A Traveller's Guide to the Buildings of Barkerville

A

Traveller’s Guide to the Buildings of

Barkerville H i sTO r iC

TOW N & Pa r K

a nat iona l h ist or ic si t e of c a na da a prov i nce of bc h e r i tage prope rt y & pa r k

Copyright © 2017 by Barkerville Historic Town “William ‘Billy’ Barker – Myth and Reality” and “Canada’s First Dominion Day” copyright © Ken Mather. Reproduced here by permission of the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, audio recording or otherwise – without the written permission of Barkerville Historic Town.

Photographs (unless otherwise indicated): Anne Laing, Duane Abel, William G. Quackenbush, Robin Sharpe Guide design and layout: Anne Laing Printing: Big Country Printers Ltd., Quesnel, BC Printed in Canada

A

Traveller’s Guide to the Buildings of

Barkerville H i sTO r iC

TOW N & Pa r K

a nat iona l h ist or ic si t e of c a na da a prov i nce of bc h e r i tage prope rt y & pa r k

Contents Introduction to Barkerville

by William G. Quackenbush � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 Canada’s First Dominion Day

by Ken Mather � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6 Guide to Barkerville’s Buildings

by Anne Laing � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 Barkerville Site Map (located in centre of book) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48 William “Billy” Barker – Myth and Reality Thomas Drasdauskis photos on this page

by Ken Mather � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 88 Places to Go, People to Meet � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 96

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introduction to Barkerville

by William G� Quackenbush

A bou t t h i s Gu i DE bo ok This guide provides visitors with information about Barkerville’s buildings and their lots� Numbers on the map in the centre of the book correspond to numbers on the building descriptions in the following pages� Ken Mather’s groundbreaking research on Billy Barker and Canada’s Dominion Day is also included� For more information, please refer to books such as Richard Wright’s “Barkerville,” Bill Hong’s “And So… That’s How It Happened,” and Gordon Elliott’s “Quesnel, Commercial Centre of the Cariboo Gold Rush,” among many others� Barkerville, which was established in 1862 during the first Cariboo gold rush, was designated a heritage site in 1958 by the British Columbia government as part of the province’s 100th anniversary celebrations� Located in the heart of the Cariboo mining district, Barkerville brought BC to the world’s attention.

The history and stories in this book were gleaned from the extensive research material that forms the core of Barkerville’s library and archives� All funds raised through the sale of this book go directly to the preservation of Barkerville�

some distance away, owing to creeks changing course over time� Mining required manpower, tools and fortitude, with no guarantee of finding gold. t h E F i r st G olD rush , 1858 - 1872 BC’s gold rush began in April of 1858, when a boatload of California miners and settlers landed at Fort Victoria on the strength of rumours and newspaper reports that were circulating in the western American mining camps. The stories of the Fraser River diggings lit fires in the hearts of those who were down on their luck or ripe for new adventure� Soon thousands thronged to Fort Victoria, a tiny fur trade settlement of less than 300 souls� The gold rush was to transform the town into the capital of the booming Province of British Columbia� These miners changed the land and people forever�

The rush for gold swept up the Fraser River, leaving in its wake towns full of hotels, saloons, gambling halls, and stores that were abandoned by the next year, as the miners pressed on to new finds. Many miners turned back, declaring the rush a “humbug,” after the initial river bars were mined� Those hardened by years in the western camps were not deterred; they knew the mother lode – the source of the fine flour t h E GEoloGy gold found in the river sand bars – The Cariboo goldfields were created was just around the bend� By 1859, by sulphides and hot water that Billy Barker, for whom Barkerville is named.

Image A-1144 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, men were mining on the Quesnel carried gold up from the earth’s BC Archives; Barkerville P52 and Cottonwood river systems and mantel 250 million years ago� The a half million dollars in gold had gold precipitated out in concentrated pockets (veins) been taken from the banks of the Fraser� in areas associated with iron pyrites, quartz and other minerals� Mountains eroded over the millions of Doc Keithley, Peter Dunlevy and John Houston were intervening years, bringing gold to the surface� Rain amongst the first to come to this area. “The Romance and snow did the rest, causing the gold to slide down of the Cariboo Proper,” as Jim Doody was to later call the mountains into valleys and further� Sheet glaciers his book, began with these first adventurers. They changed the landscape dramatically over the past two were rugged, wily, stout-hearted individuals – some million years� They ground up mountain tops and good, some bad – who were all determined to get their buried the re-deposited gold beneath layers of glacial “pile” and return to civilization as rich men� till when they melted� By 1860, Antler Town, Keithley Creek and Quesnelle Miners found gold along most of the creeks as they Forks were booming, soon to be followed by Van followed the Fraser and its tributaries into this area� Winkle and Stanley, as well as speculative towns such While fortune smiled on some, especially where the as Carnarvon, mapped by the Royal Engineers in 1863, glacial till was shallow, many cursed the magnitude and Centreville on Mosquito Creek� Wherever a rich of the problems associated with mining such difficult find was located, a new town was built or dreamed ground� Tons of gravel had to be moved to access the of, each attracting gamblers, storekeepers, hoteliers, gold and leads could peter out only to be relocated saloon operators, hangers-on and visionaries� Late in

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1860, miners found Williams Creek: the richest stretch willing to drop what they were doing and head to the of ground the world has ever seen� newest find. They were not aware they were treading By the end of 1861, over $2�5 million in gold had been on land that was the domain of a wide variety of people dug out of the shallow gravel at Richfield on Williams with social systems, laws, languages and cultures that Creek� The next year, just a mile to the north along had been in place for thousands of years� the creek, Barkerville and Cameronton sprang up Those First Nations people who survived smallpox around two incredibly rich finds. People such as James often joined the new culture through wage labour, Steele, Jordan and Abbott, Billy Barker, John “Cariboo” transportation of goods, fishing, hunting, and guiding, Cameron and Richard Willoughby were about to make while many maintained their traditional ways of life� their indelible mark on Canadian history� Intermarriages with the newcomers also occurred and In 1862, Billy Barker and his partners struck gold on many of the old families of the Cariboo can trace their one of their company’s claims� They dug through over ancestry to unions between First Nations and settlers.

40 feet of gravel to tap the rich gold bearing ground Land disputes continue today between First Nations just above bedrock� In no time, Barkerville, named and the governments of Canada and BC� They result for Billy Barker, was a from the decimation of the thriving community� With First Nations population news of riches, people and wholesale takeover flocked to the area from all of their land, with little over the globe to grab that regard to their rights, as one chance at success, that stipulated in international ounce of glory� treaties of the day� The Cariboo Waggon Road was completed between t h E C h i n EsE GolD Yale to Barkerville in 1865 rush & sE t t l i nG and people began to put i n, 1872 - 1895 down roots� Transportation It has been said that there companies, ranches, farms, was a decline in mining roadhouses, and every sort after 1870 because the of business enterprise soon Barkerville’s main street, looking north, before the fire of 1868. workings had played out, sprang up along the road� Library and Archives Canada C-61936; Barkerville P1298 but that does not take into All of the latest goods could be purchased and account the activities of the Chinese� For many years, people acquired the best – when the mines paid good crews of Chinese miners successfully reworked dividends, that is� A few hit it big immediately, some ground abandoned by white miners� There is also took years to reach success, and others worked for good evidence that they mined virgin ground� wages or went into business supplying the mines� Barkerville had a vital and active Chinese community Most did whatever it took to survive� in the 1870s and ‘80s� The number of Chinese people actually increased during the 1880s� This may have t h E F i r st G olD rush A n D been due to the influx of men who came to work on F i r st nAt ions Canada’s transcontinental railway or who came to It is estimated that 100,000 First Nations people lived Canada because of the ban in the United States on in British Columbia prior to the gold rush� Some of the Chinese immigration after 1882� By the mid-1880s, the first reports of gold are linked directly to finds made population in the Cariboo was about 50% Chinese�

by First Nations people� In the early 20th century, Chinese labourers were paid Newspapers, pamphlets and posters told the world of between $1�30 and $3�00 a day while non-Chinese great fortunes that could be made by just getting off a were paid $5, resulting in lower costs for Chinese boat and walking around. Victoria was a hub for coastal companies� After leaving grinding poverty in China, First Nations people and those from the interior� It was many Chinese men were willing to work for almost also the destination point for ships from all over the nothing� Famine, civil and international wars, unequal world and one arrived in 1862 carrying smallpox� The treaties after the Opium Wars, and natural disasters disease soon spread to home territories and almost drove men overseas to seek a better life.

90% of the First Nations people died as a result� People of many nationalities, including the Chinese, The tragedy that unfolded for the First Nations people continued to come to the area – mining opportunities was virtually lost on the miners as they followed the developed, marriages took place, and families grew – trail of gold up the Fraser, from river bar to river bar� and many lived in the area right up to the development With each new discovery, there were ten more men of Barkerville as a heritage site� With the growth

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of other areas in the Cariboo, such as Stanley on Lightning Creek, some of the attention was taken away from Barkerville. There was always sufficient mining activity around Barkerville, however, to maintain such businesses as hotels, saloons, stores and blacksmiths� The Assay Office records of the day showed a continuing decrease in the amount of gold recovered at the end of this time period� Like most mining areas, however, that type of trend can change overnight with the advent of a new discovery or technology that allows for a greater return to investors� The amount of gold that was actually recorded makes for a lively conversation around the campfire; it has been speculated that a good deal of it was never reported� In the late 1890s, a local doctor characterized the town as being made up of old miners ready to be shipped off to the “new” Old Men’s Home in Kamloops (established in 1892)�

the mines and provided enough air pressure to ensure miners did not get the bends� They had to decompress after being in some of the deeper mines� This technology allowed miners to access underground areas that earlier miners had been unable to reach� By 1900, the Bullion Pit near Likely was well on its way to being one of the largest man-made holes in the world created by hydraulic mining� Barkerville also began to boom again and many new buildings were constructed� New hotels and stores opened, and all the trappings of the modern world became available as financial support for new mining operations flowed into town� This interest waned during World War I, but revived again in the 1920s� Almost thirty placer mines got their suppplies from Barkerville by 1929, and this was small potatoes compared to what happened next�

t h E Mot h E r loDE E x p loi t E D, 1920 - 1946 By the 1930s, hard-rock, or lode mining, began to t h E rush to dominate the scene� This blow AwAy t h E type of mining had been h i llsi DE s, occurring on a smaller scale 1895 - 1920 since the 1860s, and some Barkerville saw its next of the first “quartz” claims growth spurt in the midregistered in 1863 continue 1890s� New technology, to be of interest to mining such as hydraulic mining investors today� was introduced, reducing Acting on a tip, Fred Wells labour costs� arrived in 1922 to explore Hydraulic mining used the area around the future water to wash gravel town of Wells, five miles and sand away from Lottie Bowron pans for gold on the Juanita Claim at Eight Mile Lake in 1898. northwest of Barkerville� Barkerville P980 the top of gold-bearing A seasoned professional ground� Nozzle and hose systems were developed to who had successfully developed mines elsewhere, handle pressurized water� The earliest water monitors, Wells immediately started to work new claims, and or “giants”, were first patented in California in 1854. eventually created the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine with Bishop Hills noted that Billy Barker was washing away five feet of overburden on a bar of the Fraser River partners Dr. Burnett and Mr. Solibakke. The company in 1860� By the 1890s, the technology was such that started to produce gold bricks in 1933 and investors huge monitors with engineered water catchment and were soon pouring money into the new venture� disbursement systems were being built� Sophisticated By 1934, construction had begun on the town of Wells� systems of flumes and ditches could deliver the right To attract and retain a stable workforce, the mine amount of water for specific periods of time. Entire managers knew it was in their best interests to develop hillsides could be washed through a wingdam to a a family-oriented community� Prior to that, both old flume, where riffle boxes would trap nuggets and dust, and new buildings in Barkerville housed the people allowing the lighter rocks to be washed downstream� involved in the fourth major rush of miners to the area� The Cariboo Gold Fields Company, just down the creek This area boomed in the 1930s with more people living from Barkerville, constructed a massive system of here than all the people of Quesnel and Prince George ditch lines throughout the region that directed water combined� Wells was the main service centre for the to their hydraulic pump� These ditch lines were in use North Cariboo and Prince George region� during the first half of the 20th century, and formed The lode mines of the 1930s and the many working the basis for many of today’s recreational routes� placer operations ensured Barkerville’s continued Compressors began to be used in the deep drift existence� It was at this time that important structures mines on Slough Creek and elsewhere in the Cariboo� such as the existing Theatre Royal and Masonic Lodge Steam-driven compressors helped to keep water out of were built in Barkerville�

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bA r k E rv i llE i n DEC l i n E , 1947 - 1958 Major changes took place in Barkerville during World War II� After the Exclusion Act of 1923 was passed, Chinese people could no longer come to Canada and their numbers declined in the late 1880s� Some of those who stayed settled with their families in the area.

