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51-524: The first recorded gold discovery in the Omineca district was made by William Cust and Edward Carey in the summer of 1861. The two men had traveled up from Alexandria that spring and returned in the fall with 60 ounces of gold between them. Despite such a small return for a summer filled with labor and hardship, they returned the following year with a group of more than twenty prospectors. In later years, some of these men would make major gold discoveries in

102-452: A dog team . His first round trip took him six weeks: he left Quesnel on January 31, arrived at Vital Creek and returned to Quesnel on March 16 with part of his hands and face frozen. Nevertheless, he continued this service throughout the spring and summer of 1870, handling the Omineca mail for Wells Fargo and Barnard's Express . Each letter sent to or from the goldfields cost the sender a whopping $ 2.50. Lamont noted 250 new miners coming to

153-488: A day for about six weeks, until they were forced to leave the area due to a lack of resources. Following their vacation of the area however, news had spread to several mining camps around the area and thus created a gold rush . Shortly after leaving the gold industry, Carey, who had remained Peace River area, went into the fur trading business, along with his prospector partner Bill Cust and three other locals. The partnership would continue for at least four years, when one of

204-531: A letter and parcel express service between the Omineca diggings and Quesnel. Two other mining parties were organized, one under "Twelve-foot" Davis and another led by Duncan McMartin . Sylvester's party returned in December to record that they had staked 56 claims and they reported that the original miners at Vital Creek had been incorrect and the discovery was richer than everyone had been led to believe. Upon hearing this news, many more miners decided to go north to

255-742: A municipal councillor in Edmonton . Carey was born in Upper Canada in 1832. Intrigued by the opportunity to gain a fortune in gold, he was quickly drawn to the California Gold Rush , and later to British Columbia , where he prospected for gold along with his partner, Bill Cust. In the 1860s, the duo would make major discoveries of gold in the Parsnip River and in Peace River , leading to gold rushes when news spread of

306-519: A music hall, theatre, recreation center and a bakery. In the spring of 1873 Gold Commissioner WH Fitzgerald died of a seizure at his cabin in Dunkeld. By then rush was mostly over, even though there were still some claims that were doing well and Lost Creek was still yielding gold at the rate of 90 to 200 ounces a week. By the fall of that year, the news of the strike in the Cassiar district had reached

357-511: A pound for baggage. By June 1870, 400 men were in the Vital Creek area. A man named Gillis had built a saloon to serve the population and "Twelve-foot" Davis built a bakery and a coffee house. Despite these new amenities, many of the miners were disillusioned by the lack of new discoveries and left the area. The price of supplies dropped dramatically, which had a negative effect, as pack trains and boats no longer wanted to bring supplies into

408-483: A week was being taken from Germansen Creek alone. Again, these numbers may have been much higher, and very little was ever recorded on the Chinese miners, where they worked, or how they fared in their mining endeavours. 250 miners stayed in the region over the winter of 1871–72 and constructed cabins at Howellton. A music hall was built at Dunkeld and another town was built at Manson's Creek, Manson's Town, which featured

459-631: The California Gold Rush , and being intrigued with the possibility of a fortune, Carey would head to there in 1849 to pan for gold. Carey would remain there until around 1858, gradually moving back north and ending up in the Fraser Valley area, where he partnered up with fellow prospector William (Bill) Cust (1823–1908), in search for gold in the Fraser River . It was also in British Columbia where Carey and Cust co-discovered

510-539: The Omineca . Late in the mining season of 1870, $ 7,000 was taken out by a party of 15 Chinese miners, giving some hope that significant gold might yet be found in the region. The creek has been mined for gold and silver, which occurred simultaneously and were unusual to find in that way. It has been hydraulicked and mined by Chinese syndicates like Gow Sing and Co. The bulk of the gold was obtained on bedrock and in crevices and cracks. Initial exploration and mining work

