The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia , which later became 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 until 1861, when these discoveries were widely publicized. By 1865, following the strikes along Williams Creek , the rush was in full swing.
45-729: Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia , Canada , and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Quesnel . BC Highway 26 , which follows the route of the Cariboo Wagon Road , the original access to Barkerville, goes through it. Barkerville
90-693: A subarctic climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfc ), which makes it have long, cold and snowy winter and short and cool summers due to its high altitude and latitude. Its growing season averages only 66 days. Cariboo Gold Rush Towns grew up, the most famous of these being Barkerville , now preserved as a heritage site and tourist attraction. 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
135-506: A general store that sold groceries, clothing, hardware, and mining tools. The company had stores in other parts of British Columbia, but the Barkerville store was one of the most impressive in town. The Chinese community also built cabins (for Chinese miners, who saved money by sharing four or five to a cabin) and Tai Ping (the "Peace Room"), the equivalent of a modern nursing home. Chinese benevolent associations provided social services to
180-666: A party of the British Columbia Provincial Government Expedition led by the Chief Commissioner of Lands Price Ellison explored the region surrounding Crown Mountain on Vancouver Island for the purposes of setting aside land to establish British Columbia's first provincial park . Ellison then reported his findings to the Executive Council of British Columbia. On March 1, 1911, the executive council passed
225-524: A set of champagne glasses without any breakage—for a price, of course. More women came to Barkerville after the construction of the Cariboo Road. Cattle were driven north up the Okanagan valley via what is now Highway 97 into Canada to provide meat for the miners and residents of Barkerville. At first, the town consisted only of makeshift cabins and tents. By the mid-1860s, however, Barkerville and
270-549: A theatre (the Theatre Royal ), and a literary society (the Cariboo Literary Society). Horse racing and prize fighting were common entertainments. Among the so-called "sober set," church services were extremely well attended. The general stores were the most profitable of the merchants. As they had the only source of food, the store owners could increase the price of foods and supplies. In the height of
315-498: A very small village. On 12 January 1959, BC Parks established Barkerville Historic Park by Order-in-Council with an initial area of 64.84 hectares (160.2 acres). This was increased in 1973 to 457.29 hectares (1,130.0 acres). In 1998, Barkerville Historic Park was dissolved and two properties were created: Barkerville Provincial Park and Barkerville Historic Town (Provincial Heritage Property). Barkerville Provincial Park converted from Order In Canada to statute designation in 2000;
360-571: Is located on the western edge of the Cariboo Mountains in British Columbia. It was named after Billy Barker from Cambridgeshire , England, who was among those who first struck gold at the location in 1862. His claim was the richest and the most famous. Barkerville was built up almost overnight, and was a case of "growth via word of mouth". It grew as fast as the word of Barker's strike spread. His claim would eventually yield 37,500 ounces (1,065 kg/2,350 lb) of gold. Before
405-556: Is the third largest park system in North America after national parks systems of Canada and the United States . The largest park unit is Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park at 989,616 hectares (3,821 mi ). The smallest park unit is Ballingall Islets Ecological Reserve at just 0.2 hectares (0.49 acres ). BC Parks reported attendance of 26,253,500 at all parks and protected areas in 2018–19. Cypress Provincial Park
450-751: The Barkerville Provincial Park and the first marine parks that have areas for moorage, the new 1965 Park Act inserted conservation as a park objective for the first time and the 1971 Ecological Reserves Act , the result of its participation in the International Biological Program , saw protected areas created solely for the purpose of scientific research and educational purposes. As the New Democratic Party government of Dave Barrett (1972–1975) formed, awareness of environmental issues in
495-503: The COVID-19 pandemic . The agency began to selectively reopen parks for day-use only starting on May 14. The British Columbia Parks and Protected Areas System is a collection of physical properties managed by BC Parks. The system encompasses 1,035 park units covering an area of about 14.1 million hectares (54,440 mi )—about 14.4% of the entire province—with over 6,000 km (3,700 mi) of hiking trails and approximately 12,700 campsites. It
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#1732772240973540-682: The Cariboo riding were among the most pro-Confederation in the colony, and this was in no small part because of the strong Canadian element in the local populace. One reason the Cariboo rush attracted fewer Americans than the original Fraser rush may have been the American Civil War , with many who had been around after the Fraser Gold Rush going home to take sides, or to the Fort Colville Gold Rush which
585-560: The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was continued and resulted in several new provincial parks in the Gulf Islands . The major accomplishment of this era was creation of conservancies in 2006 as protected areas that prioritize biological diversity and First Nations values, rather than recreational values. First Nations had previously been largely excluded from deliberations of park development until
630-581: The Strathcona Park Act , which protected approximately 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres) of mountainous terrain from being sold, settled or otherwise occupied. While the Park Act was intended to protect the land from being exploited, it exempted both mining claims and timber holdings had been granted prior to the establishment of the park from being voided. This statute was further clarified through an amendment made in 1918 that explicitly permitted
