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250:. The following spring, they planted potatoes about 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) northwest on lower more arable ground beside the creek. The Australian background of the founders reflected in the local name of "The Australian's Place" which emerged for the ranch, then later as the "Australian Ranch". Australian Creek derived its name from the adjacent ranch.
344:
collided with a freight train near the rail bridge after dark, the employee on board was not discovered until the next morning. Despite a triple fracture of the skull and a piece of the frontal bone penetrating the brain, an operation at
Quesnel hospital was successful. Construction of this trestle
312:
An annual fall corn maze was introduced in 2004, with a haunted house added in 2005. The ranch is a 300 grass fed beef cow operation, which has expanded into dog food production and selling perennial flowers locally. In 2019, the ranch, managed by the fifth generation of the family, was recognized
308:
By the 1950s, the highway had been relocated to higher ground. When a road culvert failed in 1955, a torrent of water reached 3.7 metres (12 ft) up the ranch buildings, causing damage estimated at more than $ 50,000. The dilapidated former roadhouse was demolished a year later.
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stage. In 1905, Robert built a two-storey log house prior to his wedding in the new year. When the roadhouse and this house burned to the ground in 1906, they built a two-storey frame house as a replacement. Five of the upstairs bedrooms were for guests and two for family.
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to
Quesnel bypassed the Palace Hotel, the men built a substantial two-storey log roadhouse beside the road at the creek site in 1866. Becoming known as "Australian House", the stop served meals to stage passengers while
278:, leaving Andrew Olson and Stephen Downes as equal partners. After an 1886 fire burned down the BX barn, rebuilding was immediate. In 1898, Stephen died. In 1900, the ranch was advertised for sale.
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was constructed over the creek on a new alignment about 11 metres (35 ft) east of the old trestle. In 1977, a huge fill replaced the bridge. In 1979, the trestle was dismantled.
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The
Australian post office operated from a residence 1923–1947. When lightning struck the ranch in 1929, a barn collapsed upon the cows inside, killing one and stunning an employee.
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After the buyer of their 1864 potato crop never paid them, the disillusioned George Cook left the partnership. When the 1865 extension of the
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several parcels in the area by June 1863. They built a log cabin on the higher slopes, called the Palace Hotel, which served as a
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The grain, hay, and vegetable crops grown during the 1870s and 1880s ranch development supplied miners, as did the
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364:. In 2020, a new compressor unit, gas cooler, and building replaced the previous infrastructure.
234:. Determining that farming would likely be more lucrative, the four formed a partnership and had
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274:, which processed the large herd of cattle and dairy cows. In 1872, William Downes died of
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Andrew Olson (alt. Olesen, Olsen), William and
Stephen Downes, and George Cook, who met in
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Golden
Nuggets, Roadhouse Portraits along the Cariboo's Gold–Rush Trail. 1998
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John died in 1937 and Robert in 1943. The roadhouse closed the next year.
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and his younger brother Robert bought the ranch. Jack was the BX agent at
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In 1960, a 199-metre (653 ft) long and 40-metre (130 ft) deep
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In 1967, Compressor
Station – Australian No. 5 was installed on the
202:, the locality is by road about 85 kilometres (53 mi) north of
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with a
Century Farm Award for over 100 years of ranching in BC.
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was 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) south of the former station.
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242:, but business was not brisk because most travelled on the
787:"Department of Commercial Transport annual report, 1960"
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is an unincorporated community on the east side of the
893:"City of Quesnel Council Highlights - May 26, 2020"
960:Populated places in the Cariboo Regional District
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917:Trails to Gold, Vol 2, Roadhouses of the Cariboo
345:bridge over the creek was completed that month.
945:Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia
374:List of historic ranches in British Columbia
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206:and 33 kilometres (21 mi) south of
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914:Patenaude, Branwen Christine (1996).
955:Populated places on the Fraser River
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13:
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872:"Australian Compressor Station 5"
808:. Canadian Caboose. p. 181.
394:"History of the Australian Ranch"
18:Place in British Columbia, Canada
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536:. November 18, 1943. p. 7.
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294:, and Robert drove the Quesnel–
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356:Natural gas compressor station
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323:Pacific Great Eastern Railway
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7:
804:Wolf, Adolf Hungry (1994).
775:. June 24, 1921. p. 2.
757:. June 14, 1921. p. 4.
685:"Small Business Roundtable"
643:. June 27, 1955. p. 1.
430:. July 16, 1898. p. 4.
367:
10:
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694:. October 2010. p. 5.
596:. July 4, 1929. p. 1.
462:"Australian Creek (creek)"
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288:John (Jack) MacKay Yorston
228:Colony of British Columbia
56:Location of Australian in
267:(BX) changed the horses.
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950:Geography of the Cariboo
839:. July 1979. p. 17.
442:"Australian (community)"
769:"Prince George Citizen"
751:"Prince George Citizen"
740:Timetable. 15 Feb 1959.
710:www.quesnelobserver.com
667:"Williams Lake Tribune"
637:"Prince George Citizen"
590:"Prince George Citizen"
530:"Prince George Citizen"
321:The development of the
232:Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
851:"Westcoast Energy Inc"
398:www.australianranch.ca
325:(PGE) mirrors that of
87:52.73306°N 122.45111°W
467:BC Geographical Names
447:BC Geographical Names
340:In June 1921, when a
806:Route of the Cariboo
773:pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
755:pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
641:pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
594:pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
534:pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca
413:, pp. 168, 171.
226:, were drawn to the
224:Victoria (Australia)
92:52.73306; -122.45111
965:Australian diaspora
724:"1922 BC Directory"
424:"Revelstoke Herald"
159:778, 236, & 672
83: /
920:. Heritage House.
860:. p. 75 (76).
712:. August 11, 2019.
706:"Quesnel Observer"
673:. October 8, 2021.
362:Westcoast Pipeline
329:. The ranch was a
194:region of central
671:www.wltribune.com
576:www.bac-lac.gc.ca
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654:Patenaude 1996
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607:Patenaude 1996
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68:Coordinates:
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260:Cariboo Road
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188:Fraser River
183:
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830:"WCRA News"
728:bccd.vpl.ca
296:Barkerville
282:Yorston era
214:Name origin
90: /
78:122°27′04″W
939:Categories
908:References
327:Alexandria
265:BC Express
244:Soda Creek
236:pre-empted
184:Australian
150:Area codes
75:52°43′59″N
50:Australian
25:Australian
380:Footnotes
331:flag stop
286:In 1903,
248:steamboat
246:–Quesnel
240:roadhouse
218:In 1861,
368:See also
114:Province
342:handcar
317:Railway
230:by the
208:Quesnel
190:in the
166:Highway
143:Cariboo
103:Country
924:
812:
126:Region
107:Canada
875:(PDF)
854:(PDF)
833:(PDF)
688:(PDF)
198:. On
922:ISBN
810:ISBN
335:wye
155:250
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