In general, gold production peaked in 1942� In an attempt to redirect efforts to the war, mining was then removed from the list of protected industries� The search for new finds, the lifeblood of gold mining, stopped as a result. Men and women went off to war and the gold market turned sour� In response to the depression, the price of gold was fixed in 1934 at $35 per ounce and remained there until 1971, despite increasing production costs� From 1948 to 1971, the Canadian government, under the Emergency Gold Mining Assistance Act, pumped about $10-15 million annually into stabilizing the industry� In the end, this was not sufficient and the Cariboo Gold Quartz and Island Mountain mines ceased to operate in 1967. Intermittent lode gold mining has occurred since, but not to the extent that was seen prior to the war� Barkerville Gold Mines is very active in the area at the present time and placer gold mining continues to be one of the mainstays of the area� h E r i tAGE r E stor At ion, 1958 to t h E p r E sE n t The Wells Historical Society was formed by 1952 and

the creation of the Cariboo Historical Society followed shortly thereafter� George “Buck” Kelly soon opened the first museum in Barkerville, and concerned citizens like Lottie Bowron, born and raised in Barkerville, got on the bandwagon to save the town� By 1957, there were less than 60 people living in Barkerville. Fortunately, a BC Centennial Committee was formed in 1958 under the leadership of Laurie Wallace and, as part of the province’s upcoming 100th anniversary celebrations, the preservation of Barkerville began� Bill Speare, MLA for Cariboo, who had suggested the project to then Premier W�A�C� Bennett, read the act establishing Barkerville as a heritage site at the Legislature in January of 1959� Restoration work and site interpretation began in 1958� Since then, much research has been conducted, many buildings have been restored, hundreds of exhibits have been constructed, and thousands of artifacts have been found on site or donated� The library and archives house an extensive collection of documents, photographs, books and maps related to Barkerville� As new information comes to light, new eyes view the past, interpretations and assumptions change, and history is re-written. The goal of this publication is to bring context to a town that has gone through many changes� Every artifact and building tells its own story� They also serve as backdrops to other stories from the rollicking freewheeling days of the first gold rush camp right up to the present� Today, Barkerville stands as a testament to continuity as well as change�

Canada’s First dominion day

by Ken Mather

The earliest days of the Cariboo gold rush were largely an “American” phenomenon when thousands of miners and would-be miners converged on the gravel bars of the lower Fraser from California� It was these Californians, themselves representing many nationalities, who penetrated deep into the Cariboo highlands and discovered the legendary Cariboo creeks: Keithly, Antler, Grouse, Lightning and most famous of all, Williams Creek� Among this predominantly male population, and the thousands who followed them into the Cariboo during the Rush of 1862-65, any excuse for celebration was quickly seized upon and full advantage taken� “Striking it rich” was the most popular and perhaps legitimate cause for celebration� Most of all was the “champagne treat” in which the successful miner or miners staked everyone within walking distance to champagne as long as supplies held out� One of the annual celebrations was the Fourth of July in which the Americans on the creek tried to outdo each other in making the day memorable� This fact was not unnoticed by the Canadian contingent�

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Imagine the Canadians’ feelings of pride when the telegraph wires announced the formation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867� They too had an independent country to celebrate and they were fully aware of the implications of the new Dominion’s motto: “From Sea to Sea.” It only remained for them to demonstrate to their friends at home the willingness for joining their new home with their old� And one of the ways of demonstrating their fervor was through the tried and true method of celebrating� The results were guaranteed to make the wildest American on the creek stand up and take notice� And so it was that, at one minute after midnight on July 1, 1868 the good people of Barkerville were startled out of their sleep by the thunderous roar of a twenty-one gun salute� Only in the absence of cannon the Canadians used the traditional anvil chorus, consisting of putting one anvil on top of another and sandwiching between a charge of black powder� When touched off, the resulting sound was deafening and did full credit to equalling the roar of the cannon� On that

historic day William B� Campbell, town blacksmith from Upper Canada supplied the anvils and no doubt participated with glee in the furor� Of course this was just the beginning� The morning of the 1st dawned sunny and bright and the festivities began in earnest� A full round of sports including horse races, athletic events, a greasy pole climb and many more occupied the day and in the evening the Theatre Royal gave a special performance, followed by a Grand Ball at Mrs� Tracey’s boarding house. The grand finale was a fireworks display at 11:30 PM which was attended by over a thousand townspeople. Thus the first Dominion Day celebration in British Columbia and perhaps in North America passed into memory not without a few large heads – no doubt a result of the anvil chorus� The Americans on Williams Creek begrudgingly admitted that the Canadians had organized a real “rip snorter” but they were quick to point out that this fledgling Dominion had a long way to go before it equalled their glorious country to the south� Why the new country didn’t even have a flag. And to further point this fact out, they placed “Old Glory” on top of a 94 foot high flagpole in front of the Sterling’s Saloon, better known as the Eldorado Billiard and Dancing Saloon and as American an institution as six-guns and Bowie knives� As Dominion Day 1869 approached, the Canadians had had enough of this American symbol� Their country had been slow in adopting a flag but they were not� Plans were begun in secret and the local artist William W� Hill designed and painted a distinctly 1869 Cariboo Flag.

Canadian flag consisting of a beaver surrounded by a wreath of maple leaves on a white ground in the middle of the British ensign� Under cover of night on June 30, 1869 the flag was placed on a pole and erected in Barkerville across from the Sterling’s Saloon� The people of Barkerville awoke on July 1 to view, not without some delight, the “new” Canadian flag flittering proudly atop a flag pole 115 feet high, looking down on the American flag below.

The day began with the now traditional Anvil Chorus, followed by the usual speeches and sports including the highlight, a velocipede race (bicycle to the uninitiated)� A further highlight of the day was the playing of the “Dominion March” written by the ever talented W�W� Hill� The evening saw balloons and fireworks displayed for the people’s enjoyment.

It is not surprising that Barkerville became the most vocal town in the Colony in arguing that British Columbia join the Canadian Confederation� The local

representative to the Legislative Council was Dr� Robert William Weir Carrall who hailed from Carrall’s Grove, Upper Canada� He had been one of the prime movers in the early Dominion Day celebrations in Barkerville and was the strongest supporter of the pro-confederation movement� Appropriately he, along with William Trutch and J�S� Helmcken was chosen to travel to Ottawa to negotiate the terms of Confederation� They returned victorious and on July 1, 1871 B�C� became a part of the Canadian Dominion� The celebrations of July 1 were such to outdo every celebration that had gone before� The entire town of Barkerville was decorated with evergreen boughs, banners and ribbons� Buildings were trimmed with greenery and appropriate symbols appeared such as V.R. for Victoria Royal or crowns. The banners read “God Save The Queen”, “Success to the Dominion” and “Union Forever”� Festivities began at 10:00 AM with speeches from a platform decorated with evergreens and scarlet bannerettes wearing gilt maple leaves.

Three cheers were given for the Queen, three cheers for the Dominion and the Band played the National Anthem� The sports that day continued without interruption until 7:00 in the evening and included such events as “throwing the sledge”, “merchants’ race”, sack and three legged races, climbing the greasy pole and a series of horse races right down the main street of Barkerville� A Royal Salute was fired at noon using Mr� Cameron’s tried and true anvils and in the evening a special performance was given in © Barkerville the Theatre Royal by the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association� The evening was further highlighted by a “Grand Illumination” in which every household and business placed lighted candles in their windows until midnight� The day was accorded a complete success and the town newspaper, the Cariboo Sentinel, gushed that “we feel little hesitation in recording our belief that when the day has ended our little town of Barkerville will have fairly earned the title of Dominion Town… of the Colony� Barkerville’s enthusiasm did not go unnoticed and it was with a not unjustified pride that the townspeople learned that one of their number, Dr� R�W�W� Carrall, had been called to the Canadian Senate until his death in 1879. The most significant contribution he made to Canadian legislation was his introduction of the bill to celebrate July 1 as Dominion Day on May 15, 1879. The bill was passed and finally some 11 years after the fact the rest of Canada joined Barkerville in celebrating this great occasion�

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Guide to Barkerville’s Buildings 1 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY This Building Today: Administrative and curatorial offices are located here along with Barkerville’s archives and library.

The building encompasses a surprisingly large space, though seemingly never large enough, which has evolved with the site’s ever-changing needs and demands.

Historical Notes: The south end of this building was constructed in 1960 to house visitor orientation and staff work areas. Stage two (north end) was added in 1961 and provided a large exhibit area and offices. In 1962, Premier W.A.C. Bennett and the Executive Council of British Columbia officially opened the building and held one of their meetings in the front room.

The original museum exhibits were designed by Jean Jacques Andre, who was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 1999. His later exhibit work at the Royal British Columbia Museum still contributes to making it one of Victoria’s leading cultural attractions. With the construction of the new Visitors’ Reception Centre and the need for more The foundation for the addition to the administration building’s north end has office and library space, the exhibits were phased been poured; 1961.

Barkerville BP536 out. Many of the artifacts that had been on display were relocated to new exhibits within the townsite.

2 SERVICE BUILDING This Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time. It is used to store and conserve artifacts.

Historical Notes: This building was constructed in the centre of the main parking lot in 1961 as Barkerville’s Souvenir and Refreshment Pavillion. In 1978, the souvenir shop was converted to security and first aid facilities.

In 1987, a wood heater was installed in the openwalled picnic area to provide warmth for visitors enjoying winter recreation. The building was moved to its current location in 1989 where it operated as a food concession and warming hut until 1997.

3 SERVICE BUILDING This Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This building was constructed in 1998 as a storage building. It is used to store artifacts.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

4 VISITORS’ RECEPTION CENTRE, ADMISSIONS, SECURITY, WASHROOMS This Building Today: Visitors to Barkerville pay their entrance fee in this building and walk through to the site. Information and site orientation are provided, and town tours commence here. Public washrooms, special events rooms, kitchens, security and first aid are here, too.

Historical Notes: This building was constructed in 1990 to provide a much needed reception and orientation area. A walk-through exhibit led visitors from the present day back through time to 1870 and the back doors entering the historic site. The exhibit was removed in 1997 to provide more room for people to gather.

4b ACTIVITIES PAVILION This Building Today: During the spring, summer, and early fall, this building provides shelter for visitors from rain and sun, seating for up to 120 people for events such as weddings, and space for other activities. The area is converted to a covered skating rink in the winter.

Historical Notes: This pavilion was built in 2016-17.

5 ELDORADO GOLD PANNING & GIFT SHOP This Building Today: Today, the feverish search for gold continues at Eldorado Gold Panning. Panning for gold in the outdoor troughs, with the expert assistance of local miners, is a popular activity for visitors of all ages.

Souvenirs, books, and jewellery are sold inside.

Historical Notes: It is believed that Bill Crawford ran his Crawford Feed and Grain business here in the early 1930s. He also stabled pack horses that were used to deliver food and supplies to outlying mining operations.

The Cariboo Hudson Mine Company, a Fred Wells project, may have used this building as a supply depot between 1936 and 1941. McKinnon’s freight line hauled all the freight and construction material to the company’s mine site about 20 miles east of Barkerville.

This building has been used since around 1965 as a gold panning concession, providing visitors with the opportunity to “strike it rich.” The roof over the troughs was constructed in 1974 to keep would-be miners dry during wet weather.

The Eldorado Gold Panning building is to the right of the bridge. McMahon’s Confectionery is in front of it. To the left is the hip-roofed prefab cottage that is now next to McMahon’s.

Barkerville 1981.0052.0088

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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6 TREGILLUS FAMILY BUILDINGS (A-G) The history of the Tregillus family in Barkerville spans well over 100 years. From their community involvement during the post-gold rush days of the 1880s, to their contribution to the establishment of Barkerville as an historic site in the 1960s, to the donation of the Tregillus estate in 1998, they are representative of people who came from all over the world to settle and develop the region.

Fred Tregillus was from Plymouth, England. His father ran one of the largest grain companies in the British Empire. Fred came to Canada in 1882 and worked his way across the country, arriving in Barkerville in 1886. He held a mining licence for 75 years and passed away at age 99 in 1962. He was well travelled and had brothers and sisters who settled around the world.

Fred married Mary House, daughter of Margaret and Charles House, in 1905 and the births of their children Alf, Margaret, and Mildred followed in 1906, 1909, and 1913. Their extended family included the Houses and Housers - Mary’s mother’s sister Nettie married John Houser - both well established Barkerville families.

A TREGILLUS HOUSE This Building Today: Prior to the structural stabilization of this building and the construction of viewing areas in 2000, the location of all the furnishings it contained were documented. After the work was completed, the items, or as many as possible, were returned to their original places. As a result, the interior of the house today looks very much as it did when it was donated to Barkerville by Mildred Tregillus in 1998.

Historical Notes: Mildred said her father Fred Tregillus moved the main part of this house from the Reduction Works around 1905. The Reduction Works were located just north of Barkerville on what is now known as Reduction Road.

Fred Tregillus married Mary House in 1905 and they had three children. The house appears to have grown with the family, thus the large extension to the house on the east end, the bedroom added to the north side, the pantry and kitchen extension The end of the Tregillus House can be seen second from the right, and the Office on the south side, and the front porch addition. A is to the right of centre in the foreground. A roadway is now located between covered walkway also links the house to two small Williams Creek and the back street buildings; 1934.

Barkerville P678 log cabins and the outhouse.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

4 VISITORS’ RECEPTION CENTRE, ADMISSIONS, SECURITY, WASHROOMS This Building Today: Visitors to Barkerville pay their entrance fee in this building and walk through to the site. Information and site orientation are provided, and town tours commence here. Public washrooms, special events rooms, kitchens, security and first aid are here, too.

Historical Notes: This building was constructed in 1990 to provide a much needed reception and orientation area. A walk-through exhibit led visitors from the present day back through time to 1870 and the back doors entering the historic site. The exhibit was removed in 1997 to provide more room for people to gather.

4b ACTIVITIES PAVILION This Building Today: During the spring, summer, and early fall, this building provides shelter for visitors from rain and sun, seating for up to 120 people for events such as weddings, and space for other activities. The area is converted to a covered skating rink in the winter.

Historical Notes: This pavilion was built in 2016-17.

5 ELDORADO GOLD PANNING & GIFT SHOP This Building Today: Today, the feverish search for gold continues at Eldorado Gold Panning. Panning for gold in the outdoor troughs, with the expert assistance of local miners, is a popular activity for visitors of all ages.

Souvenirs, books, and jewellery are sold inside.

Historical Notes: It is believed that Bill Crawford ran his Crawford Feed and Grain business here in the early 1930s. He also stabled pack horses that were used to deliver food and supplies to outlying mining operations.

The Cariboo Hudson Mine Company, a Fred Wells project, may have used this building as a supply depot between 1936 and 1941. McKinnon’s freight line hauled all the freight and construction material to the company’s mine site about 20 miles east of Barkerville.

This building has been used since around 1965 as a gold panning concession, providing visitors with the opportunity to “strike it rich.” The roof over the troughs was constructed in 1974 to keep would-be miners dry during wet weather.

The Eldorado Gold Panning building is to the right of the bridge. McMahon’s Confectionery is in front of it. To the left is the hip-roofed prefab cottage that is now next to McMahon’s.

Barkerville 1981.0052.0088

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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E TREGILLUS CABIN This Building Today: The cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: It appears that this cabin was last used as living quarters. Before it was restored in 1984, the interior contained rough articles of furniture, kitchenware, built-in shelves and three cupboards.

A stovepipe hole in the ceiling indicated the use of a wood stove.

F TREGILLUS CABIN This Building Today: The cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: Like its neighbour to the north, this cabin appears to have been someone’s home. It also contained furnishings, built-in shelving and cupboards.

G TREGILLUS OFFICE, STORAGE ROOM, AND BLACKSMITH SHOP (Photo below) This Building Today: Most of the items in Fred Tregillus’s office are displayed just as he left them.

Fred was interested in the local, regional, and world events and news of the day. He was an avid reader of books and periodicals, kept meticulous business and household records, corresponded with many people, and wrote daily in his journal. Fred’s wife Mary and children Alf, Margaret and Mildred also read widely and kept in touch with friends and relatives. As a result, Barkerville inherited an astounding collection of archival material.

In addition, many years’ worth of their household articles - items that are usually discarded and therefore difficult for museums to acquire - now form a valuable part of Barkerville’s collection.

These items include children’s toys, calendars, product packaging, and greeting cards, with some dating to the late 19th century.

The storage room next to the office displays articles that were found there. The addition on the building’s north side once housed a small blacksmith shop.

Historical Notes: This building was probably built in the early 1930s.

It appears to be quite new in a 1934 photograph.

Whether or not it was originally constructed as Fred’s office is not known.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

7 WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH This Building Today: This reconstruction was built in 1966 and the interior decoration and furnishings were installed in time for the first service on July 2, 1967. The Early Justice school program, which reenacts an actual trial, takes place here in May and June. Judge Begbie also holds court sessions for visitors in this The Methodist Church is on the left and the parsonage on the right; circa 1900. building, as well as at Richfield every summer.

Barkerville P1490 Special events, such as weddings, concerts, and Hallowe’en parties are also held in this building.

