EARLY YEARS 
OF THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST 1865 - 1899

The voyagers from the Old Northwest are trading into B.C.


04/24/2008

  B.C. HISTORY 1900 - 2010

B.C. HISTORY Return to MAIN B.C. index

DIRECTORY Return to MAIN HISTORY index

1865  

Richard Chapple, Metis, (1865-1873) Gabriola Island, B.C. son  Richard Chapple (1824-1910) and Mary Tongass of Alaska (1844-1874).

Nanamio, birth (II)-John McGuffie, Metis (1865-1887) son (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman.  He was killed in mine explosion of Vancouver Coal Mine at Nanaimo, B.C.

Thomas Martin, Metis (1865-1887), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.  Thomas was killed in a mine explosion.

The wife of William Winnard died suddenly April 4, 1865, Barkerville, B.C.  William Winnard, b-1815, died 1868, a blacksmith in Barkerville, B.C.  Their children were sent to school in Victoria after a community benefit.

About 25 to 30 Metis families from Red River settled around Fort Victoria and British Columbia, including Samuel Whitford, Joseph Turner and Adam House.

Spencer and Huson at Nimpkish, Vancouver Island mined coal but failed to find a market.

Esquimalt was selected as the Royal Navy's Pacific Squadron headquarters.

The Cariboo Road was completed so heavy duty equipment could be moved into Williams Creek.  Marysville faded early then Cameronton and Richfield leaving Barkerville, B.C..

(I)-Jean Jacques (Cataline) Caux, a Frenchman, was called 'The King of the Packers'.  He freighted from Fort Yale to the Cariboo and never failed to fulfill a contract.  He had pack trains of 16 to 18 mules, each carrying 250 to 400 lbs.  It took a month to travel from Fort Yale to Barkerville.

There was 5,000 Chinese in and around Barkerville, B.C.  Most belonged to the Chi Gung T'ong secret society that served as community center, employment office, medical clinic and court of law.  About 1/2 of these lonely men eventually returned to China.  

Jan 11: Victoria, marriage Richard Wolfenden of New Westminster, to Kate Cooley, late of Canterbury, England.

Jan 21:  Williams Creek, Cariboo, death of pyohamia, Charles Bankel, a native of Prussia.

February:  Fort Langley, birth, (II)-Catherine Taylor, Metis, died 1943, New Westminister, daughter (I)-James Taylor (1827-1907) and Barbara Jamieson: married Captain Frank Odin of Point Roberts (1863-1899): married March 20, 1885, New Westminister, Oyway Wilkie.  This union produced 10 Metis children; Alice Catherine who married Ernest Smith; Annie Louisa married Frederick Eugene Larnder; Elizabeth Geraldine married to Clement Fenshaw Wootton; Nora Georgina, my grandmother who was married to Cecil McCombie; Otway James Henry who married Jessie Margaret McLeod; Margaret Gordon married William Douglas; Barbara Jameson who married Richard Draper; Mary Beatrice married Alfred Stansfield Duckett; Catherine Octavia married Frederick Glen Hope, and Arthur Walter Taylor who married Mildred Ruth McCormack. 

 Feb 21, Victoria, marriage, Thomas Ellis Ladner, of B.C., to Edney Booth, 3rd daughter of William Booth of Victoria.

March 7: Victoria, death George Hooper late merchant and auctioneer of New Westminster, formerly of P.E.I. Deceased was a native of Haitland, Devonshire, England.

March 9: New Westminster, death, Jeannet, aged 6, daughter of J.T Scott.

March 10: New Westminster, death, Elizabeth Annie, aged 9 months, youngest daughter of William Harvey.

March 16: New Westminster, marriage by Rev. E. White (brother-in-law of the bride), James Cunnomgham, to Mary Ann Woodman, 4th daughter of William Woodman of New Westminster.

March 2, San Francisco, marriage Uriah Nelson of Port Douglas, to Anna H. Smith of Buffalo, New York.

March 22: New Westminster, marriage,  Isaac Kipp of Chilliwack, to Mary Ann Nelums, daughter of William Nelums of Osford, Canada West.

March 31: New Westminster, death, of spasmodic croup, Edward Wallace Scott, aged 4 years and 10 months, son of J.T. Scott.

April 1: New Westminster, marriage, Frank Howlett, son of the late Rev. William Howlett of Congham, Norfolk, to Lizzie Joyce, youngest daughter of the late John Joyce, Collector of Customs in Carlisle, Cumberland, and formerly of the City of Cork, Ireland.

April 1: New Westminster, marriage, Francis Roberts of Pemberton, to Adeline Buyere of Lachine, Canada East.

April 16, marriage Alexander Douglas McInnes, to Annie Roddy, both residing on Williams Creek.

April 18:  A copy of the Fort Steele Prospector dated April 18, 1896 attributes the discovery of gold on the Wild Horse Creek in the Kootenay Country, in about 1865 to a Metis named Findlay and two companions from Frenchtown, fifteen miles northwest of Missoula.  After finding gold they stopped at the Hudson Bay post on the Tobacco Plains and sold their gold to a man named Linklater.  Word was out and a gold rush was on.

April 20: New Westminster, death, Charles A. Rines, 30, a native of Athens, Maine.

April 28:  Mary (Marie) Falardeuil, Metis, b-1865, daughter Narcisse Falardeau (1818-1888), and Helen (Elin) Tiheoartenate Quantlen: married 1st June 1884 William Worley and had 10 children.  Married 2nd July 26, 1919, Benjamin Bernard McAllister

May 4: New Westminster, death, aged 7 months, infant daughter of John Whitfield.

June 12: Victoria, death, George Munro, son of Malcolm Munro, contractor.

June 14: New Westminster, marriage  John Alloway Galrick, to Lydia Ann Church, both of New Westminster.

June 27: New Westminster, marriage, Walter Moberly of New Westminster, to Blanche, 2nd daughter of Horation Compigne of Gosport, England.

June 12: Cameronton, marriage, William Allan, to Janet Morris, late of Scotland. Both are residents of Williams Creek.

June 14: New Westminster, death, Charles, aged 2 years and 7 months, son of Charles BREAD.

July 11: Kootney death of Mountain Fever, Robert Musgrove, a native of Georgia, USA and one of the earliest pioneers of British Columbia.

July 20: Barkerville, death of inflammation of the lungs, B.F. BOHN, miner, formerly of Hamburg, Germany.

August 4: New Westminster, death, Maria Jane, infant daughter of Samuel and Annora HOWES.

Aug 10: Victoria, marriage Robert Horton, to Margaret Boyde, daughter of John Boyde of Glascow, Scotland.

Sept 11: Williams Creek, marriage, William Meacham, to Mira Goudie, late of Victoria.

September 30: New Westminster, death, of heart disease, Murdock Campbell of Nova Scotia.

October 14: New Westminster, death, Michael Willis Raleigh, 22, a native of Govan, Scotland.

Nov 4: New Westminster, marriage, John Gundry Jennings of Cariboo, to Annie Maria Holmes, daughter of William Holmes of Brunette Farm, New Westminster. 

December 19: New Westminster, death Alfred Edwin Holt, aged 2 years and 5 months, youngest son of E.B. Holt 

December 23:  The barque William Tell floundered on reefs, one mile northwest Owen Point, Port San Juan, Vancouver Island with no fatalities.

1866  

George Campbell b-1866 B.C. married 1895 Susie b-1872 B.C. living Skeena 1901 census

Duncan McQueen, b-1828, Halifax, Nova Scotia, died June 21, 1866, Barkerville, B.C.

Joseph Mason b-1839, died December 2, 1890, Barkerville, B.C., arrived 1866 and was a partner in the Antelope Restaurant with John Daly.  They later became general merchants, Mason and Daly General Store.  Mason was elected to Provincial Legislature and died during his first term in office.  He left Ada his wife and 6 kids. Ada married 1898 John Stevenson who died 1919. 

W. M. Rogers b-1838, England, died September 19, 1866, Barkerville, B.C.

Richard Williams b-1866 B.C. is living Skeena in 1901 census

David Whiteford, b-1833, Scotland, died November 10, 1866, Barkerville, B.C. he was working the Reid Claim, Conklins Gulch. 

Eight German girls were brought into Barkerville, B.C. from San Francisco to work in the saloons.  They charged $10.00 a dance and were called Hurdy Gurdy Girls.  

A volcano at Mount Hood, Oregon erupted this year.

The Snake War in Oregon and Idaho (1866-1868) involved the Yahuskin and Walpapi People of Northern Paiutes and the American Army.

As the 'Gold Rush' drew to a close, the number of Chinese in British Columbia dropped to 1,700.

An advertisement in the Cariboo Sentinal read: Hallo! Old Jack's alive!  Just returned from being on a binder!  Fully prepared to repair all boots and shoes.  Cheap for cash.

The Oregon legislature made it unlawful "for any white person, male of female, to intermarry with any Negro, Chinese, or any person having one-fourth or more Negro, Chinese or Kanaka blood, or any person having more than one-half Indian blood; and all such marriages, or attempted marriages shall be absolutely null and void."  The consequence of legalized racism by the United States drove many Hawaiians who married into various Indian tribes to flee to British Columbia where they were respected for their contribution to the development of the Pacific Northwest.  In B.C. they became citizens, could vote, own land with the same rights and responsibilities as Whites.  

Jan 29: Victoria, marriage, Ernest Picht of New Westminster, to Anna Gasch of Seattle, W.T.

Feb 10: Sapperton, marriage, Henry Rushton, eldest son of Mark Rushton of Spring Gardens, London, to Eva de Berkeley Good, 4th daughter of the Rev. Henry Good, Priest-Vicar of Wimborne Minster, Dorsetshire.

Feb 12: Victoria, marriage, W.H. Ladner, to Mary A Booth., 4th daughter of William Booth of New Westminster.

March 7: New Westminster, marriage, Walter Blackie, to Mary Ardrey, late of Manchester, England.

March 9: Fort Yale, marriage, Charles Evans, to Jane Wells, both of Yale and formerly of Canada West.

March 14:  Victoria, birth (II)-George Wauhh Newton, died November 22, 1935, Victoria, son (I)-William Henry Newton (1833-1875) and Emmaline Tod (1835-1928)..

March 19: New Westminster, death,, Valentine Hall, (1817-1866) a native of Ireland and for many years a resident of Oxford County, Canada West.

March 20: Victoria, marriage, Thomas Russell Buie of Lytton, to Agnes Laumeister of Victoria.

April 10: Yale, marriage, Edward Haley, to Miss B. Gilbride.

May:  Patrick Fitzpatrick, (1836-1868) is arrested for conspiring to swindle C. Wren out of $548.50 at one of the frequent Barkerville, B.C. horse races.

May 17: New Westminster, death,, George Rashleigh Gompertz, (1933-1866), late Captain, Glamorgan Militia, of Tranmatic Titanus.

June 13: New Westminister, married, John S. Clute, youngest son of John S. Clute of H.M. Customs, Picon, C.W., to Jennie Clarkson, 2nd daughter of William Clarkson, all of New Westminster.

July 1: New Westminster, death,, John F. Whiteford, (1821-1866)

July 1: Victoria, death, Benjamin Burr, (1779-1866)

July 6: New Westminster, death, Margaret Redman, a native of Ireland.