561-723: The Omineca Gold Rush , when in 1861, Carey struck gold along the Parsnip River while prospecting in the area. Along with Cust, he would later operate a trading post at Rocky Mountain Portage . In 1862, the duo of Cust and Carey, along with Pete Toy another prospector from the Fraser Valley area, headed further north, to Peace River Country . At Peace River, Carey made the initial discovery of gold in Peace River; thereafter along with his partners, they made $ 50

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612-542: The Peace , Smoky and Nation Rivers. McDame had made a discovery in the Cassiar district and McDame's Creek was named in his honor. Throughout 1864–1868, very little activity is recorded in the Omineca district, although many of these prospectors returned regularly and worked at Toy's Bar and other known areas where they knew they would find enough gold to be able to fund their other prospecting ventures. In 1868, four of

663-531: The Vital Range to meet Silver Creek, joining that creek from the west about 5 miles from its mouth into the Omineca River , about 41 km northeast of Takla Landing . The gold deposits of Vital Creek were discovered in 1869 by Vital Laforce , who had also been among the four discoverers of gold along Williams Creek , which was the foundation of Barkerville . This was the first creek mined in

714-462: The 21st century, mining is still being practiced in the Omineca, although all of the old gold rush towns are long gone, with the exception of Manson Creek, which still exists today. Edward Carey (businessman) Edward Francis Carey Sr. (c. 1832 – September 10, 1908) was a Canadian gold prospector, fur trader, and merchant. He was also politician in Alberta , Canada serving briefly as

765-633: The Edmonton Citizens' Marching Band. He was interred at the Edmonton Cemetery on September 14. He was survived by a son, Edward, of Andrew, Alberta , and a daughter, Mrs. George Hutton, of Edmonton. Regarded as a pioneer citizen of Edmonton and Western Canada , an obituary in the Edmonton Bulletin described Carey as a "genuine old timer, a distinct species of the race, one of nature's noblemen, who would do anything in

816-575: The Fort St. James trading post. On October 29 the Peace River Prospecting Party and Ezra Evans' group left to return to Vital Creek, but they would not be alone for long. Gold rush fever had swept Quesnel and letters had been sent to nearby Barkerville urging friends and family to drop everything and head for Omineca. Among these newcomers was Rufus Sylvester , who would not only mine in the Omineca district but would also run

867-509: The Omineca River. To Germansen, this unknown creek, "seemed right", but his party was eager to get to Pete Toy's strike, so Germansen had to continue along with them. However, when they arrived at Pete Toy's strike they encountered little success and returned to Vital Creek. But Germansen had not forgotten the little unnamed creek and he returned there with Duncan McMartin, James May and "Blackjack" Smith. Germansen's instincts had been on

918-462: The Omineca and many men left for these new, "greener pastures". Among those to go to Cassiar were Vital Laforce, Rufus Sylvester, "Blackjack" Smith and Henry McDame. James Germansen remained in the Omineca, while David Humphrey died from ingesting poisonous mushrooms . 80 miners were in the district in 1874 and the total reported gold they mined was 5000 ounces. In the Cassiar, 14,000 men produced 68,750 ounces. Therefore, if those estimates are correct,

969-530: The Omineca area the following year. A group of miners was organized and after a concerted effort they raised more than $ 1000 from Quesnel farmers and businessmen and then the Colonial government gave the miners another $ 1000. The group of prospectors would be called the Peace River Prospecting Party. Strangely, the party was made up of only one of the original discoverers of Silver Creek, William Humphrey. The omission of Evans, Davis and Gaylord would be an error that

1020-519: The Omineca diggings and the rush was officially on. In January 1870, the Omineca region suffered very heavy snowfalls and extreme cold temperatures, and surface mining could not be performed. Shaft mining was attempted at various locations by Rufus Sylvester and Duncan McMartin, but both recovered insufficient gold and the shafts were abandoned. That January RJ Lamont started the Omineca Express and delivered mail from Omineca to Quesnel using

