Rock Creek Gold Rush facts for kids
The Rock Creek Gold Rush was a time when many people rushed to find gold in the Boundary Country area of what was then the Colony of British Columbia. Today, this area is part of a Canadian province. The excitement began in 1859. Two soldiers from the United States were trying to get away from Indigenous people. They accidentally found gold about three miles inside British land. This happened near the Kettle River where it meets Rock Creek. Later, the city of Grand Forks grew up nearby. It got its name because it's where the Kettle and Granby rivers meet.
The first official gold claim was made in 1860 by a man named Adam Beam. Soon, many miners arrived, mostly from the United States and some from China. They traveled overland from other gold areas like Colville, Oregon, or even California.
At its busiest, about 5,000 men were in the Rock Creek area. A new town called Rock Creek grew quickly, with about 300 people living there. But then, problems started between the American and Chinese miners.
The Rock Creek War and Governor Douglas's Visit
When trouble broke out, the colony's Gold Commissioner, Peter O'Reilly, tried to stop the fighting. He also tried to collect mining fees for the Queen. But the miners threw stones at him and chased him away from the camp. This event became known as the Rock Creek War. Newspapers in Victoria called it that at the time.
O'Reilly went to Victoria to tell Governor Douglas what had happened. Governor Douglas was the leader of the colony. He decided to visit Rock Creek himself. He traveled a long way, first to Lillooet and then to Princeton. He even named Princeton "Prince's Town" to honor the Prince of Wales, who was visiting Canada.
Governor Douglas arrived at Rock Creek with W.G. Cox, who was the new Gold Commissioner, and Arthur Bushby. Bushby was known for working with Judge Begbie. Douglas spoke to about 200 miners. He told them they must follow his rules. He warned them that if they didn't, he would return with 500 soldiers.
Just like he had done in Yale a few years earlier, Governor Douglas also told the miners that Chinese people had the same right to mine for gold as anyone else. At the end of the meeting, he shook each miner's hand and looked them in the eye. This was his way of making sure they understood his expectations.
After the Gold Rush
The gold mining at Rock Creek did not last for many years. When the Colville Gold Rush started soon after, many American miners moved on to the new goldfields. Rock Creek's busy gold-mining days became a memory.
The problems at this goldfield showed Governor Douglas how important it was to build good roads and ways to communicate between the coast and the interior of the colony. This was important for the colony's safety. Because of this, he hired Edgar Dewdney to build a trail. This trail, called the Dewdney Trail, went from Fort Hope, British Columbia to the East Kootenay area, where similar problems had happened.
The main reason for the Dewdney Trail was to keep the gold and other resources from the interior of British Columbia from going to the United States. It also allowed the colony to send soldiers quickly if there were problems. This was important because it was often easier to get to these areas through the United States than from the British Columbia coast.
