Pioneer Cemetery - Kamloops, BC - Ghosts and Hauntings on Waymarking.com

Kamloops' Haunted History

...The ghost story from Baker's youth is one of many she and her volunteers will share on the nightly Haunted Kamloops Tour starting Thursday.

Baker takes over from previous museum educator Sierra Brown, who started the tours last Halloween. A trained teacher, Baker felt the museum job was a perfect mix of education and fun.

Brown based the 90-minute tours on one she took in Ottawa last year. She dug through the city's past and came up with several creepy tales to share with brave souls.

There will be fewer stops on the walk this year, which some participants felt covered too much ground, said Baker. But she promises all the tales will still be told.

Baker did additional research to expand some of the stories, and has developed a few personal favourites among the eight or so featured.

> The walks start from Pioneer Cemetery on Lorne Street at 6 p.m., where Baker will share the story of John Tenant Ussher, a spirit that roams the neighbourhood.

Ussher haunts the site because he stood to inherit the land from his father-in-law, Jon Peterson. But, as government agent in 1874, he was tasked to hunt down the notorious McLean Brothers when they escaped from jail.

"They were some pretty mean gentlemen," Baker said of the McLeans.

Ussher caught up with the outlaws between Kamloops and Merritt and a fight broke out. He was stabbed, shot and left for dead. As far as anyone knows, Ussher's body was never moved from that spot...
Jason Hewlett / Kamloops Daily News
From the Kamloops Daily News

PIONEER CEMETERY

Pioneer rancher John Peterson provided property for a public cemetery in 1876. The land was offered to local government agent John Ussher. Ironically, Ussher was murdered just three years later and buried in the new cemetery in 1879. With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, Kamloops settlement began spreading eastward towards the cemetery. The New Townsite Syndicate purchased Peterson's ranch in 1884 on speculation and title to the cemetery was included in the sale. The Syndicate immediately began charging burial fees. Peterson himself had to pay $8.00 in 1892 to bury his wife. The City of Kamloops purchased a new cemetery site in 1898 which opened in 1900.

The last burial in Pioneer Cemetery occurred in 1901. The old cemetery was gradually abandoned and left derelict until 1962 when the provincial government ordered the municipality to assume care of the site.
From the Sign at the Cemetery

• Please submit a photo(s) taken by you of your visit to the location (non-copyrighted photos only). GPS photos are also accepted with the location in the background, and old vacation photos are accepted. Photos you took of paranormal activity are great. If you are not able to provide a photo, then please describe your visit or give a story about the visit
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• Be careful and do not enter areas which are off limits or look dangerous. No waymark is worth harm. Use your 6th sense, because sometimes there are unseen things which are telling you to stay out.
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