August 12: Olympia, Washington, death of diptheria, Alice Pendergast, aged 2 yrs, 1 month & 28 days, daughter of Capt. J.R. and Abbie J. Fleming.

August 18: Cariboo Hospital, death of liver disease, George Miller, (1830-1866) a native of Bavaria. 

Nov 19: Victoria, marriage, John Williams, to Sophia Woodbridge, both of Victoria.

November 19:  The British Parliament proclaimed the Act to unite the two colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.  In Victoria there is no rejoicing and in New Westminister a small knot of people gathered to hear the High Sheriff of British Columbia J.A.R. Homer reads the proclamation and not a cheer was raised.

Nov 28: New Westminister, marriage, Charles G. Major of Hope, to Mary Elizabeth Clarkson, 3rd daughter of William Clarkson of New Westminster. 

December:  Patrick Fitzpatrick, (1836-1868) is ain court where Patrick Kirwin had taken action to recover a loan of $221.00, at Barkerville, B.C.

1867  

Mary Baker was arrested for cutting and wounding an Indian man and for drunkenness, this year or so reports Wellington Moses the barber at Barkerville, B.C  

Jamrs Barry was hanged August 12, 1867 along with Nikel Palsk, Indian for the murder of Charles Morgan Blessing, interred in Richfield cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C.. 

Chartres Brew born December 31, 1815 Ireland died May 31, 1870 Richfield worked the Cariboo as a judge.

John (Gassy) Deighton b-1830 entered Burrard Inlet and founded Gastown, later called Grandville and then Vancouver, B.C..  He was unsuccessful as a gold prospector so he built a saloon.

(John) Rosser Edwards, b-1822, South Wales, died by drowning in a mine shaft November 29, 1867 and his estate was $3,562.00.

Nanamio, birth (II)-George McGuffie, Metis (1867-1926) son (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman: married 1895 Emily Jane Hodsen. 

John Martin, Metis (1867-1944), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840: married Charlotte.

William Land Mitchell b-1835, died May 24, 1867, Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived 1867 Barkerville, B.C. and bought a share in the Davis claim.  Just two weeks on the job he fell down the shaft and landed 36 feet down on his head.

James H. Mitton died December 1867, Barkerville, B.C.

Thomas H. Pattullo born December 16, 1837, Ontario, died January 3, 1879, Barkerville, B.C   A photo in 1867 places him with the Heron claim .  Thomas was the uncle of Thomas Duff Pattullo, premier of B.C. (1933-1941).

William George Roebottom, b-1832, Leeds, England, died July 1867, Barkerville, B.C. killed by a falling tree in Black Jack Gulch.  He was an ex-Royal Engineer who worked on the Cariboo Road and ran a sternwheeler on the Fraser River.  He left a wife and three children in Victoria, B.C.. 

Robert Ruddell b-1833 Halton County, Ontario, died December 5, 1867, Barkerville, B.C. killed in a snow slide on Grouse Creek, he arrive in area 1865.  

W. S. Shirley of Oregon drove cattle to the Beazer area near Cardston (Alberta) and called himself 'The Cattle King of Oregon".  He only lasted a few years and sold out, likely returning to Oregon.

An old man called "Freeman" has squatters rights to Abbotsford, B.C.  He was living in a tree this year.

(I)-John Glenn (1834-1886) with James Voltier and Sam Livingstone are panning for gold at Barkerville, B.C.  All three would later settle Calgary, Alberta area.  John would marry Adelaide Belcourt, Metis of Devil Lake (Lac Ste Anne, Alberta) at St. Albert (Alberta).

Some suggest the salmon industry started this year with a cannery on the Fraser River and spread up the coast with nearly 100 canneries at its peak.  The commercial salmon industry actually started in 1827 at Fort Langley.

Charles H. (One-Ear) Brown of Victoria, B.C. turned up in Idaho where he stole horses and headed northward to the booming town of Wild Horse Creek, aka Stud Horse Creek, B.C.  It was reported that Bob Dore had made $7,000.00 in one day in gold on that creek.  Brown was not aware that the stolen horses owners, two stubborn Dutchmen, were in hot pursuit.  They finally encountered Brown at Fisherville, B.C.  They went to Wild Horse Creek to get Constable Jack Lawson and his two guides.  In a confrontation Brown shot Lawson dead.  A four man posse, of miners, is organized at Fisherville, as no Constable resides there.  At the St. Mary's River Brown lost his outfit when crossing by raft.  Joe Davis provided Brown with a grub stake as he fled for the US.  The posse reached Bonner's Ferry, Idaho and realized they had passed Brown so they returned up the Walla Walls Trail to lay in wait 40 miles below the B.C. border.  The miners in hiding raised their double-barreled shotguns and cut Brown down.

Gassy Jack Deighton with his Indian wife, a yellow dog, two chickens and a keg of whiskey asked for help to build a saloon.  In twenty four hours the saloon was up and the whiskey gone.  The saloon was dubbed Gastown (British Columbia).

In Barkerville, B.C., the Cariboo Dramatic Society is formed.

This year 400 head of breeding stock was purchased in California and Mexico and driven north to Vernon in the Okanogan, B.C.

Some of the names considered for British Canada were Cabotia, New Britain, Laurentia and Ursalia.

The SS Nichola Biddle ..sank January 5, 1867 in the Juan de Fuca Strait.

January 6: New Westminster, death Martha Selina, aged 13 months, daughter of Thomas E. Ladner.

January 7: Victoria, died of consumption, Mrs. Henry Young, faithful and valued servant of the Governor and Mrs. Seymour.

January 9:  A barque named Lizzie Boggs wrecked in fog at Cape Flattery, Washington with no fatalities.

Feb 12: Nanaimo, marriage, Isaac Johns, to Isabella McGreggor.

February 15: died at sea on the passage from Adelaide to Sydney, George Pender Ramsey, aged 4 years and 10 months.

March 1: New Westminster, at the Mansion House, death , James Woodward, (1817-1867), late of Williams Creek, Cariboo, and a native of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

March 21:  Fort Langley, birth Marie Matilda Brosseau, Metis, daughter  Bazil Brosseau dit LaFleur (1796-1858) and Marianne Nanaimok. 

March 31: New Westminster, death , Neil Cafferty, (1829-1867), a native of Connought, Ireland.

April 19: At Brunnette Farm, death Laura, aged 11(?) years and 9 months, daughter of William Holmes.

April 19, at the residence of the bride's father, marriage John Brown, late of Williams Creek, to Margaret Tough, eldest daughter of Charles Tough of the Township of Stanley, Canada West.

May 26: Cariboo, death of heart disease, John Chisholm, (1826-1867), a native of Scotland.

May 26:  Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, marriage Theodore LeBoeuf, born May 20, 1835 eastern Canada, died November 23, 1903 New Westminster, B.C.; married Maria Tongas of Cape Fox (1843-1876).  They settled on Gabriola Island near Nanaimo.

May 29: San Francisco, death Sophia, wife of Coote Mulloy Chambers, formerly of Victoria.

May 30: Yale, marriage, B.T. Mullen of New Westminster, to Mrs. Mary Ellen Bowden of Yale.

June 25: Victoria, marriage, Alexander Bruckman of the Western Union Telegraph Office in New Westminster, to Nellie E. Smith of Philadelphia.

July 18: New Westminster, death , George Hazelwood, 38(?), a native of Yorkshire, England.

September, 17:   Barkerville, B.C. (established 1862) is destroyed by fire and 116 homes are destroyed.  The fire was caused by a miner trying to kiss one of the girls in a saloon.  The ensuing struggle dislodged a stove pipe, setting the canvas ceiling on fire.

October 20:  (II)-Francis Edward Brown, christened October 20, 1867, son (I)-Charles B. Brown, b-1818 England and Jemina, b-1825

Nov 16: Victoria, marriage,  Thomas Carrington, to Elizabeth Holmes, 3rd daughter of William Holmes of Brunette Farm, New Westminster.

Nov 27: Sapperton, marriage, Henry Valentine Edmonds, to Jane Fortune Kemp, eldest daughter of the late Thomas Patrick Kemp of Cork, Ireland.

Dec 5, marriage, 7th son of the late Thomas C.B. Cave of Cliff Hall, Warwickshire, England, to Charlotte Wright, relict of the late Edward Wright, late of Penzance, Cornwall. 

July 19:  The British Government rejected a request that British Columbia be allowed to join the Canadian Confederation.

September 10: At the camp, New Westminster, death , Georgina Kate, aged 7 months & 4 days, 2nd child of R. Wolfenden. 

September, 17:   Barkerville, B.C. (established 1862) is destroyed by fire and 116 homes are destroyed.  The fire was caused by a miner trying to kiss one of the girls in a saloon.  The ensuing struggle dislodged a stove pipe, setting the canvas ceiling on fire.

December 22:  The clipper ship Ellen Foster floundered during a hurricane and wrecked on Neah Bay, Washington with no fatalities.  She was first caught in Juan de Fuca Strait and made for Neah Bay for shelter where she was wrecked.

1868  

Michael Carney, born Ireland, died November 23, 1868, Barkerville, result of a shaft cave-in,  interred in Richfield cemetery, B.C.. 

F. Castagnette b-1838 Italy, died July 4, 1882, Barkerville, B.C.  This year he was a wealthy merchant in Barkerville, B.C., and one of the heaviest losers in the fire.  

John Cunningham Maclure, a former Royal Engineer, took up a land claim near Abbotsford, B.C.  He was unaware that an old man named "Freeman" already had squatters rights and was living in a tree.  Maclure eventually bought out "Freeman's" rights for a $100.00 bill.  

Joseph Favel (Favell or Favoll) of Red River  murdered a comrade in the mountain pass while returning from B.C. to Alberta. 

Patrick Fitzpatrick, b- 1836, Ireland, died March 15, 1868, interred Richfield cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C.  In May 1866 he was arrested for fraud.

Joseph Martin, Metis (1868-1891), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

(II)-John Taylor, Metis born 10th of May 1868 son (I)-James Taylor (1828-1907) and Barbara Jamieson married Elizabeth Newton in 1896. They had Metis children called Bessie, Ann, Etta, Kate, and John James Clifford, Lorrain and George. John died about 1931 in Vancouver.

A fire destroyed a quarter of the homes and businesses of Barkerville, B.C.    Barkerville boasted itself as the gold capital of the world.  They claimed it was the largest community west of Chicago.  The fire didn't discourage ongoing development.  The town was rebuilt in a more orderly manner and likely contributed to the decline of the other Williams Creek towns.

(I)-William Vianen, born January 9, 1838, Holland, married 1877, Mary A. Indian? born May 15, 1868, living New Westminster, 1901

Eighteen Tsimshian Indians camped near the New Dungeness Light House.  That night the Clallam Indians, massacred all but a pregnant woman who made her way to the lighthouse.  William Henry Blake took her in and refused a request to turn her over to the Clallam Indians.  The local Indians burried the dead on a nearby spit that was now called Graveyard Spit. 

Feb 26: Sumass, marriage, James L. Chadsey, to Harriett Hall, both of the Samass Settlement.

March 18: Victoria, marriage, Victoria, sGeorge Stephen Butler of Lytton, to Fanny Catherine Brett, eldest daughter of H. Brett, of Porchester (?, must be Dorchester?), England.

March 19:  The ship Fanny ex. Vortigern floundered on the east side of Discovery Island on its way to Nanaimo.

