By Water, By Trail – The Douglas Gold Rush Trail

1827 Francis Ermatinger (1798-1858)

1846 A.C. Anderson (1814-1884)

In 2012 we received an interesting donation

The Oregon Treaty 1849

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the U.S. and British North American border at the 49th parallel with the exception of Vancouver Island, which was retained in its entirety by the British. Vancouver Island, with all coastal islands, was constituted as the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849. The U.S. portion of the region was organized as Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848, with Washington Territory being formed from it in 1853. The British portion remained unorganized until 1858 when the Colony of British Columbia was declared as a result of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.

The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush 1858

In the summer of 1858, 30,000 gold rushers began making their way from San Francisco after rumours spread about a ship arriving from British Columbia territory that was carrying 800 oz. of gold found in the Thompson and Fraser Rivers. The rush was on!800 oz. of gold today is worth over $1 million dollars. In 1858 an oz. of gold was worth $20 oz. In 1858 $20 would be worth $570 in U.S. dollars today!.

James Douglas was Chief Factor for the Hudson’s Bay Co. who governed Vancouver Island. He acted on his own initiative to keep the gold rush from spinning out of control, but he could do so for only so long. On Aug. 2, 1858, Britain declared the mainland a separate British colony, named British Columbia, with Douglas in charge. Over the next months and years, Douglas acted forcefully to maintain order and provide access to the gold fields. He remained governor of both Vancouver Island and British Columbia until his retirement in 1864. He is often credited as "The Father of British Columbia".

Old Fraser River Bars 1858-60

Port Douglas, Port Pemberton and 29 Mile

Port Anderson, Lillooet (Cayoosh)

Judge Begbie and Bushby’s trip of 1859

Sternwheelers

Port Pemberton – R.E. Survey Map

Port Pemberton Shelters & Eats

1rst Pre-Emptions

Small Pox 1862

Canadian Confederation 1867

End of an Era -1869

1873 - 1888

• 1873 – Marcus Smith surveys the Pemberton Trail for railway.

• 1876 – The Cattle Trail fiasco.

• 1879 – The murder of Tom Poole.

• 1882 – Only one name left on the voter’s list with a Pemberton address “McBeth”.

• 1885 – John Currie arrives and pre-empts DL 164 and 165 in 1888

with his partners.