From article:

At the southwestern end of Lac La Hache is found the old pioneer cemetery.

Near the middle of this graveyard is a plot with a stone that reads: “Julia, wife of Peter S. Ogden C.F.H.B.C.

Died Jan. 21, 1886 aged 98 years” (C.F.H.B.C. stands for Chief Factor, Hudson’s Bay Company). This grave holds the remains of a very remarkable and courageous woman with a fascinating life story.

Julia Rivet was born in 1788 in the vicinity of present day Spokane, Wash. She and her mother were members of the leadership clan of the Flathead First Nation, a subgroup of the Interior Salish people. Julia’s mother was widowed a few years later, and she subsequently took up with a French Canadian explorer and trapper, Francois Rivet.

He had been a scout and interpreter with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and had remained in the area trapping and trading. Julia took on the name of her stepfather, but otherwise had a very traditional Indigenous upbringing.

Julia married a young Flathead warrior when she was in her mid teens. He was killed in a skirmish with another tribe, and Julia returned to the lodge of her mother and stepfather as a 19 year old childless widow.

She live with them for more than 10 years before meeting Peter Skene Ogden, the young Hudson’s Bay Company trader posted to Spokane House.

In 1819, when she was 31 years old and he was 29, she became his country wife. This union cost Ogden dearly — he spent half his life’s savings on 50 horses which he traded in ceremonial fashion for her hand, but he had his mind set on this marriage and was not to be dissuaded, no matter what the cost.

Julia willingly adopted Ogden’s two sons from a previous country marriage, Peter and Charles.

She also made it clear to him that she would not be left behind during his expeditions and explorations.

In their 35-year marriage Julia had six children, three boys and three girls. She accompanied her husband everywhere, children in tow, facing cold, starvation, attacks, sickness, and other crises along the way.

She assumed a full share of duties and more, setting and breaking camp, preparing meals, skinning and drying furs, and assisting with medical problems for both men and horses.

Many stories are told about Julia’s courage and bravery during these travels. One such story took place in the early spring of 1825 near what would eventually become known as the Ogden Valley in Utah. Young Charles was having breathing problems, and Julia needed goose grease to which she would add medicinal herbs to create a salve.

She shot a goose on an island in the middle of the river, but nobody would volunteer to swim across the river to get it.

The expedition members, including her husband who could not swim, watched in astonishment as Julia jumped in, struggled against the current, and returned with the 15-pound bird, her neck encrusted with ice.

Charles recovered fairly quickly after receiving the medications, and Julia somehow avoided even getting a cold.

Another story occurred later on that year, in May.

By this time, Julia was not only a mother to Peter and Charles, she also had two children of her own — Cecilia and Michael, who was just eight months old.

There was a tense confrontation when Ogden’s HBC group ran across a large number of American trappers.

A brawl ensued, along with some gunfire, fortunately with no fatalities.

READ MORE: Rich history behind the Evans place near Williams Lake

A large number of Ogden’s men decided to defect to the other side, taking horses, gear and furs with them.

After the incident, Julia discovered that the horse Michael had been strapped to was missing.

She didn’t hesitate, jumping onto another mount and riding directly into the American camp.

There, ignoring the rifles and handguns pointed directly at her and the shouts to shoot her down, she grabbed the reins of the horse carrying her baby and also the reins of another horse laden with pelts and rode back out.

Both sides were amazed at her nerve, and she emerged completely unharmed, but Ogden and the remainder of his company had to flee the area for their lives.

After completing several expeditions in what is now Washington, Oregon, northern California, Utah and Idaho, Peter Skene Ogden was promoted to the HBC’s New Caledonia District to the north (now known as British Columbia).

Just before setting out, one of the children, a boy, died of a stomach ailment on Jan. 5, 1831.

By 1834, Ogden had been named Chief Factor for the district, and was stationed at Fort St. James on Stuart Lake. There, their last son, Isaac, was born in 1839 when Julia was 51 years old.

Ogden referred to her affectionately as “the Old Lady” even though he was two years her junior.

By 1847, Ogden had been appointed Joint Chief Factor (along with James Douglas) at Fort Vancouver, Wash.

He and Julia remained there until 1854, when his health began to decline rapidly. They retired to the home of their daughter, Sarah-Julia and her husband Archibald McKinlay (sometimes spelled McKinley) in Oregon City.

Peter Skene Ogden passed away on Sept. 27 of that year at the age of 64.