The reproduction furnishings seen here are simple, just as the originals would have been. Lottie Bowron’s childhood memories of the original church assisted greatly in the reconstruction.

Historical Notes: Thomas Derrick, Barkerville’s first Methodist minister, arrived on October 7, 1868, just three weeks after fire had reduced the town to ashes. His first services were held in a half-finished building at the upper end of Barkerville until his new church was ready for occupation on November 1st of that same year. The new parsonage was acquired in October, 1869.

Succeeding ministers were Joseph Hall (until 1874) and Christopher L. Thompson (until 1877).

Thompson and his wife taught at the Barkerville Public School during part or all of their time in town. William V. Sexsmith was minister from late 1877 into the early 1880s. He kept a diary that provides important information about a time period for which there are few records. James Turner, who left in 1882, was Barkerville’s last full time minister.

Like so many Barkerville buildings, the church and parsonage were built on stilts to kept them above spring flood waters. By the early 1900s, both buildings had fallen into disrepair and were torn down. The original Methodist church did not have a belfry.

The Interior of the Wesleyan Methodist Church; circa 1895.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

Barkerville P3133

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8 HUB KING CABIN This Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: In recent history, this building has housed Barkerville’s security operations, the Friends of Barkerville-Cariboo Goldfields Society office, a staff office, and an interpreters’ lunchroom.

In 1932, this small, prefabricated cabin was purchased and erected by Hub King on the lot where the present King House stands today. It was the first, and possibly only, prefab in Barkerville.

The building originally had a hip roof, and vertical strips at regular intervals around the exterior walls covered the seams of the prefab wall panels.

Prefabricated buildings were sold throughout Canada from about 1900 onward, many built with wood from British Columbia lumber mills.

On the left are the prefab cottage, now a service building, and the McMahon’s Confectionery building in their new locations. The Blair House and Miners’ Boarding House are to the right; circa 1960.

Barkerville BP3192

As a busy young lawyer in Barkerville, King soon outgrew the little building and moved it to a spot just across the street from present-day Eldorado Gold Panning. It was moved to its current location in the early 1960s and its appearance was transformed with new windows, a gable roof, a porch, and board and batten siding.

9 FRANK J. MCMAHON’S CONFECTIONERY The Building Today: A visit to this old-time candy store is a treat. You’ll find ice cream, decadent fudge, old-fashioned candy and soda pop, and other delicious confections.

Historical Notes: Frank McMahon ran the Red Front Cigar Store in the 1930s. It was located on the main floor of the Masonic Hall. By 1946, he was operating McMahon’s Confectionery in what is now the Goldfield Bakery.

This little house used to be located right in front of Eldorado Gold Panning and looked much as it does today. The original “brick” asphalt strip shingles and tarpaper were covered with siding after the building was moved to its present location in the early 1960s. It was known as the Information Saloon and Tour Guides Office in years to come.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

10 BLAIR HOUSE The Building Today: This house is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This house was built in 1933 by Tommy Blair, a Barkerville merchant. Various people lived here over the years including Knut Martinson and the Campbell family. Since 1958, the building has been used for a number of purposes including Mrs. Neate’s Sewing Room. It once had a covered walkway that projected from the rear of the building and led to an outhouse. Covered walkways were a common feature in Barkerville due to heavy snowfall.

11 MINERS’ BOARDING HOUSE The Building Today: Between 1867 and 1869, advertisements appeared in the Cariboo Sentinel newspaper for Mrs. Parker’s Boarding House and the Miners’ Boarding House.

According to the newspaper on June 26, 1869, Mrs. S.P. Parker ran the former and Mrs. J. Parker was This building has been identified as the original Barkerville “lock-up.” It was the proprieter of the latter, which was located up located on the north side of the Miner’s Boarding House and was torn down before the Blair House was built. Constable Gilbert Killam described its location the street across from the Cariboo Sentinel Office.

This exhibit depicts such a boarding house in the 1870s, operated by a woman, recently widowed, with very little money and a small child. In order to survive she has turned her house into a homeaway-from-home for miners.

as “across the lane from the back of the Church of England.” Barkerville P2785

Historical Notes: John Charles Catlett purchased this house and lot from A.J. Harper in 1914. Harper had owned the building, believed to have been built around 1900, for a number of years prior to Catlett. The house is distinctive in appearance, with its steep hip roof, and appears in many historic photographs.

Documents from the Townsite Titles Investigation Act of 1934 indicate that Catlett was still in possession of the building at that time.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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12 ST. SAVIOUR’S ANGLICAN CHURCH (PRIVATELY OWNED) The Building Today: St. Saviour’s is owned and operated by the Diocese of Cariboo of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Services are held throughout the summer and visitors may explore the inside of the church. Tours to the Wells-Barkerville Cemetery begin here.

The pine woodwork and pews inside the church are original, as are the stove and most of the plain glass windows. Reverend Reynard ordered the Bishop’s chair, inlaid with black ebony and white ivory, from England in 1870. Baroness Angela Burdett Coutts, a friend of Bishop Hills, the first Bishop of British Columbia, donated the organ in 1885. In 1949, the stained glass window was donated by Mr. Baines, owner of the Grosvenor Hotel in Vancouver, to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the church.

Historical Notes: Work commenced on this church in November 1869. The Cariboo Sentinel of November 21 reported, “The new church now building promises to be an elegant structure. It is being built from designs by the Rev. J. Reynard, which are being carried out by Messrs. Bruce and Mann. The style is Early English in which architectural effect is attained by due proportion of parts, bold and simple forms, rather than by elaborate ornament.

The William Bowron House is on the far left with the Bibby House beside it; The church will consist of – nave 30 feet by 20 feet St. Saviour’s Church is on the right. The log house to the left of the church was and apsidal chancel 16 feet by 12 feet. Height of moved and is the current Dr. Watt’s Residence.

Barkerville P6415 walls 18 feet, of ceiling from floor 23 feet. A school room and vestry complete the building.”

Lacking community support, the construction of St. Saviour’s was a challenge for Reynard and he soon ran out of funds. Determined to hold Christmas services in 1869, even though there was no roof over the main part of the church, Reynard and his sons roofed the small meeting room. “I set to work by myself with my two lads for assistance. They are only little fellows, but they could hold one end of a board while I secured the other, and between us we finished the room in time.”

The church’s formal opening and dedication took place on September 18, 1870. With that, small donations began to come in, attendance increased, and Reynard’s Church Institute became popular.

Poor communication between Reynard and the community contributed to strained relations, though, and Reynard suffered a complete physical breakdown in 1871, brought on by deprivation, stress, and overwork. He left Barkerville soon after.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

13 WILLIAMS CREEK SCHOOLHOUSE (DOODY HOUSE) The Building Today: Every year from mid-May to the end of June, school groups from near and far attend classes here as part of their Barkerville experience. During the rest of the summer, students of all ages are welcome to attend school taught by a “Victorian” teacher who emphasizes good manners, deportment, and the three Rs. Historical Notes: James and Violet (nee Roddick) Doody bought this lot in 1932 and built this log house in 1933. They lived here until 1952. Violet’s parents John and Ellie May Roddick lived next door until their deaths in 1948. They bought the property in 1913 from Chong Lee, who had a bathhouse and laundry there. Ellie played the organ at St. Saviour’s Church for 35 years.

James Doody wrote several books, including “Romance of the Cariboo Proper,”and was among those who helped to preserve St. Saviour’s for future generations. They replaced many boards on the church’s front, repaired the interior, and rebuilt the belfry which had fallen off.

The Doodys were instrumental in the creation of 10 Mile Lake Park north of Quesnel. They donated land for the park and provided road access to the lake.

Violet also donated $30,000 to construct the park’s shower building and a large sum to Quesnel’s G.R. Baker Hospital for diabetic care.

The Doody House is on the left with the Chinese bath house to the right of it.

Image F-2723 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P748

14 KING HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST The Building Today: This restored heritage house is a great getaway furnished for comfort and relaxation. Overnight accommodations in Barkerville provide visitors with the opportunity to truly immerse themselves in the atmosphere and history of the town.

A man carries water to the Chong Lee bath house. The inscription on the negative reads: Front of Eng. Church, April ‘99. Note the white paint on St. Saviour’s Church.

Barkerville P57

Historical Notes: Wa Lee Laundry was located on this lot before the 1868 fire, according to the old lot survey. A variety of businesses were located here afterwards.

In 1932, Hubert B. King, a young enterprising lawyer new to town, erected a small prefabricated cottage here, which he soon outgrew and had moved down the street. Records indicate that Joseph Wendle built this house in 1933 and rented it to King. It originally had two front doors; the one on the left led to King’s law office. In the late 1930s, Hub moved his office and home to Wells. Around 1940, Bill Kelly and his wife purchased the house and added the second floor.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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15 BIBBY’S TIN SHOP The Building Today: This exhibit depicts an early tin shop and its tools, machinery and products. The building still has its old metal roof.

Historical Notes: John Bibby followed his older brother James to Barkerville from Kingston, Ontario in 1870. In 1871, he took over the operation of the Adams and Pearcy Tin Shop, located where the King House now stands. John died in 1917 and James then owned the property until his death in 1922. The present tin shop was built around 1900, possibly as a warehouse or to replace the shop next door.

Lottie McKinnon purchased this lot and building from the Bibby estate and gave it to her son Walter as a wedding present. Walter Kelly moved the present log structure back on the lot and built a house. When the house, now called the Kelly House, was relocated to the back street, the log building was moved forward to its original site.

16 WILLIAM BOWRON HOUSE The Building Today:

William (Will) Bowron in his front room; circa 1900.

The choice of furnishings for this exhibit was based on photographs of William Vivian Bowron relaxing in the front room of this house around 1900. Will Bowron (b. 1872, d. 1944) was John and Emily Barkerville P68 Bowron’s son.

Historical Notes: The Holt and Burgess Carpenter Shop was constructed on or near this site in 1868 but disappeared at an early date.

Bowron built this house in 1898 when he was 26 years old. He owned claims on Willow River and worked for several local mining companies. He moved to Atnarko around 1907, where he was the Dominion Government telegraph operator for about 10 years. He then moved to Bella Coola, where he was the postmaster and telegraph operator until around 1938. He married twice: his first wife Mattie died and his second wife Helen carried on as postmistress after his death. Records show that Bowron still owned this house in 1934.

Before the John Bowron family home was reconstructed across the street in 1964, the exhibit in the front room of this house represented the Bowron family’s parlour.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

17 JOHN BOWRON HOUSE The Building Today: This reconstruction of the Bowron house was built in 1964. The exhibits in the two front rooms are based on historic photographs taken around 1900 of the Bowrons’ dining room and parlour.

Historical Notes: John Bowron, born in 1837, was one of the “Overlanders” who came to British Columbia in 1862. Arriving in Cameronton, just north of Barkerville, in 1863, he soon founded the Cariboo Literary Society, which opened a library in 1864.

In 1866, Bowron was appointed postmaster, resulting in the post office and library being located in the same building. These services were soon moved to up-and-coming Barkerville and housed in a building on this site. All was lost in the 1868 fire, but a new building was soon constructed. The Cariboo Sentinel reported on October 27, 1868 that the library had been reopened with a good stock of books. Within a short time, controversy began to surround the library and Bowron’s appointment as librarian, possibly because he had funded the new building and not received compensation.

Bowron married Emily Edwards in 1869 and was dismissed as postmaster in 1870. Around this time, it seems Bowron converted the library/post office building into his family’s home. He was appointed mining recorder in 1872, government agent at Richfield in 1875, and gold commissioner in 1883.

John and Emily had five children: John, William, Alice, Lottie and Archie. Two years after Emily’s death in 1895, John married Elizabeth Watson and their daughter was named Aileen. They retired to Victoria in 1906; John died later the same year.

Group in front of the John Bowron House. Bowron and his daughter Alice (in front) stand at the top of the stairs; circa 1895.

Barkerville P37

Lottie was born in 1879. She was instrumental in Barkerville being recognized as a heritage site in 1958, and also donated her precious photographs, which have helped immeasurably in the town’s restoration. After studying office administration, Lottie joined the civil service in 1904 as a stenographer in the mines department.

This led to a job as Premier Richard McBride’s secretary from 1909 until his death in London before the end of World World I. On her return to Victoria, she worked as secretary to the provincial mines minister and later had the job of BC’s Rural Teachers’ Welfare Officer. She was also the founding president of the Kumtuks, a businesswomen’s club, and the Beaver Club for Canadian servicemen in London. Lottie died in 1964.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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18 WENDLE HOUSE The Building Today: The interior furnishings of the Wendle House are representative of those that the Wendles may have had when they lived here in the early 1900s. In May and June, a component of Barkerville’s School Program takes place in this building. Groups of school children participate in sessions that introduce them to early domestic life in Barkerville.

Throughout the rest of the summer, visitors may tour the house and chat with the historical interpreter who can usually be found in the kitchen making something delicious on the wood cookstove.

The wallpaper in the parlour and dining room dates to the early 1900s.

Historical Notes: This house was built between 1899 and 1902, judging from historic photos. Joseph Wendle’s petition to the Victoria Land Registration District, in regard to the Barkerville Townsite Titles Investigation Act of 1934, indicates that Alexander McArthur purchased the lot, which included a blacksmith shop, in 1889 and “did deed and grant unto Mary Agnes Nason . . . the said lands and premises. . .” for this lot in 1902. The property passed to Elizabeth Fry later in 1902 and then to Beach A. Laselle and Joseph Wendle in 1904. In 1911, Wendle became the sole owner. He brought his wife Elizabeth (Betty) to Barkerville around this Betty Wendle in the front room during a visit to the house; 1967. Barkerville P2265 time and they lived here until Joseph died in 1963.

Betty then moved to Quesnel and died in 1973.

The Wendles were outdoor enthusiasts and among the first to recognize the recreational potential of this region. They operated Bowron Lake lodge and a guiding business until 1935, and helped to create Bowron Lake Park. Wendle Lake Park, just off Bowron Lake Road, and Betty Wendle Creek were named for them. Joe received a Certificate of Merit in 1958 for his community contributions.

Joe Wendle came to Barkerville from the United States in 1895 as a strapping young man in his early twenties. He worked for several mining companies in addition to mining on his own or with partners.

Thomas Drasdauskis photo

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Betty Wendle was an accomplished artist who loved to paint the local scenery. Unfortunately, her paintings and materials were lost when their first cabin at Bowron Lake burned down. She was an accomplished horsewoman and joined Joe on many excursions into the wilderness. On one of these outings, she shot a grizzly bear that surprised her.

The hide now hangs in the parlour of this house.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

19 MCINTYRE HOUSE The Building Today: This house is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: W. Davison, watchmaker and jeweller, rebuilt on this lot after the 1868 fire and owned it until 1873. This lot and the one next door, on which the Bowron house stood, were owned by John Bowron until 1906 when James Stone, postmaster and telegraph operator, purchased them. In 1910, they passed to his widow Marie Stone, who Duncan McIntyre married in 1917. This house was built in 1914. Duncan McIntyre was a carpenter who came to the area in the 1880s. He built many local water wheels and was foreman of several placer operations, including the C.M. & S. Company on California Gulch.

