Gold Rush, Fraser River

GOLD RUSH, FRASER RIVER, began in 1858 when some 25,000 to 30,000 prospectors, mainly Americans, flocked to the FRASER R. Aboriginal people had found traces of GOLD on the upper Fraser R near FORT ALEXANDRIA in 1853 and on a tributary of the THOMPSON R in 1856, and the HBC outfitted them with equipment and encouraged them to seek more. Fearing an influx of outsiders, James DOUGLAS, HBC chief factor and governor of VANCOUVER ISLAND, attempted to keep the discoveries secret but in 1857 word leaked south, touching off a stampede of gold seekers the following spring. The rush came mainly through VICTORIA, where miners arrived by steamboat, then headed across GEORGIA STRAIT and toward the mouth of the Fraser by any means possible. As they travelled upriver they discovered gold on the gravel bars in the river below HOPE and all the way up the Fraser Canyon. Attempts to improve access to the goldfields led to construction of the DOUGLAS TRAIL and, eventually, the CARIBOO WAGON ROAD. The presence of so many American miners led to skirmishes with FIRST NATIONS along the river and to the assertion of British sovereignty over the mainland, which became a separate colony on 19 Nov 1858. In 1859 prospectors worked their way along the upper Fraser as far as QUESNEL, and by 1860 the bars of the canyon were abandoned to CHINESE and aboriginal miners while the focus of the rush shifted to the CARIBOO (see GOLD RUSH, CARIBOO).