Fraser River goldrush

North Thompson River

 A smooth and wide river that flows toward the hills in the mid and far distance. This might be a gold bearing river, of course, but it is actually the North Thompson river at Little Fort, B.C., where the HBC men used to cross their brigades

In 1858, the Fraser River goldrush brought American goldminers to Fort Victoria, and eventually they made their way to the lower Fraser River. They were a pretty interesting group of men. Some were newspapermen, others just good letter writers whose information-filled letters were submitted to the local newspapers. All of these letters or news reports came from information I had tucked away in my Harrison-Lilllooet Trail material. I could have used some of this information in The HBC Brigades: Culture, Conflict, and Perilous Journeys of the Fur Trade. Fortunately, I can also use all of it in my future “Headquarters” book [whatever its title turns out to be].

So, on the Fraser River goldrush: a letter from a man who has reached Fort Langley, to his wife. She gave it to the San Francisco Bulletin, who described the writer as “a reliable gentleman of this city, now at Fort Langley.” The date of the original letter is June 26, 1858:

At present there is nothing doing in the mines on account of the river being so high. Those who were here before the river rose have done exceedingly well, having made from $10 to $50 a day. Gold is plenty. I have seen a great deal of the dust, and have purchased some of it, and would send some to you were there any reliable way of doing so. …

More on the Fraser River goldrush, July 7, 1858, from the Evening Bulletin in San Francisco. The letter is written from Fort Hope: “The Fraser River has fallen four feet within a week, and is still on the decline. The stream is now so low that operations have been resumed on Texas Bar, Emory’s Bar, and Hill’s Bar, and the miners were doing well. The miners were returning to Fort Yale from Sailors Bar and points on the upper river, in consequence of the scarcity of provisions in that region. Flour at Fort Yale was sellling at 25 cts.; beans, 25 cts.; pork, 75 cts.; sugar, 50 cts.”

Another letter from the Fraser River gold rush arrived in San Francisco, written at Fort Hope on July 5th:

I am camping, for the present, at this place. The Americans celebrated the Fourth here by firing their revolvers. The miners keep coming and going from this place everyday, they leave this place for Fort Yale and intermediate bars on the river. On Texas and Hill’s Bar, miners are doing very well, considering the high stage of the river. They have two strings of sluices in operation. Fort Yale is as far as canoes can go up the river for three weeks to come. The river has risen about six inches since I landed here. The old miners seem to be perfectly content here, until the rivers fall, before starting for their claims.

Six Frenchmen came in this morning from Thompson’s River for grub. They say there are no provisions to be had for any price. The miners are living on horse flesh, when they can get it from the Indians. One of the Frenchmen told me if he could have got provisions, not caring what they cost, he would not have come down, for he was well satisfied that he could get much gold.

Some men used the Whatcom Trail from Bellingham Bay to get to the goldfields of the Fraser River goldrush: the above letter-writer reports on their condition on arrival. “Miners are coming in almost every day from the Bellingham Bay trail. They curse the trail, and the men who influenced them to go on it. The trail strikes the river about thirty miles below Fort Hope, and then they have to get Indians to bring them up here in canoes. When they get here they have got neither provisions nor blankets, and their clothing is all torn in shreds.”

And in 1858, the First Nations people were already in the business of packing, and the man mentioned below would have travelled over the brigade trail:

The Indians that come in from Thompson river all have gold. One came in this morning with six horses, and leaves again in four days. He intends to get a load to pack for the miners, at fifty cents a pound, to the Forks of Fraser and Thompson Rivers.

On July 6th, a flotilla of Canoes left Fort Victoria for the Fraser River goldfields. Their departure was recorded in the Gazette newspaper, now newly established at Victoria:

Canoe Flotilla — Victoria bay presented a fine sight on the occasion of the departure of about fifty skiffs, canoes and sail-boats for Fraser river. Not less than 400 miners left the town on 6th July, in this manner. As the boats darted to and fro previous to starting and finally took their leave, moving off gracefully toward the mouth of the bay, the enthusiasm of the spectators vented itself in loud cheers, which were replied to by the departing gold-seekers, and full of hope the daring navigators went on their northern crusade.

So, the Fraser River goldrush. Here goes: From the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, July 20, 1858, a letter from the hopeful gold-miner William Nixon, to his father Robert Nixon, of the San Francisco Police, July 14, 1858. “I arrived at this place [Fort Victoria and environs] on Monday morning about 9 o’clock, had a fine trip up, and am as healthy as I ever was in my life.