20 CAMERON & AMES BLACKSMITH SHOP The Building Today: The workings of a farrier and blacksmith’s shop are demonstrated for school children from May to June and for summer visitors. The blacksmith makes a variety of hand wrought items that are for sale, and interesting old tools and products are also on display. Barkerville blacksmiths made mining and household objects. They also made horseshoes and shoed horses. Blacksmiths were often very strong because of the work they performed and sometimes acted as “peace keepers” in mining camps.

The Library/Post Office and W. Davison Store are decorated, along with several main street buildings, for Dominion Day, July 1, 1871. John Bowron, holding Historical Notes: baby Eddy, stands with his wife Emily in front of the library. Barkerville P726 The original Cameron and Ames building was located just north of this building, right next to the Wendle House. It was torn down in the 1930s.

William B. Cameron, one of the “Overlanders” who crossed Canada in 1862, went into business with James Ames as “Farriers and General Blacksmiths” in 1869. Cameron maintained the business after Ames departed in 1872, selling to C.P. O’Neill in 1875. O’Neill died in 1887 and his family moved away. The memoirs of Martha Washington and William “Wiggs” John, two of the O’Neill children, include fascinating stories about early Barkerville.

Grunbaum Brothers General Store was built here after the 1868 fire. After changing hands many times, J.F. Campbell purchased the property from T. Nicol in 1933. It is not known when this garage was built but, between 1935 and 1950, Pete Pavich is thought to have operated a stage (bus) line here.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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21 PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE AND CARIBOO LITERARY INSTITUTE’S LIBRARY The Building Today: The Government Agent’s and Gold Commissioner’s offices were originally located in Richfield and moved to this building in 1896. As Government Agent and Gold Commissioner at the time, John Bowron was responsible for recording claims, granting licences and settling claim disputes.

Service BC partnered with Barkerville to create an exhibit in the back room that explores the history of local and provincial Government Agents.

The Cariboo Literary Institute’s Library and Reading Room in the north addition was actually located where the Bowron House now stands. The exhibit was installed here because it is relatively close to the library’s original location and Bowron was instrumental in the development and operation of the library. A few of the books from the original library are in the Barkerville archives.

Historical Notes: This lot was occupied by the Nason’s house (north side) and J.H. Todd’s store in the early 1870s. The current building may be the original Nason house or one constructed in the 1880s.

By 1934, the Provincial Government Office had moved to Government Hill (just north of Barkerville) and this building was occupied by the Provincial Police. Barkerville’s adminstration offices were located here in the early 1960s and the Group in front of the Provincial Government Offices; 1906. Andrew Kelly and post office was also here in 1965, but both moved to Charles House are the two men on the right.

Barkerville P175 the reconstructed Post Office building in 1966.

22 WILFORD THOMSON HOUSE The Building Today: Wilford “Wilf” Thomson, the last occupant of this building, died in 1979 at the age of 89. Most of his possessions were donated to Barkerville so that his cabin could be preserved intact.

Historical Notes: This is the site of the original Wake Up Jake Restaurant. Photographs date this house to the 1890s. A.J. Harper inherited the property in 1912 from Samuel A. Rogers who had bought it in 1902.

Thomson came to Barkerville in 1921 and purchased this property in 1931. Two additions beyond the back porch contained a workshop and an outhouse. Wilf is fondly remembered locally.

He was a proponent of healthy living and an avid gold miner, spending summers on his claims right up until the year before his death.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

23 J.H. TODD GENERAL STORE The Building Today: This building was reconstructed in 1968 and depicts J.H. Todd’s early 1870s general store.

Historical Notes: The Provincial Government Office now sits on the original site of J.H. Todd’s, necessitating this new location for today’s store. The Wake Up Jake Restaurant was originally located on this lot.

Jacob Hunter Todd arrived in Barkerville at the height of the Cariboo Gold Rush and opened a general store. He rebuilt the store after the fire of 1868 and operated in the same location until 1875.

While continuing to do business in the local area, he explored opportunities Victoria and entered the lucrative canning industry in the late 1870s. By the time of his death in 1899, he was the head of a fish canning empire known Canada-wide.

24 BARNARD’S EXPRESS OFFICE (STAGECOACH TICKETS AND RIDES) The Building Today: As a transportation hub for people and freight, Barnard’s Express Office is a bustling place today.

Buy your tickets here and board the stagecoach for an exciting journey around Barkerville.

Historical Notes: The Goldfield Bakery now occupies the site of the original Barnard’s Express Office. This reconstruction of the original structure was built in 1968.

Pack train in front of Barnard’s Express Office; circa 1900. The post office is to the left of Barnard’s. Madame Bendixon’s and the Masonic Hall are up the street. Image A-3791 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P711

Francis J. Barnard’s express company began in 1861 as a one-man operation but within a few years he was in charge of the stagecoach run between Yale and Barkerville. The original building was constructed in 1869 and became the centre of a thriving business that transported people by stagecoach to and from Barkerville and all the communities along the Cariboo Waggon Road.

Their freight wagons also brought in most of the goods required by the community.

Joe Mason and John Daly were business partners and one of their ventures was located in a building on this site in the 1870s or 1880s. It later became the Mason family’s residence and later still, the Barkerville School.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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25 WAKE UP JAKE RESTAURANT & COFFEE SALOON The Building Today: This 1960 structure was the first reconstruction to be built after Barkerville became an historic site in 1958. Come and enjoy the hearty Cariboo fare on offer at this popular 1870s-style restaurant.

Historical Notes: On June 17, 1865, Andrew Kelly, proprietor, ran an ad in the Cariboo Sentinel for the Wake Up Jake Bakery, Coffee Saloon and Lunch House. Elizabeth Kelly said the Wake Up Jake was named after Jake Franklin, a partner in the Wake Up Jake claim on Williams Creek in 1862, who regularly fell asleep at a table in the restaurant. Robert Patterson and J.G. Goodson rebuilt the restaurant after the Barkerville fire, “in a style far superior to the old house . . . ” but Goodson closed the restaurant in 1874, according to an advertisement. Moses’s diary indicates that school classes were then held in Goodson’s Wake Up Jake Saloon between 1876 and 1880. Events such as public meetings, an inquest, and the Williams Creek Fire Brigade’s Annual Ball also took place there. The building was moved to Chinatown at a later date to house the Wa Lee and then the Sing Kee stores. T.A. Blair General Merchant & Outfitter opened in a new building on this lot around 1900.

26 GOLDFIELD BAKERY The Building Today: A view south with the first car in Barkerville on the main street; circa 1910.

T.A. Blair’s store sign can be seen above the car. Bibby’s Tin Shop building is Visitors love the Goldfield Bakery’s treats. Stop by on the left and Will Bowron’s house is on the extreme right. Barkerville P2786 for a coffee and try a variety of mouth-watering sweets, or enjoy their homemade soup and a sandwhich made with delicious sourdough bread.

Historical Notes: Arthur Beaudin constructed this building in 1933 to house the Red Front Cigar Store and Buckley’s Drugstore (whose proprietor’s brother was the Buckley of cough medicine fame). McMahon’s Confectionery occupied the space on the north side in the 1940s and the Provincial Government Office was also located there, later on.

Louis Hayd, a young baker, came to Barkerville in the early 1930s with enough money to buy ingredients for a batch of bread, which he baked in an oven constructed from creek stones.

Business was soon booming so he built his house and the Goldfield Bakery just north of today’s administration building. He was a trusting soul who left it up to his customers to keep track of what they owed him. The Goldfield Bakery’s letterhead logo has been duplicated on today’s bakery sign.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

27 W.D. MOSES’S BARBERSHOP The Building Today: Wellington Delaney Moses was well regarded in the community, especially amongst the womenfolk.

In addition to operating a barbershop, he maintained a good selection of hats, ribbons, silks and other finery for the ladies. An entry in Moses’s diary indicates that a “hair restoration” treatment could cost as much as fifty dollars.

Historical Notes: Moses, a fierce supporter of equal rights, was one of the leaders in the relocation of several hundred African Americans from California to Vancouver Island in early 1858. In 1860, Lady Franklin, in search of her husband, stayed at his bed and breakfast establishment in Victoria. He operated the Pioneer Shaving Saloon and Bath House in Victoria before coming to Barkerville in 1865.

The Cariboo Sentinel of October 23, 1868 indicates that Moses had a business on this lot. Records show that he mortgaged his property at least twice over the years. It is believed the existing building was built in 1879 to replace an older building. Moses died in 1890, the property changed hands several times, and George Turner purchased it in 1922.

Moses’s diary, a chronicle of daily life in Barkerville, has been a valuable resource for determining the positions of buildings and businesses of his day, and learning about the comings and goings of the townsfolk.

Barkerville Post Office on fire; May 18, 1946. Barkerville School, to the south of the post office and not in use at the time, also burned to the ground. The roof of the building that is now the Goldfield Bakery (centre) is on fire, as well. The house on the far right was later moved to the back street. Barkerville P2279

28 BARKERVILLE POST OFFICE (INTEGRATED POSTAL SERVICES) The Building Today: The post office provides postal services through the summer months. Visitors frequently send letters and postcards, each stamped with Barkerville’s postmark, as mementos to friends and family.

Historical Notes: The original building was constructed in 1869 as the Bank of British North America. It became the post and telegraph office by 1879 and burned down in 1946. The building was reconstructed in 1964, and site administration offices were located in the back.

After the 1946 fire and until the new building was constructed, Nell Dowsett ran the post office and a souvenir shop in the building now occupied by Louis Blanc’s Photographic Studio across the street.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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29 DR. HUGH WATT’S OFFICE AND RESIDENCE The Building Today: Dr. Watt, great-grandson of James Watt who patented the steam engine, came to Barkerville with his wife in 1882. He was the surgeon at the Royal Cariboo Hospital and ran a private practice from the office attached to his house. He was one of the Cariboo Members elected to the Provincial Legislature in 1892. Dr. Watt moved to Fort Steele in 1897.

Historical Notes: W.W. Dodd leased the Eldorado Billiard and Dancing Saloon, located on this lot, from W. Sterling in 1871. The Cariboo Sentinel of May 9, 1874 notes that “Mr. Benjamin Edwards has bought Dodd’s Saloon and is removing it to Edwardsville . . . as a saloon and store.”

The house that stood on this lot was built in 1880

by James Christie for Mason and Daly. Dr. Watt lived in it from 1882 to 1895, followed by Dr. C.A. “Gus” Tunstall. Seymour Baker also lived in this house before it was torn down in the 1930s.

The present building was built in 1900 on a lot to the north of the Methodist Church. It was moved here in 1960 and renovated to look like the original house on this lot. The office addition was reconstructed at the same time. Jason Curtis, local Group on Dr. Tunstall’s front porch; circa 1899. This building was Dr. Watt’s artist and sign painter, was born in this building. residence and office prior to 1895.

Barkerville P716

30 J.P. TAYLOR DRUGSTORE The Building Today: This building, reconstructed in 1963, is larger than the original drugstore. The Pharmaceutical Association of British Columbia collected artifacts and helped to create this exhibit in 1965. Drugstores, pharmacists, hospitals and doctors from all over B.C donated almost all the display items.

Historical Notes: James P. Taylor opened Barkerville’s first drugstore in 1866. In 1868, he and David Lewis constructed a building on this lot. Taylor ran his Blue Flag Store on the south side and Lewis, a barber, dentist and bathhouse operator, was on the north side. There are no known photographs of that building, and it is thought to have disappeared by around 1880.

Martha Washington Boss (nee O’Neill), born in 1880, described a skating rink that was on the site of today’s building: “Barkerville at the time had a splendid outdoor skating rink. It was protected by a snow-shed roof and walls of banked snow. It was illuminated from all sides by torch lights . . . “

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

31 NICOL HOTEL MUSEUM The Building Today: The exhibits in this building were installed in 2006.

The concept of change over time is explored on the main floor: changes in manufacturing materials and technology, societal changes, and cultural changes.

Samples of bottles, firearms, jewellery, needlework and clothing are displayed. Upstairs, visitors can take a peek at behind-the-scenes museum work.

Historical Notes: This building, originally just one storey, sat next to the Masonic Hall (across the street), and was where the Kwong Lee Company General Store was located in 1870. By 1880, Fanny Bendixon ran a saloon and boarding house there. Photographs taken just after her death in 1899 reveal that by then the building had gained a second storey and an ornate front porch.

According to W.M. Hong’s book “And So, That’s How It Happened,” Sing Kee and his partners bought it in 1915 from Jim Boyce who had operated it as a hotel.

They moved the building to Chinatown where they ran a store until 1918. It was then sold to A.J. Harper who moved it to a spot just south of the House Hotel.

Two circa 1870 buildings, the Antelope Restaurant and the St. George Saloon, made way for this building around 1926. The Nicol Hotel (now the St. George Hotel), next door, had been built by then and this building formed part of the hotel complex. It was also the home of Barkerville’s first Root Beer Saloon from 1962 to 1965. A large two storey addition to the north was removed in 1976, and an addition on the south side once connected the two hotel buildings.

School children stand in the playground with their teacher, Leonie Gordon;

32 BARKERVILLE SCHOOL 1938. The playground was located between the existing Masonic Hall and the Barkerville School, which has now been reconstructed.

Barkerville P4798 The Building Today: A variety of events take place here today and Barkerville’s School Program will be relocated to this building in the future. It was reconstructed in 2015 based on archival information and the recollections of Barkerville’s last teacher, Marianne Wright (née Harrison). She moved away in 1942 when the decision was made to send local children to school in Wells. Built around 1935, the school Marianne taught in was right next to the Post Office and both buildings burned down in 1946.

Historical Notes: The “Halfway House,” so-named because it was halfway between Barkerville and Richfield, was Barkerville’s first school in 1871. Later, classes were held in several buildings including the Wake Up Jake Saloon, Masonic Hall, and Joe Mason’s house.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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33 ST. GEORGE HOTEL BED & BREAKFAST The Building Today: This carefully refurbished hotel offers visitors the unique opportunity of staying overnight right in the middle of this bustling town. Explore Barkerville and the area by day; enjoy the lively atmosphere in the parlour or relax in your room in the evening.

Historical Notes: The St. George Saloon, once located next door to the north, was owned by Madame Bendixon around 1870. The present building was constructed in 1898, on the former site of Julia Picot’s residence and the Pearson Brothers’ Tin Shop, by the Johnson brothers of Quesnel. A.J. Harper sold it to Thomas Nicol who ran it as the Nicol Hotel, along with the building next door.

The Theatre Royal cast and staff lived here during the summers from the early 1960s until 1986. In 1996, the building was converted to this bed and breakfast establishment.

34 DR. JONES’S DENTIST OFFICE The Building Today: Antelope Restaurant, left; St. George Saloon, centre; Nicol Hotel (today’s St. This reconstruction of the original Dr. Jones George Hotel), right; circa 1900.

