The men and women who came to the Cariboo during the gold rush formed a very diverse group.

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Many were miners, following the gold that had drawn them to California in 1849 and then north to the famous Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858.

Some were entrepreneurs, following in the wake of the miners to provide goods and services for the newly rich; others were unsuccessful miners who saw that the gold earned in trade from miners was as good as the gold they could have mined themselves.

Writing the history of these people can be a challenging task. Many people were barely literate, meaning that they could read and write enough to get by in their day-to-day life, but were unlikely or unable to leave detailed personal documents, such as journals or diaries.

BC ARCHIVES A-03819 Heron Claim Miners, c.1868

The men and women who ran the roadhouses often kept ledgers and daybooks recording the names of guests or the number of eggs laid or pounds of butter churned that day, but little that was more personal.

Finally, there are a few personal accounts of the Cariboo, such as those recording the travels of people

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such as Kinahan Cornwallis and Dr. Cheadle, and the diaries kept by the Cornwalls describing the building of Ashcroft Manor, but these are few and far between.