By Lorna Townsend

The Cariboo Gold Rush of 1858 served as the catalyst responsible for the creation of the Province of British Columbia. That year more than twenty thousand gold-hungry miners started pouring into the colony, transforming Fort Victoria, the Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters, from a tiny community of less than three hundred people, to a booming city of thousands overnight. The miners' timing could not have been better for the ailing colony of Vancouver Island. The declining fur trade had displaced its economic livelihood and the colonial residents had become dependent on exporting coal, lumber, and supplies to the miners in the California gold fields. As a result of the discovery of gold on the Fraser River, their source of income would be closer to home, so would the miners.

The British colonists had early-developed opinions of the character of these miners now infiltrating their lands. They were nervous, no one more than Governor Douglas himself, who expected the Cariboo's newest residents to be "the very dregs, in fact of society."

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir Edward Lytton, was likewise worried. In denying self-government to the newly declared colony of British Columbia, he believed "the grand principle of free institutions" should not be risked "among settlers so wild, so miscellaneous, perhaps so transitory, and in a form of society so crude." Douglas and Lytton would soon change their minds about the miners, historians, on the other hand, appear more difficult to convince.

The movies of the 'Wild West', novels, and most significantly, our history books, often portray the western gold mining society as being full of "grubby miners, instant wealth, [and] raucous living". Isobel Bescoby's 1932 U.B.C. Masters thesis, entitled "Some Aspects of Society in the Cariboo From Its Discovery to 1871", provides a telling example of this portrayal. Bescoby describes the essential details for characterization of the Cariboo miner as "drunkenness, gambling, and recklessness." She argues that in Barkerville, the largest of the Cariboo gold rush towns, "societal standards were set by saloons . . . [residents were] isolated from the outside world, in terms of communication" and "because they couldn't communicate with more highly developed groups, maintained a frontier condition of society". Historian S.D. Clark reiterates the same image in "Mining Society in British Columbia and the Yukon." According to Clark, Cariboo gold mining society was transient, without social organization, and had societal problems because it was "full of undisciplined California miners." He argues that it was the "stubborn individualism" of these miners that resulted in "no sense of community obligation" and "no standards of propriety . . .[or] initiative to lead moral reform." A more recent author, George Bowering, describes the miners of the Cariboo, in B.C.: A Swashbuckling History, as "ruffians from the south" and "wild men who had easy access to liquor and a taste [sic] for yellow dust."

These historians, and many others, imply that the Cariboo mining society was full of reckless, lawless, lazy, drunken and uncivilized miners. They also give readers the impression that Barkerville was never more than a temporary mining camp. In this paper, I will, first and foremost, argue against these implications. By comparing the social amenities and organizations of Barkerville with the colony's capital, Barkerville's society appears similar to Victoria’s, with social organization, standards of propriety, community spirit, and talented, articulate, cultured miners.

Secondly, I will discuss the differences between the Cariboo and Californian mining societies. Some of the misrepresentation of Barkerville and its miners can be attributed to the way historians tend to write about frontier history, using epitomizing events and symbolic stories to portray the past. The life of Billy Barker is one such story, often used as the stereotypical example of the ‘get rich, get drunk, die poor’ portrayal of the Cariboo miner. Stories of the lawless California gold mines, where many of the Cariboo miners came from, also contribute to the 'Wild West' image of the Cariboo mining society. Many historians acknowledge the law and order, found in the Cariboo but not in California, as the only difference between the two mining societies. Their differences, though, were not limited to law and order. The Cariboo mining society, unlike that of California, was also decidedly British.

Barkerville was just one of many communities in the Cariboo to spring up as a result of the gold rush. As early as July 1861, nearby Antler Creek had over twelve hundred miners working its watershed. Within two months of arriving, these miners created a town with sixty houses, women, a racetrack with imported racehorses from England, theatrical groups and travelling minstrels. By September, their town boasted ten saloons, seven general stores, two blacksmiths, a sawmill, a shoemaker, a butcher and a bishop. By October, the miners demanded a hospital. The pattern of development was similar at Lightning Creek, Van Winkle, Richfield, Cameronton, and Barkerville. This suggests that wherever the miners went, they fast desired more than 'tents, bacon and beans.'

