In 1860 Governor Douglas sent Allison over the Dewdney trail to the Silkameen to find out about the stories of gold. Finding no gold and falling in love with the valley, Allsin filed a preemption of 320 acres at Vermillion Forks some tow to three miles away from the town-site of "Prince Town". Prince Town remains only a sketch and a few stakes in the ground today.
In the fall of 1860 Allison returned to the valley with a party of prospectors seeking the gold that was missed. They would find it at a place called "Blackfoot" near the mouth of Whipsaw Creek. When the gold ran out only Allison remained.
In 1861 Allison increased his land to the maximum homestead size of 480 acres and planted potatoes bought from the local Silkameen first nations people. Allison realized that potatoes wouldn't make him a living so he turned to ranching. All this time Allison was exploring the region. He noted reefs of exposed coal, raw copper outcrops and gold.
Thanks to the growing herds of Allison the town of Vermillion Forks came to life. Allison would become the Justice of the Peace in 1876.
In 1895, when gold was discovered on the Tulameen at Granite Creek the third largest town in BC was born. The government saw a need for a Gold Commissioner in the Silkameen Region and that job was given to John F Allison.
In the winter of 1897 while working on the roof of his barn Allison would die. His wish was to be buried on the top of Castle Rock. Because of a terrible snow storm Allison was buried at the base of Castle Rock. Today there is a private family cemetery on the site.
There is a lot more to the life of John Fall Allison. He truly was an interesting character in the early history of British Columbia.
If you look north from the cache you can see Castle Rock on the north side of the Silkameen. Castle Rock still remains in the land holdings of the Allison family and is private property (or this cache would have been on the top).
You are looking for a small lock and lock container now as the ammo can like to change locations