Barkerville P1596 building was completed in 1961. Dr. L. King Grady was interested in the project and donated a century-old dentist’s cabinet. Subsequently, the British Columbia Dental Association became involved and encouraged its members to donate equipment and assist in exhibit development.

Historical Notes: William Rennie’s Shoe Store occupied the original building that stood on this lot around 1870. Dr. William Allen Jones, who came to Barkerville in 1875, then moved in to practise dentistry and invest in mining operations until his death in 1897.

Jones was born in North Carolina. He and three brothers attended Oberlin College. In 1858, William and two brothers joined the group of African Americans who relocated to Vancouver Island from California. They were seeking refuge from the increasing threat of it becoming a slave state.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

35 MASONIC HALL CARIBOO LODGE #4 (PRIVATELY OWNED) The Building Today: The Masons of Cariboo Lodge #4 still hold regular meetings and events, as well as an annual August gathering. Admittance to the building is restricted, but visitors can view the lobby through the windows.

Historical Notes: This is the third Masonic Hall to occupy this lot.

The first burned down in 1868 and the second in a spectacular blaze on December 28, 1936. It has been said that the Red Front Cigar Store, which occupied the main floor, was actually a front for a lucrative bootleg business and the second fire started there. A pool hall and barber shop run by George C. Hartley was in an addition on the north side in the 1930s.

John Bruce and J.G. Mann, both Masons, built the second hall in 1869. The main floor was rented to the Bank of British Columbia and the Cariboo Lodge occupied the upper floor. The “Silent Tyler,” a staircase that was pulled up by means of a wheel in the Tyler’s room, ensured the secrecy of the Masons’ meetings. The Barkerville school was also housed on the main floor during the 1880s and ‘90s.

The Brethren held their first meeting in the third building, today’s Masonic Hall, on September 4, 1937. Because the new building lacked the ornate false front of its predecessor, it was moved back ten feet in 1966 to allow for an addition to the front that included a reconstructed 1869 façade.

36 LOUIS A. BLANC PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY The Building Today: Visitors may have their old-fashioned photograph taken in front of a Victorian-style backdrop, while wearing something they’ve choosen from a selection of costumes. The photographic prints create a lasting memento of your wonderful visit to Barkerville.

Historical Notes: Louis Blanc, Barkerville resident from 1867 to 1872, had opened his studio near today’s Cariboo Sentinel Newspaper by May, 1868. He took many photographs of the gold camps and of Barkerville’s reconstruction after the 1868 fire. His images of Barkerville’s main street have helped to determine the exact locations of numerous 1870s buildings that are no longer standing.

Thomas Blair and his brother operated their store T.A. Blair, General Merchant in this log building in the early 1900s. The post office and a souvenir shop, operated by Nell Dowsett, were also located here for a number of years between 1946 and 1965.

The former office of Dr. Jones is on the left. The centre building was originally the New England Bakery and Coffee Saloon. It was moved up the street to become the Kibbee House around 1917. Thomas Blair’s store is on the right.

Image F-7767 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P747

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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37 JOE DENNY’S SALOON The Building Today: The interior of a small saloon dating to the 1880s is represented here. This reconstruction of the original building was undertaken by the Barkerville-Wells Branch of the Cariboo Historical Society for the Barkerville Centennial in 1962.

The ornate glass doors, which open into the card room, came from the Grotto Saloon located on Government Street in Victoria in the 1860s.

Historical Notes: The original building that stood on this lot operated as a saloon and tailoring business prior to being purchased by Joseph Denny. Denny came to Barkerville in the 1860s and soon became involved in the community. He was elected as Fire Warden by the Williams Creek Fire Brigade in 1870 and later became Captain. He was listed in the Barkerville directory as a saloon keeper for a number of years and was part owner of the St. George Saloon in 1870. He died in 1891 and was buried in the Wells-Barkerville Cemetery.

38 LOUIS WYLDE, SHOEMAKER The Building Today: Cattle drive up Barkerville’s main street; circa 1898. Visible above, from left to right, are the House Hotel, Denny’s Saloon and the Masonic Hall. Fanny Bendixon owned the next two buildings, and just beyond them, the outdoor skating rink’s log structure can be seen.

Barkerville P723

Louis Wylde was a shoemaker of German origin who operated in Barkerville until 1871.

His building was lost in the fire of 1868 and he immediately rebuilt. The tools, equipment and materials of a typical shoemaker of the era are exhibited in this building. The living quarters are in the room behind the shop.

The Cariboo Sentinel of July 18, 1871 noted, “Dominion Day Decorations . . . on L. Wilde’s window the colours of the new German Empire, with portraits of the Prussian commanders of the late war.”

Historical Notes: This building is thought to have been moved by sleigh from Richfield in 1933. A late 1950s note on a townsite map reads, “Adams lived in it before it was moved,” and situates it on Barkerville’s back street on the north side of Baker Stables. A 1961 photograph confirms this position. By 1975, the building had been moved south a few lots and then it was moved again in 1982 to the present site. The building’s front is very similar in appearance to that of the original Louis Wylde building, which was located on this lot.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

39 HOUSE HOTEL COFFEE SALOON The Building Today: Root beer, ice cream, and other goodies, including Barkerville Brewery beer on tap, await visitors seeking refreshments. This roomy saloon is a great place to take a break and watch the “traffic” go by.

This is a 1963 reconstruction of the original House Hotel. At that time, two rooms across the front of the building were furnished to represent the barroom and ladies’ sitting room as they were when the hotel was operational. In 1988, the Root Beer Saloon moved here from the Barkerville Hotel, and “Coffee Saloon” was added to the name.

Historical Notes: The original building on this lot was constructed for Angelo Pendola in 1869 as a general store. Between 1873 and 1878, the post office, telegraph office and library of the Cariboo Mechanics’ Institute were located in the building. Pendola then moved back into it and operated a store until he sold the building and lot to Margaret House in 1884.

Charles House married Margaret “Maggie” Saess, Nettie Houser’s sister, in 1876. They had four children. In 1905, their daughter Mary married Fred Tregillus. The House, Houser, and Tregillus families were long-standing residents who contributed greatly to the development of Barkerville.

Charles House, known for his vitality and warm personality, died in 1913. The hotel, which Margaret continued to run until 1939, was a favourite stopping place for miners. She created a homey and welcoming atmosphere, and tended a wonderful collection of house plants for over 50 years.

Pioneer Clothing is now located where the Good Eats Cafe stood. The third building from the right, formerly Thomas Blair’s store, is now the Louis A. Blanc Photographic Gallery. The Nicol Hotel is visible farther down the street.

Barkerville P596

40 PIONEER CLOTHING The Building Today: Period costumes are available for rent here. Just check in with Louis Blanc next door to select your new outfit and then step out in style for the day.

Historical Notes: The Sin Hap Laundry was located on this lot before the fire of 1868. Samuel Tomkins was operating a blacksmith’s shop here by 1871. In the early 1930s, the Shanty Lunch - restaurant, taxi stand and barber shop - was built for R.H. Palmer. The Good Eats Café was located here later, and in 1958, the first year that Barkerville operated as an historic site, it became the Last Chance Café. In 1987, that dilapidated building was torn down and this one was constructed.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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41 GOVERNMENT ASSAY OFFICE; J.O. TRAVAILLOT, SURVEYOR; JOSEPH PARKS, BARRISTER AND SOLICITOR The Building Today: Historic photographs and other documentary material were invaluable during the reconstruction process of this building in 1965. A number of people involved in engineering and mining were instrumental in the creation of the Assay Office exhibit, particularly Mr. A. Crossley who donated much of the assaying equipment and helped with setting it up.

The office of J.O. Travaillot is located at the north end of the building. He was the captain of a ship that sailed from France to Oregon in the late 1850s.

Following the lure of gold, Travaillot ended up in Barkerville some time after resigning as Assistant Gold Commissioner at Lytton in 1859. He surveyed a number of real estate claims in the Cariboo and was listed in the 1871 census as a surveyor. He died in 1879 and was buried in the Wells-Barkerville Cemetery.

At the south end of the building is the office of Joseph Parks, a native of Lancashire, England and a Barrister at Law. He lived in Barkerville from the early 1860s until his death in 1877. Although he has been described as an exceedingly clever lawyer, the Cariboo Sentinel and court records indicate that he liked to have a drink or two. He died after falling The Assay Office and the Hotel de France decorated for Dominion Day, July 1, into a flume while drunk, apparently.

1871. Image A-3754 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P728 Historical Notes: The Government Assay Office opened in the centre part of the newly constructed building on this lot in 1869. John Wark bought the one storey sections on the north and south ends of the building in 1869 and sold the south side to Thomas Patullo in 1870.

In 1875, the New Dominion Boarding House, next door to the north, caught fire. Flames quickly spread to the north wing, which was occupied

by Joe Mason, and the Assay Office, destroying both. According to the Cariboo Sentinel, the south wing was torn down to prevent the fire from spreading further. Assayer W. Hitchcock and his assistant saved the necessary assay equipment and they were soon operating in another building.

The Assay Office records from 1869 to 1895 are preserved in the Barkerville Archives.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

42 CARRIAGE SHED #2 The Building Today: This garage is used to store horse-drawn sleighs and wagons.

Historical Notes: De Nouvon and Kurtz operated a general store on this site until 1874. The 1933 Occupation Plan of the Townsite of Barkerville indicates that an oil and gas storehouse was located near here at that time.

Little is known about the present building but newspapers dating to 1933 were found inside. It does not appear to be the same building that is visible in 1930s photos. A late 1950s document identified it as the former crusher room for the assay office and noted that it had been located on the same lot as the present day assay office.

43 MCPHERSON’S WATCHMAKER’S SHOP The Building Today: This shop carries a fine selection of jewellery, gold nuggets, clocks, watches and other items. Drop by to purchase that special gift, or just to admire examples of yesteryear’s finery.

This building was constructed in 1987 and served as a temporary orientation building until Barkerville’s Visitors’ Centre was built in 1990.

The façade was based on photographs of A.D. McPherson’s shop, which was built in 1868.

Imperial Gas on the lot where Carriage Shed #2 is now located; circa 1935. The back of the House Hotel is visible at the right.

Barkerville P1478

Historical Notes: According to the Cariboo Sentinel of November 7, 1868, “The Bank of British North America have removed their office from Cameronton to Barkerville, and have leased the handsome little building just erected by our friend McPherson who has located himself for the winter with the original Fritz, where he keeps the correct time of day as usual.”

Alexander D. McPherson, watchmaker and jeweller, moved into his building in June of 1869.

The Cariboo Sentinel notes that “Mr. McP. has had a neat tasteful awning spread over the sidewalk in front of his new store, which looks quite attractive.”

McPherson, a native of Quebec, died on July 2, 1870 at the age of about 50 years.

The original building stood until the early 1900s.

Photographs show that Madame Bendixon’s building, now the Nicol Hotel Museum, was located on this site for a few years in the 1920s.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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44 KELLY SALOON The Building Today: Originally the rear annex to the Kelly Hotel, this building was named the Kelly Saloon in the 1960s.

A saloon exhibit was installed at that time, based on a photograph of the hotel’s original barroom.

The building was stabilized in the early 1980s and now acts as a venue for concerts and other events.

Historical Notes: Constructed in the early 1900s as a dining room and kitchen, this building adjoined the back of the Kelly Hotel. The hotel, built right after the 1868 fire and fronting onto the main street, was first called the Hotel de France. The hotel’s main floor walls were built of logs. Andrew Kelly purchased the hotel from Julia Picot in 1871, and he and his wife Elizabeth operated the Kelly Hotel until 1909, when they retired to Victoria.

The Kellys’ son William then ran the business with his wife Lottie (nee Brown) until his death in 1917. Lottie took over the hotel and other family businesses, which she ran with Malcolm McKinnon, whom she married in 1920. Malcolm died in 1943 and the front part of the hotel burned down in 1949. Prior to its purchase by the Province of British Columbia, George Kelly housed part of his museum collection in this “saloon.”

Andrew Kelly, Glasgow-born in 1835, came to the Cariboo in 1862 by way of the Australian and Andrew Kelly behind the bar in the Kelly Hotel barroom; circa 1900.

Barkerville P210 Californian gold fields. He married Elizabeth Hastie in California in 1865. On their return by foot to Barkerville from the lower mainland, Elizabeth wore a hoop skirt and high heels. After running the Wake Up Jake Restaurant for a time, they moved to Grouse Creek for four years where they had a boarding house and bakeshop. Two of their children were also born there. The Kellys then returned to Barkerville around 1870 to establish and run the Kelly Hotel and later the Kelly Store, while continuing to raise their growing family.

Dea Song stands on the boardwalk in front of the Kelly Hotel, where he was the cook.

Barkerville P591

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Dea Song was the cook at the Kelly Hotel for many years; he also held the position of Master of the Chee Kung Tong. He is fondly remembered in several interesting stories in the book “Ten Golden Years” by W. Howard Harris. Dea Song played a big part in raising the McKinnon children, apparently. On one occasion, Harris remembered seeing him turning the crank of an ice cream maker with one hand while rocking a McKinnon baby in a buggy with the other.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

45 KELLY GENERAL STORE The Building Today: The goal in creating this exhibit was to portray a typical 1870s general store. However, the existing early 20th century configuration of shelving and counters, which differs from a typical 1870s store layout, was preserved. Andrew Kelly’s grandson, George Kelly, who worked in the store for many years in his younger days, provided valuable information about the business’s operation, early inventory and location of furnishings.

Prior to the installation of this exhibit in the mid 1980s, the shelving was removed so that the wallpaper could be taken down, examined and preserved. In the process, approximately forty rare and beautiful theatre posters were discovered sandwiched between the layers of paper. The Kellys may have brought them back from trips south and used them to decorate the store’s walls.

After they were found, conservation work was performed on the posters and they were framed.

Several now hang in the Barkerville Hotel for visitors to view.

Historical Notes: Mary Sheldon owned the first building on this lot, which was lost in the 1868 fire, and this one, which was constructed right after the fire. It is thought that Mary ran a saloon, boarding house or even a brothel here. Originally, the building had two front doors, suggesting that it contained two separate businesses or dwellings. Analysis of the interior shows that changes to how the building was used through the years resulted in interior walls being moved or removed, and the installation of new flooring in some areas and not in others.

Records show that Mary Sheldon sold this property to Annie Miller in 1872. While it is thought that Andrew Kelly purchased this building around 1880, the first known record associating him with it is the 1889 tax assessment. The Kelly family, and later the McKinnons, operated this store until 1958.

Before it burned down in 1875, the Assay Office was located where the two small buildings appear at the left. The Kelly Hotel is to the right with the Kelly Store beside it. The Barkerville Hotel is at the far right.

City of Victoria Archives PR33 M08003; Barkerville P1230

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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46 MASON & DALY GENERAL MERCHANTS The Building Today: Mason and Daly is a fascinating store that stocks everything from china to top hats. There is a great selection of old-fashioned toys and your sweet tooth will appreciate a visit to the candy counter.

