THE CARIBOO GOLD RUSH 1857
Mar 31, 2015
THE CARIBOO GOLD
RUSH
1857
TERMS TO KNOW
1.Title: establish or recognized right to something
2.Bedrock: solid rock underneath looser marerials
such as soil
3.Transient: not lasting very long
4.Responsible Government: responsible to the
representatives of the people
GOLD DISCOVERED
1848 in California = wave of immigration to
California
“get rich quick”
Of course . . . Most didn’t
FANTASY VERSUS REALITY
Fantasy• Gold lined the banks of the river or creek• Nuggets were the size of one’s fist• Wealth overnight
Reality• Stake a claim to the area of creek you wished to search• Dig down to the bedrock (messy and hard work)• By 1849 most of the river had been claimed• Working for someone else• No gold = No money $$$
1857 GOLD DISCOVERED
Oregon Territory (along Thompson and Fraser
Rivers)
Governor Douglas feared this would bring greedy
minersIT DID . . .
-Hundreds of miners from the US arrived in search of gold
-By the summer of 1858 10,000 miners had arrived
FEARS BREWING
Governor Douglas (of
course) feared an American
expansion . . . Why?
High numbers of Americans
had entered British North
America (not yet Canada)
SWIFT ACTION
Step 1: Douglas reported
concern to London
Step 2: London made Douglas
the Governor of the Crown
Colony of BC (He was already
Governor of the Vancouver
Island Colony)
Step 3: Military presence in
the form of “Royal Engineers”
(survey land, build roads/towns)
THE CARIBOO ROAD
Profitable mining was occuring along the river
No income was going back into the colony –
gold found was TAXABLE
Douglas’s idea – build a ROAD!• Gold could not “mistakenly” make its way
to the US• Promote settlement and economic
development
THE CARIBOO ROUTE
1862 construction began
650 km
From Yale to Barkerville
4 years and $750,000 later the road was
complete
Bad News . . . The gold rush was declining
MAP OF ROUTE
T H E C O L O N Y O F B C - A N D C O N F E D E R AT I O N
Changes in the Colony• End of the Gold Rush happened quickly• Few became rich• Rapid loss of the population meant economic
disaster• New Governors
• Frederick Seymour (BC)• Arthur Kennedy (Vancouver Island)
CONTINUED CHANGE
New Governors decided to join colonies . . .
Why?
By 1866 there was MAJOR debt in both
colonies ($1.3 million)
The natural resources on the mainland would
eventually generate $
August 6, 1866 the colony of British Columbia
was formed and led by Governor Seymour
THE CONFEDERATION DEBATE
BC’s problems were not solved . . .
BC needed a better solution . . .
CONFEDERATION
3 VIEWS OF CONFEDERATION
1. Supported joining
2. Opposed joining (stay a colony)
3. Wanted annexation by the US (Join/take over)
Note: Mostly business people from the Island)
WHY SUPPORT CONFEDERATION
Canada would become responsible for BC’s debt
Railway would link country together (can easily
ship BC’s natural resources to Eastern Canada’s
factories)
WHY OPPOSE CONFEDERATION?
They believed that BC was too far away from the
rest of Canada (Manitoba to East Coast)
WHY ANNEXATION
Believed that BC had to be connected to a “larger
body”
US would be a better market for the colony’s
forest, mineral, and other resources
Immigration to BC would increase (from US)
This wasn’t very popular
CHANGING MINDS
Governor Seymour died and was replaced by
Anthony Musgrave
His job: make the people of BC vote for
Confederation
His idea: get together with the anti-Confederation
supporters to develop agreeable terms for union
He was successful
JULY 20, 1871
British Columbia enters Confederation
Promise of a railway
Promise of responsible government