675-579: The Tweedsmuir and Hamber Provincial Parks were over one million hectares when created in 1938 and 1941, respectively, the Wells Gray Provincial Park was established in 1939 at over 470,000 hectares, and the E. C. Manning Provincial Park was created from a wildlife reserve in 1941. The Liard River Provincial Park was a short-lived 730,000 hectare protected area, established in 1944 and cancelled in 1949, though its central feature
720-551: The "location, acquisition and occupation of mineral claims under the Mineral Act." The popularity of Glacier and Yoho National Park , both established by the federal government as national parks in 1886, and of municipal parks like Beacon Hill Park (established 1882) and Stanley Park (established 1888), led the government of Richard McBride to adopt the Provincial Parks Act of 1908. The act enabled
765-429: The 1950s, Barkerville appears as it did in its heyday. The history of each building has been researched and documented. No residents remain; they were either bought out or moved to New Barkerville during the restoration of the site. In 1980 part of the western movie Harry Tracy, Desperado was made here. The 2022 Punjabi film, Chhalla Mud Ke Nahi Aaya , directed by Amrinder Gill , was also shot here. Barkerville has
810-428: The 1997 Supreme Court decision of Delgamuukw v British Columbia after which the provincial government began recognizing Aboriginal title . Also in this era, land trusts became an effective tool to protect privately owned land in a way that did not require its outright purchase and management by the government. On April 8, 2020, BC Parks announced the full closure of the parks and protected areas system in response to
855-661: The Cariboo area during the Cariboo Gold Rush. "Cariboo Road" by Alan Sullivan - published 1946, is a fictional historical novel about a family that travels from San Francisco to seek gold near Williams Creek. The story is set in 1862. BC Parks BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within
900-518: The Chinese community, and also resolved disputes within the Chinese community without the use of BC courts. On September 16, 1868, Barkerville was destroyed by a fire that spread quickly through the wooden buildings. Rebuilding began immediately, and at an impressive pace. Within six weeks, ninety buildings had been rebuilt. Boardwalks were improved, and the narrow and winding main street was widened and straightened. By 1880, there were enough children in
945-590: The adoption of the Protected Areas of British Columbia Act, the park system doubled in area to 10.9 million hectares (11.6% of the province) in just 10 years. Park creation halted for the first few years of the Liberal Party government (2001–2017) as it downsized government operations, though they followed through, in 2004, with recommendations of completed land use plans for creating parks in identified areas. The provincial-federal agreement to assemble
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#1732772240973990-631: The area from Lillooet to Yale . 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) in the United Kingdom and Canada and there had also been time required for more British and Canadians to get there. The electorate of
1035-485: The area of ski hills as private developments within parks, such as Cypress and Seymour , or promoting private developments just outside of parks, like Blackcomb and Mount Washington . Likewise seeking a partnership saving costs, the government agreed to move parks and reserves on Moresby Island into the national park system to create the Gwaii Haanas National Park . Also, during this timeframe
1080-565: The area to build the Barkerville School. It had thirteen pupils and one piece of school equipment—a chalkboard. Even so, Barkerville's population was declining by the end of the 19th century and it eventually had only a few residents. It had a revival in the 1930s, when the Great Depression caused widespread unemployment, and the price of gold skyrocketed. But as the depression turned for the better, Barkerville declined to
1125-552: The canyon of the Thompson River to Ashcroft and from there via the valley of the Bonaparte River to join the older route from Lillooet at Clinton . 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
1170-446: The construction of the Cariboo Wagon Road , people hauled their own supplies to Barkerville, either on their backs or in a pack train . Because supplies were scarce, the prices of even the most everyday items were extremely high. High prices for goods in Barkerville did not ease up until the Cariboo Road had been finished, when goods could be transported by huge freight wagons. Soon, movers of freight boasted that they could pack and carry
1215-435: The country in its natural state. To achieve the 12% target, a provincial protected area strategy and regional land use planning was initiated to identify areas and means for resource extraction and for protection. With the addition of suitable areas identified through the resource planning process and numerous very large parks, such as Tatshenshini-Alsek , Tsʼilʔos , Northern Rocky Mountains and Cariboo Mountains , along with
1260-583: The first inland marine park was created with the Shuswap Lake Marine Park and numerous parks (such as Monkman , Sukunka Falls , Gwillim Lake and East Pine ) were created to support the government priority of building Tumbler Ridge . Park creation under the next New Democratic Party government (1991–2001) was guided by the federal government's acceptance of the Brundtland Commission 's recommendation of preserving 12% of
1305-468: The gold rush, the stores sold flour for as high as $ 1.25 per pound. Beans, meat, and dried fruit were sold for a dollar a pound. But as the gold rush ended, the stores went bankrupt and finally out of business. People of Chinese descent were an important part of Barkerville life for almost a hundred years. They established a number of businesses, including the Kwong Lee Company of Victoria .,
1350-552: The government of John Oliver established John Dean Park from a private land donation in 1921. This was followed by the establishment of two mountaintop parks, Kokanee Glacier and Mount Assiniboine , with the support of the Alpine Club of Canada in 1922. These early parks were established for recreational purposes, with the larger ones were intended to be developed as major tourist destinations. Their creation did not terminate any existing forestry or mining rights. In 1924,
