how much gold was found in the cariboo gold rush

What was the Cariboo Gold Rush?

Cariboo gold rush. Cariboo gold rush, Canadian gold rush that took place in the remote, isolated Cariboo Mountains region of British Columbia between 1860 and 1863. It began when prospectors drawn from the Fraser River gold rush discovered gold on the Horsefly River. After news spread of the rich payload found near bedrock at Barkerville,...

Where is the Cariboo Gold region on the map?

The Cariboo Gold Region can be seen towards the northwest corner of the map (1870). The Cariboo Gold Rush is the most famous of the gold rushes in British Columbia, so much so that it is sometimes erroneously cited as the reason for the creation of the Colony of British Columbia.

What is the most famous gold rush in BC?

The Cariboo Gold Rush (1861–67) is British Columbia ’s most famous gold rush. The Cariboo Gold Rush (1861–67) is British Columbia’s most famous gold rush.

How did the Cariboo Gold Strike happen?

The Cariboo gold strike resulted from miners working sand bars further into the interior river systems of British Columbia. Several creeks proved to be extremely rich, with the result that several towns sprang up near the gold-fields , the most notable being Barkerville.

How much gold was found in the Fraser River gold rush?

By the mid-1860s, the Fraser Rush collapsed, and British Columbia sank into a recession. In 1858, around 30,000 gold seekers flooded the banks of the Fraser River from Hope to just north of Lillooet in British Columbia's first significant gold rush....Fraser River Gold Rush.Published OnlineNovember 27, 2006Last EditedAugust 9, 2019Aug 9, 2019

Who found the gold in the Cariboo Gold Rush?

-B.C. is established as a Crown Colony after 37 years as a Hudson's Bay Company preserve. Sir James Douglas is made Governor of the new crown colony. 1859 -Peter Curran Dunlevey discovers gold at Little Horsefly Creek and starts the Cariboo Gold Rush.

How big was the Cariboo Gold Rush?

An estimated 6,000-7,000 Chinese immigrants had come to B.C. There were more Canadian and British prospectors involved in the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1860-63. The commercial centre for the Cariboo rush was Barkerville, named after William Barker, an English seaman who found gold in nearby Williams Creek in 1862.

Why was the Cariboo Gold Rush important?

The Cariboo Gold Rush (1861–67) is British Columbia's most famous gold rush. The Cariboo Gold Rush (1861–67) is British Columbia's most famous gold rush. "Prospecting for Alluvial Gold" William Hind 1864 painting."...Cariboo Gold Rush.Article byDianne NewellUpdated byErin James-Abra, Tabitha MarshallJan 22, 2021

Where is the most gold found in BC?

The Cariboo is the richest placer area in BC. It lies east of the city of Quesnel, with most of the famous creeks around and between the towns of Wells (near the historic town of Barkerville) and the village of Likely. The history is wonderful and there are a lot of gold-bearing creeks.

How the Cariboo Gold Rush started?

Cariboo gold rush, Canadian gold rush that took place in the remote, isolated Cariboo Mountains region of British Columbia between 1860 and 1863. It began when prospectors drawn from the Fraser River gold rush discovered gold on the Horsefly River.

How did the Cariboo get its name?

Have you ever wondered how the Cariboo got its name and its unique spelling? Most historians agree that “Cariboo” is simply a mispelling of caribou, which were plentiful in the area in the early 1860s and which provided a reliable food source for most of the early prospectors.

When was gold discovered in BC?

In the 1800s, a series of world gold rushes renewed peoples' passion for gold. People struck it rich in Australia, California, and then in the colony that would become British Columbia. The whole world arrived when gold was discovered on the banks of the Fraser River in 1858.

When did Barkerville become ghost town?

The main street in Barkerville is typical of a “wild west” town of the mid 1800s. This is what it looked like in the 1950s. The government of British Columbia made the decision to buy out the remaining residents in 1957.

How did the Cariboo Gold Rush affect the First Nations?

First Nations during BC's Gold Rush As the number of prospectors increased in the rush to find gold, their own local knowledge grew and the initial mutually beneficial relationship began to collapse. As time went on First Nations people were marginalized and even terrorized on their own lands.

Who discovered the Fraser River?

The upper reaches of the Fraser River were first explored by Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793, and fully traced by Simon Fraser in 1808, who confirmed that it was not connected with the Columbia River.

What did Aboriginals do in the gold rush?

During the Gold Rush, Indigenous Australians (Aboriginals) played a pivotal role on the Goldfields. Aboriginals worked on sheep stations, shared their knowledge of the land to hungry diggers, traded items with the miners and some even became members of the Native Police Corps.

