Unmarked Graves at UBC's Gage Towers

These two unmarked graves at UBC’s Gage Towers have been a mystery for decades, and the university doesn't really like to talk about them. They're worried about vandalism or scaring students in the nearby Walter Gage residences.

Gregg Doughty, a horticulturist and arborist here since 1991, has been trying to find out who's buried here for the last 20 years or so. He thinks it's a disgrace how hidden and disrespected these graves are. Erwin Wodarczak, who heads up the archives at UBC, says this mystery comes up every few years. He even suggested using ground penetrating radar in 2014 to confirm if remains are actually still here, but it's not clear if that was ever done. It's possible the remains were moved.

The existence of the graves isn't disputed though; the 1984 plans for the Walter Gage Residences clearly mark them with instructions to place cedar planks around them. Doughty took photos this week showing tiled outlines around the graves in the landscaped beds, and those tiles might have been added around that time too. The residences themselves were built in 1972, and the apartments in 1984. This area was a lighthouse station in 1908 and later a wireless radio station.

David Grigg, a retired UBC engineer and planner, mentioned that a senior administrator told him about the graves decades ago, saying it was word of mouth that two Chinese people were buried here. Joe Rykuiter, a former head gardener who worked here in the 1950s, pointed out these graves to Doughty over 30 years ago, so they definitely pre-date the 1950s. Doughty thinks they might be two Japanese workers who lived and died here in the early 1900s. Newspaper articles from 1907 reported a large Japanese settlement of former shingle bolt-cutters who stayed in shacks after logging ended. In May 1907, the *Province* reported that these "squatters must leave Point Grey" within 30 days, just months before the anti-Asian riots in Vancouver.

Doughty says there's a file with more information at campus planning, but he hasn't been able to get a copy yet. He's getting close to retirement and really wants to solve this mystery and find out who these people were.