108 Mile is known as a paranormal hotbed — but there’s more going on than the usual Gold Rush spirits, cryptids and UFOs said to haunt the Heritage Site.
How about a paranormal convention, for starters?
Halfway between Quesnel and Kamloops, B.C., the 108 Mile Heritage Site spans eight acres and 13 heritage buildings — packed with both history and mystery.
Helming the first-ever paranormal convention on the grounds is Kelly Carnochan, president of the 100 Mile and District Historical Society.
“It sounds like a weird definition, but we get a lot of transient spirits on that property,” Carnochan said during a phone conversation in early June. “I call it a runway for spirits.”
One of the key structures on site is a 40-foot-wide, 160-foot-long log barn — the Clydesdale — built in 1908 by Gilbert Monroe for Boer War veteran Capt. Geoffrey Lancelot Watson. Watson purchased the 1,000-acre property from Clarence Tingley for $11,000. The main house, Watson Manor, was begun in 1904 and completed by 1911. It’s on the top floor of the barn where people report sightings of a shadowy figure known only as the “shadowman.”
Over time, other structures were added, including a bunkhouse, slaughterhouse, ice house and store, growing 108 Mile Ranch into a working farm. It featured Highland cattle, sulkies, polo ponies and, naturally, Clydesdales. The bunkhouse is reportedly home to the spirits of a mother and her young son.
Carnochan said the Historical Society had been discussing the idea of a convention for six to eight months before deciding to move forward.
“Being the first one, it’s very, very small, just because we want to get our feet wet before we jump in big,” she said.
Dave Scott, host of Spaced Out Radio, has long taken an interest in 108 Mile Ranch. He’s also the opening speaker at the event.
To Scott, the area isn’t just about ghosts. It’s a nexus of activity — apparitions, UFO sightings and Sasquatch reports — all anchored by rich Gold Rush history. Even the name “108 Mile” comes from its location on the Old Cariboo Road, marking the distance from Mile 0 in Lillooet to the Cariboo gold fields.
“The heritage site decided they wanted to put on a paracon not only for the benefit of the museum but for the community as well, because this community has the trifecta,” Scott said in a June interview. “It has a lot of hauntings due to the old Gold Rush trail, an incredible amount of UFO sightings and, in the forests, people have claimed to see Sasquatch, little people, dogman — all in this area.”
Beyond the stories, there’s also a legacy. Scott launched the 108 Mile House Ghost Tour in 2017 to raise money for the family of former caretaker Ken Long, who died in 2016. His final wish was to have his ashes returned to South Africa.
“We did a town fundraiser with a ghost tour to get his ashes back to South Africa because it was going to cost about $2,500,” Scott recalled. “We ended up raising it.”
Long, who moved to Canada from South Africa in 1993, joined the 108 Mile House staff in 2002.
Scott, a journalist and broadcaster by trade, covers all things Fortean on Spaced Out Radio. He’s back at the heritage site to reprise his role as ghost tour guide for the convention.
“You really need to have somebody there who knows the history and the understanding of it all,” he said. “Canadians are absolutely terrible at recognizing some amazing history.”
Joining Scott at the one-day event are a roster of paranormal experts, including Calgary’s Most Haunted: Urban Hauntings and Personal Encounters in Stampede City author Ian Gibbs, Beyond the Haunting’s Corine Carey and investigation duo Phil and Pauline Burn.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the ghost tour kicking off at 7 p.m. All proceeds go toward maintaining and supporting the heritage site.
Photo courtesy 108 Mile Historical Site