Julia, however, was to live another 32 years. In 1862, the McKinlay family decided to come north to take up land at the southwestern end of Lac La Hache. Archibald McKinlay had also worked with the HBC and was very impressed with the area and its potential.

So it was that in 1863, Archibald, Sarah-Julia, their three sons, their two daughters, Sarah-Julia’s half brother Charles, and 75 year old Julia made their way north on horseback and covered wagon. They travelled from Oregon City to Walla Walla to Penticton to Fort Kamloops and thence to Lac La Hache, arriving in early May.

They constructed a large log dwelling, a store and several outbuildings.

The big log home became the 115 Mile House on the Cariboo Wagon Road, and the McKinlay family remained on this land for the next 79 years.

The store was run by Sarah-Julia and her mother, and the roadhouse was operated by the now grown McKinlay children.

The roadhouse prospered, becoming well known for its good meals and clean beds.

The store and trading post did a brisk business and was known for its honesty.

READ MORE: The origins of Columneetza

The ranch did very well too, supplying beef dairy products and grain to the goldfields to the north.

Once the 115 Mile was running well, Archibald McKinlay and his brother in law Isaac Ogden raised and trained fine racehorses and operated a quality horse race track, part of a large racing circuit in the Cariboo.

As for Julia, she lived to the amazing age of 98, dying peacefully in her sleep. She was buried in the McKinlay family cemetery, later to become the Lac La Hache pioneer cemetery, in 1885.

No pictures are known to exist of Julia, whose life saw amazing experiences and adventure. She was a woman of two cultures who witnessed incredible changes in her long and memorable life.

Article copy and paste:

Most residents of the Cariboo know that the high school in 100 Mile House is named Peter Skene Ogden Secondary.

Some may have a vague idea that the school was named after a fur trader and explorer, but most know little about the man.

So, who was Peter Skene Ogden, and how is he connected to our past?

His life story is an interesting piece of history that bears repeating.

Peter Skene Ogden was born in Quebec City in 1790, the 10th child of Isaac Ogden, who became Chief Justice of the Quebec Court and his wife, Sarah.

Peter was educated at the best schools, and his father had plans for him to become a lawyer, but he was not interested.

He was a temperamental lad with a stubborn streak, and at the age of 15 he decided to head out on his own, looking for freedom and adventure.

Without his family’s permission, he joined the American Fur Company as a clerk.

Four years later, in 1809, he signed up for a seven year clerkship with the Montreal-based Northwest Company, the main rival to the HBC.

Ogden was assigned to a small trading post at isle a la Crosse in Saskatchewan, and there he began making a rather negative reputation as a ruthless bully, harassing traders who dealt with the nearby HBC post.

The HBC journals tell of Ogden slashing clothes and packs, breaking fingers and slapping and punching men without provocation.

It was a pattern of behaviour which repeated itself at subsequent postings.

In 1816, he was accused of murdering a First Nations man who insisted on trading with the HBC. There were also rumours that he was involved win two other similar murders.

Before an arrest warrant could be served, Ogden’s superiors arranged a quick transfer out to the Columbia District, and he left within days, leaving behind his Cree country wife, but taking his two young sons, Peter and Charles with him.

He was assigned to Fort George, at the mouth of the Columbia River, now the present city of Astoria, Oregon.

There, he almost immediately became caught up in a messy dispute between a group of Iroquois trappers and the local Cowlitz natives.

Several people were killed, and Ogden’s reputation as a negotiator and administrator suffered even further.

In order to remove him from the continuing and volatile situation, the Northwest Company reassigned Ogden to Spokane House for the winter of 1818/19.

There, he did much better than the company expected, making good profits on trade and keeping good order.

That summer (1819) he took a new country wife, Julia Rivet.

She was a full Salish woman from the Flathead tribe who had been widowed at 19, and who was living with her mother and stepfather, Francois Rivet, a French Canadian trapper and guide.

Julia was not an easy catch, nor did she come cheap.

It cost Ogden half his life savings, 50 horses, which he traded in ceremonial fashion for her hand. She made it very plain to him that she would not be left behind while he did his travels, and she accompanied him everywhere.

She willingly adopted his two young sons and, together, they had six more children.

In 1821, the Northwest Company and the Hudson Bay Company merged. Ogden’s past history with the HBC and their traders meant that he was not welcome in the new HBC.