It was not until the spring of 1863, after Billy Barker's gold strike, August 1862, that a group of miners, wanting amenities closer to their claims, began laying the foundations for what was to become the largest mining town in the area, Barkerville. This also marked the beginning of community development that would define Barkerville as the leading 'city' in the area. Historian F.W. Ludditt, in Barkerville Days, describes the development:

In spite of its isolation, Barkerville, in the 1860s, offered social amenities to rival any town in the province, ranging from professional services to a wide range of entertainment. The environmental realities of its wilderness location were perhaps all that distinguished it from Victoria.

Victoria, for example, had a hospital, and the miners of Barkerville were not in the area long before they organized a public meeting to discuss the need for their own. A petition demanding the same was sent to Governor Seymour July 2, 1863. The miners were impatient. Near the end of July they chose a building site above Cameronton, and began construction. The Royal Cariboo Hospital, built and financed almost entirely by the miners, officially opened on October l, 1863. From 1863 to 1910, it remained the only hospital north of Kamloops, continuing to operate into the 1930's, always dependent on the miner's generosity to maintain operations. Barkerville's first doctor, Dr. Wilkinson, arrived in 1862. The following year three more doctors arrived. By 1864 there were seven and there continued to be at least seven until well into the 1870's. The miners must have been thankful the doctors did not think there was "no place for professional men on Williams Creek."

These doctors of Barkerville were not the only professional men in town. From the moment the area had miners, it had ministers and religion. The Roman Catholic's Father Grandidier performed services in Richfield in 1861. By 1862 four Anglican missionaries also made regular visits to the area, and under Rev. Sheepshank's leadership built their first church on Williams Creek in 1863. The Methodists, with Ephriam Evans's direction, built their church in Cameronton around the same time. Reverend Duff represented the Presbyterians in 1864 and 1865. Between 1866 and 1869, the Catholics , the Anglicans, and the Welsh Cambrians, each built new churches. Accurate records are scanty, and while it appears many of Barkerville's ministers were transient, it may be too simple to assume, as historians R. Wright and J. Weir do, that they left because they were appalled at "the rough and rowdy miners who reserved Sundays for saloons, gambling, relaxation, drinking and fornication." Ministers, like miners, have reputations, and they are not noted for their strength and ruggedness of character. Some of them were not prepared, as the miners were, to live in the harsh environment of Barkerville, and left at the first opportunity for the more favorable southern climate. It was not necessarily the saloons that kept the miners from church, either. In October 1863, a visiting tourist, Dr. Cheadle, recorded in his diary:

wages were from two to three pounds a day."

It is much more plausible that gold, not saloons, kept the miners from attending church. A few ministers, however, did persevere through the economic competition, harsh climate and living conditions, contributing much to the community. From 1868 to 1871, Rev. James Reynard was one such man, who provided not only religious services to the miners, but his musical and academic abilities as well.

The miners loved music and they loved being entertained. Barkerville boasted no shortage of either. One group of miners, the 'Overlanders', was especially talented. While travelling the rugged wilderness from Eastern Canada to Barkerville in 1862, they carried many brass instruments, clarinets, flutes, violins and concertinas. Thirty-two of these men were giving concerts enroute, before they even reached the Cariboo. By the time they arrived in 1863, their venues awaited.

Saloons with music rooms were typical venues, and reviews of musical entertainment a weekly feature in the Barkerville newspaper, The Cariboo Sentinel. In June, 1867, Mr. And Mrs. Lange advertised their new concert hall, where Mrs. Lange "presides at the piano every evening, playing operas, ballads, and dances." The mining community also appreciated local musician and composer Professor Wilson:

Violins, according to Ludditt, were the favorite instrument on Williams Creek. Tunes, coming from the miners’ cabins, filled many a Barkerville night air. One local, J.B. Melamon, having performed in opera houses in Europe, gave lessons to many of the miners and their children. Rev. Reynard taught piano and violin, led a military band and directed the local choir. According to Weir, it is Reynard's music that "afforded him the greatest public recognition. He even composed some of the music and vocal selections." His students were good and regularly performed as part of the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association's weekly entertainment.

The Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association, formed in 1865, provided years of entertainment for the miners of Barkerville. Touring minstrel troupes, musicians, actors, and magicians from San Francisco came to the area regularly after 1861, but usually only during the summer months. The CADA organized year round weekly entertainment, first at the Parlour Saloon, and after 1868, in its own building, the Theatre Royale. Although the new theatre held 250 seats, the editor of the Sentinel complained it should have held more. In addition to comedy drama productions with casts as large as eighteen, and Rev. Reynard's musical groups, other regular local performers included the Welsh Glee Club, song-writer and poet James Anderson, vocalists Mr. & Mrs. S. Parker, magician Professor Endt, and, 'the town drunk and writer of parodies', Dan McKay.

Historian Melanie Buddle, in her 1997 UNBC Masters thesis, describes the variety theatre of Barkerville as being low-class or immoral, in relation to British society. She would then need to say the same for the entertainment in Victoria, as, during the 1860's it was no different from that of Barkerville. In fact, Barkerville miners, it appears, often provided local entertainment in Victoria:

Entertainment in Britain, during the same time, also included family troupes, travelling minstrels, music hall entertainment, as well as the street music of the organ grinders, barrel-piano, glee-singers and hurdy-gurdy.

Buddle thinks the entertainment was low-class, and Bescoby does not believe any "classical music [was] produced in the mining camp," but she does acknowledge Rev. Reynard's educational contributions to Barkerville.

Rev. Reynard provided evening classes for the miners, up to seven nights a week, from 1868 to 1871. He taught Greek, Latin, English, band, chess, Euclid math, choir music, and history, all for $7.50 - $10.00 a month. Many miners attended these classes, especially throughout the winter months when more leisure time could be found. Rev. Reynard records attendance dropped to sixty as the mining season approached in the spring of 1871, but expressed pleasure from the miners telling him "music made the winter fly" and how they hoped work would not interfere with their evening classes.

Reynard was not the only provider of adult education in Barkerville. Monsieur Deffis, a professor of languages, also offered special classes in French, Latin, English, composition and grammar. He charged $12.00 a month, payable in advance, and had so many students in November 1869, he had to turn some away. Luckily for the miners, there were many other activities providing cultural stimulation.

Local clubs meeting weekly included the Debating Club, the Glee Club, the Masons, the Cariboo Benevolent Society, the Literary Society, the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association, and the Barkerville Pickwick Club. The Methodists and the Anglican Church Institute frequently sponsored lectures, always well attended. The miners, a charitable bunch, regularly held benefit suppers and entertainment for widows and their children, for farewells, and for miners 'not doing well.' They met for political reasons, as well. The mining board, formed in 1862, concerned itself not only with mining regulations, but acted as a surrogate municipal council. Protests against insufficient representation on the legislative council, complaints about taxes, demands for reforms to the mining act, and expressions of support for the Union of the Colony (1864) and Confederation (1871) filled many a meeting's agenda. The miners’ evenings were certainly busy. One man complained "Barkerville possess[es] everything a man could ask for, except possibly, some peace and quiet." For peace and quiet, he might have gone to the library.

S.D. Clark does not believe libraries existed outside of Victoria during the Cariboo gold rush. Bescoby, however, acknowledges their existence, but is "surprised by any effort to cultivate literary taste."

Within weeks of arriving in Barkerville in the spring of 1863, John Bowron formed the 'Cariboo Literary Society' so "men could meet and talk and once again feel themselves to be part of the world of music, books and the arts that had all been left behind on entering the gold fields." By May 1864, members petitioned for land to build a library. A month later, having raised enough money, they opened for business. Miss Florence Wilson, with the seventy books she had carried in with her, served as the first librarian. Governor Seymour donated hundreds of books over the next few years. In 1866, the library held over five hundred volumes, and carried sixteen weekly International newspapers. Their advertisements in the Sentinel boasted of "the latest English, Scottish, American, and Colonial papers and magazines. Open 10-10." Surprise! Barkerville miners did have communication with the outside world. By 1870, the Sentinel noted with pride, the library carried over 750 volumes. Again, Barkerville's cultural opportunities easily compared to the older cities in the province. Victoria's library opened sometime in 1859, after the 'dregs of society' had invaded, and Nanaimo opened one in August 1863. Jean Barman illustrates the miner's desire to cultivate a little literary taste:

"not just in Victoria and New Westminster, but wherever men and women were clustered together, a sense of community grew up. As early as November 1859, Ft. Hope had a Reading Room and Library."