May 2: New Westminister, marriage, John Smith, to Fanny Jane Applin, both of Sapperton.

August 1:  Barkerville, B.C. death James Bennet b-1831(1837) Wales, he gave notice to quit and was working his last shift at the Taffvale claim on Stouts Gulch when a shaft cave-in killed him.  His estate was $1,250 and relatives claimed $606.00. 

May 7, marriage by Rev. E. White, Donald McGillvry, to Susan Hall(?), both of Sumass, B.C.

May 13: New Westminster, death, Charles Smith, (1814-1868), a native of Finland.

May 13: New Westminster, death,, James Nahua, aged (1817-1868)

May 13: New York, death Mary Fleming, (1796-1868), mother of Capt. John Fleming of the Steamer Lillooet.

June 9, Yale, death Gilbert Wolfenden, aged 16 months, only son of A. Barlow.

June 12: Burrard Inlet, death Timothy Coakley, (1828-1868) a native of Ireland.

July 9:  A side-wheel warship called U.S.S. Suwancee grounded at high tide and broke back on a reef at Sadwell Passage, Vancouver Island

July 20:  Fort Langley, birth (II)-Samuel Ephraim Cromarty, Metis, born 1869  son (I)-William Cromarty (1814-1875) and Salum'mia aka Jenny Matasqui; married February 28, 1893, New Westminister, B.C. Caroline Augusta Garner, died,13 June 1923, Dawson City Yukon Territory.

Sept 26: Hope, marriage, J. Carmichael Haynes, son of the late Jonas Haynes of Landscape, Cork, Ireland, to Charlotte, youngest daughter of the late William Moresby, Solicitor, London 

November 23:  The schooner Thomas Woodward is grounded at Shelter Point reef, south of Campbell River, Vancouver Island, with no fatalities.  

December 21: New Westminster, death, Henry, aged 8 years, eldest son of H. Eickhoff. 

1869  

George Buie died November 2, 1869, Barkerville, B.C.

William Chapple, Metis, (1869-1925) Gabriola Island, B.C. son  Richard Chapple (1824-1910) and Mary Tongass of Alaska (1844-1874).

William Foster b-1850 England married 1894 Topsey b-1869 B.C. living Skeena 1901 census

William Giles aka Jack of Clubs, b-1833 Missouri, U.S. died May 3, 1869, Barkerville, B.C.  The creek named Jack of Clubs and the Lake near town of wells is named after him.

William Hill b-1832 Nottingham, England, died October 23, 1869, Cottonwood, buried Barkerville, B.C.  Arrived Canada 1857 and B.C. 1863

William Hitchcook born January 15, 1824 London, England died September 9, 1877, Barkerville, B.C.  He was an Assistant Refiner at the B.C. Government Mint in New Westminister and served on city council before heading to the Cariboo in 1869

Frances Eleanor Lee five days old died June 14, 1869, Barkerville, B.C

Charles Wesley House born August 3, 1834 New York, died May 22, 1913, Barkerville, B.C. He was described as one of the handsomest and whittiest men in Williams Creek.  He worked a claim on Conklin Gulch and later on Jack of Clubs Creek.  In 1885 he established House Hotel.

John McLaren, b-1838, Williams Town Co. of Glengarry, Canada, died August 7, 1869, Barkerville, B.C. he arrived Cariboo in 1864, was a headmaster of Williamstown County Grammer School, Canada West.  He was killed by a slide of sand and tailings at the Columbia shaft on Williams Creek.

(I)-Jean Baptiste Malamon aka (Malamond, Malanion and Malamont) b-1826, France, died February 1, 1879, Barkerville, B.C.  He was teaching violin to children.  

T. Lee Muland b-1825, France, died April 12, 1869 a former miner of Nelson Creek, interred Richfield cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C. 

Kanaka Pete is sentenced to death for killing his Aboriginal wife and family on discovering her adultery.  Even then, twenty of Vancouvers Island's leading White citizens plus the Hawaiian consul unsuccessfully sought clemency due to mitigating circumstances. 

William H. Phillips b-1933 England, died March 2, 1869, Barkerville, B.C  He received a kick in the abdomen which ruptured his bladder, he died within a few days.  Jesse Pierce a Cornish miner was charged with manslaughter.  He escaped the Richfield jail and in 1871 he was reported shot and killed in Grass Valley, California.

W.S. Simpson b-1854 Ontario, married 1890 Emma b-1869 B.C. living Skeena 1901 census.

George J. Walker b-December 31, 1869, Barkerville, B.C., died March 18, 1912, Barkerville, B.C. son Samuel Walker, who arrived 1863, and was keeper of the Albion Saloon in Barkerville, B.C.  George had a wife and two sons. 

Between 1841 and 1869 it is estimated that 20,000 people died on the Oregon trail from Independence Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and into Oregon Territory.

Feb or March, Victoria,  marriage Stephen Henry Masters, to Maria Louisa Doitz

March 19: Victoria Edward Digby, about 40, a native of England.

March 23: Emily Collins, aged 4 years and 2 months, 2nd daughter of William A. & Jane Franklin.

March 26: Victoria District, death, Helen, 40 years and 8 months, wife of George Bleakensop.

March 31: Victoria, death Donald McDougall, 36, a native of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

April 3: Victoria death of consumption, Charles McCarthy, 40, a native of Cork, Ireland.

April 13: Victoria, death, Jane Henrietta, aged 5 years and 6 months, eldest child of William & Jane Franklin.

April 16: Victoria, death,, James Hepburn, of Tolvil Place near Maidstone, England.

April 17: Victoria, death,, of diptheria, Frederick arthur, aged 2 years and 4 months, son of William & Jane Franklin

April 24: Victoria, death, Joseph Darcey

April 29: Victoria, death,, Elizabeth, 65, wife of Henry Dawson, late of London, Canada.

May 10, Woodbine Cottage, marriage, Frederick William Foster, Merchant, Lillooet, to Catharine Maitland Sones, daughter of Emanuel Sones of Lindores, Scotland.

May 12: Esquimalt Harbour, death William Laughton of South Ronaldshay, Orkney, Scotland.

May 20: Victoria, death,, John D.B. Ogilvey, 5 years, son of the late J.D.B. Ogilvy.

May 22: At Salt Spring Island, death Benjamin Franklin Wall, a native of Ohio.

May 25: Alameda, death John Bule, 39, a native of Scotland.

June 2:  Caroline LeBoeuf, Metis, b-1869 Gabriola Island, B.C. daughter Theodore LeBoeuf, (1835-1903) and Maria Tongas (1843-1876): married Richard Gilbert (1861-1918).

June 15: Esquimalt, death the Hon. Horace Douglas Lascelles, 34, Commander R.N.

May 28(?),Lytton, death William, aged 3 years and 1 month, son of Louis Hautier.

June 19: Victoria, death,, Thomas W. CLARKE, 30, a native of Annen, Scotland. Deceased leaves a wife and family.

June 22: Victoria, death,, John Hall, 31, a native of Athens, Maine.

June 23: Annie Helena, infant daughter of Frederick Caine(?).

July, Victoria, marriage, Sewell Prescott Moody, of Burrard's Inlet, to Janet Watson, daughter of A. Watson.

July 1, marriage Robert William Savage, to Jane OMASH of Summertown, Oxford, England.

July 4: Victoria, death,, John S. Tcomb Itcomb 47, a native of Ireland.

July 5: Victoria, death,, Joseph J. Brown, 39, a native of Scotland. 
 
July 12, On board the Steamer Emily Harris, died of heart disease, George Greenwood.

June 16: Victoria, death,, Mary, 56, wife of M. Wells, a native of Scotland.

July 11: Catherine, 27, Hillside, Victoria District, death wife of Charles W. Wallace, and 6th daughter of the late John WORK, Chief Factor of the Hudson Bay Company.

July 23: Esquimalt, death William C. Smith, 27, late of Over Durwen, Lancashire, England.

1870  

Jas. R. Bovyer b-1838 Prince Edward Island, died January 31, 1870 Barkerville, B.C. from congestion of the brain after falling on an axe in 1867 near Mosquito Creek.

John Deighton b-1830 of Gastown married Qua-hail-ya, b-1858 and they had a Metis son called Richard Mason Deighton, b-1871.

Captain Francis this decade established a trading post at Spring Cove (Ucluelet)

Andre Jacquemond b-1813 Switzerland, died November 1874, Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived 1870 and set up a watchmaker business.

Andrew Kelly  Barkerville, B.C, married 1866 Elizabeth and are working Grouse Creek and moved 1870 to Barkerville, B.C. to open the Kelly Hotel

SEVEN CHILDREN ARE RECORDED

Mary Kelly b-1867, Barkerville, B.C, she carried on the family business
Johnny Hastie Kelly, born June 1, 1869, Grouse Creek, died March 10, 1875, Barkerville, B.C
James Kelly (1871-1904), Barkerville, B.C  A native woman clubbed him to death in his cabin.
Jeanne Kelly b-1874, Barkerville, B.C
William Kelly (1876-1917), Barkerville, B.C, married Lottie McKinnon (1883-1956) and had 4 kids 
Alexander Kelly born/died March 24/26, 1878, Barkerville, B.C
Inglis Kelly. b1882, Barkerville, B.C

John Lawson b-1852 Norway married 1897 B.C. Isabella b-1870 B.C. living Skeena in 1901 census

James Lindsay aka Wispering Jimmie, born 1808, died February 17, 1890, Barkerville, B.C.  He was Richfield's constable and jailer during the 1870's but he seldom locked the door.  They say he was a gossip mongering when under the influence of Barkerville's fermented brews.

Nanamio, birth (II)-Anne McGuffie, Metis (1870-1946) daughter (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman: married 1899 John Lewis. 

Ah Mow a Chinese restaurant keeper was stabbed on main street Barkerville and murdered by Jean Boulanger alias John Baker.  Other Chinese witnessed the murder, Jean had on a bloody jacket and was in possession of a similar knife used in the murder.  An all white jury acquitted him..

T. W. Nordburg of Russia died February 1, 1881, Barkerville, B.C   He was a watchmaker and considered a Queer character a recluse who acted as chief mourner at Chinese funerals.  He would parade up and down Chinatown making the most mournful sounds and weeping copiously for $5.00 and a skinfull of booze.  His brother Daniel Nordburg b-1832 Russia was here in 1881 and by 1905 was working Farwell Canyon on the Chilcotin River.  

(II)-Mary Taylor, Metis, b-1870 remained unmarried and died May 17, 1910, Fort Langley . She was the recipient of the bulk of James Will if she looked after her step-mother Barbara Jameson, 2nd wife (I)-James Taylor. Mary had some sort of defect as she was known as crippled aunt Mary. She is buried in the Fort Langley Municipal Cemetery.  Daughter (I)-James Taylor (1828-1907) and 

Spencer and Huson at Nimpkish, Vancouver Island having failed in the coal business in 1865 crossed to Alert Bay where they built a small saltery to salt and mild cure salmon which was sent to Victoria, Vancouver Island.

The first settlers at Ucluelet Vancouver Island were the fur sealers. Captain Francis, the owner of several sealing schooners, established a trading post at Spring Cove, located at the southern tip of the Ucluth Peninsula.

