| Cariboo "I can never love the Cariboo enough for all she gave to me. Mounted on a cowpony I roamed the land, not knowing where I went -- to be alive, going, that was enough." - Emily Carr The Cariboo was a land born of dreams... dreams of discovery, yellow dust and instant riches. In 1862, Billy Barker found gold on Williams Creek, a discovery that started a rush of adventurers from around the world. Between 1862 and 1870, over 10,000 people traversed the Cariboo Waggon Road. From Lillooet to Barkerville, they traveled north and towns sprung up in their wake. The rush for gold soon waned, but not the trek of discovery into the Cariboo. People from all over the world still venture here -- following the footsteps of the expeditions that went before. It is still a land of golden dreams with summer images of golden rolling pastures where horses graze, forest meadows filled in spring with golden flowers, and in autumn's lazy light with the golden leaves of trembling aspen and willow brush. A journey through the Cariboo follows routes hewn from rugged wilderness by those who went before. The journey is easier now, travelers enjoy amenities of every kind; excellent accommodations, from luxury resorts to quaint lakeside cabins; cities and towns that offer all your service needs; and fine dining and shopping. You will make many friends on your journey, from its beginning to its end. So bring your binoculars, your camera, your nature guide books and let your journey begin. |
Long journeys to fields of golden dreams Fur traders operated in the region for 50 years until gold fever struck. With the discovery of gold on the Fraser River, the Cariboo Gold Rush was on in 1859. Three years later Billy Barker struck one of the area's greatest gold claims. Tens of thousands of people followed the dream, making their way to the goldlfields and often converging on the bustling boomtown of Barkerville. By 1864, Barkerville boasted that it was the largest town north of San Francisco and west of Chicago. Today visitors can capture the gold rush spirit at Barkerville Historic Town. A road to reach the interior Continual waves of prospectors signalled the need for construction of a road that would allow mule trains, freight wagons and stages coaches to reach the Cariboo interior. A detachment of the Royal Engineers supervised construction of the historic Cariboo Waggon Road. Built entirely by hand, pick and shovel, workers blasted through the rock barrier of the Fraser Canyon between 1862 and 1864 to forge the road. Dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the Cariboo Waggon Road stretched 642 km (400 mi) from Yale to Barkerville. Today's Highway 1 between Yale and Lytton, and Highway 97 to Quesnel, approximate the route. After the rush By the 1880s, the Cariboo Gold Rush was in decline. Gold was still mined by hydraulic or deep-pit methods, but was beyond the reach of individual miners, and the yield was low. Many prospectors left the region but some saw, in the bunchgrass hills of the Cariboo region, ideal ranch country. They settled in to raise cattle. The southern Cariboo region is still considered cattle country and many of the original ranches remain. |