1071-399: The area if they were going to make little or no profit on the venture. The miners who stayed at Vital Creek soon heard of a new strike made by Pete Toy off the Omineca River. One of the parties who decided to go to those new diggings was led by an American by the name of James Germansen . While he and his group were going to the new diggings, Germansen found an undiscovered creek coming off

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1122-460: The area in the summer of 1871, a man named Elmore who was stationed at Omineca City. Elmore made a small fortune selling supplies to the miners. Food prices were very high and some items, like picks and shovels were not available at any price. Because of this high cost of living and the difficulty in procuring the necessary supplies, many miners left the area. Of those who stayed it is reported that some did very well. One report claimed that 500 ounces

1173-581: The area, Peter Cargotitch , and built a saloon at Omineca City and hired a group of entertainers called the McGinley Troupe to perform for his customers. At Germansen Creek, many good claims were being worked up and down both sides of the creek. One group of five men recovered 390 ounces in 13 days, while Duncan McMartin and his crew averaged 10 ounces a day and James Germansen and "Twelve-foot" Davis mined 20 to 120 ounces per week. Two sawmills were constructed, and sluice boxes were built by nearly all of

1224-484: The cattle ranching business, importing cattle from as far as Montana to sell. Norris later joined Carey as a partner in his general store, and the store would be known as Norris & Carey, selling mainly groceries and hardware. In 1892 , Carey was elected as an alderman to Edmonton's first Town Council , finishing third of fourteen candidates (the top six were elected) with 124 votes. He did not seek re-election in 1893 , and did not engage in politics thereafter. He

1275-437: The creek was named Vital Creek and the nearby mountains were named Vital Mountains . The party received unexpected company near the end of June with the arrival of two of Silver Creek's original discoverers, Ezra Evans and Gaylord. Now the party had a problem, they had promised that they would simply explore and prospect, not actually work claims. Evans and Gaylord were not bound by any such commitment and they moved upriver from

1326-412: The creek. Early takings were from the creek's present channel downstream from a waterfall 3 km upstream from the mouth of the creek. Gold was later found upstream from the waterfall in a pre-glacial channel, in the form of coarse well-worn flakes on the bedrock. Three jade boulders weighing 2267, 907 and 363 kilograms were reported as having been taken from the creek in 1963. The area drained by

1377-545: The direction of the newly installed Gold Commissioner , WH Fitzgerald . Road builder Gustavus Blin-Wright proposed the construction of a road over the ten mile stretch of land at Giscome Portage, and appealed to the government for the funds to do so. Wright also suggested that a cattle trail be built from Fort McLeod . Later, in the spring of 1871, Captain William Meade would bring in a pack train from Hazelton, and he would make many improvements on that trail. Despite

1428-524: The discoveries. Carey later went into the fur trade , establishing himself at Peace River, and later, Lac la Biche. After spending a couple years in the fur trade, he went into the general merchant business, establishing stores in Manitoba , and later in Edmonton , North West Territories , where he would move to in 1882. Carey would operate the first store in the town, as well as a cattle business along with fellow merchant John Norris, until his retirement in

1479-557: The discovery at Manson's Creek in July 1871, more large strikes were made on nearby creeks. Among these were Blackjack Creek, Kildare Creek, Mosquito Creek, Slate Creek and Nugget Gulch. One of this richest creeks was found by accident by James Carson, H. Guest and J Griffith, who had gotten lost while looking for Manson's Creek and literally stumbled across it, thus they called it Lost Creek . The very first panful taken from Lost Creek yielded 3/4 of an ounce of gold. With all these new strikes in

1530-559: The district that spring, and of that number he estimated that 60% of them were white, while the remaining 40% were experienced Chinese miners from the Cariboo region. The Quesnel Colonist reported that 350 men had passed through town on their way to the Omineca diggings. Still others arrived on Captain William Moore's barge , which had left Quesnel at the end of April. A road was built from Takla Landing to Fall River under

