Cottonwood House

John Boyd
Boyd had already had a successful career as a roadhouse proprietor, most recently at Cold Spring House, when he moved his family north and started work at Cottonwood House. He had come to the Cariboo with a group of other miners from California in 1862. He was born in Belfast, Ireland to Protestant parents. He married Elizabeth Mullen in 1860, but she died a year later in childbirth. Boyd left his daughter in the care of guardians and headed north to the Cariboo. Even after purchasing Cottonwood House, he continued mining, as shown by his Free Miner's Certificates.