This reconstruction of the original Hudson’s Bay store was built in 1971 based on historic photographs, the memories of a couple of old timers, and Hudson’s Bay records. The business was operated and interpreted by Barkerville site personnel as a Hudson’s Bay Company store for several years in the 1970s. In 1979, the name was changed to Mason and Daly General Merchants and the business was taken over by private individuals.

Historical Notes:

Group of people in front of the former Mason and Daly Store. Barkerville P2763

The Cariboo Sentinel of July 8, 1867 notes, “The new branch store of the Hudson’s Bay Company in this town was opened by Mr. Wark on Tuesday last.

A large stock of goods are expected in this week.”

That building, which had been purchased from Carl Strouss and was located on the lot of today’s Goldfield Bakery, was lost in the 1868 fire and a new one was speedily built in this location.

Fortunately, much of the company’s inventory had been moved to warehouse storage just days before the fire. The Hudson’s Bay Company sold the store in 1885 because the town’s fortunes were in decline.

Joseph Mason and John Daly purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company, “two wooden stores and fire and frost proof cellar,” according to the April 30, 1885 bill of sale. The other store, which had formerly belonged to Carl Strouss, was next door to the south. Mason and Daly sold both buildings to S.A. Rogers in 1889. Later owners were G.H. Cowan, A.J. Harper, T. Nicol, Joe Campbell, John Hind and the McKinnons.

Mason and Daly were partners in several businesses including the Antelope Restaurant, the Antelope Saloon, and a milk business, according to Cariboo Sentinel references. Joseph Mason also had a number of mining interests and was elected to the Provincial Legislature. He died in 1890 at the age of 51 during his first term in office.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

47 C. STROUSS DRYGOODS & PROVISIONS The Building Today: C. Strouss carries a wide variety of cheeses, teas, coffee, kitchenware, hardware and other dry goods.

Whether you are looking for beef jerky or Asiago cheese, this is the place to find it.

This building was constructed in 1971 at the same time as Mason and Daly’s next door. It opened for business in the late 1980s.

Men stand in front of the butcher shop, the former Strouss Store; circa 1915.

Barkerville P733

Historical Notes: Late in 1867, Carl Strouss bought the businesses of Charles Oppenheimer and Company whose operations had been put into trusteeship. Strouss sustained significant losses when his store burned down in 1868. Following the fire, the Cariboo Sentinel of November 21, 1868 said of his new building, “Mr. C. Strouss’s large store on the next lot has also been fitted up very neatly, together with office and bedroom attached, by Mr. McNerhanie.

Mr. Strouss has also built a large cellar as have also Mssrs De Nouvon & Kurtz and Grunbaum Bros. so that in the event of another fire there would be a comparatively small portion of merchandise consumed.” The “cellar” may have actually been the fireproof warehouse that appears, in an 1869 photograph, between this building and the Hudson’s Bay Company store to the north. When the warehouse was removed, the Strouss store was moved next to the Hudson’s Bay Store.

After the 1868 fire, Strouss played an important role in the development of the Williams Creek Fire Brigade. He was also an active member of the Masonic Lodge. He sold his business to Charles Oppenheimer in 1871 and moved to Victoria. The Hudson’s Bay Company purchased the business in 1880 from F. Neufelder, who had bought out Oppenheimer in 1872.

The Williams Creek Fire Brigade created this arch for Governor Musgrave’s visit in 1869. The town was still being rebuilt after the fire of 1868. Carl Strouss’s new store is visible on the extreme left. What is believed to be a fireproof warehouse can be seen between it and the Hudson’s Bay Company’s new store.

Library and Archives Canada C-061938; Barkerville P740

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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48 BARKERVILLE HOTEL The Building Today: When the main floor is open to visitors, please come in and have a look at the 1873 Chickering box piano, the 1920s Burroughes and Watts billiard table, and the fascinating theatre posters that were found on the walls of the Kelly Store.

Visit the exhibits upstairs where several former Barkerville residents are portrayed as guests in four of the rooms. They were interesting, sometimes colourful, individuals who contributed a great deal to Barkerville’s story and development. A fifth room is devoted to an exhibit about music in the Cariboo and the “Bard of Barkerville,” James Anderson.

Historical Notes: The Barkerville Hotel was built in 1869 by carpenter John Knott who also built coffins and headboards. The property changed hands between Knott and other owners several times over the next thirty years and it is not clear that the building ever operated as a hotel during that time. Knott was also involved in the construction of the Reduction Works around 1890, a government sponsored attempt to advance hard rock mining in the area.

Barkerville is rebuilt right after the fire of September 16, 1868. Scott and Lipsett’s Arcade Saloon (right) was one of the only buildings not lost in the fire.

The brand new Theatre Royal and Florence Wilson’s Phoenix Saloon are to the left of it. The Barkerville Hotel, under construction, is fourth from the right.

Library and Archives Canada C-61942; Barkerville P719

In 1899, Katherine Brown Fraser purchased the building from Alexander Butterfield. She died in 1904 and left it to her son Alfred and daughter Katie. Katie and her husband William McCarthy ran the hotel until 1913, when it was sold to Katie’s sister Lottie and her husband William Kelly.

After William’s death, Lottie married Malcolm McKinnon in 1920 and they ran both the former Kelly hotels and store, and a transport business.

There was a bar on the main floor during the 1930s and 40s. Evan Williams recalled working as bartender; at that time, a baseball bat was kept under the counter and the safe was filled with mason jars of gold nuggets. Vinse Halverson’s 1930s childhood memories included singing “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime” with his pals below the open washroom window in the hope that a visitor to the facilities would toss a coin out, and some did.

This building is one of Barkerville’s jewels. It is architecturally significant because of the wealth of Victorian ornamentation it displays and its unique cantilevered balcony. Having survived many alterations and structural changes over time, it is hoped that recent stabilization work will preserve the Barkerville Hotel for many years to come.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

49 CARRIAGE SHED #1 The Building Today: This shed, built in 1973, houses a variety of horsedrawn vehicles, including restored freight wagons that were used to transport goods to Barkerville.

Historical Notes: A similar-looking building, with long lengths of firewood piled in front of it, appears in a circa 1930 photograph. Townsite maps from that period indicate that it was used for firewood storage.

50 THEATRE ROYAL AND WILLIAMS CREEK FIRE BRIGADE The Building Today: Live theatre shows are a Barkerville highlight.

Whether it’s a Victorian-style variety show or a drama, the performances are sure to, “edify, entertain, educate, and enlighten the populace of Williams Creek,” and visitors to Barkerville, too.

The site of the original theatre was 18 feet south of this structure which was built as a community hall in 1937. Many community events were held here over the years, including badminton matches, dances, dinners, shows, and meetings. An addition that resembled the façade of the original theatre (circa 1875), was built at the front in the 1960s.

Historical Notes: The Cariboo Dramatic Association, with members such as John Bowron and Florence Wilson, and the newly formed Williams Creek Fire Brigade erected a building after the 1868 fire to house the brigade on the main floor and the theatre on the upper floor.

“The colossal edifice intended for the Engine House and Theatre is being fast put up; the rafters are now up, and it will be ready for shingling tomorrow. It is the intention of the Brigade to hold their grand Christmas ball in the building on Monday, 28th inst., when all the beauty and fashion of the Cariboo will no doubt be assembled; and the Amateurs in a few days after will be in a position to resume their performances which gratified the public so much last spring, and which were temporarily interrupted only by the September fire,” reported the Cariboo Sentinel of December 12, 1868.

As Barkerville’s population declined, the building became neglected. Reporting on its demolition in 1937, the Vancouver Province described the situation in the 1870s, “The building was originally two-storey, but due to freshet conditions which brought down tons of tailings from upstream placer workings, it was considered wise to cut off the lower floor.” The upper section was jacked up after it was separated from the buried main floor, and a new entrance built. New Year’s at the Theatre Royal; 1909.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

Barkerville P1517

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51 WILLIAMS CREEK FIRE BRIGADE HOSE TOWER The Building Today: This hose tower was reconstructed in 2001 based on as-found drawings of the original tower. Hose reels, buckets, axes, fire hoses and nozzles were all used to fight fires, which occurred far too frequently through Barkerville’s history.

Barkerville’s main street, looking north; 1898. The Cariboo Gold Fields Office is on the right. The Theatre Royal, after the main floor was buried, is to the left.

Barkerville P713

Historical Notes: The Arcade Billiard and Bowling Saloon, owned

by John T. Scott and Robert Lipsett and located on this site, was the one building in this section of town that survived the 1868 fire. Less than two months after the great fire, the building almost met its demise, though, when the roof ignited near the stovepipe. The fire was quickly extinguished.

William Forrest purchased the building in 1875 and renamed it Forrest’s Saloon.

Cariboo Gold Fields Ltd., one of the largest mining operations in the area in 1900, used the former saloon as an office in 1896. Intending to work the bed of Williams Creek with a hydraulic lift, A.D. Wittier, manager and promoter of the company, constructed an elaborate system of ditches and flumes. The operation was an experiment and, once underway, many defects became apparent. Shortly after the beginning of the new century, the work was suspended and never resumed.

In 1907, the company petitioned the Canadian government to recover the cost of fines they had paid in the amount of $5 per day for each Chinese person in their employ. The original contract had stipulated that no Chinese would work in the mine, but the company had been unable to find any other workers. This was indicative of the development boom British Columbia experienced around 1900.

John Hopp, who worked with Leicester Bonner on the Gold Fields project in 1895, purchased this property in 1913 and the Lowhee Mining Co. Ltd. in 1930. The Britannia Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. rented the building for a short period of time in 1934 and it was torn down in the early 1940s.

The original hose tower was built in the mid 1940s.

1960s era photographs of the back of the tower show a working stove pipe exiting through the A group gathered in front of the Cariboo Gold Fields Office; July 1, 1900. wall, indicating that a stove had been installed Elizabeth and John Bowron, with daughter Aileen, are at the left. Lottie inside to provide heat for drying the fire hoses.

Bowron is seventh from the left.

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Barkerville P42

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

52 VAN VOLKENBURGH CABIN The Building Today: “Married—At Barkerville. 15th April 1869 by Rev. James Reynard, Benjamin Van Volkenburgh esq. to Annie, Fourth Daughter of Patrick Roddy esq. of Maypole, Ayrshire, Scotland. No Cards,” read the notice in the Cariboo Sentinel of April 17, 1869. This exhibit portrays Annie in the process of unpacking and moving into her new home. The addition of her china, crystal and linens brings a touch of refinement to the rough cabin.

Dendrochronology (tree ring dating) dates this building’s logs to 1864, making it one of the oldest structures in Barkerville. It is believed to have been moved from another location because it does not appear in photographs until after the 1868 fire.

There are no studs in the rear addition walls; they are constructed of three layers of 1”x8” planks nailed to the top and bottom plates.

Winter bicycle race; Christmas 1897. The Van Volkenburgh cabin is on the left.

Barkerville P1039

Historical Notes: Benjamin Van Volkenburgh and his brother Isaac left Buffalo in 1863 and, after crossing the Isthmus of Panama and reaching Victoria, travelled directly to the Cariboo. Benjamin, his brothers, and several other cattlemen formed Messrs. Van Volkenburgh and Co., establishing shops in Richfield, Barkerville, Cameronton and other mining camps, to supply hungry miners with fresh meat. They also operated a slaughterhouse that was located off the main road about halfway between Richfield and Barkerville.

Benjamin and Annie Van Volkenburgh moved to Victoria with their three children in the mid 1870s where they owned and operated a meat market and slaughterhouse. This property then changed hands several times with James Champion, Fred Harper, Floyd DeWitt Reid and E.J. Avison as owners.

Oliver and Lillian Nason bought this cabin in the 1940s and lived here until the 1950s. They tore down a building next door to the south and added two bedrooms, a bathroom, front porch and siding. By that time, a new bay window had also been added to the front and at least two additions built at the back. Oliver Nason was born in Richfield and spent his childhood there. His father, who was involved in sawmills and mining operations in the area, was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1889.

In 1985, the addition on the south side, front bay window and siding were removed from this building to return it to its 1870s appearance.

Van Volkenburgh cabin with additions and siding; circa 1960. Barkerville P659

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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53 SANDY MCARTHUR’S BLACKSMITH SHOP The Building Today: This ghostly blacksmith shop was once operational.

Alexander “Sandy” McArthur, for whom this exhibit is named, was a blacksmith and his name appears in various records for the years 1871, 1880, 1889, 1893 and 1894. It is believed that he left Barkerville after 1871 but returned by 1880. He also owned, and may have built, the Wendle House around 1900.

“Mr. P. McEntee . . . will carry on his blacksmith business at the same rates as before. He only charges $3 per set for horseshoeing, and all kinds of blacksmith work at corresponding rates,” read an ad in the Cariboo Sentinel of November 13, 1869.

Historical Notes: 1930s photographs and a site map from 1934 indicate that a large building with a rear addition the same size as the present building stood on this lot. When the large building in front was removed it appears that the addition was moved forwards and is today’s freestanding building. Small smithies were often attached to other buildings.

Records show P. McEntee owned a large new shop “near the theatre” in 1869. In 1874, the Cariboo Sentinel mentioned O’Donnel’s Livery Stable, next to Lipsett’s building. These references may have been for the same, or possibly two, buildings on this lot. The Cariboo Gold Fields Ltd. purchased several properties in 1896, including a blacksmith’s shop located here. John Hopp, who purchased the Cariboo Gold Fields holdings in 1913, used the blacksmith’s shop for many years, and sold it to the Lowhee Mining Co. Ltd. in 1930. The Britannia Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd. rented the shop for a short while around 1934.

A Barker and Co. shaft was also located here, and this may have been where they struck it rich on August 17, 1862. “Billy Barker struck the lead on Williams Creek on the flat below the Canyon (800 feet), at a depth of 52 ft. obtaining $5.00 to the pan,” reported the British Columbian on September 5, 1862. Barker sold his share of the claim in 1864 and died a pauper in Victoria in 1894. The Mining Record of June, 1896 observed, “The old shaft descending to the gravel which Barker and his The Lowhee Mining Company’s blacksmith’s shop is right of centre in the foreground; 1933. Today’s blacksmith’s shop may be the addition that is just associates so profitably worked, still opens into the visible behind it.

Barkerville 4-4-3-0-39 ground near the blacksmith shop and is pointed out to the curious.” The water in a Barker Co. flume that crossed above the Arcade Billiard and Bowling Saloon, located next door to the north, is credited with saving the saloon during the great fire of 1868.

42

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

54 CARIBOO SENTINEL NEWSPAPER The Building Today: Interactive discourses about printing and the newspaper business are held here through the summer. Print products are also for sale.

This building, reconstructed in 1967, operated for many years as a working print shop where visitors could purchase their personalized Cariboo Sentinel newspapers as well as other printed material. Trained operators are required to keep the old presses functioning and well-maintained, and people with this type of experience are rare in these days of modern technology.

Historical Notes:

Louis Blanc’s sign is visible, upper right, in this photograph taken by Blanc around 1870. Walker’s Restaurant and Boarding House is the building with the white front, across the street.

