British Columbia gold rushes facts for kids
British Columbia gold rushes were exciting times in the history of western Canada. They brought many European, Canadian, and Chinese people to the area.
People had heard stories about gold in what is now British Columbia for a long time. Old legends spoke of lands "rich in gold, silver, pearls, and fur." Some maps even showed legendary golden cities in the far northwest. No one knows if Spanish explorers looking for "El Dorado" (a legendary golden king) ever reached British Columbia. However, some old Spanish items have been found in the Okanagan and Similkameen areas. The Muchalaht, a Nuu-chah-nulth group on Vancouver Island, tell a story about Spanish visitors burning a valley while searching for gold.
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First Gold Discoveries
Gold was first officially found by non-Indigenous people at Gold Harbour in the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1850. This was near the Haida village of Tasu.
Queen Charlottes Gold Rush, 1850
A short gold rush began the next year. To stop Americans from taking over the islands, Britain quickly declared the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The gold found there was not very deep. There are stories of American gold seekers being bothered by the Haida people, who were still very strong in the area.
Later, Gold Harbour became a modern mine, but for iron, not gold. In 1969, a logger named Efrem Specogna and his brother-in-law, John Trinco, found a new gold deposit near Port Clements. This discovery led to another small gold rush from 1979 to 1981. This gold deposit still holds over 3 million ounces of gold today!
Early Finds and the Fraser Rush
Fur traders didn't usually report gold discoveries. Their companies wanted to protect the fur trade, not start a gold rush. Even the Governor of Russian America made it a serious crime to share news of gold.
Small amounts of gold were found in the 1830s. But the Hudson's Bay Company kept these finds quiet. Then, in 1856, members of the Secwepemc (Tranquille tribe) brought a lot of gold dust to Fort Kamloops. News of this gold reached James Douglas, who was the Governor of Vancouver Island. He sent the gold to San Francisco. Some historians think he did this on purpose to start a gold rush. He wanted Britain to take control of the mainland north of the 49th parallel, which was still just fur company land. American miners were showing up more often, and Douglas felt he had to act.
Fraser Rush and the New Colony
News of gold in what was then called New Caledonia reached California at a tough economic time. Many miners were in San Francisco, and the news spread fast. Steamers full of men, mostly with just gold pans, headed north. Business people also came, hoping to make money from the miners.
Victoria, which had been a quiet village, quickly became a tent city of about 30,000 people in the spring of 1858. About 4,000 of them were Chinese. At first, high water levels made mining hard, and many miners went back to California. But as the water dropped, mining began in earnest, and new miners arrived.
The biggest early find was at Hill's Bar, near Fort Yale. Fort Yale became the center of the gold rush. It was at the end of river travel and the start of the difficult Fraser Canyon trails. Miners at Hill's Bar worked alongside Chief Kowpelst and his Spuzzum people.
The miners were a mix of Americans, Chinese, Britons, and other Europeans. A serious incident involving miners and a Nlaka'pamux girl near Lytton led to conflict. Many miners fled the Canyon. News of this trouble reached Victoria. Governor Douglas had to act to show British control over the mainland.
He traveled by steamer with Royal Marines and Royal Engineers. On August 1, 1858, at Fort Langley, Douglas declared the Colony of British Columbia. He became its first Governor. When he reached Yale, the miners greeted him. Douglas told them that the Queen's Law would now be in charge.
Douglas also created a way for groups of men to pay to build a new route to the "Upper Fraser" (the area around Lillooet and Fountain). This was to avoid the dangerous canyon trail. Many miners had already arrived in this area by land routes through Oregon and Washington. These routes also led to more gold discoveries further inland. This started a series of other gold rushes, including the biggest and most famous one: the Cariboo Gold Rush. People often called the new mainland colony "the Gold Colonies."
The Cariboo Gold Rush 1861-1867
By 1860, gold was found around the Quesnel River. As news spread, more people explored the area. Because travel and communication were slow, the Cariboo Rush didn't really start until 1862. This was after the discovery of Williams Creek in 1861. The main focus of the rush moved to the creek valleys in the northern Cariboo Plateau.
This rush became known for its Canadian, Maritimer, and British miners. Many of those who settled in the Cariboo became leaders in the movement for British Columbia to join Canada. Many American miners returned to the United States when the Civil War began. Others went to gold rushes in Idaho or Colorado.
To keep British control and manage the gold leaving the region, the Governor ordered the building of the Cariboo Road, also called the Queen's Highway. He also set up the Gold Escort, but private companies like B.X. Express mostly handled shipping goods and gold.
Another event during the Cariboo Gold Rush was the Chilcotin War in 1864. This conflict was caused by an attempt to build a road from Bute Inlet to Cariboo.
Barkerville became the main town and destination of the Cariboo Road. Dozens of small towns and mining camps grew up in the rainy, swampy Cariboo hills. Some, like Bullion and Antler Creek, became famous for their mining.
The Cariboo gold fields are still active today. They have also led to other towns, like Wells. Wells was a company town in the 1920s and is now a museum town. The city of Quesnel remained important after the rush. It was the starting point for other goldfields found even farther north in the Omineca and Peace River Country.
Other Gold Rushes 1859-1869
Many smaller gold rushes happened across British Columbia:
- Blackfoot Gold Rush, 1859
- Similkameen Gold Rush, 1861
- Rock Creek Gold Rush
- Peace River Gold Rush, 1861 (also called Finlay Gold Rush)
- The Finlay and Peace-Finlay Gold Rushes led to the creation of the Stickeen Territories. This was a new area north of the colony's border.
- Stikine Gold Rush, 1861
- Shuswap Gold Rush (Spallumcheen River)
- Cherry Creek Gold Rush (Cherryville)
- Big Bend Gold Rush, 1865
- Omineca Gold Rush
- Wild Horse Creek Gold Rush (Fisherville and Fort Steele)
- Goldstream Gold Rush at the Goldstream River in 1863
- Leechtown in 1864-5
- Burnt Basin Gold Rush