There were more places too, other than the library, where the miners could acquire reading material. According to G.R. Elliot, in the early 1860's "Private libraries also existed on the creek: the Occidental Cigar Store had novels, while the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches had books of a more serious nature." Another great place to find the latest English, American, Canadian and Colonial papers was the Parlour Saloon. Contrary to popular belief, the saloons of Barkerville were not just places for the miners to get drunk and disorderly.

The number of saloons existing not only in Barkerville, but all Cariboo gold rush towns, has, without a doubt, contributed to the negative images of the miner and his society. There are factors, nonetheless, worth considering. First, the size of the saloons is important. Joe Denny's Saloon, still standing in Barkerville, is a small building, no larger than 12' x 14'. It is divided into two rooms; a small one in the back holding a round table and four chairs, quite likely meant for playing cards (perhaps gambling, but perhaps not). Dominating the front room is a large ornate bar, no doubt stocked with ‘the finest whiskey and cigars.’ The room could not hold any more than ten men. If this saloon is typical in size, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, this explains why there were as many as twenty saloons in town. Even full to capacity, the saloons of Barkerville would have held a very small percentage of the miners living in town during the 1860's.

Secondly, the issue of alcohol consumption must be addressed. Regardless of their size, Bescoby contends, as many people still do, that "saloons encouraged unhealthy drunkenness." S.D. Clark, on the other hand, believes that "in mining camps, liquor constituted more an item of diet than a means of dissipation." It is important to acknowledge there was nothing unusual about the popularity of liquor in Barkerville, or anywhere. During the nineteenth century, liquor was a big part of North American daily life and prominent, not just at social functions, but in the work place and the home, where adults drank every day and often all day. The city of Vancouver's first building was the 'Gassy Jack' saloon, built in 1867, for nearby sawmill workers. Many doctors, too, considered alcohol nutritious and healthy. Although the temperance movement began to take hold in 1869, drinking remained a popular activity, even in Victoria. Governor Frederick Seymour, in fact, died from consuming an entire bottle of brandy, something for which he was reported to have had an "inordinate craving." In addition, it is interesting to note that throughout British Columbia, until 1900, although most saloons stayed open 24 hours a day, Barkerville's saloons did not open until 8:00 p.m. Regardless of their hours, saloons were a large part of social life throughout the province, and not just in isolated mining towns.

Thirdly, it is important to note the diverse purposes of the Barkerville saloons, and how alcohol was not the single attraction. Advertisements in the Cariboo Sentinel, from 1865 to 1870, clearly demonstrate that a 'Saloon' did not always represent a drinking establishment. Many saloons, like the 'Williams Creek Bakery and Coffee Saloon,' for example, were actually bakery and coffee shops. Others advertised billiard tables, not booze, as their main draw for miners. Still other 'Saloons' were bowling alleys. 'Fulton's Bowling Saloon' offered more than bowling:

games played for apples. No charge for second hand cards."

Three of the saloons in town were larger and offered more options for use. Fanny Bendixon's 'Parlour Saloon' boasted billiards, a stocked reading room, and the "finest picture gallery on the creek." Until the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association built their hall in 1868, Fanny's 'Parlour Saloon' provided the venue for many local clubs weekly meetings, for benefit suppers, dances, and weekly theatre and musical presentations. This place was classy, but not the classiest in Barkerville. According to the Sentinel, those accolades went to the 'Fashion Saloon':

"The largest and most complete . . . with a card room, a bar room, and a billiard saloon (3 tables). We question if there is another such spacious and elegantly furnished saloon this side of San Francisco"

Not every saloon in town could be described as ‘elegant.’ All towns have a rowdy establishment, and Barkerville's was 'The Chancellier and Cunios Beer Saloon.' This saloon regularly hosted boxing matches, with audiences of a hundred miners, and they occasionally got out of hand. The editor of the Sentinel, in October 1865, spoke firmly to the miners, on behalf of Gold Commissioner Cox:

complaint is made either by the constabulary or private citizens,[he would

react] by withdrawing their license and shutting the house up."

