The Cariboo Gold Rush 1857
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
Gold Discovered 1848 in California = wave of immigration to California “get rich quick” Of course . . . Most didn’t
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 $$$
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 1858 10,000 miners had arrived
Fears brewing Governor Douglas (of course) feared an American expansion . . . Why? High numbers of Americans had entered British North America (not yet Canada)
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)
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
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
Map of Route
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)
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
The Confederation Debate BC’s problems were not solved . . . BC needed a better solution . . . CONFEDERATION
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)
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)
Why oppose Confederation? They believed that BC was too far away from the rest of Canada (Manitoba to East Coast)
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
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
July 20, 1871 British Columbia enters Confederation Promise of a railway Promise of responsible government