In 1907, American C. E. Barnes decided to irrigate part of the Thompson valley and turn the dry lands into orchards. He so interested an English aristocrat, the Marquis of Anglesey, in the project that the Marquis moved to BC and encouraged others to come with him.

The two men formed a land and irrigation company, known as the BC Horticultural Estates or the Barnes' Estates. They acquired 3,000 acres of arable (fit for ploughing) land, half of which was put under cultivation. Unfortunately, the soil was not really suitable foir fruit ranching which was the main crop. The company also built a hotel, fruit packing house and a community hall. A golf course was projected but never laid out.

The men of the community were generally young and single with no ties to Canada, so when World War I broke out in 1914, most of them enlisted. Of a total male population of 107, 97 went to war. In the language of the Thompson First Nations the name Walhachin means "close to the edge," though previously it was said to mean "abundant food from the land."

Certainly no food was abundant at Walhaachin unless constant work was put into the land. The flumes had been poorly built and without the labor for maintenance, the irrigation system fell apart and the trees died. After the war, the provincial government was asked for money to restore the town but decided the project was uneconomic. Those left behind moved away and by 1922 Walhachin was virtually a ghost town.