Ann (Annie) McQueen was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia and attended Normal School at Truro. She came west with her sister, Jessie, to teach in the Nicola Valley. She met and married Jim Gordon and had three children, Jessie, Marshall (Marshy) and Eric.

The couple began married life in Kamloops. In 1894 they moved to Salmon Arm and homesteaded, building a one-room house on the NW Quarter of Section 31 Range 10 Township 19. A creek ran through the property that still bears the family name. Jim continued to work in Kamloops and was away frequently. Eric, the third child, was born in Salmon Arm.
Annie was instrumental in having her sister Jessie join her in Salmon Arm. The Upper Salmon Arm School at Dolan’s corner was without a teacher. Jessie applied and secured the position in the spring of 1896.

Later the same year Jim found work in the Kootenays. Low enrolment caused the school at Dolan’s corner to close, and Jessie found work in Rossland. Annie joined Jim in Trail with the children. The family eventually moved to Victoria in 1907 after time in Crow’s Nest Landing, Tobacco Plains and Gateway.

When Jim died unexpectedly in 1911 and Annie got busy with social justice issues. She campaigned for the right of Sikh women to immigrate to British Columbia. Annie became a lecturer of note, travelling throughout the province, and died in 1941.