Ogden refused to accept this, and he travelled all the way to London to meet with the Board of Governors to plead his case.

Governor George Simpson spoke in his favour, arguing that Ogden had done no more than many others during the “fur trade wars.”

He was finally accepted, and appointed Chief Trader in charge of Spokane House in 1823. Then, in 1824, he was promoted and put in charge of the Snake River country in the HBC’s Columbia region.

Between 1824 and 1830, Ogden led six major expeditions to explore the Pacific Northwest.

These included the Snake and Bitteroot River watersheds in Utah, the Columbia River and Blue Mountains areas in Oregon, large areas of what are now Washington and Montana, the Great Salt Lake area and the western Great Basin and northern California.

He served the HBC with dedication and distinction, opening up the northwest to settlement and establishing fur trading routes.

He left the Snake River assignment in 1830 and took a position at Fort Colville.

That spring, Ogden received orders that he was being sent north to the New Caledonia District (now British Columbia) to establish a new HBC post named Fort Simpson at the mouth of the Nass River.

He also tried to expand the HBC’s trading influence into Alaska.

In 1834, he was promoted to Chief Factor, the highest field rank in the company.

The whole family moved to Fort St. James on Stuart Lake, which was the district’s headquarters.

There, Julia gave birth to her sixth child, a boy they called Isaac. She was 51 years old at the time.

In 1844, the family returned south to Fort Vancouver (Washington).

Ogden was summoned to London. It was the time of the boundary dispute between England and the U.S.

Ogden was tasked with escorting two British army officers across the country for them to assess the possibilities of using key HBC trading posts as military installations in the case of an armed conflict.

After the Oregon Boundary Treaty was signed and ratified the HBC continued its operations in the northwest.

Peter Skene Ogden and his long-time associate, James Douglas, were appointed join Masters of Fort Vancouver in 1847.

Ogden enjoyed this new posting, which was like a semi retirement, judging horse races, becoming a patron of the curling club, writing articles in newspapers and magazines and offering advice to American settlers, who were pouring into the region.

That same year, Ogden showed his diplomatic skills in resolving a hostage taking incident where some men from the Cayuse tribe killed 14 people and took 47 prisoners near present-day Walla Walla, Washington.

He was able to negotiate an exchange of the captives for a supply of trade goods and seven oxen.

Ogden served as the Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver for almost six more years. In 1854, his health deteriorated rapidly and he and Julia retired to the home of their daughter in Oregon City.

He passed away there on Sept. 27, 1854 at the age of 64. Julia lived for another three decades.

Because Ogden had never legalized his marriage to Julia, his brother and sister began legal proceedings to disinherit her and all their children.

This was despite Ogden’s written will which clearly stated “should any relation of mine or any other individual attempt to dispute this will … I declare that I disinherit them as full as the law authorizes me.”

The local HBC Governor, John McLoughlin, intervened in this dispute and enabled a satisfactory resolution.

Ogden’s name is remembered throughout the Pacific Northwest. Ogden, Utah, Ogden Point in Victoria, Peter Skene Ogden state park in Oregon, several streets and at least four schools carry his name.

There is no doubt that Peter Skene Ogden contributed greatly to the expansion of the west and the fur trade during the first half of the 19th century.

He was a man who had overcome a ruthless streak and a flawed past to become a shrewd trader, a trusted employee, a capable negotiator and a true explorer.

Thanks so much! I'm looking into screenwriters in my province, I would love to see her amazing story come to life ❤️

Great suggestion! I'll take a look, thanks!

And that one is going on my to read list. Thank you for sharing. I looked up the reviews, and it sounds very interesting!

There's no denying he was a real brute, especially in his younger years, yikes! As he aged, he was said to have been remorseful for how he was in those days, from what I've been told anyway.

Julia was a force, my goodness. She really did it all, all while tending to a company of men, and horses, PLUS 8 children?? Absolutly wild, what a legend!

Wonderful suggestion, I might just look into this! Thank you!

I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks!

Right?! She was one tough lady!

Absolutely! Thanks for reading!

I actually meant to, lol! but forgot to comment on it. It was a good one, for sure!

The family had always entertained the idea of her story being brought to the big screen. (I'm a descendant of her adopted son, Peter)

I wouldn't even know where to begin pitching the idea, so if anyone reading this has any tips on how to make this happen, please feel free to contact me :)

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!

Edit: pun 10/10

She was a truly remarkable woman!

Thanks for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed her story!