Harry Marriott was born in England, but moved to Canada in the early 1900s. He first arrived in Toronto where he tried to go to school, but found that it was not for him. He moved to BC in 1912, where he started working for the Mighty Gang Ranch. George S Harrison was a banker from Vancouver, and an old friend of Harry Marriott. Marriott and Harrison purchased a cattle ranch, and started the OK Ranching Co. Ltd in October of 1933. Harrison House, known then as ‘the Big House’, was built for George Harrison in 1936 to house his family, as well as any guests who may come to visit from the coast. When Harrison and Marriott sold the OK Ranch in the 1950’s, Harrison also sold his land to a family from Vancouver, the Squerrey’s. The family built our two older cabins to accommodate their friends from the coast who came to visit. As the Squarrey children grew and married and the Cariboo lost some of it’s appeal, and they moved back to the coast. The ranch was left to a caretaker until Brian Gunn and his wife bought the ranch in 1989. Brian was an engineer and he and his wife, Kathleen, were looking for a slower pace of life for themselves and their two boys Danny and Dylan. |
Their dream was to own a guest ranch, so they quickly built the Sagebrush Inn, and eventually Brian added two more cabins and four tipi’s to accommodate the many guests that came looking for the cowboy experience, or just a weekend getawayIn 1997 Brian Gunn sold the ranch to Anne Freeman, who ran the ranch for 10 years before selling it to Else Marie and Kresten Vestergaard, who lives in Denmark. Else Marie and Kresten still live in Denmark, but is in constant contact with the ranch, helping to create new ideas, and to restore and renovate the old buildings. They are a breath of fresh air to the ol’ ranch, and we all look forward to seeing where he will take us next! |
