The Mile “O” Cairn

The Mile “O” Cairn was built in 1939 by a local man named Carl Lawrence. The property the cairn sits on was donated to the Village of Lillooet by my great great grandfather Joe Russell. When the cairn was built it had a water fountain on the side and a light on the top. The light consisted of a 100 watt light bulb with a glass covering. In order to turn the light on and off, there was an arm sticking out with a ring on the end that could be pushed up to turn it on, and pulled down to turn it off. It was the only street light in Lillooet at that time.

About 6:00 p.m. every evening my papa, Russell Norton, and his brother Keith would walk down and turn the light on. They had a six foot long stick with a bent nail on the end which they would hook to the ring and push up to turn the light on. They would hide the stick behind the bench by the cairn and when they went home about 9:30 p.m. they would turn the light off and take the pole back home for safe keeping.

After they turned the light out, it was pitch black as there were no other lights around. When Papa’s grandfather (Joe Russell) would see the light go out at night he would say, “the light just went out, the boys are on their way home”.




By Sadie