A Cowichan woman living at Kanaka Ranch had a daughter by a Kanaka man known as Eihu Hawaiian Metis, who worked at the Hasting Mill.  The Cowichan had a son by another named Nahanee Hawaiian Metis.  Maggie Eihu Hawaiian Metis married twice to White Vancouverites, whereas young Bill Nahanee Hawaiian Metis chose a Squamish woman from North Vancouver.

Gastown is incorporated as the town of Granville.

Mount Baker in northern Washington had a mild eruption.

September 21:  Rufus Sylvester arrived Barkerville, B.C. with news of a rich creek, distant about 75 miles from Vital Creek, B.C.

1871

The Bibby brothers of Kingston, Ontario James Bibby died December 13, 1922 and John Bibby died December 1, 1917 both Barkerville, B.C. and John owned a tin shop vacated by Adams and Pearcy. 

Joseph Chapple, Metis, (1871-1945) Gabriola Island, B.C. son  Richard Chapple (1824-1910) and Mary Tongass of Alaska (1844-1874).

Charles LeBoeuf, Metis, born May 2,1871 Gabriola Island, B.C. son Theodore LeBoeuf, (1835-1903) and Maria Tongas (1843-1876)

 (II)-William Greenshield Newton, b-1871, Victoria, died September 22, 1896, Victoria, daughter (I)-William Henry Newton (1833-1875) and Emmaline Tod (1835-1928)..

The British Columbia Colony became the 6th Province of the Dominion of Canada. 

The population of British Columbia is estimated as 33.586 of which the majority 23,000 are aboriginal and 10,586 are non-aboriginal.  It is noteworthy that the majority of the population have no say in the governing of their lives.

Prior to British Columbia joining the Dominion of Canada the aboriginal people of B.C. had a right to vote.  The aboriginal where also in the majority and this horrified the British.  Plans were laid to disenfranchise the Indians using the Qualification and Registration of Voters Act of 1872.  They didn't stop there but disenfranchised the Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Doukhobors, the school teachers because they posed a threat, then the Provincial civil servants and finally those they deemed not having adequate knowledge of English or French.  The British did not believe in democracy but rather world domination by racism and larceny.   

British Columbia joined the Dominion of Canada because John A. Macdonald promised a railway starting in two years and completion within ten years.  Amor de Cosmos alias William Smith said "I would not object to a little revolution now and again if, after Confederation, we were treated unfairly."  A new senator for British Columbia proclaimed "All Ottawa men are intensely stupid."  The British Columbia government tried to ban the Chinese from working on the Transcontinental Railway but were told the railway couldn't be built without their help.

The Hawaiians all voted in the first General Election for the B.C. Legislative Assembly.

Saltspring Island is nicknamed "Little Hawaii". The community is led by William Naukana, believed by his descendants to be the son of John Coxe (Naukane), the leader of the first Kanakas on the Columbia River. One of the most colourful Hawaiian traditions surviving in the Gulf Islands is the luau.

(II)-Margaret Taylor, Metis born May 23, 1871 daughter (I)-James Taylor (1828-1907) and Barbara Jamieson: married Captain Joseph Mayers who was a mariner and in coal. They lived in New Westminster and raised four Metis boys; Howard, Edward Wallace, James, and Joseph; one girl, Margaret along with the Odin boys. Joseph died in 1943 and “Maggie” about 1966. 

October 10:  The schooner Byzantium struck a reef near point McNeill, Vancouver Island with no loss of life.  It operated between Hawaii Islands and Victoria.

1872

Ralph Anderson b-1837, Norway, died August 4, 1872 Barkerville, B.C. a long time miner in employ of Bedrock Flume Co.

Bill Brown born December 16, 1839 Westport, Ontario, died January 19, 1939 Barkerville, B.C.  He was a recluse on his claim at Lighting Creek west of Barkerville, B.C.

Elizabeth Chapple, Metis, (1872-1873) Gabriola Island, B.C. daughter  Richard Chapple (1824-1910) and Mary Tongass of Alaska (1844-1874).

Colin Chisholm b-1822 Prince Edward Island, died July 3. 1872, being crushed to death at the McLaughlin Co. in a hydraulic claim cave-in, Barkerville, B.C., buried Richfield cemetery.  Ronald Rowland was killed in the same accident.

Felix Daoust born Quebec, died August 8, 1872, Barkerville, B.C., a Mason no relatives, estate $1,131.00. 

Nanamio, birth (II)-Margaret McGuffie, Metis (1872-1911) daughter (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman. 

Roland Rowland b-1843, Wales, died August 5, 1872, being crushed to death at the McLaughlin Co. in a hydraulic claim cave-in, Barkerville, B.C., buried Richfield cemetery.  Colin Chisholm (1822-1872) was killed in the same accident.  Rowland arrived 1871 in Barkerville, B.C.

Settlers around Fort Victoria, Vancouver Island, numbered 150 people in 25 houses.

The Modoc People of California had been land cleared to southern Oregon but some wanted to return to their ancestral lands in California.  Captain James Jackson with a force of cavalry out of Fort Klamath had orders to gring back the renegade Modocs who had returned to their native lands.  Hooker Jim retaliated against a civilian posse sent to force them out of California and the Modoc killed 15 of them.  Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wheaton fired artillery rounds into dense fog against against Captain Jack who only had 51 men.  The Modoc wore camouflage and moved about lava trenches and caves and were believed by the Federal troops and civilian posse to be a much larger force retreated with high casualties, where as the Modoc didn't lose a man.  The volunteers were demoralized and fled back to their homes.  Wheaton called for another 1,000 men and howitzers and mortars.  The military commander of the Pacific Northwest, Brigadier General Edward Canby, decided to take over the campaign personally.  He raised an army of 1,000 men but also set in motion a peace plan.  Peace talks failed and Canby was shot dead.  More killings occurred on both sides before the war ran out of steam. 

February 13:  A barque named Zephyr floundered on reefs on Mayne Island, near Active Pass, Vancouver Island with no loss of life. 

December 14, a strong earthquake, magnitude 7.4 occurred in the Cascade Mountains caused damage at Victoria, British Columbia, and Seattle. It was felt over a very large area, about 390,000 square kilometers, extending as far south as Eugene, Oregon, and north into British Columbia, probably even into Alaska.

1873

Robert Burrell died December 21, 1873 shortly after filing his land claim October 27, 1873 on DeCourcey Island that is part of Gabriola Island District.  He drown while rowing from Nanimo to his new holdings. 

Yoachim Withelm Lindhard b-1835, Denmark, died June 9, 1873, interred Stanley cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived Van Winkle in 1865.  In the early 1870's he opened a meat market in Barkerville.  Not one claim on Lightning Creek worked for him.

Thomas McLure b-1832, died April 2, 1873, Barkerville, B.C.

Gastown aka Granville and later Vancouver, B.C. had a population of 65 people, four saloons and an assortment of shacks.

S. P. Parker of England, died January 31, 1873, Barkerville, B.C   He left his wife Catherine and four children, she remarried in August 1873 John Austin a Cornish miner and a widower.  They operated the Austin Hotel in Stanley and had two more children.

August 1:  Elizabeth LeBoeuf, Metis, b-1869 Gabriola Island, B.C. daughter Theodore LeBoeuf, (1835-1903) and Maria Tongas (1843-1876): married Richard Gilbert (1861-1918).

John Wesley Stevenson b-1847, Westfield, New Brunswick, died November 18, 1973, Barkerville, B.C.  He was killed with Edward Kimball being buried in an avalanche.

1874

Mathew Lynch b-1832, Ireland, died January 20, 1874, on Lowhee Trail just 1/2 mile from his cabin, he got lost after a visit to the Richfield store.  Buried Barkerville, B.C

Nanamio, birth (II)-Elizabeth McGuffie, Metis (1874-1875) daughter (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman. 

Sarah Martin, Metis (1874-1900), Gabriola Island B.C. daughter Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840: married 1899 George Jackson.

Emma Palua Hawaiian Metis, b-1870 of Salt Spring Island was sent to St. Ann's Convent School in Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley to get an education.

One day 800 men marched on Premier Amor de Cosmos alias William Smith office singing "We'll hang de Cosmos on a sour apple tree" because the new Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, a dry unimaginable stone mason failed to deliver on the promised railway.  Cosmos hid out in the Speaker's room.  The men chanted "our Railway or Separation."

The gold rush 250 miles north of Quesnel, B.C. reached its peak in the Cassier Region.  'Dancing Bill' Latham and his dusky Indian maidens entertained the miners.  Nellie Cashman started a profitable hotel at Laketon.

The first Premier of B.C. was Amor de Cosmos alias William Smith from 1872 to 1874.  He was a major anti-Chinese agitator.   Mathew Baillie Begbie, a Scot and judge spoke out in favor of the Chinese, "Their religion, notions of honor and rank, mode of thought, dress, amusement, sense of beauty are not to our taste.  Their language appears to us ridiculous.  Yet they as evidently despise all out attainments and ways and they come here and beat us on our own ground in supplying our own wants.  They are inferior in weight and size of muscle and yet they work more steadily and with better success on the average than white men."

A three masted ship named Panther struck a reef and ran aground at Panther Point, Wallace Island, Vancouver Island with no fatalities.

B.C. disenfranchised all Chinese and Indians this year.

January 7:  Scotts Mill, Oregon, birth Joseph Plourde son Pasile Plourde, b-September 21, 1846 Gervis Oregon and Elizabeth Barker.

January 12:  The barque Edwin became waterlogged in rough seas near Hesiquiat, Vancouver Island, with 4 fatalities. 

March:  The schooner Eliza traveling from Oregon to California departed in January and disappeared.  It was found as a derelict and capsized at the entrance to the Juan de Fuca Strait.  The number of fatalities is unknown. 

Spring:  Three prospectors, Henry Thibert and his two French Canadian partners, had struck an unbelievably rich stream on the western side of Dease Lake, B.C.  This discovery creek, known as Thibert, was followed soon after be the location of another placer creek a few miles south.  The second creek called Dease, was equally rich.  Henry McDame, aka Harry McDames, a black man from the Bahamas arrived Dease Lake and because all the good spots were taken he headed north about 90 miles and .discovered a placer creek that would become Centerville, B.C.  McDame is believed to been mining from 1870 to 1901 when he likely died.  

November 23:  The schooner Surprise with a drunk captain drove ashore in rough sea at Simpson Point near Sooke, Vancouver Island with no fatalities.

December 1:  The barque became waterlogged at Hesquiat, Vancouver Island.  The Captains wife, his two children and the ships crew drowned.  The rest of the crew spent three days at the top of the mast before being rescued.

1875  

Dr. (I)-Thomas Bellings b-1821, England, died April 3, 1875 Barkerville, B.C. he was a surgeon (1865) at the Cariboo Hospital and had left his wife and children in England.  He had a long lingering sickness affecting body and mind.

Margaret Ceise born May 30, 1854, Germany died December 12, 1939, Barkerville, B.C.  She arrived Barkerville, B.C. 1875 from San Francisco with her sister Jeanette Ceise (1840-1933) .  Margaret married Charles Wesley House (Houser) and Jeanette married John House.  They ran the House Hotel in Barkerville, B.C.  

George A. Davis, b-1832, married to Hannah C. Dudley is at Portland, Oregon.

Lord Dufferin toured British Columbia and encountered a little Pacific smelt used by the natives and said "candle fish; so full of oil that it can be lighted at one end and used as a candle".  The natives called the candle fish, oolichan. 