How did the Cariboo get its name?

Have you ever wondered how the Cariboo got its name and its unique spelling? Most historians agree that “Cariboo” is simply a mispelling of caribou, which were plentiful in the area in the early 1860s and which provided a reliable food source for most of the early prospectors.

Are there camels in BC?

The Cariboo camels were a number of camels that arrived in British Columbia, Canada, as pack animals. The Bactrian camels were used on the Douglas Road and the Old Cariboo Road in 1862 and 1863 to haul freight during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

What is Barkerville like today?

Today, the extraordinary historic town of Barkerville stands as a living testament to BC's golden beginnings. With its unique streetscape of more than 125 heritage buildings, period displays, satellite museums, restaurants and shops there is still so much to explore.

What was the population of the Cariboo Gold Rush?

Unlike its southern counterpart, the population of the Cariboo Gold Rush was largely British and Canadian, among them 4000 were Chinese , although the first wave of the rush was largely American. By the time the Cariboo rush broke out there was more active interest in the Gold Colony (as British Columbia was often referred to) ...

Where was the Cariboo Gold Rush?

The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province, of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly River, and on Keithley Creek and Antler Creek in 1860. The actual rush did not begin ...

What towns were involved in the Cariboo Gold Rush?

Other important towns of the Cariboo gold rush era were Keithley Creek, Quesnel Forks or simply "the Forks", Antler, Richfield, Quesnellemouthe (which would later be shortened to Quesnel ), Horsefly and, around the site of the Hudson's Bay Company's fort of the same name, Alexandria .

What did the Cariboo goldfields contribute to?

Despite the wealth of the Cariboo goldfields, the expense of colonizing the Cariboo contributed to the Mainland Colony's virtual bankruptcy and its forced union with the Island Colony, and similarly into Confederation.

What towns were on the Cariboo Road?

Towns along the Cariboo Road include Clinton, 100 Mile House and Williams Lake, although most had their beginnings before the Cariboo rush began. During the rush, the largest and most important town lay at the road's end at Barkerville, which had grown up around the most profitable and famous of the many Cariboo mining camps.

Where did the Cariboo gold rush take place?

Cariboo gold rush, Canadian gold rush that took place in the remote, isolated Cariboo Mountains region of British Columbia between 1860 and 1863. It began when prospectors drawn from the Fraser River gold rush discovered gold on the Horsefly River.

Where are the Cariboo Mountains?

Cariboo Mountains, range in eastern British Columbia, Canada, forming the northern subdivision of the Columbia Mountains. The Cariboo Mountains lie within an area enclosed by the great bend of the Fraser River and its tributary, the North Thompson. The mountains extend for about 190 miles (305 km) and parallel the…

What is British Columbia?

British Columbia, westernmost of Canada’s 10 provinces. It is bounded to the north by Yukon and the Northwest Territories, to the east by the province of Alberta, to the south by the U.S. states of Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the southern…. Cariboo Road. Cariboo Road, wagon trail ...

What was the result of the Cariboo Gold Strike?

The Cariboo gold strike resulted from miners working sand bars further into the interior river systems of British Columbia. Several creeks proved to be extremely rich, with the result that several towns sprang up near the gold-fields , the most notable being Barkerville.

What was the significance of the Cariboo gold strike?

The Cariboo gold-strike attracted world wide attention leading to the organization of the Overlanders Expedition of 1862. In comparison to the previous two strikes, the find at Kootenay was minor. However, this gold field was partially responsible for the construction of the Dewdney Trail.

Where did the gold rush start?

The Gold Rushes. California 1849: The bulk of the miners who made their start in the California gold rush heard of the strikes at the Fraser River and stormed it's sand bars from Fort Victoria by almost any mode of transportation available. Fraser River, 1858:

What was the most important approach to the Klondike?

Klondike, 1898: The most important approach to the Klondike was by sea. Alaska was the final terminal, and it was here that the trail over the Chikoot Pass began. On reaching Lake Bennet gold seekers then built boats and travelled down the Yukon River to Dawson City and the "gold". Cariboo Map 1862-1865.

Who was the cariboo gold rush?

There were more Canadian and British prospectors involved in the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1860-63. The commercial centre for the Cariboo rush was Barkerville, named after William Barker, an English seaman who found gold in nearby Williams Creek in 1862. By 1865 the surface placer gold was almost gone.

Where did the British Columbia gold rush come from?

The Fraser and Cariboo gold rushes (1858-1867) were no exception. People came from all over the world. Some travelled from Scotland, England, Germany and even from China .

How did women play a role in the gold rush?