1395-474: The government of McBride adopted the Strathcona Park Act' , which established a 214,451 hectares (529,920 acres) park reserve in the centre of the island named Strathcona Provincial Park . This success encouraged the McBride government to establish a second park reserve, Mount Robson Provincial Park , in 1913. Following the creation of two more national parks, Mount Revelstoke in 1914 and Kootenay in 1920,
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1440-558: The most profitable and famous of the many Cariboo mining camps. The Cariboo Wagon Road was an immense infrastructure burden for the colony but needed to be built to enable access and bring governmental authority to the Cariboo goldfields, which was necessary in order to maintain and assert control of the wealth, which might more easily have passed through the Interior to the United States. The wagon road's most important freight
1485-602: The province had been rising for several years and the new government placed an emphasis on land management and preservation. It benefited from the Accelerated Park Development Fund , created in Bennett's last year in power, and a long list of potential parks of mostly mid to large sizes that were not approved by the previous government for various reasons. In its four years, the NDP government had brought
1530-504: The province's Parks oversaw of the British Columbia Parks and Protected Areas System. The Lieutenant Governor -in- Council created the agency on March 1, 1911, through the Strathcona Park Act . The agency is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment. In July 1910,
1575-424: The provincial government amended the Provincial Parks Act to allow for the reduction in area of established parks, and also to acquire land for parks through land or timber exchanges. Another amendment in 1927 allowed for the rising of water levels within parks. In addition to several small, local use parks established throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the government of Duff Pattullo created four large parks. Both
1620-531: The provincial government, through the Department of Lands to reserve public lands for the establishment of future parks. After the federal government's interest in establishing national park on Vancouver Island became known, the government of McBride amended the Provincial Parks Act to allow the creation of provincial parks by an Order in Council , rather than an act of parliament . And on March 1, 1911,
1665-735: The rest of the province, in particular triggering the Omineca and Cassiar Gold Rushes , just as the Cariboo itself had been found by miners seeking out in search of new finds from the Fraser rush. The boom in the Cariboo goldfields was the impetus for the construction of the Cariboo Wagon Road by the Royal Engineers , which bypassed the older routes via the Fraser Canyon and the Lakes Route (Douglas Road) via Lillooet by using
1710-624: The site of the Hudson's Bay Company's fort of the same name, Alexandria . 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 . The Colony's creation had been prompted by an influx of American prospectors to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush three years earlier in 1858, which had its locus in
1755-416: The size of the park system up to 4.5 million hectares. The next Social Credit governments (1976–1991) returned its focus to small recreation-oriented parks and sought cost-savings through partnerships, though they continued creating ecological reserves and reconciled outstanding mineral and forestry tenures in existing parks. Private service delivery of park services began in the early 1980s, mostly notably in
1800-406: The surrounding area had a population estimated between 3000 and 5000 people. Even though its population was transient and largely dependent on mining, Barkerville was becoming more of a real community. It had several general stores and boarding houses, a drugstore that also sold newspapers and cigars, a barbershop that cut women's as well as men's hair, the "Wake-Up Jake Restaurant and Coffee Salon",
1845-655: The whole area consisted of roughly 55 hectares (140 acres). However, in 2006, the BC Ministry of the Environment repealed "Barkerville Provincial Park" and transferred ownership of it to the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts to create Barkerville Historic Town and Park . In 2008, Barkerville's Chee Kung Tong Building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada . The two-storey board and batten structure
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1890-590: Was completed in 1877 and originally used by the Chee Kung Tong organization, a benevolent association for recent arrivals. It is representative of the community building among immigrant Chinese labourers and merchants in new settlements throughout Canada. Barkerville Historic Town and Park Camping Sites consists of three sites: Government Hill Site (7.4 acres), Lowhee Site (49.4 acres), and Forest Rose Site (79 acres), all of which are operated by Barkerville Historic Town and Park. Having been fully restored in
1935-409: Was included in the 1957, 1,082 hectare Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park . The Social Credit government of W. A. C. Bennett (1952–1972) created hundreds of small parks but reduced the overall size of the park system from 3.6 to 2.9 million hectares to accommodate resource development. While these parks continued the recreational focus of the park system, including the first heritage park with
1980-469: Was largely manned by men who had been on the Fraser or to other BC rushes such as those at Rock Creek and Big Bend . While some of the population that came for the Cariboo rush stayed on as permanent settlers, taking up land in various parts of the Interior in the 1860s and after, that wasn't the general rule for those involved in the Fraser rush. Many veterans of the Cariboo would spread out to explore
2025-592: Was the Gold Escort, which brought government bullion to Yale for shipment to the colonial treasury. 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. A 1976 young adult novel, Cariboo Runaway , by Sandy Frances Duncan , is set in
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