Reports of disorder were not a common occurrence in Barkerville. This is an aspect of the Cariboo mining society to which historian Bescoby paints the miner in a positive light, finding it remarkable that:

It is significant that, in its ten-year history, the Sentinel recorded at most a dozen disorderly or dishonest affairs. Mr. Cox substantiates this claim, in writing:

Most historians define the difference between the California gold rush and the Cariboo gold rush in terms of crime, in spite of also believing that the majority of the Cariboo miners came from the California gold fields. Judge Begbie, the man responsible for law and order in the Cariboo, was himself surprised by this, and noted:

Many theories have been advanced to explain the differences between the Californian and Cariboo mining societies; many of these focus on issues of law and order.

According to Bescoby, the strict enforcement of the laws in the Cariboo acted as a deterrent for the 'bad' miners of California. She also credits the isolation for fostering a desire, amongst the miners, to work together in "maintaining quiet conditions for mutual benefit." On the other hand, Carla Payne, in her article entitled "Law and Order in the Cariboo," argues that reports of lawlessness and debauchery in California were exaggerated. She believes the seasoned American miners were peaceful and respectful of authority, and welcomed the simplicity, promptness and honesty of government business in the colony.

David Williams argues similarly in "The Administration of Criminal and Civil Justice in the Mining Camps and Frontier Communities of British Columbia," contending that it was the good nature of the American miners that resulted in the acceptance of British law and order. He also gives much credit to Judge Begbie for making and enforcing the rules.

It is too facile, however, to isolate law and order as the only distinguishing difference between the mining societies. Judge Begbie may have believed otherwise, but the two mining societies could not have been 'composed of the same ingredients.' The California gold mines attracted over 200,000 men, but only a small percentage of these made up the 25,000 miners who came to the Cariboo. Unlike the California mining society, the Cariboo mining society did not include large groups of ex-convicts from Australia, or large groups of 'wild, ignorant, primitive and killing South Missourians.' Nor did it include the 4,000 Revolutionary French Ingots sent to California to remove the threat of revolution in France, or the large American military contingent, who, fresh from a recent war with Mexico, wanted to protect California from imagined foreign threats. These large groups of miners are largely responsible for the crime, killing, greed, bigotry, racial intolerance, and violence the California gold rush is so noted for. Many of these men, beginning in 1851, went off to the Australian gold rush, or after 1861, to do what appeared to come naturally: fight, in the American Civil War. The only large group of miners known to end up in Barkerville were the 'Overlanders,' from Eastern Canada, not California.

If the majority of the Barkerville miners came from the California mining fields, the ones to stay were not 'mostly American.' Fred Ludditt, in Barkerville Days, describes the many countries represented in Barkerville:

The Barkerville, Richfield and Stanley cemeteries also provide proof of nationality. Fifty percent of the buried are Great Britainers, twenty five percent Canadian ‘Overlanders’, fourteen percent other Europeans, and the rest Americans, Chinese and Barkerville born residents. These past residents of Barkerville represent many nationalities, but clearly the dominating one is British.

This British influence, Barry Gough argues in "The Character of The British Columbia Frontier," shaped British Columbia’s frontier society. Judge Begbie, too, noted the quality and nature of the society in 1862:

The British certainly dominated the political, social, and cultural scene of the colony long before the Cariboo gold rush, so it is not surprising that their influence extended to Barkerville. When the gold miners began arriving, Governor Douglas did everything in his power to ensure the British control continued. He immediately created the (British) colony of British Columbia and mandated rules ensuring that all miners landed at Victoria and paid mining fees and heavy gold taxes. He disallowed Americans from owning land in the colony and hired Judge Begbie to create a mining code and enact British laws. He established a militia regiment, the Royal Engineers, to act as a constabulary, and to build roads that would increase the flow of men and supplies to the mining camps and keep the money in the colony. The California miners who came and settled in the Cariboo, accepted these rules and helped create the society of Barkerville, modeled on Victoria, and decidedly British in character.

Barkerville’s society was one of permanency, one of culture, and one of social and professional organization. It was also one filled with intelligent, community-minded, law-abiding, hard-working miners. Historians need to recognize these principles, as the Cariboo Sentinel editor did, in 1866:

society."

The gold miners of Barkerville deserve to be remembered, but not as 'the very dregs of society.'