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Gordon had four children; Brian and Linda from his first marriage, and Tyler and Graeme from his second marriage. While three of them went to live in Vancouver, Brian Parke worked with his father Gordon in Upper Hat Creek. By the 1980's, North America was entering a period when beef no longer held as much favour among consumers as it once had, and the prices went down. By 1988, when neither the economy nor the cattle prices improved, the Parkes decided to try something new. An article on fallow deer caught their eye, and they travelled to New Zealand for a closer look on deer farming. The market prices for venison were attractive at the time, and New Zealand deer farmers had wanted to expand into Canada. By 1993, a small but growing herd of fallow deer occupied many of the deeded acres of the Gordon Parke Ranch, which had been fenced to contain them.

On the range, cattle still graze the open grasslands seen for the first time by Philip Parke more than a hundred years ago. The valley has changed only a little from those early years as neighbours have come and gone, and it remains a productive and attractive place to live.

Source: Parke, Gordon "The Parke Ranch, Upper Hat Creek, Four Generations", Cache Creek, 1993.

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Parke, Brian
Circa 1975
Upper Hat Creek Valley, British Columbia, Canada


Credits:
Gordon Parke