Wesley Hall born May 5, 1840 Churchville, Ontario, died March 23, 1875, Barkerville, B.C. in home of John Bowron, he had a cabin in Conklin Gulch.  He died of inflammation of the lungs.  

Michael Hanley of Ireland, died August 7, 1875 of typhoid, at the Cariboo Hospital, interred in the Richfield cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived 1862 and was one of the original shareholders of the Black Bull Company.

George Moody (1875-1910) half-breed son Sewell Prescott Moody and half-breed Hawaiian girl: married Lucy Brousseau d-1967, Metis daughter Basil Brousseau jr. d-1902, Metis and Indian girl.

William Naukana, b-1813 is believed to be the first Hawaiian to settle on Salt Spring Island.  Those who jumped ship in 1811 for the Island, their fate is unknown. 

Mathew Pinkerton, b-1842, died April 22, 1897, Barkerville, B.C  is working the Jack of Clubs Creek in 1876, Barkerville, B.C. with his brother John Pinkerton who married Margaret Jane Blair (1858-1880).  Lottie Bowron remembers Mathew as a cherry character who was good to children.  Wiggs O,Neil remembers the same saying he gave the kids oranges and things.    

Dr. (I)-Thomas Bell born June 8, 1822 York, England, died August 12, 1875 Barkerville, B.C.  He was in charge of the Cariboo Hospital.

April 11:  The S.S. Pacific collided with the Orpheus off Cape Flattery, Washington with 250 fatalities.  The infamous Orpheus callously sailed away without attempting to help the 250 people in the water.  Ironically the Orpheus wrecked the very next day off Cape Beale.

June:  A U.S. Navy Exploration vessel named U.S.S. Saranac sunk on Ripple Rock, Seymour Narrows, Vancouver Island with no fatalities.  The captain felt they could clear the rocks using great speed.     

1876  

Robert Gray (1833-1908) operated a lighthouse on Gabriola Island, B.C. (1876-1907)

Henry Martin, Metis b-1876, Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

The Fraser River flooded this year.

The Indian Act instituted this year set in motion the elimination of a unique culture in the Pacific Northwest, creating reservations and sending missionaries among the People.  William H. Collison was appalled at the traditional mortuary practices of the Haida and was determined to change their totem culture.   

1877  

James Douglas, Creole Metis (1803-1877) died the richest man in British Columbia, not from gold but from Victoria property investments.

John Blythe b-1830 Scotland, died October 28, 1877 Barkerville, B.C.

John Greep, b-1839 England, died April 1877, interred Stanley cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C. 

Nanamio, birth (II)-Thomas Alexander McGuffie, Metis (1877-1885) son (I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman. 

Nagano Manzo, of Yokohama abandons ship in New Westminster and takes up permanent residence in Canada, as the first recognized Issei (first-generation Japanese person). He subsequently ran a gift shop, Japanese food store and hotel in Victoria.

Joseph Park b-1828 England, died January 26, 1877, Barkerville, B.C  having fallen drunk into a flume (open ditch) and died next day.  He was noted for his drunkenness.

The United States army persuade the Nez Perces from Oregon to Montana under chief Joseph.

November 6:  The re-rigged barque named Swordfish, struck rocks in a gale near Becher Bay, Vancouver Island .  The Ship Opal rescued all with no fatalities.

1878  

Moses Martin, Metis (1878-1916), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, 1840.

(II)-William H. Vioanen, Metis? born June 17, 1878 son (I)-William Vianen, b-1838, Holland, and Mary A. Indian? b-1868, family living New Westminster, 1901

British Columbia announced they would leave Confederation if the promised Railway wasn't finished in two years.

B.C. disenfranchised all School teachers and prohibited them from campaigning.  They didn't complain when the vote was taken away from the Chinese and Indians.

The Chinese Tax Act required every Chinese in B.C. to pay $40 tax a year, just for being Chinese.  The Act was eventually declared unconstitutional. 

Spencer and Huson at Alert Bay, Vancouver Island convinced Alfred James Hall, of the Church Missionary Society, to found a mission at Alert Bay this year.

The Bannock War in Idaho and Oregon involving the Bannocks, Northern Paiutes and Cayuses against General George Crook and federal troops..

1879 

Apnaut son Kanaka is elected to the Maple Ridge council this year which is accros the river from Fort Langley.  Other Hawaiians like the Joseph Mayo family and the Chiers merged with the local aboriginal communities.  Other Hawaiians migrated to sawmills on Burrard Inlet (Vancouver).  Some settled at Kanaka Ranch in Stanley Park, while some of the Fort Langley Hawaiians settled Moodyville on the Inlet's north shore becoming well known families of longshoremen.  Others moved to Victoria and New Westminister.

John Bilsland b-1836, Cornwall, Ontario, died March 13, 1879 Barkerville.  The four Bilsland brothers William, James, Alexander W. and John arrived Barkerville in 1863.  Snow fell from the two brothers claim shaft house on Tucker Lake, near west end of Jack of Clubs Lake killing John.  Alex stayed Barkerville until 1881 and was in Vancouver, B.C.  in 1922.  The other brothers returned to Ontario.

George A. Davis, b-1832, married to Hannah C. Dudley is at Spokane Falls, Washington before returming to Portland, Oregon. 

George Dawson, a surveyor, geologist and botanist and party are at Fort McLeod, B.C.  Dawson City in the Yukon was named after this man.

Jeanette McArthur born September 5, 1879, Barkerville, B.C, died December 3, 1960, Barkerville, B.C.

Mary Wintrip born Northumberland committed suicide by hanging September 2, 1879, Barkerville, B.C.  She was married to Edward Wintrip b- 1829 a blacksmith at Barkerville, B.C.  They had two son John C. Wintrip, (1855-1930) and Edward Wintrip b-1859.  Uncles Lewis Wintrip b-1825 and Robert Wintrip b-1823 are living 1881 at Stouts Gulch, Barkerville, B.C.

Four Metis boys:  Allan McLean (1855-1881), Charlie McLean (1862-1881), Archie McLean (1864-1881) and Alex Hare, (1862-1881) killed John Tannat Ussher; a Kamloops policeman, and James Kelly; a shepherd, who were trying to arrest them for horse stealing. Their father Donald McLean of the Hudson Bay Company was little short of a monster.   They were executed in New Westminster on January 31, 1881.  Archie is among the youngest ever executed and it is believed the only time three brothers have been hanged together.  In 1885 stepbrother Alexander McLean ran wild on the Kamloops reserve killing one and wounding 4 more.  His grandfather, Chief Louie and a posse in full war paint blasted him into eternity.

The Sheepeater War in Idaho, involved the Sheepeaters.

1880 

Josiah Crosby Beedy, was born Pennsylvania, died January 27, 1880, interred Stanley cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C. 

Margaret Jane Blair born October 1858, died May 30, 1880 Barkerville, B.C. buried next to daughter Margerate Jane Pinkerton who died April 19, 1879 age 10 days, father and husband is John Pinkerton born 1839 Leeds County, Canada West, arrived an over-lander in 1862 Barkerville, died February 23, 1920, Vancouver, B.C.  They married 1875 Ontario, she was not quite age 17.  Their first child was born September 21, 1875 French Creek, Barkerville, Elizabeth Pinkerton, then George Pinkerton who drowned Bowron River 1907, another daughter and Margaret Pinkerton.  The children were sent to St. Ann Academy in Victoria, B.C. 

Billy Kaush b-1880 B.C.  living Skeena in 1901 census

Marie (Michel) McIntyre aka  Stone, b-1867, Germany, died December 26, 1924, Barkerville, B.C.  Arrived Barkerville, B.C. this year age 13 years and at 1885 married James Stone born February 10, 1843, England, died October 11, 1910, Barkerville, B.C.  Marie married after 1911 Duncan McIntyre.  She had two children by Stone, Elizabeth Stone and Leslie Stone b-1891, died January 24, 1907, Barkerville, B.C. 

James Martin, Metis b-1818, Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

Marcos Pares Resendos, b-1871, died July 19, 1880,  Barkerville, B.C. son Albino Resendos, b-1835 a Mexican bricklayer.

Jack (Sam) Rowlands entered British Columbia one step ahead of the law and became an unsuccessful prospector.

Adam Watson, b-1824 Scotland, died October 10, 1880, Barkerville, B.C. of a heart attack.

A volcano at Mount Baker, Washington erupted this year.

Captain Spring became the owner of Spring Cove (Ucluelet) and William & James Sutton claim to be the first permanent Settlers, excluding First Nation Peoples, this decade.

The country doctors of Ontario began to criticize the policy of indenturing poor English children into Canada.  Their criticism had no moral basis but  was against this undesirable addition to the nations population.  The doctors contended that these children represented the worst characteristic of the Old World: urban degeneracy, immorality, criminality and syphilitic tendencies.  Many of these children were taken away from their parents against their will and deported.

The ground along the Similkameen and Tulameen Rivers, near Princeton are heavily staked and newcomers had to prospect along the upper reaches of the rivers in order to find new ground.  

One Armed Reed and his Irish partner, roving through the south Okanagan hills two miles from Oliver, B.C., panned a little mountain stream which flowed east into the Okanagan River in the valley far below.  They were strictly placer miners, and when the gravels failed to yield colors they moved on.  Unknown to them a Creek named Reed Creek after them contained a vast body of gold bearing rock.

March 14:  Gervais, Oregon, birth Antoine Leon Plourde, son, Basile Plourde, born September 21, 1846, Gervais, Oregon and Elizabeth Barker; married Mamie Canfield.

1881

Robert Gray (1833-1908) a lighthouse operator reported a sloop was wrecked on Entrance Island, B.C. and all are presumed dead.

John Lanyon b-1840 England as per 1881 census, the death records b-1838, died June 18, 1900, Barkerville, B.C.

John Anderson, a Blackman born November 15, 1815 died July 24, 1881 Barkerville, B.C. he was the Cariboo correspondent for the black newspaper, the Elevator of San Francisco. 

Charles McClellan, b-1881, Seattle, Washington.

Farquer McLennon b-1827 Scotland, died Barkerville, B.C.  Was living Keithley Creek in 1881 census.

(II)-Henry Vioanen, Metis? born March 17, 1881 son (I)-William Vianen, b-1838, Holland, and Mary A. Indian? b-1868, family living New Westminster, 1901

Edward Dossetter visited the villages of Yan and Skidegate, Queed Charlotte Island to photograph the Haida Peoples and their totem poles. 

In 1881-82 about 6,000 Chinese are hired to build the CPR railway at a dollar a day.  Non-Chinese were paid two dollars to two fifty a day.  The Chinese were forced to buy their supplies from the CPR store and had to build their own camps.  It is noteworthy that the B.C. Government did not want to employ the Chinese but the Federal Government said they were necessary or the railway couldn't be built.

1882

The SS Rosedale sank on December 12, 1882 on Race Rocks in the Juan de Fuca Strait.

The Fraser River flooded this year.

Over 90% of the 300,000 Chinese who immigrated to the United States between 1849 to 1882 were adult males.

District Lot - number 185 - was bought for $550.75 by a John Morton, potter, plus two mates - Samuel Brighouse and William Hailstone. The lot comprised of what is now the entire West End of Vancouver, B.C. - 540 acres.

