In 1863, a year after the Cornwall brothers arrived and established their roadhouse at what they called “Ashcroft” on the new Cariboo Waggon Road from Yale, pre-emptors John Barnes and William Brink established ranches along the Thompson River, stretching from what is now downtown Ashcroft north past where the Ashcroft Terminal now sits. By 1883 William Brink had died, and Barnes had partnered with newcomer Oliver Evans. A survey team looking ov…