![Gustavus Blin Wright](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Gustavus_Blin_Wright.gif)
Gustavus Blin Wright (June 22, 1830 – April 8, 1898) was a pioneer roadbuilder and entrepreneur in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada. His biggest achievement was building the
Old Cariboo Road to the Cariboo gold fields, from
Lillooet to
Fort Alexandria
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road. It is located on Highway 97, north of 100 Mile House and south of Qu ...
, but he was also a partner in a freighting firm that operated on the
Douglas Road
The Douglas Road, a.k.a. the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior (NB another route known as the Lillooet Trail was the Lillooet Cattle Trail, which ...
, he ran a toll bridge at
Bridge River, near
Lillooet, and built part of the road from
Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to:
Places
* Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France
* Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...
to
Barkerville. He was also the original owner of the town of
70 Mile House.
Early years
Gustavus Blinn Wright was born in
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...
, United States. He arrived in British Columbia on February 28, 1862, aboard the steamer ''
Brother Jonathan
Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was also used as an emblem of the U.S. in general, and can be an allegory of capitalism. His too-short pants, too-tight waistcoat and old-fashioned style reflect his taste for inexpensi ...
'' and began a partnership that operated vessels on the route between
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and
New Westminster.
[People of the Cariboo – 70 Mile House]
The Old Cariboo Road
On August 16, 1862, Wright won the contract to build the 47 mile (76 km) long section of the
Old Cariboo Road from Lillooet to Cut-Off Valley, which connects from the Fraser River at
Pavlion, over
Pavilion Mountain via
Kelly Lake to
Clinton, British Columbia
Clinton is a village in British Columbia, Canada, located approximately northwest of Cache Creek and 30 km south of 70 Mile House.
It is considered by some to straddle the southern edge of the Cariboo country of British Columbia, althoug ...
, as "47 Mile House" would become known. He was also given the option to complete the rest of the 151 miles (243 km) of construction to Alexandria, which he also undertook. By the end of the 1862 season, his crews had completed the road as far as the 127 Mile post.
He built a camp for his workers for the winter of at 70 Mile House and then purchased the property outright the following spring.
Some controversy erupted when Wright proposed a change to the planned route that had originally been intended to go past the roadhouse at
Williams Lake. Wright said he was concerned that the high cliffs and deep ravines would make construction too difficult and he proposed a different route that by-passed Williams Lake and went past Wright's own roadhouse at Deep Creek instead. While some believed Wright was making a perfectly logical decision based on the difficulty of the terrain, others, like the owners of the roadhouse at Williams Lake, claimed that Wright had ulterior motives, and was changing the route simply for the sake of the profits he stood to gain by diverting the majority of the traffic to his own roadhouse. The situation was finally resolved by
Colonel Moody of the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
, who examined both routes and came back with the recommendation that the road be built as Wright had proposed.
By July 1863, the section was completed through to
Soda Creek
Soda Creek is a rural subdivision 38 km north of Williams Lake in British Columbia, Canada. Located on the east bank of the Fraser River, Soda Creek was originally the home of the Xat'sull First Nation. Soda Creek Indian Reserve No. 1 is ...
and Alexandria. Then, early in 1864, Wright undertook the construction of the wagon road from Quesnel to Cottonwood, on the way to Barkerville.
Wright's sternwheelers
![Soda Creek on Fraser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Soda_Creek_on_Fraser.jpg)
At Alexandria, Wright built the first of his two sternwheelers that would ferry passengers and supplies up the
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
to Quesnel. It was the ''
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterprise ...
'', and was built by
Victoria shipbuilder, James Trahey. The ''Enterprise'' was launched and put into service in the spring of 1863.
In 1868 Wright built a second sternwheeler to augment the service of the ''Enterprise''. It was the ''
Victoria'' built at Quesnel by James Trahey and put into service in the spring of 1869.
The Omineca Gold Rush
In 1871, during the
Omineca Gold Rush, Wright decided to take the ''Enterprise'' up to
Takla Landing, northwest of Quesnel, following a route that even the seasoned
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
canoe-men regarded as extremely difficult. In June 1871, the ''Enterprise'' left Quesnel with a full load of passengers and freight, and, after a perilous trip that took more than two months, arrived at Takla Lake on August 12.
However, by then other supply routes had been made to the Omineca diggings, from
Hazelton via the
Skeena River. On her journey back from Takla, the ''Enterprise'' was wrecked and abandoned on
Trembleur Lake
Trembleur Lake is a lake in the Omineca Country of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, northwest of Fort St. James between Stuart Lake and the south end of Takla Lake. It is part of the Nechako Lakes. Its name in the Dakelh langu ...
. Wright's ''Victoria'' would work on the upper Fraser River until 1886, when she was berthed at Steamboat Landing near
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
.
He died on April 8, 1898, in
Ainsworth, BC
Ainsworth Hot Springs, previously named Ainsworth, is a historic village on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia, Canada and has a population of 20. Founded on May 31, 1883, it is the oldest surviving community on Kootenay Lake. Ainsworth Hot Springs ...
.
Notes
References
* ''Paddlewheels on the Frontier'' Volume One Art Downs
External links
Online biography of Gustavus Blinn Wright
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Gustavus Blinn
1830 births
1898 deaths
Canadian gold prospectors
Pre-Confederation British Columbia people
People from Burlington, Vermont
American emigrants to pre-Confederation British Columbia