1883 

Charles H. Carey b-1857, arrived Portland, Oregon September 1883 and married May 1884, N. Bidwell of Ohio. 

Andrew Hanson, born Sweden but date of birth was removed from tombstone, died October 10, 1883, Barkerville, B.C..  He had fallen down a shaft and broke his back and died within 6 hrs.

Robert Martin, Metis (1883-11952), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

A company of Chinese miners struck very rich dirt up the Tulameen River not far from Princeton, B.C. 

Victoria installed electric street lights.

Early fur traders in the Kootenais were aware of the famed Metal Mountain because it was so rich a deposit that they could fashion musket balls from it.   The Kootenais Treasure however was not legally staked until this year when the infamous Thomas Evan Sproule claimed the property.  Sproule murdered a claim jumper named Thomas Hammill.

1884 

Charles Wesley House b-1884 Barkerville, B.C., died August 4, 1917, Barkerville, B.C. son Charles Wesley House and Margaret Ceise (1854-1939)

(I)-Thomas McGuffie (1831-1895) and Adeliza Jane Sabiston Tongas Woman settled Gabriola Island, B.C.. 

(III)-Charles Taylor, Metis born January 20, 1884, died September 9, 1955 son (II)-George Taylor, Metis b-1863 and Celia Cotash Chawuthen Indian, died 1920.

Louie Sam, who belonged to the Sto:lo First Nation whose homelands lie in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, was falsely accused in the 1884 murder of a shopkeeper near Sumas, Washington.  A mob of up to 120 vigilantes rode across the border, snatched Sam from Canadian police custody and hung him from a tree.  Canadian investigators later determined that he never committed the crime and was framed by two white Americans who stirred up the mob.  Neither men was ever prosecuted.  Nor were the mob leaders.

William Stewart b-1828, Scotland, died August 1, 1884, Barkerville, B.C.

About 90% of those involved in commercial salmon fishing in B.C. are aboriginal peoples.  The British did not like free enterprise, they preferred monopoly at best or British control at a minimum.  A move was launched to deny native commercial access to fisheries resources.  

The Canadian Government forbid the Potlatch and Sundance this year marking the beginning of the end of the traditional forms of the Peoples Government in the Pacific Northwest.  The Potlatch and Sundance are religious ceremonies so this is like forbidding Catholic or Protestant forms of worship.  The Churches supported this form of racism.   This position was not reversed until 1951.

September 22:  Columbia Crossing (British Columbia),  A.R. Dyre a North West Mounted Police Constable wrote: I have been removed up here to the crossing of the Columbia and a wild place it is, but I think there is more chance of being keeled over by mountain fever than by a "tough pistol" but as cold weather is coming I expect to escape both.  I have just returned from a trip into the Selkirks after a horse thief.  Sergent Ward and I followed him nearly to the summit of the Selkirks, but as he had a twenty-four hours on us, and intended to go right through to the Coast we were obliged to turn back.  As it was we ran out of grub and were a day without any.  Our horses were as bad off as ourselves, as we could not get any feed for them, so after fifty mile ride on played out horses we arrived at out camp weak with hunger and fatigue, and worse than all, no prisoner with us, I heard lately that two toughs whom I used to know in Calgary had been lynched by cowboys in Montana, for horse stealing, and my most earnest prayers is that the same fate may overtake the coyote who led us such an unsuccessful dance into that most magnificent but dreary region, the Selkirk Mountains.

December 23:  Marriage (II)-Charles Monaghan Brown, son (I)-Charles B. Brown, b-1818 England and Jemina, b-1825, marriage December 23, 1884 Susan McFadden, daughter James McFadden (McPhadden) and unknown

1885 

James Blair b-1850, died March 26, 1885 Barkerville, B.C,, a cave-in on Mason Claim on Antler Creek.

Most Canadians don't realize that Canada's national railway could never have been realized if it wasn't for the Chinese workers. About 17,000 Chinese workers were hired so the railway could be completed on time. They were assigned the dirtiest, most dangerous tasks, and they received half the wages of white laborers.  One worker died for every mile of track lay through the Rocky Mountains between Calgary and Vancouver.  They were denied the food and lodging provided to their white counterparts. Hundreds of Chinese laborers lost their lives as construction pushed through the treacherous mountains of British Columbia. For those who survived, prospects did not improve after the railroad's completion in 1885 due to poverty and the introduction of the head tax which kept families apart.  A Head Tax of $50,00 per person was imposed on Chinese people.  This racist law would not be repealed until 1967.

A dozen or more families, some from San Juan Island, homesteaded on the southern Salt Spring Island.  In 1885 St Paul's Church is built on land donated by William Naukana and other Kanakas provided building material to accommodate about 30 or more Metis families.  William Naukana and his good friend and son-in-law Johnny Palua homesteaded Portland Island.  Kama Kami and (II)-Alexander Korney homesteaded Coal Island a few miles south of Portland Island.William Hamea first lived Salt Spring Island then moved to Russell Island about this time.  George Kamano settled Harbledown Island.  The Hawaiians were great farmers, planting great orchards, grew and cured their own tobacco, did fishing and lumbering to make a living.  It is believed most Hawaiians married Indians many of the Salish clan.  There are no records to track the progress of these Metis peoples.

July:  Johanny Chance, a sometimes rustler from across the line, stumbled upon a little creek flowing into the Tulameen river near Princeton which proved to be so rich that news of its wealth ignited a frantic rush to the area.  That stream was Granite Creek and the town of Granite City sprang up. 

July 5:  Gold was discovered at Granite Creek, B.C. by John Chance resulting in 2,000 people descending on the place. 

September 2, 1885. On that day in the Union Pacific coal town of Rock Springs, Wyoming, white coal miners rioted and rampaged through the Chinese section of town, killing 28 Chinese coal workers (some died by gunfire and others in burning houses), and wounding 19 others. The perpetrators were never indicted.  These incidents, rather than stirring empathy for the Chinese workers as might be expected, instead inflamed increased violence against them throughout the West. In the Puget Sound region, Chinese people were driven out of Seattle, Maury Island, Port Townsend, Tacoma, Newcastle, Sumner, Whatcom, and Squak (renamed Issaquah).

September 7, 1885, in the eastern King County community of Squak (renamed Issaquah), white and Indian hop pickers gang up on Chinese workers brought in by the Wold Bros. to pick hops at a cheaper price. On two successive days, white and Indian hop pickers try to force the Chinese workers out. When that fails, a gang of seven men (five whites and two Indians) attack the Chinese camp. They fire into tents of sleeping men, and kill three Chinese men and wound three. The perpetrators are brought to trial, but acquitted.  Judge Thomas Burke: After the expulsion of the Chinese, their stores and houses were burned. The mayor of Tacoma is a foreigner, and can hardly speak the English language. I have read how the Germans rose up against the Jews and drove them from their homes. I remember how they drove the Russian peasants out; but what am I to think that only thirty miles from where I stand, in the Republic of the United States, such atrocities have been committed? It could not be done under an American. It was done under a German.  One year from tonight you will say I am right. In Tacoma they have gone further, and actually notified lawful American citizens to go. "The American must go." That’s the word in Tacoma.

November 7:  A group of about 50 people gathered at Eagle Pass, B.C. to witness the driving in of the last spike of the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway.

December 27:  St. Paul's, Salt Spring Island, Vancouver Island, the first baptism grandson of Naukana and (I)-William Mahoi, whence (IV)-Mel Couvelier and Tamara Dart descend.  Although first generation Hawaiians in B.C. and their Aboriginal wives, were mostly illiterate, off springs so far as geography permitted, attended school alongside neighboring children.  (II)-Maria Mahoi, a Hawaiian Metis, the daughter (I)-William Mahoi and Naukana.  (III)-Kanaki daughter (II)-Maria Mahoi 1st married a sea captain from Maine and had 7 children; a 2nd marriage to a Metis son of an Englishmen and Indian women and had 6 more Indians.

1886 

Franz Boss (1858-1942) of Germany is working among the Indians in B.C.

(II)-George (Charles) Edwin Brown, son (I)-Charles B. Brown, b-1818 England and Jemina, b-1825, Canada: married October 23, 1886, Victoria, B.C. Agatha Quijack.

Samuel Martin, Metis (1886-1934), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native.

Charles Patrick O'Neill died 1886/87, Barkerville, B.C  being kicked by a horse across the shop onto a pointed stick.  He was a blacksmith at Barkerville, B.C  

The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed to Burrard Inlet.  This caused a shift of commercial activity from Victoria to Vancouver, B.C..  The owners of Vancouver, B.C. were persuaded to donate 1/3 of the property to Canadian Pacific Rail (CPR) as an incentive for them to build their railway through to Coal Harbour, hoping that this may bring people to the area to buy their lots. By the time CPR had made it to Gastown however, the "Three Greenhorns" John Morton, Samuel Brighouse and William Hailstone had parted ways, feeling that they had been cheated.

Over 17,000 Chinese workers are brought to Canada and many Chinese laborers are stranded in Canada following the completion of the railway. Many migrate south, settling in Victoria, New Westminster and later Vancouver. A number move east to cities such as Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal in search of job opportunities and less discrimination.

February 13:  The not so reverend E. Trumbull Lee of Calvery Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon stated: "the Chinese must go."  But why must the Chinese go?  1st. Because they never can become a part of our Nation.  2nd. The Chinese are unclean and immoral to an extent unapproached by our lowest classes,  3d. Chinese laborers live on these shores at the expense of white laborers.  Some suggest Rev. Lee is a loathsome, grossly immoral, and rotten in his corruption and not a Christian in his beliefs.  Chan Hon Fan, a Chinese resident of this city, says Rev. E. Trumbull Lee letter is “calculated to make riot and bloodshed”.  

April 6:  Vancouver, B.C. is incorporated as a city with a population of 1,000 people.

April:  The Hastings Mill Company in Vancouver, B.C. is shipping B.C. lumber to Australia, Hawaii, Chile and China.   The mill syndicate was headed by John Hendry and managed by R.H. Alexander.  A hundred workers were employed and one-third were Chinese.  Ships at this time were loaded by the ships crew to ensure a balanced load.  It wasn't until the 1890's that longshoremen took over the job. 

June 14:   Vancouver, B.C. had one thousand inhabitants and about 800 buildings, of which all but 4 were leveled by fire in forty minutes.  Only four homes remained standing.  It is noteworthy that Vancouver, B.C. originally called Grandville but more commonly called Gastown, had just incorporated as a city in January of this year.

1887 

Shishido Yo becomes the first Japanese woman to settle in Canada. She takes up residence on Powell Street with her husband, Oya Washiji, a store proprietor.

The first passenger train from Montreal reached Vancouver, B.C. this year, and two thousand residents had already rebuilt Vancouver, B.C..  The railway is built by the blood of six hundred laborers who died laying the rails.  Some say the construction conditions are so miserable that they contributed to the high death rate.  Most of those who died were among the thousands of Chinese who made it all possible.  E.W. Brenner (1887 - 1904) became farmer-in-charge of the Turtle Mountain reservation.

Chinese in Vancouver are attacked in their homes by a mob of 300 after a public meeting.

Kuno Gihei, a Japanese visits Canada and returns to recruit fellow villagers to settle in the village of Steveston at the mouth of the Fraser River. Until World War II, Steveston had the second largest Japanese Canadian settlement in Canada.

