In 1865, James Todd (1832–1925) and his family established a ranch south-east of

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

, British Columbia. He and Lew Campbell could be considered the first settlers of

Barnhartvale, British Columbia Barnhartvale, originally Barnhart Vale, is located at the southeast end of Kamloops, British Columbia, Kamloops, south of Dallas, British Columbia, Dallas in British Columbia, Canada. The area includes riding stables, farms, and ranches. There is ...

.THE WESTERN CANADA RANCHING CO. LTD. v. THE DEPARTMENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
(1921), 60 D.L.R. 360 (also reported: 9212 W.W.R. 834, 30 B.C.R. 25), British Columbia Court of Appeal, Macdonald C.J.A., Galliher and Eberts JJ.A., 29 April 1921

Starting out in North America

James Todd was originally from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1849 he went to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. He does not appear to have struck it rich in California, but he made his living as a packer transporting supplies for the miners. In 1861 Todd began to raise horses and had built up a small herd. His small herd, however, was stolen near

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, and he tracked the thieves through

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and finally got his horses back near

Hope, British Columbia Hope is a district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end ...

. He stayed in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and worked as a packer on the

Brigade Trail The Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort ...

for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. After that, he was quite successful prospecting for gold at Scotch Creek. Todd purchased and very quickly sold again land in Pritchard and on the north side of the

South Thompson River The South Thompson River is the southern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows appro ...

(part of the Harper Ranch).

Acquired land

In 1865 Todd acquired that stretched north and west from the present corner of Todd and Barnhartvale Roads. Todd acquired another of land extending his property further north to the South Thompson River. In 1870 he purchased land in

Barnhartvale Barnhartvale, originally Barnhart Vale, is located at the southeast end of Kamloops, south of Dallas in British Columbia, Canada. The area includes riding stables, farms, and ranches. There is a local Esso gas station, and a local elementary schoo ...

along Campbell Creek. James Todd married Maggie Pablos (her father was the Buffalo King of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

) and had two sons and three daughters.

Children

One of James Todd's sons name was also James. This younger James married Margaret Manson, a daughter of fur trader William Manson who served at the fort in Kamloops in the 1850s and 1860s before settling at

Lac La Hache Lac La Hache is a recreational and retirement community in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the shore of Lac La Hache alongside British Columbia Highway 97 near the regional centre of 100 Mile House, the community's or ...

in the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the ...

. James (the third) died in 1943 and Margaret lived until 1964. One of James Todd's and Maggie Pablo's daughters was named Helena. Helena went on to marry Robert Pratt. It is likely that the elder Todd had a house and barn located near where Todd Road and Pratt Road now meet.

Brother and father

In 1874 Joseph Todd (1831—1905), James Todd's brother, also acquired land in Barnhartvale. Joseph Todd got a

crown grant The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

on District Lot 470. His property would have included Campbell Creek valley from where Barnhartvale Road intersects with Campbell Creek Road for about one and one-half miles south up the valley. Joseph and James's father (James Sr., died 1885) also moved out from Ontario and lived with Joseph and his wife. Joseph Todd moved to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1904 and died the following year. Joseph Todd's house was situated by Campbell Creek where Barnhartvale Road crosses the creek. Another brother, John, joined James and Joseph. There does not seem to be much of a record of John. It appears that he went on to live in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Sold land

By 1874 most of the lower portion of Barnhartvale was owned by the Todds. In the early 1880s the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

rail line went through the property along the river and James Todd sold the remainder of his southern to a man named Alfred Morris who established some type of stopping place there. The Barnhartvale Road as it comes up the hill from

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

is known as Todd Hill after the Todd family. Of course, Todd Road names the road that runs through the old Todd property and Todd Lake is one of the sources of Campbell Creek.

Notes

References

* Balf, Mary, "Kamloops: A History of the District Up To 1914", Kamloops Museum Archives, Kamloops, 1969, pp. 75, 123–127, 132
"The Todds and Pratts of Barnhartvale"
John Stewart, 15 September 1987

''Kamloops Family History Society''

(Site under construction - not available) * Campbell, Kenneth
"B.C. First Nations Studies Teachers Guide - Chapter 5: The Colonial Era, 1849–1871"
(

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

format/See also ), ''B.C. Ministry of Education'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, James 1832 births 1925 deaths Canadian ranchers English emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia Pre-Confederation British Columbia people People of the California Gold Rush