a huge barn to house his Highland cattle and Clydesdale horses, which he imported and bred. He also acted as a justice of the peace for the province of British Columbia.

By all accounts, he was a kind and generous man, well liked and respected by all, and always willing to help those in need.

Captain Geoffrey Watson

At the onset of WWI he returned to England. On April 20, 1915, during the heavy fight to take Hill 60 on the Western Front near Ypres, Belgium, he was killed in action. He was 35 years old.

In the 1917 New Year Honors, he was mentioned as Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Watson, CB, attached Canadian Headquarters, receiving a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) honor.

Without a master the house sat vacant and was vandalized. It was restored in 1979 as a youth camp, and it burned down in 1983, after a chimney fire broke out. It spread quickly to the rest of the building, and within hours, the entire manor was reduced to ashes.

The 108 property was purchased by Lord Egerton in 1915, and incorporated into his existing Highland Ranch.

All of these cast of characters were real, except for the murderous Agnus McVee. There is no reference to her in the historical records or even a mention of her capture, and the discovery of the miners she had killed through her five-year tenure of the 108 House. However that doesn't mean that miners were not murdered in order to rob them. Such was the case of one C.M. (Charles Morgan) Blessing.

The discovery of a murdered miner c.1866

On October 11, 1866 a murder at Beaver Pass, Cariboo made the newspapers. A pack train driver fired a shot at a grouse where the old trail left the highway. The bird fell amongst the trees on the hillside. Looking for the grouse he stumbled over the body of a man. It was huddled against a log.

The clothes on the skeleton were undisturbed. He was dressed in a black, double-breasted vest, blue serge pants, with drawers, a grey undershirt and a heavy greyish-brown overshirt, a small white neckerchief, a pair of heavy nailed Wellington boots (size 8), a belt was lying by his side with a brass hook and eye. There was no hat.

His teeth were perfect on both jaws, some of them filled with gold, however a bullet hole was clearly visible on the back of the skull, leaving no doubt he was murdered.

Inside the dead man's pocket was a silver hunting case watch, maker's name John Tobias (Liverpool); a silver pencil case, bearing on the seal the initials C.M.B.; a new tin drinking cup with the name of C.M. Blessing scratched on the bottom; a sheath-knife was found at his feet, and the handle had the initials C.M.B. carved into it. In another pocket was a small clasp purse containing a few grains of fine gold wrapped up in a piece of tea paper. One of the pockets of his pants was turned inside out.

The coroner's jury returned a verdict of "willful murder against some person or persons unknown."

Within a few days of the discovery of the remains, James Barry a passenger on the down stage was arrested on the charge of the murder. It seems a telegram was received from the magistrate at Quesnelle. Barry was described as an Irishman by birth, but had been several years in the country and was well known in New Westminster and Cariboo, and of an unreproachable character. He had spent three or four seasons at Cariboo, but without any luck. When arrested he carried no money on his person, and a friend had paid his passage on the stage.

Charles Morgan Blessing's grave

On August 12, 1867, Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie pronounced a death sentence on two men who were tried for murdering miners. James Barry and a Siwash named Nikel Palsk were hanged from the same scaffolding at Richfield.

A few months after Blessing's death, John Morgan a miner heading out from Cariboo was murdered by Palsk 7 miles below Soda Creek. He was caught after trying to sell Morgan's watch for $5.50. An Indian accomplice sealed his fate by turning Queen's evidence.

Blessing's murder was more complicated. It seemed he had come to Cariboo after mining in California. Along the way he fell in with a black barber by the name of Wellington D. Moses who ran a barber shop on Williams Creek for a few years. He was also the inventor of Moses' Hair Invigorator "to prevent baldness, relieve headache and give the hair a darker, glossy color." He claimed it would "grow hair on the head of a bald senator."

Moses was born in the West Indies, and married Rebecca Montgomery in Liverpool, England in 1841. He served as a Merchant Navy Seaman for Britain from 1845 to 1854. How he ended up as a barber in British Columbia is a story lost to time.

The men walked along for several days from Yale to to Quesnel, which was a distance of more than 300 miles, until they reached Quesnel Mouth. Moses told Blessing he would stay a few days to work on men who needed a shave and a haircut before leaving for Barkerville.

Blessing told him he would look for someone heading to Williams Creek, and if not he would go on alone. A day later he told Moses he had found a man who was going to Cariboo (Barkerville), and his name was Barry. Moses supposedly told him not to leave with Barry, who he said didn't have a friend on the creek, and instead go with him.

Blessing didn't take him up on the offer since he was anxious to arrive at the goldfield. A week later Moses came upon Barry in Barkerville, and asked what had become of Blessing. Barry said he had gone over to Antler Creek.

Moses was suspicious, and decided to keep an eye on Barry, but that's all he had: suspicion. In truth he didn't want to go missing like his friend C.M. Blessing.

A few weeks later, a dance hall girl from Camerontown, came to have her hair bobbed. When paying Moses, she pulled a "peculiarly-shaped nugget" out of her purse. It was shaped like an angel with outspread wings. Moses immediately recognized it as Blessing's good luck piece. He called it his "Guardian Angel". He knew the man would never have parted with it.

When he asked the girl about it, she said that Barry had given it to her, insinuating they had a close relationship. She didn't have to insinuate anything since Moses as the town barber, knew all the gossip.

The months passed, and still there was no sign of Blessing.

Barry who worked at the Pioneer mine came to town frequently, then in October, 1866, a story was printed about a man's body being found at Pine Grove. His belongings indicated his name was C.M. Blessing. Moses read the story, and so did Barry who caught a southbound stage for Yale the same night.

A warrant was made out against Barry based on information provided by Moses. He would go on to be the star witness, and he identified the nugget. He also verified the watch and other trinkets as belonging to Blessing.

At the trial, a man named Gannon testified he had met Barry and Blessing on the way to Pine Grove, and when Barry returned he was alone.

Barry never admitted to the crime, but it was believed that he knew Blessing carried a little money and killed him in order to rob him. It would be easy to hide the body, and since he was a stranger, no one would miss him.

Wellington Moses never left Barkerville, and died in 1890 at the age of 74.

In 1973, the government established a 1.2 acre class A park on the road to Barkerville in memory of Blessing who was 30 years old when he was killed.