The lots of west Vancouver, B.C. finally did begin to sell, with prices ranging from $350 to 1000, as people realized the potential of the area. With CPR building rail lines, a hotel was going up, roads were being laid through the area plus the establishment of Stanley Park, lots began to move quickly.

Sheenan and Gwatkins staked a discovery claim on what was later to be known as the renowned Stemwinder Mine at Fairview, B.C.  It was a rich find with free gold visible in the quartz.

B.C. Fisheries Regulations restricted natives from the barter, sale or commerce in fish, they could only fish for their own food supply.  A 50,000 year old right, tradition was taken away with the stroke of a cruel British pen.  The rational behind this action is to make the natives slaves to the British owners of the canneries by turning them into a labor pool.   

May 3: The Vancouver Coal Mine exploded killing 148 miners (96 whites and 52 Chinese) and 7 miners escaped   Three lads from Gabriola Island, B.C., were killed namely; James Hoggan, b-1866, Thomas Martin, b-1865 and John McGuffie, b-1865. 

1888 

John Armitage b-1850, died April 21, 1888, Barkerville, B.C. 

John A. Cameron b-1820 Glengarry, Ontario, died November 7, 1888, Barkerville, B.C. He struck it rich on Williams Creek, then returned east and later when old he returned destitute to try again.

Marie Hageman b-1829 of Germany, died July 28, 1888 Barkerville, B.C. and is believed to be a Hurdy Gurdy dancing girl.

Christopher Hoffsommer, b-1929 Germany, died July 23, 1888, Barkerville, B.C.

Archibald McIntyre b-1857, Scotland, died April 20, 1906, Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived Cariboo this year a partner of George Clarke in a sawmill at Jack of Clubs Lake at the site of Wells, B.C.

Angus Martin, Metis (1888-11964), Gabriola Island B.C. son Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

George Odin, Metis, b-1888 Fort Langley son Captain Frank Odin (1863-1899) and (II)-Ann Taylor, b-1861. 

H.B.C.'s little ship Beaver, launched in London in 1835, wrecked off Stanley Park in 1888, the first steamship on this coast

February: David L. Brainard (1856-1946) married Fort Walla Walla, Washington a Anna Chase.  Brainard was on the Greely Expedition of 1881 to the Arctic.

1889 

Archie Ray Bowron died October 30, 1889 Barkerville, B.C. age 7 months son John Bowron died Victoria, B.C. and Emily Bowron (April 25, 1850 Michigan, died Barkerville May 29, 1895.  They had four other kids Edward, William, Alice and Lottie.

The first nissei (second generation Japanese person), Katsuji, is born to Yo and Washiji Oya.

John Peebles, born October 23, 1833 Scotland, died September 2, 1889,  interred Stanley cemetery, near Barkerville, B.C.  He arrived 1863 to the Cariboo and was associated with the Murtle Co. claim.  He was a blacksmith and storekeeper in Stanley and worked Beaver Pass.  He married Ellen Dickie b-1849 having two children William Peebles, b-1872 and James Peebles b-1876. 

Gertrude Phelps died November 5, 1889, age 1 year, 5 months Barkerville, B.C , daughter William and Florence Phelps.  He was a primary school teacher and had a second daughter Ethel Phelps b-1885, Barkerville, B.C    

1890 

Nellie Martin, Metis (1890-1916, Gabriola Island B.C. daughter Jonathan Martin (1831-1907) and Helen (Ellen-Ellin) a Native, b-1840.

(II)-Willie Palua, a Hawaiian Metis is b-1890 Salt Spring Island, Vancouver Island, B.C.

The population of Vancouver, B.C. is 15,000.

The first lighthouse is built at Brockton Point, Vancouver, B.C. Electric streetcars began operating this year in Vancouver, B.C..

Small scale logging began in Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

A  telegraph route first established in 1890, and follows a rugged shoreline where approximately 66 ships have met their demise along this stretch of what is called the "Graveyard of the Pacific". This telegraph line connected Victoria with Cape Beale near present day Bamfield. Shipwreck survivors followed the rough and arduous trail in either direction, finding shelter in wooden cabins constructed at intervals along the route.

Mandarin oranges formally called 'mikan' from Mt. Fuji, Japan were first imported into Vancouver, B.C. for Christmas.  They quickly became a Canadian and American tradition.

January 8:  Esquimalt, B.C., marriage, Henry Irwin aka Father Pat (1859-1902) to Frances Stuart Innes but she and her baby died shortly after birth. 

1891 

Peter Wesley, a Metis Stoney Indian Chief, rebelled against the Indian Agent and took a number of followers to the Kootenay Plains. They refused to return until their lands were returned in 1947.

John Odin, Metis, b-1891 Fort Langley son Captain Frank Odin (1863-1899) and (II)-Ann Taylor, b-1861. 

(II)-Nora Vioanen, Metis? born January 13, 1891 daughter (I)-William Vianen, b-1838, Holland, and Mary A. Indian? b-1868, family living New Westminster, 1901

 January 16:  New Westminster, B.C., Old Slumach an Indian is hanged for the murder September 8, 1890 at Lillooet Slough about 2 1/2 miles above Pitt River bridge, of Louis Bee a half-breed who had insulted the old Indian.  It is believed that the location of the lost Mine of Pit Lake was lost with the death of Old Slumach.  W. Jackson in 1901 followed up the claim on a lost mine and went to the Pitt River country and it was later verified he departed the country with $10,000.00 worth of gold that he deposited in a bank in San Francisco.  Jackson got sick and died 1904 so didn't return to the lost mine.

1892  

Walter Burchatt discovered a lead and zinc mine at Kimberley, B.C., and it is the oldest continuously producing metal mine in Canada.  This Sullivan mine was not closed until December 2001.

February 24: Laguna Salada, B.C. Latitude 32.33 N & longitude 115.38 W, earthquake, mag. 7.0

April 23:  A charter was granted to build a railway from Kaslo, B.C. to Sandon, B.C. providing unwelcome links to the CPR at Sandon and Zincton.  The objective is the transportation of lead, zinc and silver ultimately to the smelters in the United States via the lake to the Great Northern Railway.  The line was completed by 1895.  Two used locomotives were bought from the Alberta Railway and Coal Company.  The Great Northern provided a locomotive to cope with increased traffic. 

July 19:  The famous B.X. Company gave little thought to the dangers of road agents in the isolated Cariboo Country of the interior of B.C.  Billy Parker near Post 98 at the foot of Bridge Creek Hill, a masked man jumped out demanding the strong box of gold.  The posses doggedly scoured the wilderness without success.  Then the cry was heard "Gold!  They've struck gold on Scottie Creek."  Scottie Creek is a teiburary of the Bonaparte River.  Men charged to the scene, 20 miles north of Ashcroft, old-timers proclaimed that that the creek's been gone over with a fine-tooth comb and never a trace of gold.  Old Jack (Sam) Rowlands, with a crew of two Chinese and two Indians, had struck the pay dirt.  No one else on the creek found any gold.  Nor it seems had Rowlands crew recovered gold only Rowlands himself.  Analysis of the gold on deposit with F.W. Foster in Ashcroft determined the gold did not come from Scottie's Creek and it was soon reasoned it came from the robbery of B.X. Company.  They failed to find the missing gold bars and much of the gold dust from the robbery.  Rowland was convicted of the robbery and given 7 yrs in New Westminister penitentiary.  Two years later he escaped prison and was never seen again.  It is unknown if Jack Rowland made his way back to his claim to recover the stolen gold or if in his old age had just escaped to the U.S. 

September 8:  The City of Burnaby, B.C. is incorporated.

1893 

Thomas Howse b-1852 Red River married about 1881 likely Assiniboia Susan b-1851 Alberta, living Calgary in 1901 but was in B.C. 1893.  Assiniboia could refer to southern Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba at this time.

(II)-Mary Christina Robertson, (1893-1973) daughter (I)-Samuel Robertson (1819-1897) and Harriet Mighton; married 1908 Henery Valentine Ritchie (1884-1957).

Robert Thornton Lowery b- 1859 arrived Kaslo, B.C. on the western shores of Kootenay Lake.  He immediately started publishing a newspaper called Kaslo Claim.  The Kaslo Claim attacked Justice G.A. Walkem claiming the eminent judge displayed what the editor considered high-handed partiality in several cases which were brought before him.  Walkem laughed hysterically at his own jokes, and was a harmless looking old man, with weak eyes and that he shamefully insults a jury.   The falling price of silver caused the Kaslo Claim to shut its doors in August 25, 1893 although it was the most widely read newspaper in the region.

A man named 'The Scandinavian' likely Johanssen or Johnsson arrived Granite City, B.C. to prospect.  Like the others he struck gold and platinum.  The Scandianavian was fascinated with the strange metal and saved it rather than throw it away as others were doing.  Other miners contributed to his stash of platinum until by 1895 he had a bucket full.  He moved on to the Kootenays and buried his platinum before leaving as it was too heavy to carry with him.     

August 10:  Kaslo, B.C. is incorporated as a city that was named after John Kasleau the first settler in the area.  

1894

The Fraser River flooded this year.

British Columbia General Elections, Natives and Chinese are disallowed from voting but the Kanakas (Hawaiian colonists and American and West Indian Blacks and certain others were allowed to vote.

An Indian named Peter discovered the famous St. Eugene silver mine at Moyie, B.C.  In ten years it yielded over $11 million.  Peter used his earnings to acquire a good farm and built a home, barn and stocked it with cattle, horses and sheep.

1895

Clarence J. Berry of southern California arrived Forty Mile Creek and was unsuccessful and returned to California after running out of money.  He married and returned to the Klondike with his wife and removed $130,000 from one of his claims, having paid out $20,000 in wages.  His wife worked her own little claim and recovered $10,000 in gold.  They returned to California and were offered two million for their holdings.  

Louis Empkins took out $300,000 gold in 8 months at Dawson City with 12 men in 6 holes.  

George Fraser a Scottish horticulturist, arrived in Ucluelet, Vancouver Island about 1895.

James (Curley) Munroe became a millionaire in Dawson.

Frank Phiscator of Michigan is reported to be one of the first into the Klondike and returned with $96,000 in gold.

B.C. disenfranchised all Japanese this year.

About 90 Metis are settled on Salt Spring Island, Vancouver Island.

William Stanley, a blacksmith from Seattle, mined the Bonanza Creek, about five miles above Dawson City and returned to Portland with $115,000 in gold.  Henry Anderson, a Swede, returned from the Klondike with $45,000 in gold dust for half his claim. 

1896 

H.N. Brown born November 12, 1849, Germany, died October 12, 1896 with wife Mary operated a hotel in Richfield, B.C. 

Henry Irwin aka Father Pat (1859-1902) at the Golden City (Rossland, B.C.) acquired his reputation among the miners.  The stories about Father Pat are legion.

Frank Keller of Los Angeles arrive Alaska and eventually returned with $35,000 for his Klondike claim.  William Sloat of Namaimo, B.C. returned with $52,000 for his claim.  Wilkinson also of Namaimo sold his claim for $40,000.

The discovery of gold in the Klondike created a boom-70wn which encouraged the growth of dance-halls, saloons and stock theatre houses.

