The Similkameen Gold Rush, also known as the Blackfoot Gold Rush, was a minor gold rush in the Similkameen Country of the

Southern Interior , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivi ...

of British Columbia, Canada, in 1860. The Similkameen Rush was one of a flurry of small rushes peripheral to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which had drawn tens of thousands of prospectors to the new colony in 1858-1859, among the others being

Rock Creek Gold Rush The Rock Creek Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Boundary Country region of the Colony of British Columbia (now part of a Canadian province). The rush was touched off in 1859 when two US soldiers were driven across the border to escape pursuing Ind ...

and Big Bend. Discovery of gold on the upper Similkameen River in 1860 led to the establishment of the town of

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...

, also known as Blackfoot Flat and adjoined by a neighbouring settlement, Blackwood Flat, seven miles southwest of what is now Princeton near the site of the later mining town-cum-ghost town

Allenby Allenby is a surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include: * Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861–1936), British Army field-marshal ** Named for the above: **Allenby Street, Tel Aviv, Israel **Allenby Bridge between J ...

. The population of the town in the fall of 1860 was approximately 100, a mix of white and Chinese miners. By the summer of 1861 its population was reported as only about 50. High water made mining operations on the river difficult, but bench claims, above the water-mark, proved successful and one shaft was sunk in an effort to find hard-rock deposits. Blackfoot and Blackwood Flat contained 40 houses, including a store and other services. Blackfoot disappeared nearly as quickly as it had appeared as the ever-fickle miners moved on in search of richer and easier diggings. Six years after being one of the original participants on the Similkameen Rush, "Jackass John" returned from prospecting in Montana and the

Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

. He mined on the same spot where he had made $40 in two days during the original rush and in fourteen days had taken $900. He enlisted three friends and worked the mine; historian H.H. Bancroft notes that the four partners sluiced $240 in three days. ::"An article in the ''

Similkameen Star Similkameen may refer to: * Similkameen Country or Similkameen District, or "the Similkameen", a historical georegion in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen River, a river that runs through southern British Columbia, discharging into the Okanog ...

'' in 1935 that the site of Blackfoot was "relocated and identified with Kruger's bar. According to H. Jamieson iron spikes in a river boulder indicated until recently where a bridge had crossed to the store and hotel on (the) south side of the river.

Theodore Kruger Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

, who gave his name to the (bar), was born in Hanover in 1929, and came to British Columbia in 1858. Like Mr. Allison, who arrived the same year, he had tried mining on the Fraser before coming to Similkameen". In the 1880s, discovery of further placer diggings on the South Fork of the Similkameen River led to the

Tulameen Gold Rush Tulameen, originally known as Otter Flat, is a small community in British Columbia, Canada, about 26 kilometres northwest of the town of Princeton on the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3), and about 185 kilometres northeast from the city of Vancouver, Br ...

and the founding of Granite Creek and

Tulameen Tulameen, originally known as Otter Flat, is a small community in British Columbia, Canada, about 26 kilometres northwest of the town of Princeton on the Crowsnest Highway (Hwy 3), and about 185 kilometres northeast from the city of Vancouver, Br ...

References

*''Encyclopedia of Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of British Columbia: Volume 2, The Similkameen, Boundary and Okanagan'', T.W. Paterson, Sunfire Publications, Langley B.C. (1981) {{Financial bubbles Pre-Confederation British Columbia Canadian gold rushes British Columbia gold rushes Similkameen Country 1860 in Canada

See also

References