1. The Cariboo Gold Rush
1857

2. Terms to know Title: establish or recognized right to something
Bedrock: solid rock underneath looser marerials such as soil
Transient: not lasting very long
Responsible Government: responsible to the representatives of the people

3. Gold Discovered 1848 in California = wave of immigration to California
“get rich quick”
Of course Most didn’t

4. Fantasy versus REality
Gold lined the banks of the river or creek
Nuggets were the size of one’s fist
Wealth overnight
Reality
Stake a claim to the area of creek you wished to search
Dig down to the bedrock (messy and hard work)
By 1849 most of the river had been claimed
Working for someone else
No gold = No money $$$

5. 1857 Gold discovered
Oregon Territory (along Thompson and Fraser Rivers)
Governor Douglas feared this would bring greedy miners
IT DID . . .
-Hundreds of miners from the US arrived in search of gold
-By the summer of ,000 miners had arrived

6. Fears brewing
Governor Douglas (of course) feared an American expansion Why?
High numbers of Americans had entered British North America (not yet Canada)

7. Swift Action Step 1: Douglas reported concern to London
Step 2: London made Douglas the Governor of the Crown Colony of BC (He was already Governor of the Vancouver Island Colony)
Step 3: Military presence in the form of “Royal Engineers” (survey land, build roads/towns)

8. The Cariboo Road Profitable mining was occuring along the river
No income was going back into the colony – gold found was TAXABLE
Douglas’s idea – build a ROAD!
Gold could not “mistakenly” make its way to the US
Promote settlement and economic development

9. The Cariboo Route 1862 construction began 650 km
From Yale to Barkerville
4 years and $750,000 later the road was complete
Bad News The gold rush was declining

10. Map of Route

12. The Colony of BC- And Confederation
Changes in the Colony
End of the Gold Rush happened quickly
Few became rich
Rapid loss of the population meant economic disaster
New Governors
Frederick Seymour (BC)
Arthur Kennedy (Vancouver Island)

13. Continued Change New Governors decided to join colonies . . . Why?
By 1866 there was MAJOR debt in both colonies ($1.3 million)
The natural resources on the mainland would eventually generate $
August 6, 1866 the colony of British Columbia was formed and led by Governor Seymour

14. The Confederation Debate
BC’s problems were not solved . . .
BC needed a better solution . . .
CONFEDERATION

15. 3 Views of Confederation
Supported joining
Opposed joining (stay a colony)
Wanted annexation by the US (Join/take over) Note: Mostly business people from the Island)

16. Why Support Confederation
Canada would become responsible for BC’s debt
Railway would link country together (can easily ship BC’s natural resources to Eastern Canada’s factories)

17. Why oppose Confederation?
They believed that BC was too far away from the rest of Canada (Manitoba to East Coast)

18. Why Annexation Believed that BC had to be connected to a “larger body”
US would be a better market for the colony’s forest, mineral, and other resources
Immigration to BC would increase (from US)
This wasn’t very popular

19. Changing Minds
Governor Seymour died and was replaced by Anthony Musgrave
His job: make the people of BC vote for Confederation
His idea: get together with the anti-Confederation supporters to develop agreeable terms for union
He was successful

20. July 20, 1871 British Columbia enters Confederation
Promise of a railway
Promise of responsible government