Heffley Creek

The first two settlers along the creek were Robert Todd and Samuel Bigham who were partners in business as packers and were both former Hudson's Bay Company employees.

Bigham was the uncle of Joseph McKay, the Chief Trader at the Hudson's Bay Company post at Kamloops from 1860 to 1865.

Adam Heffley's stock sold for $8,000, a lot of money at that time, and his land was bought by John Thomas Edwards for over $4,000.

In spite of a setback during the bad had winter of 1879 when he lost a large number of his cattle, Edwards' ranch prospered.

"About 12 miles from town is the celebrated ranch of John T. Edwards, where the tasty residence, extensive barns, sheds, and corrals give a pleasant appearance to the ranch, while extensive fields and miles of fencing provide for perhaps the largest bands of cattle and horses along the river."

His land, now occupied by the Rayleigh jail and formerly the Department of National Defense ammunition depot, was bought by Sam Armout in 1888.

McIver's log house, built in the late 1860s, is still standing today as the oldest home in the City.

The Sentinel noted half a dozen different families apart from the major landowners, Edwards, Sullivan and Knouff.

Sullivan, who continued to reside at Shuswap, rented the Circle Bar Ranch, as Edwards' place was named, to various people including W.W. Shaw in 1898 and John McCannell in 1905.

Henri Louis Devick arrived from Switzerland in 1904 and after he died in 1906 his sons continued to operate the farm for many years.

Lawrence homesteaded at Silent Pool beginning in 1905, and he also worked as foreman on the Circle Bar Ranch.

Edwards, now in his late fifties, tried to make a new start in the gold rush town of Atlin in northern B.C.

Until recent years, when it has become a residential community, Heffley Creek has been primarily a quiet farming village raising cattle, sheep and mixed vegetables.

In 1897 the ranching Spratt family of four brothers opened a small hotel at Heffley Creek called the "Travellers Retreat".

During the mining boom in the Kamloops region a gold dredge operated from August 1901 to May 1902 at the mouth of Heffley Creek.

The building was originally log in construction, but in the 1900s wood siding was added There were nine bedrooms upstairs and a bar downstairs.

He had a townsite surveyed at Heffley Creek close to the railway station where he planned to sell small farms from 5 to 50 acres (20,000 to 202,000 m2) in size.

In 1913, Kamloops' pioneer Chinese resident, Ah Mee, purchased a farm at the north end of Heffley Creek Canyon.

When it struck a small island the dredge overturned and the operator, Henry Stevens, and his son had to swim for their lives.

This was a record flood year, and the enormous runoff caused the earth dam at Devick Lake to give way.

Fortunately, the great roar of the water could be heard for miles, and people along the creek were able to wake up and run for safety.

A number of homes, barns and vehicles were smashed or swept away by the water, but there were no injuries except for a few drowned cattle and other livestock.

The Heffley Creek road bridge collapsed, and the water tore two large chasms in the roadbed of the C.N.R., leaving the tracks hanging in mid-air like ladders.

People feared that the larger dam at Heffley Lake might also collapse so a crew of men was sent to strengthen it.