The Big Bend Gold Rush was a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

in the

Big Bend Country In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Big Bend Country is the region around the northernmost section of the Columbia River, which changes from a northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the S ...

of the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: *Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) *Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also *History of Br ...

(now a

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

) in the mid-1860s.

History

Discovery & early miners

In 1861, the gold commissioner at Rock Creek reported a First Nations account of coarse gold some miles above the

Boat Encampment Boat Encampment is a ghost town in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The locality was at the tip of the Big Bend on the north shore of the Columbia River. The general vicinity, on the former Big Bend Highway, was by road a ...

. However, the actual first "strike" by Europeans is unclear. That year, a party of miners led by Hamilton McKenzie paddled up the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

and wintered near Death Rapids. During 1861–1862, small teams worked the Columbia bars and its tributaries. Four Frenchmen, who had settled on French Creek in spring 1865, were very successful. To avoid the gold export tax, half the gold leaving for the U.S. was estimated to be unreported.

Context

Gold rushes expanded the colony beyond

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

onto the mainland. These emanated from the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...

, the first to dominate the colony's history. A huge influx of miners, drawn from California to the Fraser, dispersed throughout the colony in search of gold. Other rushes during the period were in Rock Creek, Wild Horse Creek, the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the ...

, Omineca, Perry Creek, and Stikine, as well as the Colville and

Colorado Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 a ...

es.

Access

The upper Columbia was extremely remote. Many prospectors came overland up the

Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a s ...

from what is now

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, or up the Columbia River from

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

. A regular steamboat service on the Columbia from Marcus, Washington Terr. to La Porte, the head of navigation, began in 1866, but was first attempted in 1865. From

, the route via

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

up the Columbia was also promoted. However, most left the Cariboo goldfields to head eastward along the wagon road to present day

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, to board a steamer. Maintaining an easterly direction, they crossed

Kamloops Lake Kamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep. In prehistoric time, the lake was much longer, perhaps 20x, with adjacent silt ...

, passed

Fort Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

, along the

South Thompson River The South Thompson River is the southern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows appro ...

, crossed

Little Shuswap Lake Little Shuswap Lake is a small lake in the Thompson River basin of the southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, which sits at the transition between the Thompson Country to the west and the Shuswap Country to the east. It is fed by the Littl ...

, and along the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

, and across

Shuswap Lake Shuswap Lake (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) is a lake located in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little Shuswap River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, ...

(formerly called Big Shuswap Lake). The SS ''Marten'' operated the Savona– Seymour run to the mouth of the Seymour River. Trails over the

Monashee Mountains The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The highes ...

, familiar to First Nations, led to the Columbia. Seymour to the Columbia was , with snow deep in places. Parties from Kamloops also travelled overland in

pack train A packhorse, pack horse, or sumpter refers to a horse, mule, donkey, or pony used to carry goods on its back, usually in sidebags or panniers. Typically packhorses are used to cross difficult terrain, where the absence of roads prevents the use of ...

s, completing the journey down Smith Creek (a.k.a. Gaffney or Kirbyville creek) to the Columbia.

1865–1866 rush

In 1865,

William Downie William Downie (1819–1893) was a Scottish prospector and explorer involved in the gold rushes in California and British Columbia of the mid-19th Century. Life and death Downie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and raised in Ayrshire. In gold ru ...

, an experienced prospector, and his party of ex-Cariboo miners ascended the Columbia from Marcus. They discovered gold in paying quantities at

Carnes Creek Carnes Creek is a creek located in the Big Bend Country region of British Columbia. The flows into the Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest ...

. Others continued up the Columbia to the

Goldstream Two different neighbourhoods located in Langford, British Columbia in Greater Victoria on southern Vancouver Island include the name Goldstream. Goldstream Meadows is a neighbourhood in the city of Langford, on the northwest outskirts of G ...

, and its tributaries,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

McCullough McCullough is a Northern Irish surname. It is a variation of the Scottish McCulloch. In Irish Gaelic it's “''Mac Cú Uladh''”, which means ''“Son of Ulster”.'' People with the surname McCullough: * Alfred McCullough (born 1989), America ...

creeks, and were also well rewarded. News spread, and the rush truly began in 1866. Between 8,000–10,000 flocked to the creeks and valleys. That year, the SS '' Forty-Nine'' commenced ferrying miners to La Porte, at the foot of Death Rapids. Conflicting accounts put this at either four or 37 trips from Marcus during the season. The ''Marten'' made twice weekly trips to Seymour. Many smaller boats also operated on the Shuswap. During the previous winter, a number of miners had hauled their equipment across the frozen lake. The main ore finds were on the southwestward leg of the river beyond the bend, south from today's

Mica Creek Mica Creek is a small village in British Columbia, Canada that was used as a base of operations for the construction of the Mica Dam hydroelectric project by BC Hydro in the 1960s and 1970s. It is located 148 km north of Revelstoke, Briti ...

. At French Creek City in 1866, Arthur W. Vowell was appointed constable (one of the four colonial constables prior to Confederation), serving for six years. Peter O'Reilly was appointed as gold commissioner, and Walter Moberly laid out the proposed town site. Kirbyville arose on the Goldstream. Prospecting spread from above to below the rapids, venturing along Downie Creek. The mining settlements around French Creek, McCullough Creek, Kirbyville, and Wilson's Landing became sizeable towns with cabins, hotels, stores, saloons, blacksmith shops, laundries, billiard halls, and barber shops. In one incident, 18 miners drowned when a boat capsized in the rapids.

Outcome

By year end, the rush was over. In 1869, 37 miners remained at French Creek, and none on the others creeks. The rush itself had been modest in terms of earnings compared to the Fraser and Cariboo. Big Bend mining activity sporadically occurred later. Most of the goldfields, and what remained of their boomtowns and old mining camps and workings, are now submerged by the reservoirs of

Mica Dam Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning the Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operated b ...

or Revelstoke Canyon Dam.

Footnotes

References

* * {{Financial bubbles British Columbia gold rushes Shuswap Country Columbia Country 1860s economic history 1860s in Canada 1860s in British Columbia