Library and Archives Canada C-61944; Barkerville P1263

The first issue of the Cariboo Sentinel newspaper was published in 1865 on a small hand press that George Wallace, founder and editor of the Cariboo Sentinel, brought to Barkerville, transporting it part of the way by pack train. That press had been brought to Victoria by the Right Reverend Modeste Demers around 1856, and was the first to be used in what was to become British Columbia. It is now on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum.

When Alexander Allan sold the Cariboo Sentinel early in 1868, after owning it for about two years, he wrote to a friend, “Of all the most thankless, least remunerative and slaving businesses that it has been my evil luck to be connected with in life I think it is that of a newspaper editor. . .

The irregular habits that such a business, in this country especially, begets is a thing I mortally detest & since I have closed the business I have not entered a Saloon or drank a drop of any liquor. . .”

The newspaper office, which temporarily relocated to Richfield after the 1868 fire, “. . . removed to the new building . . . next to Mr. P. Manetta’s Store [in Barkerville],” noted the Cariboo Sentinel, October 30, 1868. That building met its fate eleven years later, according to Moses’s diary entry on October 26, 1879: “The old printing office fell at 9 am.”

“The office of the Cariboo Sentinel has been removed to the two storey building formerly known as Blanc’s Photographic Gallery,” observed the Cariboo Sentinel of November 2, 1872. Blanc’s shop was located on the south side of, and next door to, the existing Van Volkenburgh Cabin. The Cariboo Sentinel was published until 1875, and a complete set of the original newspapers has provided invaluable assistance in recreating early Barkerville.

Barkerville’s main street looking north, with the Chinese arch built for Governor Musgrave’s 1869 visit in the foreground. Kerr’s Phoenix Brewery sign is visible on the left as is L.A. Blanc’s, very faintly, farther along on the same side.

Library and Archives Canada C-061937; Barkerville P1262

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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55 GIDDINGS CABIN The Building Today: This exhibit portrays the living quarters of a miner. Research indicates that there used to be two rooms in the main part of the cabin and the walls were papered. There was also an addition at the rear that connected to a shed that has since been reconstructed.

Jugene “Eugene” Giddings lived in this comfortable cabin, which he purchased in 1925, until he moved to a house at the south end of town in his later years.

He spent a lot of time in the woods trapping and prospecting. Vinse Halverson remembered him in his memoirs, “Whenever we saw smoke coming out of his chimney, we knew Mr. Giddings was back in town. At times, he rented his cabin or let his good friends use it when he was out in the bush.”

Historical Notes: This cabin dates to the 1890s or before. It can be seen in a circa 1900 photograph beside another cabin to the south. Henry Havelock, the editor of the Cariboo Sentinel at one time, lived in the cabin next door for 18 months before advertising it for sale in 1870. A number of people owned this cabin A crowd watches a horse race on Dominion Day; July 1, 1900. The Chee Kung between 1899 and 1925, including Samuel Rogers, Tong’s ceremonies took place in the building at the right, formerly Walker’s A.J. Harper and Thomas Nicol.

Restaurant and Boarding House. Giddings Cabin is third from the right.

Image C-9765 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P657

56 GIDDINGS SHED The Building Today: This shed was recently reconstructed and houses fire hose carriages and other equipment.

Historical Notes: This former woodshed and an adjacent outhouse were outbuildings of the cabin at the front of this lot. Photographs show that a rear addition to the cabin provided sheltered access to this shed.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

57 THE CLEARING (SPECIAL EVENTS) The Site Today: This clearing is used for special events during the summer. On Dominion Day and Williams Creek Sports Day there are races and games, a tug of war, and contests. Mid Autumn Moon Festival activities take place here, and the dance, music, and dramatic performances are on the stage in front of the brewery.

Historical Notes: A row of buildings was located between Giddings Cabin and Marie’s Sporting House. At the north end was a small cabin, with the Miners’ Boarding House next door. It became Walker’s Restaurant & Boarding House in 1869 and the Adelphi Saloon in 1872. The Chee Kung Tong owned the same building between 1880 and 1933 and conducted ceremonies there. The next occupants were the Prince George Café and Bakery, and Cariboo Cash Meat Market.

Lai Gow may have owned the next two cabins, living in one and running a store in the other.

Dea Song and K.D. Wong owned them later. The next cabin may have been owned by John Baker; it appears on a 1932 map but not on one from 1933.

58 DR. CALLANAN’S RESIDENCE The Building Today: Dr. Michael Callanan and his family lived in this log house from at least 1903 to about 1928. As well as being one of Barkerville’s physicians, Dr. Callanan was also the Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly for Cariboo from 1909 to 1916. His son Joseph enlisted in the 29th Vancouver Battalion and was killed in action in 1916. Dr. Callanan’s daughter Eileen sold the property to Roy Thompson. In 1943, while checking his trapline, he fell through the ice on Kruger Lake and drowned.

Historical Notes: P. Manetta rebuilt on this lot after the 1868 fire. A Cariboo Sentinel pre-fire ad describes his Miners’ Provision Store, “ . . . he has just opened a large store at the upper end of Barkerville, at which will always be found a well selected and varied assortment of Fresh Groceries and Provisions of all description; . . .

The Bar is amply supplied with the choicest Havana Cigars, Wines and Liquors . . . “ In 1872, Andrew Jeffray bought the business, renaming it the Miners’ Saloon. “T. Walker open meat and provision store in P. Manetta old stand.” states Moses’s diary in 1874.

Edward and Nell Dowsett (Roy Thompson’s widow, and postmistress from 1942 to 1964) lived here in 1961.

Dr. Callanan in front of his newly built log house; circa 1901. This is the only masonry chimney known to have been built in early Barkerville.

Barkerville P3085

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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59 KERR’S PHOENIX BREWERY, WASHROOMS The Building Today: This building was constructed in 1983 a few feet south of the actual post-fire brewery because the circa 1890 Callanan residence occupies some of the original ground. The façade design is based on that of the original Phoenix Brewery.

A period room display at the front represents the brewery manager’s office, and an adjacent seating area provides a comfortable resting spot for visitors.

Public washrooms are located at the back.

Historical Notes: “ . . . The Columbia Pale Ale and Porter are now for sale both at Quesnelmouth and here, and their quality is unsurpassed. Mr. Kerr, who is the brewer himself of the Columbia Ale and Porter has had an experience of forty years at the brewing business, and he ranks second to none on this continent for ability in his profession. We recommend all who wish a most refreshing beverage to try the home manufacture of Messrs. Kerr & Duhig,” announced the Cariboo Sentinel on September 23, 1865.

James H. Kerr and his son operated the Phoenix Brewery by 1869. The front of the brewery appears in a photograph taken that year. Their business was for sale or rent in 1871. Kerr died in 1872.

60 KWONG LEE WING KEE BUTCHER SHOP The Building Today: The front room of this shed-roofed building depicts Tsang Pat Low during a visit to Barkerville in the 1930s. The Kwong Lee Wing a butcher shop. It was once an addition to the Kee Butcher Shop is on the left.

Barkerville P645 Kwong Lee Wing Kee Butcher Shop. Many of the meat-cutting tools from that shop are on display.

Historical Notes: The building that adjoined this one on the north side dated to the 1880s. It served as a butcher shop for many years. This addition appears to have been used as living quarters by employees of the Kwong Lee Wing Kee Company at first and then by various owners later on. The main building was used as a warehouse in its final years and was torn down between 1932 and 1934.

By 1832, The Kwong Lee Company was one of the most influential Chinese import/export companies in the world. It operated in Barkerville in the 1860s but the Canadian branch was in receivership by 1885. The Kwong Lee Wing Kee Company (literal translation: Extensive, Prosperous, Lasting, Trademark) took over the holdings in 1888.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

61 TSANG QUON RESIDENCE The Building Today: This house was built by Tsang Quon, manager and bookkeeper for the Kwong Lee Wing Kee Company, for his family. He brought his wife Ho Shee and daughter Foo Ling (Florence) to Barkerville from China in 1901. Foo Ling was six years old at the time. Her brother Pat Low was born in Barkerville in 1902. Florence told her son Dick Mah that one of her winter chores as a child was to chop the ice The Tsang family in February, 1915. From left: Foo Ling, Ho Shee, How Quon, away from the kitchen sink’s frozen drain.

This was a roomy and well-built house compared to the living quarters of most of Barkerville’s Chinese residents.

and Pat Low.

Barkerville P6380

Historical Notes: Tsang How Quon, who was born in China in 1860, sailed on the clipper ship “Titania” around Cape Horn, landing in Virginia in 1876. He worked in Victoria for the Kwong Lee Company before coming to Barkerville to work for the Kwong Lee Wing Kee Company. He made several trips back to China over the years.

When Dick Mah was a young boy, his grandfather Tsang Quon told him that before the family joined him in Barkerville, he slept upstairs in the Kwong Lee Wing Kee Store. In winter, he would wrap his queue around his face and in the morning it would often be coated with frost.

The family moved to Vancouver in 1913 and Tsang Quon opened a grocery store there. Within a few months of Florence’s marriage to Mah Bing Kee of Nanaimo in 1915, Tsang Quon returned to Barkerville while Ho Shee and Pat Low moved to Nanaimo.

Ho Shee died in 1928. When Tsang Quon retired he moved to Nanaimo to live with Florence and her family. He died in 1938. Pat Low lived in Prince George for many years before moving to Manitoba.

Jens “Lucky Swede” Hansen and his family lived here in the 1950s. The family sold Lot 16 and the buildings that stood on it, including this house, to the Provincial Government in 1958. It was bought as part of BC’s Centennial project to restore Barkerville.

The Tsang Quon Residence is behind the Kwong Lee Wing Kee Butcher Shop’s addition, all that now remains of the original store.

Barkerville P629

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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1 Administration Building, Archives & Library 2 Service Building 3 Service Building 4 Visitors’ Reception Centre, Admissions, Security, Washrooms 4b Activities Pavilion 5 Eldorado Gold Panning & Gift Shop 6 Tregillus Family Buildings (a-g) 7 Wesleyan Methodist Church 8 King Cabin 9 Frank J. McMahon’s Confectionery 128 Richfield 1.6 km

10 Blair House 11 Miners’ Boarding House 12 St. Saviour’s Anglican Church (privately owned) 13 Williams Creek Schoolhouse (Doody House) 14 King House Bed & Breakfast 15 Bibby’s Tin Shop 16 William Bowron House 17 John Bowron House 18 Wendle House 19 McIntyre House 20 Cameron & Ames Blacksmith Shop 21 Provincial Government Office & Cariboo Literary Institute’s Library

78 79

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• HOURS OF OPERATION: Barkerville is open from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm during the summer. Business hours vary.

• PUBLIC WASHROOMS: Visitors’ Reception Centre (#4), Kerr’s Phoenix Brewery (#59), and House Hotel (#39) marked on map with W and outhouses marked on map with T • SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITY: Wheelchairs are available from the Visitors’ Reception Centre. Most buildings are accessible via ramps.

• PETS: For the safety of visitors and site animals, only service dogs are permitted within the townsite. Check at the Visitors’ Reception Centre for availability of day kennels.

• SMOKING ON SITE: Barkerville is irreplaceable! Smoking is ONLY permitted beside Williams Creek. The location of the Smoking Room (122) is shown on this map.

• CONFERENCES, GATHERINGS & TOURS: Call 1-888-994-3332 ext. 29 for information about bringing a tour group or arranging a meeting, banquet, or wedding in Barkerville.

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22 Wilford Thomson House 23 J.H. Todd General Store 24 Barnard’s Express Office (stagecoach tickets & rides) 25 Wake Up Jake Restaurant & Coffee Saloon 26 Goldfield Bakery 27 W.D. Moses’s Barbershop 28 Barkerville Post Office (integrated postal services) 29 Dr. Hugh Watt’s Office & Residence 30 J.P. Taylor Drugstore 31 Nicol Hotel Museum 32 Barkerville School 33 St. George Hotel Bed & Breakfast 34 Dr. Jones’s Dentist Office 35 Masonic Hall Cariboo Lodge #4 (privately owned)

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97 125

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36 Louis A. Blanc Photographic Gallery 37 Joe Denny’s Saloon 38 Louis Wylde, Shoemaker 39 House Hotel Coffee Saloon 40 Pioneer Clothing 41 Government Assay Office; J.O. Travaillot, Surveyor; Joseph Parks, Barrister & Solicitor 42 Carriage Shed #2 43 McPherson’s Watchmaker’s Shop 44 Kelly Saloon 45 Kelly General Store 46 Mason & Daly General Merchants 47 Strouss Drygoods & Provisions 48 Barkerville Hotel 49 Carriage Shed #1 50 Theatre Royal & Williams Creek Fire Brigade

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127 123 126

122

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00 Operating Business 00 Walk-in / Interpreted Exhibit

S Smoking / Vaping Area T Outhouse Toilet W Washroom

Toll Free Phone 1•888•994•3332 Phone 250•994•3332 Fax 250•994•3435 www.barkerville.ca barkerville@barkerville.ca Barkerville Historic Town Box 19, Barkerville, BC V0K 1B0 CANADA

51 Williams Creek Fire Brigade 68 Tai Ping Fong (Peace Room) Hose Tower 69 Chee Kung Tong 52 Van Volkenburgh Cabin (Chinese Freemasons) 53 Sandy McArthur’s 70 Wa Lee Store Blacksmith Shop 71 Yan War Store 54 Cariboo Sentinel 71b Torstensson House Newspaper 72 Lee Chong Co. Store 55 Giddings Cabin Chinese Museum 56 Giddings Shed 73 Min Yee Tong 57 The Clearing 73b Lai Soy Lum Shop (special events) 74 Kwong Sang Wing Store 58 Dr. Callanan’s 75 Lee Chung Laundry 59 Kerr’s Phoenix Brewery, 76 Sing Kee Herbalist Washrooms 76b Barker Co. Shaft 60 Kwong Lee Wing Kee 77 Houser House Butcher Shop 78 Fink Garage 61 Tsang Quon Residence 79 Chinese Miners' Cabin 62 Marie’s Sporting House 80 Ruston Engine 63 Lung Duck Tong Restaurant 81 Waterous Sawmill 64 W. Hill Cabin 82 Eagle Claim Cabins 65 Garage #3 83 Cornish Water Wheel & Flume 66 Kibbee House 84 Stamp Mill 67 Halverson House Mining Museum 85 Sheepskin Co. Shaft 86 Sheepskin Co. Cabin

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87 88 88b 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108

Wong Dan’s Cabin Trapper Dan’s Cabin Barker Co. Shaft House Anderson Cabin Beamish Cabin Myatovic House (Chinese School) Ah Cow’s Cabin Hibernia Co. Claim Building Theatre Royal Storage Lowhee Mining Co. Cabin Lowhee Mining Co. Barn Butterfield Barn Barkerville Hotel Ice House McKinnon Barn McKinnon House Kelly Woodshed McKinnon Warehouse #1 McKinnon Warehouse #2 Service Building Blair Barn Michael Claim Cabin Barwise House Barkerville Power & Light Co. Power House (1/2 of original)

109 Kelly House Bed & Breakfast 109b Skid Shack #1 110 Turner Warehouse 111 W. Baker Stables 112 Mundorf Stables 113 McIntyre Cabin 114 Goldfields Garage 115 Holt & Burgess Cabinetmakers 116 Chicken House 117 Barkerville Power & Light Co. Power House (1/2 of original) 118 Morford House (privately owned) 119 McLeod Cabin 120 Tregillus Cabin 121 Conklin Pump House 122 Smoking Room 123 Kelly Storage Shed 124 Skid Shack #2 125 Kelly Workshop 126 Canadian Co. Cabin & Tunnel 127 Gunn Claim Hydraulic Mining Pit 128 Richfield Courthouse 129 Wells-Barkerville Cemetery

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32 33 31 3029 28

109 109b

24 27 25 23 20 18 22 21 19 16 17 15

110 111

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116 Emergency Evacuation Route

TOWN ENTRANCE

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129 Wells-Barkerville Cemetery 800 m (access from end of parking lot)

6 (a-g) 5

3

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1

BARKERVILLE HISTORIC TOWN & PARK BC HERITAGE MAP CROWN COPYRIGHT © 2001 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PROGRAMS & SERVICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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62 MARIE’S SPORTING HOUSE The Building Today: Although it is known that this was a “sporting house,” it is not clear that Marie Roth was a “sporting” woman. She did have several “girls” in her employ, however. Dr. Black of Wells recalled completing “bills of health” for the women. These papers were found in the 1960s when exhibits were installed in the front rooms of the building.