Women played an important role in the era of the gold rush. Many female prospectors searched the rivers of BC alongside the men or in partnership with their husbands or family. There were a lack of women that also factored into the gold rush era. During the earlier California and Fraser River Gold Rushes, there were so few women that brides were sent from other parts of the world. An Anglican minister in Lillooet initiated the Columbia Emigration Society to arrange for young women from England to be sent to the Cariboo as potential brides for the miners. The presence of women along the trails was noted in the letters and diaries of male stampeders. In at least one instance, their presence encouraged one man to continue on. In a letter to his wife, Kitty, Fred Dewey wrote, “It is a big day’s work to haul 100 pounds a distance of four miles. There are three women alone on the trail and they are taking their own stuff in. I would be ashamed to back down before difficulties that those women surmount.”

What was the gold rush?

Gold Rush brought immigrants from Hong Kong to the port of Victoria. Chinese miners worked their way up the Fraser River as white miners abandoned these sites. Many Chinese immigrants moved to the Cariboo to become miners or set up businesses such as laundries and restaurants.

What tribes lived in the heart of the Fraser Canyon?

Real tensions existed between miners and the Nlaka’pamux, the First Nations people living in the heart of the Fraser Canyon. The Aboriginal peoples of the Fraser Canyon wanted a negotiated agreement with the miners and the Colony of British Columbia before allowing the miners to enter their territory.

When was the gold rush in British Columbia?

British Columbia’s gold rushes forever changed our province. In 1857, gold was discovered in the Fraser River, and in the spring of 1858, James Douglas sent 800 ounces of gold to the San Francisco Mint knowing what word of the gold’s arrival would trigger. There are no secrets in a gold town and rumours of a new gold rush began to spread.

Where did the first gold ship arrive?

In April of 1858, within weeks of the first ship arriving in Victoria, thousands made the journey up the Fraser River and into the interior of British Columbia searching for gold.

What was the gold rush in California?

When the Gold Rush began, the Cali fornia goldfields were peculiarly lawless places. When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican–American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became a possession of the United States, but it was not a formal " territory " and did not become a state until September 9, 1850. California existed in the unusual condition of a region under military control. There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region. Local residents operated under a confusing and changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates. Lax enforcement of federal laws, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, encouraged the arrival of free blacks and escaped slaves.

How did the gold rush affect Native Americans?

The human and environmental costs of the Gold Rush were substantial. Native Americans, dependent on traditional hunting, gathering and agriculture, became the victims of starvation and disease, as gravel, silt and toxic chemicals from prospecting operations killed fish and destroyed habitats. The surge in the mining population also resulted in the disappearance of game and food gathering locales as gold camps and other settlements were built amidst them. Later farming spread to supply the settlers' camps, taking more land away from the Native Americans.

What was the first map to accurately depict California's gold regions?

Lawson's map of the Gold Regions is the first map to accurately depict California's Gold Regions. Issued in January 1849, at the beginning of the California Gold Rush, Lawson's map was produced specifically for prospectors and miners.

How long did a person work in the goldfields?

A person could work for six months in the goldfields and find the equivalent of six years' wages back home. Some hoped to get rich quick and return home, and others wished to start businesses in California. "Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850.

How did the Argonauts get to California?

At first, most Argonauts, as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months, and cover approximately 18,000 nautical miles (21,000 mi; 33,000 km). An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. There was also a route across Mexico starting at Veracruz. The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the U.S. Mail Steamship Company, the federally subsidized Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Accessory Transit Company. Many gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along the California Trail. Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to typhoid fever and cholera. In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel from New York City through overland portages in Nicaragua and Panama and then back up by steamship to San Francisco.

Where did the gold rush take place?

Within a few years, there was an important but lesser-known surge of prospectors into far Northern California, specifically into present-day Siskiyou, Shasta and Trinity Counties. Discovery of gold nuggets at the site of present-day Yreka in 1851 brought thousands of gold-seekers up the Siskiyou Trail and throughout California's northern counties.

Where was gold discovered?

Gold was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco, in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles. Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today's Placerita Canyon ), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-day Newhall, California , and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of L.A. While the horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found a small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. He looked further and found more gold. Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-day Ventura County. In November, some of the gold was sent to the U.S. Mint, although otherwise attracted little notice. In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mexican miners from Sonora worked the placer deposits until 1846. Minor finds of gold in California were also made by Mission Indians prior to 1848. The friars instructed them to keep its location secret to avoid a gold rush.

Overview

Williams Creek

Differences between the Cariboo and Fraser Canyon Rushes

The Cariboo Wagon Road

In literature

See also

External links

Further reading