1581-487: The district, new towns sprang up practically overnight: Manson's Creek, Howellton and Dunkeld . The residence of the Gold Commissioner's would be built at Dunkeld. There would be three Gold Commissioners for the Omineca district in the 1870s and they were, Peter O'Reilly , WH Fitzgerald and D. Ballentyne , who would also act as Stipendary Magistrates . Despite the building boom, there was only one trader in

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1632-407: The exception of Patrick Kelly and Vital LaForce, who stayed at Fort St. James, the other miners all returned to Quesnel with the news that the venture had only been marginally successful. However, suspicions were raised when the men announced they were returning to Vital Creek for the winter and even more eyebrows were raised when it was discovered that LaForce and Kelly had spent an astounding $ 2500 at

1683-603: The fact that these roads were built and improved during the rush years, the trip was still perilous and very costly. Steamer fare on the Fraser River on the Enterprise or the Victoria was $ 25 and 12.5 cents a pound was added for baggage. Smaller boats near the gold fields charged $ 7 for the ride and 7 cents a pound for baggage. At Takla Landing, yet more money was required, as that was a road toll that charged 18 cents

1734-431: The famous "Twelve-foot" Davis who had once made a small fortune by staking out a twelve-foot section of ground between two rich claims. However, most of these newcomers were unsuccessful and, to make matters worse, supplies were scarce. Many prospectors had to leave the diggings and return to their homes in defeat. Two that stayed on and prospected at Toy's Bar were John Giscome and Henry McDame , both of whom had worked on

1785-581: The fur trade in the Lesser Slave Lake area. Carey moved to permanently settle in Edmonton around 1882. Upon settling, he would purchase land which would later become the neighbourhood of Abbotsfield . In Edmonton, he established a general store on Hardisty Avenue along the trail connecting Edmonton with St. Albert , which was the first privately owned store in the town. He would later partner with another businessman, John A. Norris, and enter

1836-547: The group's organizers would regret. The rest of the group was Vital Laforce and Mike Byrnes , both of whom had been scouts for the Overland Telegraph Company , along with Patrick Kelly , James Hawkins and Allen Hawkins . The arrangements for the trip were made by a committee of three well-known men, storekeeper Peter Dunlevy who owned stores at Soda Creek and Fort George , Edgar Dewdney and pioneer road builder Gustavus Blin-Wright who also owned

1887-455: The late 1890s. After his retirement he would live quietly in Edmonton as his health declined, leading up to his death in 1908. Regarded as one of the pioneer citizens of Edmonton and earliest settlers of Western Canada, Carey would later be interred at the Edmonton Cemetery. Carey was born in London, Ontario , in 1832, of Irish ancestry. After completing education in the area, he received word of

1938-532: The local paddle steamers , Enterprise and Victoria . The Peace River Prospecting Party set out from Quesnel on May 3, 1869, having been supplied with a large boat, the necessary tools and a year's supply of food. The party followed the water route via the Fraser, Nechako and Stuart Rivers and up through Stuart, Trembleur and Takla Lake. When they arrived at Silver Creek, Vital Laforce discovered gold on one of its tributaries on June 21. In honor of this discovery

1989-526: The miners to aid in easier and faster gold retrieval. However, by June 1871, many of the miners at Germansen Creek were having little luck and they struck out to find new areas to prospect. On July 5, a man named Robert Howell made a discovery on Manson Creek , a small creek that was either named after Shetland Islander , William Manson . or Donald Manson of the Hudson's Bay Company . Robert Howell panned more than 20 ounces of gold in two hours. Manson's Creek

2040-511: The miners, Ezra Evans "Twelve-foot" Davis, William Humphrey and Gaylord went from Fort St. James up to Takla Landing via the Stuart, Trembleur and Takla Lakes. Along the way they discovered what they initially believed was silver but was actually arquerite, an amalgam of native silver and mercury . They named the creek where they made this discovery Silver Creek . The four miners went back to Quesnel that fall and appealed for funds to explore

