Queen Charlottes Gold Rush facts for kids
The Queen Charlottes Gold Rush was a time when people rushed to find gold in southern Haida Gwaii, which is now part of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. This exciting event happened in 1851. A gold rush is when many people quickly move to an area where gold has been found, hoping to get rich.
The rush began in March 1851. A Haida man sold a large gold nugget in Fort Victoria. This nugget weighed about 27 ounces (like a small bag of sugar!) and was traded for 1,500 blankets. This amazing discovery quickly spread the news about gold in the Charlottes.
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Early Gold Discoveries
The crew of the Hudson's Bay Company ship, the Una, were among the first to start mining. They found a rich vein of gold that was about 6.5 inches wide and 80 feet long. It was packed with 25% gold!
As the crew used explosives to get the gold, local Haida people would quickly rush in. They wanted to gather the gold too, often competing with the miners. The ship's logbook even says that Haida grabbed the crewmen's legs to stop them from reaching the gold first. To avoid fights, half the gold found was left behind, and the mine was abandoned. Still, both sides managed to collect about $1,500 worth of gold each from just three blasts. This would be like $60,000 today! Sadly, on its way back, the Una was wrecked near Neah Bay, and all its gold was lost. The Hudson's Bay Company didn't have another ship, so they didn't try to mine in the Charlottes again.
American Ships and Haida Resistance
Several American ships also came to the Charlottes during the gold rush. The first one, named Georgiana, was wrecked on the east coast of the islands. The Haida people took its crew captive. Another ship arrived later and managed to trade for the crew's freedom. The Haida then burned the Georgiana.
In 1852, ten more American ships arrived in the Charlottes, all looking for gold. However, the Haida people were not happy about these outsiders. Their strong resistance made it very hard for miners to find and dig for gold. Most actual mining was stopped.
One of these ships was the Susan Sturgis. It traded goods along the coast. At Skidegate, the ship's crew became friends with Chief Edenshaw. He agreed to join them as a guide and interpreter, bringing some of his own men along. When the ship sailed into Masset Inlet to trade, many Masset Haida suddenly boarded the vessel. A fight broke out between them and Chief Edenshaw's men, who were trying to protect the crew.
News of this event reached Chief Trader John Work at Fort Simpson in about ten days. Work quickly arrived to negotiate the release of the Susan Sturgis' crew. He arranged for the captain and mate to be released for $250 each, and the other men for $30 each. This payment was made using blankets, which were like money at the time. The ship itself could not be saved because the Masset Haida had looted and destroyed it. The total value of gold found from the wreck was only about three hundred dollars.
The Queen Charlotte Islands Become a Colony
The gold rush was complicated because, in 1851, the Queen Charlotte archipelago (a group of islands) was recognized as British land by a treaty. However, it wasn't yet officially made a colony or a formal possession.
With many American ships gathering at Mitchell Harbour on Moresby Island (the main spot for gold rush activities), the British government in London started paying attention. In 1853, they appointed Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas to also be the governor of a new Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
However, the islands became a colony long after the gold rush was mostly over. This new Queen Charlotte Colony mostly existed only on paper, as the governor's power wasn't really used much in the islands. In 1858, this "paper colony" was quietly joined with the Colony of British Columbia.
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