CARIBOO GOLD RUSH

As early as 1833 a man named David Douglas, a naturalist found gold along the Lake Okanagan, but it wasn't until 1862 when Billy Barker found gold near the Cariboo Wagon Road.

The Cariboo Gold Rush was a real gold rush located in British Columbia and is also one of their most famous. There were many gold rushes located throughout British Columbia however the Cariboo Gold Rush remains the one most talked about.

The gold fields were located at a remote wilderness in the northeast corner of the Cariboo plateau. And the easiest way for people to get to these fields, both British and Canadians, unlike many stories having them being mostly Americans digging for gold. Although there were Americans at the Cariboo Gold Rush, one of the reasons for the lack of Americans at the Cariboo Gold Rush was the civil war had just broken out.

Back when the Cariboo Gold Rush began, you need a license to pan for gold. It costs approximately five dollars and was good for one year and allowed you to lay claim to your findings. You could buy supplies in Victoria or in Yale which is the last stop before the Cariboo Wagon Road which takes you directly to the Cariboo River where you mind for your gold. Yale was one of the larger towns at that time, claiming to be the biggest city north of San Francisco and west of Chicago.

From Yale down the Cariboo Wagon Road you would find yourself traveling across a narrow bridge from Spuzzum, across the Fraser River, to Boston Bar and beyond that into Ashcroft Manor.

Ashcroft Manor is a very nice two-story large house which many famous people from Cariboo stayed in on their way to or on their way back from mining gold. It's a very comfortable and clean home run by the Cornwall family. It's the nicest place you will find along the route to the Cariboo Gold Rush.

The next stop on the Cariboo Wagon Road would be Quesnel and this is where you'll find the Hurdy-Gurdy Girls singing and dancing for the miners, just another small town on the way to the Cariboo Gold Rush, but one surely not to be missed.

The last stop on Cariboo Wagon Road is Barkerville named after Billy Barker in 1862 when he first found gold at Williams Creek, a find that started the Gold Rush of Cariboo. Over 100,000 gold hunting minors traveled the Cariboo Wagon Road from 1862 to 1870. The Cariboo Wagon Road and Barkerville were named the eighth wonders of the world at that time because it was a phenomenon beyond comprehension the amount of people seeking gold at the Cariboo Gold Rush.

There are many things to do and Barkerville, the town is a bustling metropolitan yet small area that offers a Chinese restaurant, a market and a merchant as well as stables and places to stay while you're mining; however most people stayed in tents to save money.