2091-460: The money. Each man in the party could easily pan half an ounce to two ounces a day from Germansen Creek . The four men returned to Vital Creek in September with the good news and the migration from Vital Creek to Germansen Creek began. Rufus Sylvester constructed sluice boxes and his group's yield was often ten ounces of gold per day for each man. 4400 ounces of gold were reported in 1870, but

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2142-447: The ones who remained, fared better at 62.5 ounces per man, than the ones who left and made only 49.1 ounces per man. Placer mining continued on a small scale in the Omineca for many years and then, in the 1890s large companies from Victoria and Ottawa came to the district and began hydraulic mining which continued well into the 1900s. The amount of activity fluctuated with gold prices, mining restrictions and economic conditions. In

2193-529: The partners, Mr. Brennan made off with the company's profits on four years worth of furs during a trip to Chicago. He later moved to the Lac La Biche area, where he again went into the fur trade. In 1874, he entered in a partnership with an American businessman, Mr. Johnson, whom he met when he was travelling from Winnipeg to Edmonton . They would purchase stores in the Assiniboia area and engage in

2244-423: The party and commenced mining. In retaliation the party stayed at Vital Creek and mined until freeze up. One thing the two groups did agree on was that they wanted to discourage any more miners from coming up the following year. Though obliged to report their earnings, they all intended to report that the diggings were not very good and that more should be known of the country before any discoveries were reported. With

2295-460: The real total may have been much higher as many of the miners were reluctant to reveal the true amount of gold taken from their claims. During the winter of 1870–71, Rufus Sylvester carried mails and gold between the Omineca district and Quesnel using a dog team. During this period a new settlement had been built at Germansen. Initially it was simply called Germansen, but it would later be called Omineca City . Another gold rush entrepreneur arrived in

2346-463: The region, notably, Ezra Evans and Peter Toy . Along the Finlay River they discovered gold at a bar four miles from Finlay's Forks and named it Toy's Bar after Peter Toy. The bar would yield four ounces a day for each man. Another group of men on the Parsnip River , discovered 60 ounces of gold. Reports of these successes spread and in 1863, 150 men were in the area, among them, James May and

2397-574: The world for a friend and who scarcely knew what it was to have an enemy." A series of roads, Carey Crescent, Carey Way, Carey Lane, and Carey Close, all located within the Cameron Heights neighbourhood in Edmonton (named after fellow council member John Cameron ) are named for Edward Carey. Vital Creek Vital Creek is a creek located in the Omineca Country region of British Columbia , flowing eastward from its source in

2448-485: Was also an early member of the Edmonton Board of Trade, serving as its inaugural vice president in 1889. In 1897, he retired from his business interests and returned to his Edmonton home. Carey died September 10, 1908, at his home in Edmonton, less a month after the death of his former prospecting partner Bill Cust. He had been in poor health since suffering a stroke of paralysis 14 years previous. His funeral

2499-454: Was carried out by means of drift diggings, followed by ground sluicing and hydraulicking later. Drift mining and hydraulicking were both abandoned in the 1930s as there were no dumping facilities for mining waste. Later exploration to bedrock in pursuit of hard-rock ores met with little success. Total gold production from Vital Creek between 1876 and 1900 was 117,091 grams, and between 1926 and 1940 another 143,122 grams of gold were taken from

2550-399: Was held at First Presbyterian Church in Edmonton; it was attended by many local dignitaries and notables including James Ross , Henry William McKenney , Daniel Maloney , William Antrobus Griesbach , Daniel R. Fraser , as well as former mayors Matthew McCauley , Cornelius Gallagher , and sitting Mayor John Alexander McDougall . Prior to the service, a procession to the church was led by

2601-469: Was only eight miles from Germansen Landing and when the news of Howell's strike was made, men rushed to this new site and staked their claims. Whether it was named after him or not, William Manson would do very well at Manson Creek, and would return to the Shetland Islands, becoming a prominent businessman there and employing hundreds of his countrymen in mills he built for wool processing. After

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