George McCormick (Siwash George) of Illinois has been in the Yukon since 1888 and he married a squaw (Iskwao) and had several half-breed children.  (Squaw is a very insulting English word.)  J.O. Hestwood of Seattle claims Siwash George was the first to discover gold in the Klondike on July 9, 1896 near Dawson Creek.  After the word got out men from Circle City and Forty-Mile rushed to Dawson.

George F. Miller from Juneau, Alaska discovered placer gold in Pine Creek near Atlin, B.C.  George had helped an old but sick prospector who was dying and in gratitude gave him a crude but accurate map to the location of the Pine Creek gold discovery.

Robert Thornton Lowery b- 1859 had moved to New Denver and started the newspaper called the New Denver Ledge.  Two local business men failed to pay their printing bill so Lowery wrote:  S.W. Seed, who tried to make soft drinks in New Denver, and Spry Palmer. who tried to run a show in Sandon, are both deadbeats, and the wide world will do well to look out for them.  The are likely to wind up in Hades, for both of them are guilty of cheating the printer, which is about the meanest thing a man can do on earth.  Men who do such things would steal a shroud from a corpse.

13 Mile School, Cove Oregon
Marie Alexazina Gauthier born June 20, 1888 Aurora, South Dakota, married April 28, 1908 Edmonton, Alberta a John Garneau (1885-1949), died 1980 New Westminister daughter Stanislaus Gauthier born 1850 and Lea Ouimette born 1850, attended Three Mile School, Cove Oregon when she was eight years old.   

April 18:  A copy of the Fort Steele Prospector attributes the discovery of gold on the Wild Horse Creek in the Kootenay Country, in 1865 to a Metis named Findlay and two companions from Frenchtown, fifteen miles northwest of Missoula.  After finding gold they stopped at the Hudson Bay post on the Tobacco Plains and sold their gold to a man named Linklater.  Word was out and a gold rush was on.

May 26:  On the afternoon of May 26, 1896, an overcrowded streetcar crashed through the Point Ellice Bridge in Victoria, B.C. killing 55 people, many of them small children. The worst streetcar accident in Canadian history,

August 16:   George Carmack, prodded by his Indian friends Skookum Jim Mason and Dawson Tagish Charlie find gold at Rabbit Creek, which was later renamed Bonanza Creek, British Columbia.  Robert Henderson of Nova Scotia who was working Gold Bottom creek, claims he told Carmack to try Rabbit Creek.  He said he didn't want any damn Siwashes (Indians) staking any gold claims.  He also refused to sell the Indians tobacco.  Because of these bigoted slights it would cost him a fortune as he was not told of the strike until all the good claims were staked.

August 18:  A little gold mining town known as Camp McKinney, situated on the south-eastern slopes of towering Baldy Mountain, above Rock Creek, sent a shipment of two/three gold bars weighing approximately 656 ounces, with George B. McAulay of Spokane to Midway, B.C. then on to the U.S.  A highway man relieved him of the gold.  The highway man was believed to be Matt Roderick who buried the gold and returned to Camp McKinney.  He later traveled to Seattle where his wife was located.  

October 26:  Matt Roderick was followed back to Camp McKinney they believed to get the buried gold.  A man named Joseph Keane shot Roderick and R.W. Deans, Long Alex and Thom Graham were in the area to apprehend Roderick.  The gold has never been found. 

1897

William and James Sutton arrived Ucluelet, Vancouver Island and were the first permanent settlers of the area. They pre-empted a large tract of land on the east side of the Ucluelet Inlet and also acquired timber holdings around Kennedy lake. They built a shingle and sawmill at what is now Port Albion, operating under the name of Sutton Lumber Company, and also opened the first general store.

The Klondike Gold Rush 1897-1901 is considered the last of the great American gold rushes.  

Greenwood, B.C. is incorporated this year.

The Crow's Nest Pass Coal Co. founded by William Fernie and James Baker opened their coal operation on the B.C. side of the pass.

July 14:  The ship Excelsior sailed into San Francisco Bay, they brought tales of gold in the Yukon and the last great gold rush was on to the Klondike.

July 17:  The ship Portland put into Seattle with 60 miners and gold worth $700,000 from the Klondike. 

September 17:  Fort Wrangel, Alaska, F.R.S. Barlee wrote: Got to Wrangell, any amount of Indians and Husky dogs, male Indians are called Siwashes and females Klootchmen, their canoes are a splendid bits of work.  We measured one this morning that was 48 feet long 7 feet wide, made from one log, totem poles are thick and, wonderful works of carving being carved out of one tree, probably 30 or 40 feet high, 3 feet thick and covered with grotesque faces of men and animals.

October 1:  Telegraph Creek, Britisn Columbia, F.R.S. Barlee wrote: Telegraph Creek, B.C. is a little village of about 30 log cabins, two stores and a baker.  The Parson lives in the Jail.  

October 11, a white woman arrived Telegraph Creek on way to Teslin Lake then the Klondike, everyone came out to look at her.

October 28:  Glenora, B.C., along the trail for 50 miles there are 250 men working the creek.  In Glenora are 40 and on the river 50 more.

November 18:  Glenora, B.C., in came Robinson from Florida, nearly frozen, wanting a pair of moccasins.

December 24:  Fort Reangell, Alaska, The Alki arrived bound south, on board were two men, one the 'Montana Kid' just out of Dawson City with a special dispatch for the San Francisco Examiner, they were sworn to secrecy and to get $1,000.00 on delivery.

December:  Telegraph Creek, B.C., Fitzhugh is a civil Engineer from Kentucky, also here are Dandy Dick, Bohemian Joe, Cassier Jim, Talthanu Bill, Bill commonly the Bad Man from Bitter Creek and he always carries a revolver and a bowie knife. 

1898 

Micheal Stanislaus Gauthier (1850-1934) and family are living in Cove, Oregon, and the children attend the 13 mile school.

13 Mile School, Cove, Oregon
Marie Alexazina Gauthier (1888-1980) is still at 13 Mile School in Cove Oregon.  They would depart for Edmonton, Alberta in 1903.

Klondike gold wasn't the only way to strike it rich in Dawson in the Yukon.  Flour cost $400 a barrel, Milk was $16 a gallon, eggs $3 a dozen, (at one time reached $1.00 each), butter $3 a pound and onions $1.50 each.  A good meal in San Francisco cost 25¢.

Sand is added to English Bay Beach. Up to that time you had to walk through bushes to get to it. A large rock on the beach separated men and women bathers

Dawson City in the Yukon counted 400 girls as being involved in the Red-light District. The population of Dawson peaked at 30,000 people.

At Glenora, B.C. are Malcolm MacLean, in charge, J. Lumsden, F. Waldron and D. Todd.  There are also 7 women of different sorts, none of them ladies.  There are about 200 people here by the end of the year.  About a mile out of town is the Hudson Bay Post with G.R, Robson, factor, with two clerks.  Johnny Richards has a store.  Wilson runs the Nugget Hotel.

By this year Fairview, B.C. had hosted the following mines, Morning Star, Tin Horn, Wild Horse, Joe Dandy and Brown Bear.  Fairview also hosted Father Pat the wandering Anglican minister known as the Miners Priest, Billy Miner, train robber without equal, strange Matthew Roderick, civil engineer by trade and hold-up man by preference, some 500 souls.

Placer gold is discovered on Pine Creek in 1896 but finally claimed by Fritz Miller brother of George Miller and McLaren who staked their claim.  A half a dozen other creeks in the vicinity also contained gold.  The placer miners first called it Pine City but it gradually became known as Discovery.  Discovery is located east of Atlin, B.C. and west of Lake Surprise.  Discovery peaked at over 1,000 people.  The gold played out by 1915 and by the early 1940's it became a ghost town.

January:  About 30 miles from Fort Wrangell, Alaska is the Canadian boarder where the mounted police have established a post and built a custom house and all the bad Yankees on the Island with big revolvers in their hip pockets have to give them up, much to their disgust.

January:  The shortage of food at Dawson City was so severe that Canadian officials began policing the the border to ensure each person had a year supply of food, at least 1,150 lbs.  His total including tent and mining equipment brought the total to 2,000 lbs per person.

February 18:  Stikine Island aka Cottenwood Island, contain 300 men and four women.  One arrived that day, a bride, about 18 and a little bit of a thing.  Men must be staring mad to bring women up here, so writes F.R.S. Barlee.

February 18:  Stikine Island aka Cottenwood Island, contain 300 men and four women.  One arrived that day, a bride, about 18 and a little bit of a thing.  Men must be staring mad to bring women up here, so writes F.R.S. Barlee.

February 25:  "Soapy Smith" [Jefferson Randolph Smith] and his gang are in full control" of Skagway, Alaska so stated a Seattle newspaper.  "Law-abiding people do not dare say a word against them. Holdups, robberies and shootings are a part of the routine.  It is estimate that in less than two years, Smith's gang killed several hundred men and wounded and robbed countless others.  Frank Smith, a vigilante leader, killed Soapy Smith on July 8, 1898, and then died 12 days later of wounds to his groin that Soapy had inflicted during their shoot-out.

April 3:  A avalanche in the Chilkoot Pass on the trail of 98 to the Klondike killed 60 men.

July 3:  Captain D'Arcy Strictland of the N.W.M.P. detachment at Tagish Lake abandoned his post and with eleven of his force rushed to the gold strike at Pine Creek to stake their claims.  This was one of the few incidents where the NWMP succumbed to temptation.    

September 15:  Victoria, B.C.  George Otterson arrived from Dawson Creek, Yukon with between $50,000 and $70,000 gold dust.

1899 

About 7,000 Russian Doukhobors (Dukhovorets) arrived Canada after being attacked for refusing to serve in the Russian army.  A radical sect called The Sons of Freedom separated from the main group.  They all settled in the Grande Forks area of B.C.

The Doukhbor a traditionalist sect of the Russian Orthodox Church are outcasts because they rejected icon worship, practice pacifism, practice humanitarian love, communal life and believe all people are equal.  Some 7,500 men, women and children embark this year for Saskatchewan Canada.  The Federal Government of Canada promised them they could practice their communal land and village system, use their Russian language schools and practice their pacifist beliefs as the early Christians had done before them.  

The Canadian Government enacted the "Hamlet Clause" to allow the Doukhbor to live communally.  They did not believe in individual land ownership much like the belief of the American Indian. 

B.C. disenfranchised all Provincial civil servants this year.

January 20:  Two thousand and seventy three Russian Doukhobors, the largest number of immigrants to cross the Atlantic at one time, arrived at Halifax.  They are believed to have originated from the renegade teachings of Danilo Filipov of the Orthodox Church.  The Sect was persecuted for its heresy and pacifism.  By summer the total was seven thousand four hundred and twenty seven and they would settle in the West with a one hundred and sixty acre homestead.  The men went to work for the railway, and the only way the women could plant the soil to produce food was to organize themselves into groups of twenty, pulling a walking plow.  In the next century the Sons of Freedom would cost the Canadian tax payers over twenty million in actual destruction, police and court costs.  An Orthodox archbishop, in 1785, called them Doukhobours; meaning spirit-wrestlers against the Holy Spirit.

July 30:  At the request of Canada, Japan banned the emigration of its citizens to Canada.

Employment of children, commonly called Child Labor, being those under age 12 years, continues in Canada.

The Commonwealth of Australia is created.

About 45% of Canadian men are employed in agriculture.

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