In the 1870s, the Wild McLeans terrorized Kamloops. Today they’re buried at a New West high school

It will likely come as a surprise to anyone who has ever attended New Westminster Secondary School that the school sits on an old graveyard that includes the remains of three of B.C.’s most feared outlaws from its Wild West days.

Historians tell Global News that the bodies of Allan, Charlie and Archie McLean are buried on the site of the school, which had previously been a cemetery in the province’s early colonial years.

In the 1870s, the McLean brothers – then in their teens and early 20s – terrorized pioneers in the Kamloops area, stealing horses and weapons and generally living as wild bandits who menaced anyone who got in their way.

“The boys never really felt part of any society,  whether it be the First Nations or white society,” B.C. historian John Mitchell said. “They were of mixed race so they kind of just ran wild. They took what they wanted, they were notorious for beating up people.

“In fact, Charlie was stuck in the Kamloops jail for a while because he bit the nose off a Native boy.”

The Wild McLeans finally went too far in the winter of 1879 when they and associate Alex Hare murdered B.C. Provincial Police Officer Johnny Ussher.

A posse was formed and cornered the outlaws in a cabin near Merritt where a days-long shootout and stand-off took place. That cabin is still standing and bullet holes are still visible.

Before surrendering though, the McLeans made one attempt at a getaway, trying to talk the Nicola Indian Band into joining in a First Nations uprising against white settlers.

The gambit failed, but B.C.’s tiny government and police force at the time took the threat seriously.

“They though it was inevitable that there was going to be a Native uprising,” says Mitchell, “and weapons were gathered and put on steamers to be transported up in to this country.”

The McLeans were ultimately brought down to New Westminster, convicted of the murder of Ussher and hanged.

The youngest of the brothers, Archie, was just 15 years old at the time and is one of the youngest people ever executed in what would become Canada.

“Some say there was a tear coming out of Archie’s eye,” Mitchell says of their moment on the gallows. “The other boys apologized and said people should get a lesson from their wayward ways.”

The brothers were buried at a nearby cemetery that is now the site of New West Secondary. They remain there to this day.