This is the greatest city I ever saw, composed of about 70 or 80 wooden buildings, one brick house, and about 550 tents. It is impossible to tell how many people are here though I should think there were about 8,000 miners waiting for conveyances to take them up the Fraser river, but I think the largest portion of them will never get away from here as they have no means to do it with. I have heard a great many reports here in relation to the Indians killing off the white men, who are going overland by way of the Dalles [the Columbia River route]. There was one party of seventy five white men, who got within a few days trael of Thompson’s River, and the Indians made an attack on them and chased them four days. The Indians are smart as lightening on Thompson’s, and they are all around with rifles. Revolvers are just about as much count as pop-guns, the Indians pay no attention to them.

More on the Fraser River goldrush, from the same letter: “Canoes are in great demand, and bring from $100 to $180 according to size; they are awful scarce.” He is a good letter writer, is he not? “As canoes are paddled, they can get in close to the shore and take advantage of the eddies along the river, and in rowing skiffs you have to keep off from the shore on account of the oars, thus keeping in the strong current and making slow work of it.” And provisions….

Provisions are high, but not so high as they would be if it wasn’t for the Hudsons Bay Company; they are disposed to act reasonable. The Hudson’s Bay Company close their stores at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and then the other stores raise their prices. The stores of the Hudsons Bay Company are inside the fort. This fort occupies as much ground as the Plaza [in San Francisco]. All the fort I can see about it is a big board fence all around it about twenty feet high, and a sort of cupola or guard house at each corner, with about seven or eight guns in them.

A letter written from the Fraser River goldrush, by a miner working Hill’s Bar, Fraser River, June 28, 1858:

I take this opportunity to fulfill my promise of writing to you. I have been rather successful since I have been here. I had an opportunity to work about three weeks before I was washed out by the river rising, but now it is falling again, and I shall be able to work once more in a few days. I have averaged from $10 to $32 a day while I could work. There are hundreds of men on this river now, who have not done anything as yet, but I hope they will be all to work soon. The Indians have been very troublesome. They steal everything they can get hold of. On one occasion we all had to turn out with fire-arms to keep them down. With this letter, I send you a sample of the Hill’s Bar gold….

Here’s a June 30th report from Fort Victoria, sent to the Evening Bulletin, which published it on July 6, 1858:

Affairs at the Diggings: At Fort Hope flour is selling at $60 per barrel, bacon 75 cents per pound; sugar 50 cents. At Fort Yale blankets and beans were the only goods offered for sale. No houses other than shanties for temporary use were allowed to be erected at Fort Hope or Fort Yale. The trail from Fort Hope to Thompson River is open and traversed by parties of miners [the Brigade Trail]. The diggings located about a mile above Fort Yale as well as on a creek six miles above Fort Hope. Sluices as yet can only be operated by water raised from the river with wheels. Mining claims have twenty five feet front, and extend to low water mark.

Finally, in an article written on board the Steamer Pacific, at Bellingham Bay, July 5, 1858, a “Review of the Frazer River Mines and the new Northern Cities.” The recipients of this report were the editors of the San Francisco Bulletin:

I suppose you have been wondering why I have not written you as yet, in regard to my views of this country. I am well aware that I promised information about things in general here. Now it is all very good and well to make such promises, but you will be astonished when I tell you that I cannot arrive at any positive conclusion about anything. When I left San Francisco, my mind was more settled than it is today. Everything is so wild here — people are so excited through speculation — reports that would affect materially this or that place are so rife every few hours — so many different opinions are expressed — so many projects are started — that I really must confess the whole is so mixed up that it takes a clearer head than mine to sift everything, separate the truth from falsehood, the probability from improbability, in fact, to arrive at anything that you can call definite.

There are a few facts, however, if I may call them so, which seem to be established:

  1. There is gold on Fraser river. In what quantity, and how easily it is to be obtained, is not known.
  2. Up till now, no dry diggings have been discovered. The working is therefore confined to the river for the present.
  3. The diggings on the river can only be worked at low water, which is from August to January.
  4. There is very little gold to be seen, either at Victoria or Bellingham Bay. Every few days a stray lot of five or ten ounces may be offered for sale in some placeor another. All I have seen up till now, was a bag containing about forty ounces, which the man who had it did not dig himself.
  5. Although there is hardly any gold to be seen, nobody doubts the existence of it.

And so, the confusion caused by the Fraser River goldrush continues.

Copyright, Nancy Marguerite Anderson, 2024.

3 thoughts on “Fraser River goldrush

  1. John Purves Hansen

    The debate between the use of paddles or oars is raised again.

    The conflicts between Natives and incommers is serious.

    The journey and logistics used to get to the gold seems to be a bigger source of GDP than the gold itself ?

    1. Nancy Marguerite Anderson Post author

      On that subject, I still believe that the bateaux on the upper Fraser River were paddled, and those on the lower Fraser used oars. But to prove it….. I have to find a journal somewhere, somehow.