John Andrew Mara was a Canadian merchant, rancher and a politician at both the provincial and federal levels.

Mara was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

 in the province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. He sat in the provincial legislature as the member from Yale

Yale (provincial electoral district)

Yale was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from the province's joining Confederation in 1871. It was a 3-member constituency and retained the name Yale until the 1894 election, at which time it was split into three ridings, Yale-East, Yale-North and...

. He ran for election as well as sat as both Government and Opposition - this was before political parties were allowed in the House

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

. Federally, Mara was a Conservative

British Columbia Conservative Party

The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...

 and was twice acclaimed as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 in the federal riding of Yale

Yale (electoral district)

Yale was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1872 to 1892 and from 1917 to 1953....

 before being defeated by Hewitt Bostock

Hewitt Bostock

Hewitt Bostock, PC was a Canadian publisher, businessman and politician.He was born in Walton Heath, Epsom, England and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge graduating with honours in mathematics. Bostock then studied law and was called to the bar in 1888...

 in the 1896 election in the new riding of Yale-Cariboo.

Mara's greater claim to fame (or infamy) is the alleged seduction and pregnancy of Annie McLean, the sister of the "Wild McLean Boys". The McLeans were the halfbred children of the former HBC factor at Kamloops, Donald McLean

Donald McLean (fur trader)

Donald McLean was a Scottish fur trader and explorer for the Hudson's Bay Company and who later became a cattle rancher near Cache Creek in British Columbia's Thompson Country . McLean was the last casualty of the Chilcotin War of 1864...

, who had died in the Chilcotin War

Chilcotin War

The Chilcotin War, Chilcotin Uprising or Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in people in British Columbia and white road construction workers...

. Mara's alleged outrage of their sister led to the McLean brothers' bloody rampage across the Nicola Country and the death of provincial magistrate and gold commissioner Johnny Ussher

John Tannatt Ussher

John Tannatt Ussher, usually known as Johnny Ussher, was a settler, provincial magistrate and Gold Commissioner in the Thompson Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada in the 1870s. John Tannatt Ussher was the son of Samuel Ussher Esq., a lawyer in Montreal, and Harriet...

.

Mara owned the large ranchlands between Enderby and Sicamous where the Okanagan and Shuswap countries meet. Mara Mountain east of the original ranch, and Mara Lake south of Sicamous, bear his name. Today Mara Lake Provincial Park on Mara Lake

Mara Lake

Mara Lake is a lake in the Shuswap Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located immediately south of the community of Sicamous and to the north of the community of Enderby. It is the outlet of the Shuswap River, which begins in the Monashee Mountains to the east...

 is now a popular tourist destination during the summer months. The village of Mara still exists south of Mara Lake

Mara Lake

Mara Lake is a lake in the Shuswap Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located immediately south of the community of Sicamous and to the north of the community of Enderby. It is the outlet of the Shuswap River, which begins in the Monashee Mountains to the east...

 along the Shuswap River

Shuswap River

The basin of the Shuswap River lies northeast of the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. It is the upper part of the drainage better known to British Columbians as belonging to Shuswap Lake and the South Thompson River...

.

Mara's wife Alice was the daughter of Frank Barnard

Francis Jones Barnard

Francis Jones Barnard , often known as Frank Barnard Sr., was a prominent British Columbia businessman and Member of Parliament in Canada from 1879 to 1887....

, founder of the Barnard's Express Co. or "B.X.". Her brother, and therefore Mara's brother-in-law, was Sir Francis Stillman Barnard

Francis Stillman Barnard

Sir Francis Stillman Barnard, KCMG was a Canadian parliamentarian and the tenth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia...

, 10th Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia (1914–1919).

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