60 acres leased from rancher Joseph Colebrook Harris.
Harris Ranch (later renamed Bosun Ranch) was located 2 km from the Orchard settlement of the New Denver internment camp, along Slocan Lake between Silverton and New Denver. Owned by Joseph Colebrook Harris (1871–1951), the ranch provided both housing and work opportunities for Japanese Canadians forcibly removed from British Columbia’s coast during World War II.
Internment operations at Harris Ranch were modest but significant. Historians estimate that roughly 200–250 internees were housed in the existing ranch house and newly built shacks known as the “Far Field.”
The site’s history is preserved not only through archival records but also through the Harris family’s recollections. Cole Harris devoted a chapter to this era in the Slocan History Series (Mist and Green Leaves), drawing on his father’s writings to document daily life, work, and interactions on the ranch. These accounts reveal a somewhat more humane environment compared to other internment locations, though the injustices of forced relocation were ever-present.
Today, while much of the physical infrastructure has disappeared, Harris Ranch remains an important reminder of both the resilience of Japanese Canadian communities and the moments of human connection that persisted even under difficult circumstances.
