Moberly, "History of Cariboo Wagon Road", continued
(Part 11 of 13)

The following morning I went down to breakfast with the sheriff, when he served me with the writ, and was rather surprised when I read the letter I had received the previous Saturday by private express, advising me about the capias. He said: "Why did you not get on your horse and cross the southern boundary into the United States?" My answer to him was: "That I had been the promoter of the Yale-Cariboo wagon road and I intended to stick to it until it was an accomplished work, no matter what obstacles had to be overcome."

I was now hourly expecting the arrival of Captain Grant, whom I knew would be sent up by the Government to Act in the matter, and immediately on his arrival I borrowed a few hundred dollars from a friend and paid the amount off for which I had been arrested, and called upon Captain Grant, when we discussed the whole matter over in the most friendly manner, and I gave him in writing my relinquishment of all my charter rights, and also the surrender of all the supplies, tents, tools, etc., on the works which had cost me upwards of $6,000 […], for the benefit of the Government, and simply requested him to do his utmost to have the wages of all my men paid and also the sub-contracts I had let, to which he cordially assented and afterwards compelled the Government, much against their intentions, to have faithfully carried out.

Captain Grant and myself now proceeded to my different road camps of which I put him in full possession, and when everything was out of my hands Captain Grant proposed that he should appoint me to carry on the works for the Government for the rest of the season. This proposition I was glad to accept for I had not a dollar left, and then Captain Grant told the men that from that time they would be paid their wages by the Government and that I was in full charge of the works, and furthermore that he would do his utmost to get their back wages paid, but he could not absolutely promise more as that matter rested with Governor Douglas. Those wages were ultimately paid in full; they amounted to about $19,000.

When this business was closed up at the end of the year, the country had gained a large and most expensive portion of the Cariboo wagon road built, which cost them nothing, but it left me a ruined man, with heavy personal liabilities, which took all the money I could make during eight subsequent years to finally pay off.

As soon as Mr. Charles Oppenheimer heard of my arrest he left the country to avoid a similar fate and did not return for some years. He had to settle all the then outstanding liabilities of our old firm before he came back, which cost him a large sum of money.