Grave of Arthur B. Knox, lifelong bachelor and secret millionaire.

(BRIE WELTON / iNFOnews.ca)

The Okanagan Lake, downtown Kelowna and the mountains surrounding the city are all visible from Knox Mountain, one of Kelowna’s most well-known hiking spots.

Around 140 years ago, much of the land that is visible from the top of Knox Mountain was once owned by Arthur Booth Knox, a wealthy cattle rancher, who the mountain gets its well-known name from.

“Many people assume (the mountain) was named after Dr. W.J. Billy Knox, who was our beloved long-time doctor,” Bob Hayes, president at the Okanagan Historical Society, told iNFOnews.ca. “But it wasn't named after Dr. Knox. It was named after Arthur Booth Knox.”

A.B. Knox was a Scotsman, born in the early 1850s, Hayes said.

Knox migrated to Ontario as a young man, then moved on to the goldfields in the Cariboo to acquire his wealth, before finally settling in the Okanagan.

“He just started vacuuming up property,” Hayes said. “At one point, he owned probably over 10,000 acres and that included much of what is now downtown Kelowna… north to the mountain that now has his name, and up as far as what is now Okanagan Centre.”

Knox was one of the four big cattle ranchers in the Okanagan at the time. There was also Judge Haynes in Osoyoos, Cornelius O'Keefe up in the north Okanagan and Tom Ellis, who ended up being the most formidable of the group, in Penticton.

“There was a bit of rivalry between (Knox) and Tom Ellis,” said Hayes.

Ellis was by far the biggest cattle rancher in the Okanagan, and not a particularly popular character among the locals.

“Tom Ellis was not particularly well liked,” said Hayes. “He had a history of being kind of ruthless… To give you an example, when Tom Ellis came into the valley in 1865, he was an Irishman, and he met up with another Irishman, Judge Haynes, who owned property where all of Osoyoos is now. He was a big rancher there.

“Haynes said to Tom Ellis, if you want to get established, I know there's some land up on the south end of Okanagan Lake, where Penticton is now. And he said, I'll help you acquire it, which he did.

“He helped Tom Ellis… And then Judge Haynes died. It was 1897, on his birthday, and the ranch fell into hard times. Tom Ellis… rushed in and scooped it for tax sale and got it for almost nothing and kicked the Haynes family off the property.”

Tom Ellis’ ruthless business tactics left him unpopular in the region and seemingly unpopular with Arthur Knox.

In 1890, a couple of large haystacks on Ellis’ property went up in flames.

“Now, these aren't haystacks you see in the nursery rhymes, you know, just a pile of hay. These were massive. They were the size of a building. And of course, it was a huge loss, because this was hay to feed the cattle over the winter,” said Hayes.

After the event, a witness came forward to say that they had seen Arthur Knox skulking away from this area where the fire had been.

Arthur Knox was sent to Trail and found guilty of arson. He was then sentenced to four years of hard labour in New Westminster.

“He was, at that point, probably in his early 50s,” said Hayes. “He did his four years of hard labour and arrived back here as kind of a hero because… Tom Ellis was not particularly well liked.”

Despite becoming a local hero, Knox also had his own ruthless moments.

“A.B. Knox did the same thing (as Tom Ellis) when the Gellatly family fell into hard times across the lake. He scooped the property,” said Hayes. “You know, they were kind of ruthless, some of these early ranchers.”

After completing his hard labour, Knox sold a lot of his property in the early 1900s. He lived in Vernon for a long time before coming back to Kelowna to live in a small cabin by the lake.

Knox accumulated a huge amount of wealth in his lifetime and when he died in 1927, he left behind a fortune of around $250,000 in cash, bonds and stocks.

However, Knox died intestate.

“He never had a will,” said Hayes. “I've looked for a will and people a lot more talented than I have looked for a will. There has never been a will.”

Arthur Knox was seemingly quite a lonely man. He never married or had children. After he died, his wealth was distributed between the government and his sisters back in Scotland.

“I think I only know of one picture of him,” said Hayes. “I mean, keep in mind, this is a guy who was here from 1883 to 1927. So that's 44 years. Owned more land than anybody. Very influential.

“I think A.B. Knox was this guy who was always there, but people really didn't know much about him,” said Hayes. “You see pictures of some of the old timers all together and you don't see him. I suspect he might have been a bit of an unhappy man.”

But it does seem that Knox had one good friend, who he is reported to have seen on his way to the hospital.

“He got off the boat and his old friend, Mac McGuire, apparently saw him and said, 'well, you're not doing very well,'” Hayes said. “He did have friends. I know this man, Mac McGuire, he lived across from City Park. They seem to have been good old buddies.”

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