When Marie sold this property, she left many personal belongings behind, including documents and clothing. In 1986, some of these items were found inside an unholstered ottoman when it was Marie Roth poses on the boardwalk of her house; circa 1945. Barkerville P632 discovered that the ottoman top was actually a lid.

In 1992, a piece of linoleum was moved, revealing three floor boards that had been cut so that short pieces could be lifted out. Additional documents and two bottles of liquor were found in a cavity below the boards. At the same time, $70 US were also found under another piece of linoleum.

Historical Notes: There were a number of brothels in early Barkerville.

Ah Mow ran one such establishment in 1871; it was located two lots south of the Lung Duck Tong. That summer, John Baker was apparently “turned out” of Ah Mow’s Chinese house of prostitution. Soon after this incident, Ah Mow’s body was found out front and Baker was charged with murder.

D. Ercole operated a butcher shop on this lot but he went bankrupt in 1875. A building that may have housed the butcher shop appears on this lot in a circa 1900 photograph.

This log house was built by Victor Preston in 1933 and Marie Roth purchased it in 1934.

Marie’s real name was Mary Poffenroth and she was born in 1906 in Calgary, Alberta. She came to Barkerville via Hyder, Alaska, where she leased the Ocean View Hotel until May, 1932 under the alias Marie Smith. Marie donated to worthy causes in Barkerville and was well liked. She is fondly remembered by old timers as “Cold Ass Marie.”

In 1949, an altercation between Marie and another woman resulted in a jail sentence of nine months for Marie, three of which were for “keeping liquor for sale.” It appears that she left the Cariboo after serving her time, and sold this property to the Crowd gathered for the Dominion Day horse races on July 1, 1900. The building Province of BC in 1958. A woman who knew Marie at the right is the original Lung Duck Tong. Marie’s Sporting House stands in Barkerville remembered seeing her years later in today where the second building from the right appears.

Barkerville P656 Victoria working as a server in a restaurant.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

63 LUNG DUCK TONG RESTAURANT The Building Today: Feast on authentic Chinese cuisine or savour traditional Dim Sum snacks in this great Chinese restaurant. The building was reconstructed in the 1970s based on historic photographs.

Historical Notes: The Lung Duck Tong, like the other tong buildings in Barkerville, provided Chinese men with a place to gather, visit, play games and share meals.

In the 1934 Application for Declaration of Title to Lot 65, Chung Lung Fong, agent for the Lung Duck Tong, declared that the Lung Duck Tong had owned this lot and the building that stood here since 1904, and that he had occupied it for the previous fifteen years. By 1934, the Miners’ Cafe and/or a rooming house were located in the structure, and a singlestorey addition had been attached at the back.

64 W. HILL CABIN The Building Today: Various activities associated with the Chinese interpretation program take place here. Visitors may drop by to chat with interpreters and learn about Chinese culture, including the tea ceremony. They may also have the opportunity to try their hand at a variety of Chinese games, or even calligraphy.

Chinatown tours begin in this vicinity, too.

Historical Notes: William Hill came from England in 1857. He worked as a Barkerville house painter and decorator in the W. Hill, Painter building; circa 1960. early 1860s, and owned property a few lots north of here before the fire of 1868. He was involved in the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association, the Williams Creek Fire Brigade, and the Cariboo Masonic Lodge.

He also created the Cariboo Canadian Flag in 1869 but died later that year at the age of 37. The cause may have been lead poisoning from the paints he used.

The old Kwong Lee Store, which later became the Lee Chong Company Restaurant, still stood on this site in 1934 but had disappeared by 1958. The cabin that stands on this lot today may have been built here or it may have been built at an earlier date and moved when the old building was torn down.

Beneath the two layers of heavy building paper that covered the walls, layers of paper, magazine pages, and boxes were found, likely placed there as insulation. Furnishings that were attached to the walls indicate that this was once someone’s home.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

Barkerville P631

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65 GARAGE #3 The Building Today: This garage is not open to visitors at this time.

Historical Notes: This building does not appear on a 1934 map of Barkerville and is believed to have been built at a later date. It and the other garages around Barkerville are indicative of the shift from horsedrawn vehicles to motorized ones. The first car in Barkerville appeared around 1910.

The south end of Lee Chong Company Restaurant was located where this garage now stands.

66 KIBBEE HOUSE The Building Today: The Conservation in the Cariboo exhibit is housed here. Early regional conservation methods, wildlife harvesting regulations, and the development of parks are explored. Notable local people who contributed to the creation of parks and protected areas are featured. Hunting, fishing and outdoor The Kibbee family, (left to right) Juanita, Hazel, Jessie, Frank, Annie; circa 1925. recreation artifacts are also displayed.

Barkerville P315 Frank Kibbee came to this region from the United States in 1900. He was a trapper, hunter, and guide who homesteaded at the mouth of Bear River and later built a home overlooking Bear Lake (now Bowron Lake). In 1926, he was appointed as game warden for the Bowron Lake Game Reserve, which had just been established in 1925, and retired in 1940. When his wife Anita Juanita “Annie” died in 1948, he lived in Vancouver with his daughter Hazel until his death in 1955.

Frank and Annie moved their family from Bear Lake to this house every winter so the children, Juanita, Hazel, and Jessie, could attend school.

Frank Jr. died in infancy and Juanita died at the age of 14. The Kibbees sold this property in 1932.

A two storey addition at the back of the house that consisted of a kitchen and two upstairs bedrooms was beyond saving and was removed in the 1980s.

Historical Notes: This building, originally located next to the present day Dr. Jones Dentist Office, was moved here by Frank Kibbee around 1917, as sworn by Joseph Wendle in 1934 to the Barkerville Townsite Titles Investigation. The building in its former location, and another adjoining it to the south, had housed Fick’s New England Bakery and Coffee Saloon in 1870. Elias Jones inherited this building and William The Kibbee House; circa 1960.

Barkerville P636 Jones’s office to the north after his death in 1897.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

67 HALVERSON HOUSE MINING MUSEUM The Building Today: Learn all about gold, and the roles it played in the development of the region, by visiting the “Gold in the Cariboo� exhibit located in this building.

The Halverson House was renovated, and the additions reconstructed, between 1995 and 1999 in preparation for this exhibit.

Historical Notes: According to Bill Hong, the Doy Ying Low Chinese Restaurant occupied a building on this lot and a pig-roasting pit was located behind it. Possibly constructed in the 1870s, the structure was vacant by 1934, according to a map drawn that year.

Gunnar Halverson, his wife Alma, and children Vinse and Millie moved to Barkerville in 1934.

Gunnar took any work he could find to support his family. In 1935, fifteen year old Vinse went to work at the Sang Dang Placer Mine for twelve hours a day, 25 cents an hour, seven days a week.

The family lived in one humble abode after another until late 1939 when Gunnar, Vinse, and their friend Roy Strand built this house. Squared timbers from the Slough Creek Mine were stacked to create the walls. The Halversons moved in on Christmas Eve. Vinse married Marion Davis in 1944 before joining the Canadian Scottish Regiment to serve in World War II. They moved in with his parents in 1946. In 1951 Gunnar died. Vinse worked in the area until he and his family moved to Kelowna in 1963. Millie and her husband Sid Dannhauer then lived with Alma.

68 TAI PING FONG (PEACE ROOM) The Building Today: Most Chinese people intended to return to China before they died so they could be buried in their ancestral graveyards. When sickness or poverty prevented that, they passed their final days in the care of Tong members in hospice buildings like this.

After the deceased were buried for a suitable time, the Chinese community ensured that their bones were dug up and sent back to China for reburial.

Most of the graves in the Chinese cemetery near Richfield are empty for this reason.

Historical Notes: Bill Hong remembered this building as being the Chinese Masonic Hospital House, or Masonic sick room, and identified it as such on his 1969 map of Barkerville. It is believed that the building dates to around 1900. It was built with an extra log at the front to conform to the contour of the hillside.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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69 CHEE KUNG TONG (CHINESE FREEMASONS) The Building Today: In recognition of its cultural significance to the Chinese, this building was designated as a Canadian National Historic Site. The Chee Kung Tong, also known as the Chinese Freemasons, provided support for immigrants in a foreign land, paid homage to the ancestors, assisted in liberation from tyranny in the homeland, and helped to address the changing social and political concerns of individuals.

They operated this building as their hostel and meeting room from at least 1874 to 1949. Members lived here at no cost, provided they did their share of chores. Newly arrived Chinese men, those who were sick, or who had no other place to stay could also bunk here until they found other accommodation. Food was prepared in the kitchen and served to residents and others who lived in Chinatown and came here for meals. They would also gather to relax, play games, visit, write letters and pass the time.

Historical Notes: The word tong usually means meeting place in Chinese but can also mean association, ancestors’ hall, herbal store and clan association. Five types of social groups, through which the Chinese created associations, have been identified. The Chee Kung Tong (Hongmen Society) was of the type based on national organizations, whose members came from all regions and ethnic groups of China. It was both a political group and a social organization. They were dedicated to overthrowing the Ch’ing Dynasty (Manchus from the north) and reinstating the Ming Dynasty (southern Han people) in China. The Ch’ing Dynasty was overthrown in the 1911 revolution and the republic was established. The Society’s political agenda then supported the new republic.

This building was constructed in three stages. The main portion is of frame construction and dates to the early 1870s. The log kitchen was built circa 1883, and the north addition was added around 1905.

The Society’s ceremonies were conducted here until around 1882 when a building to the north began to be used for those activities. In 1932, that structure was sold and an upstairs room in this building was again used for ceremonial purposes. The last Master of the Chee Kung Tong in Barkerville was The Oylin Society’s building is on the right and the Chee Kung Tong is beside it. Dea Song, who held the position from about 1917 to Image F-7766 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P655 his death in 1949.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

70 WA LEE STORE The Building Today: This store is similar to the one that was operated by the Wa Lee company. Two Wa Lee stores and a wood yard once sat on this lot according to Bill Hong. He also remembered that each month one of the compay partners drove pigs from Quesnel to Barkerville. “Once in Barkerville, the animals were butchered and the meat delivered by packhorse to the surrounding mining camps.”

Historical Notes: The Wa Lee firm, established by four partners in 1866, had businesses in Barkerville and Quesnel.

Their laundry was located in the lower part of Barkerville prior to the 1868 fire. The company obtained liquor, retail, and opium licences in 1870 and focussed on retail merchandising. The principal partner, or agent, was known as Wa Lee. Wiggs O’Neill remembered in the 1880s, “When there would be a big do or party, everyone would be there, even to Mr. Moses the coloured barber and Wa Lee, the big Tyee Chinaman merchant.”

Sing Kee and four partners purchased Wa Lee’s Barkerville holdings around 1913, but a fire in 1915 The Sing Kee and Company store, formerly Yan War Store; circa 1915. Except for several photographs, no other documentation is known to exist regarding destroyed their premises. They then ran a store in Sing Kee’s occupancy of this building.

Barkerville P1523 Madame Bendixon’s old building, which they had bought and moved to this site. It was later sold and moved to another location. The present building was moved from Mickeyville, near Wells, in 1973.

71 YAN WAR STORE The Building Today: This exhibit authentically represents a Chinese mercantile operation on the B.C. mining frontier.

The Yan War Company had a trade licence as early as 1880 and owned this building by 1907. A circa 1890 document records the sale of goods from the Yan War Company to the Chee Kung Tong. Items included fresh ginger, betel nuts, prepared opium, peanut oil and mock ceremonial silver ingots. By 1902, the company’s partners were Chew Soon, Chew Tip, Chew Look, Chew Toy, Wey Gouk, Wey Gam, Wey Sew, Wey Sing and Tom Hong Gow. Historical Notes: Purchased by Lam Dan and Dea Song in 1927, Bill Hong bought out Dea Song’s building share in 1933.

In 1976, twelve rotten logs were replaced on the north side. Ceiling panels removed at that time revealed newspapers dating from 1869 and 1870, indicating that it was built in the early 1870s. The lean-to on the north side was reconstructed in 1982.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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71B TORSTENSSON HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at this time.

Historical Notes: This little house was moved from the “squatters’ area” at Barkerville’s north end to New Barkerville in 1959.

It was the home of Enar Torstensson, a hardy Swede, woodsman, prospector, and miner, who loved music and socializing. He sold to Lorna Robb in 1980. Gary and Lana Fox bought the building some years later and donated it back to Barkerville in 2010. It now stands in for a Chinese building that was once here.

72 LEE CHONG CO. STORE CHINESE MUSEUM The Building Today: The stories of the Chinese in Barkerville are explored on the museum’s main floor. Political, economic, and social issues that impacted the regions in China from which most Chinese emigrated are also discussed.

Ceremonial objects and furnishings from the Chee Kung Tong meeting room are on display as are many Chinese artifacts.

The Hong and Lee families lived upstairs in the 1930s. Their rooms have been created anew based on the memories of both families’ grown-up children.

With five children in the Hong family and a growing Lee family, space was at a premium. What is now the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom was then one big room. The outhouse and firewood were accessed by a porch and stairs off the back of the kitchen. An addition was used to store ice and other perishables.

Lem Kee Baths is on right with the Lee Chong Company store beside it; circa 1935. Historical Notes: Barkerville P654 Lee Chong and Bill Hong took over the Lun Wo Store across the street in 1926. This building was constructed in 1932 and the items sold included groceries, pastries, ice, beef, pork, clothes, boots, shoes, and mining tools.

Lee Chong, aged 17, came to BC from China in 1911.

He married Wong Shee, from Nanaimo, in 1932. They lived here from 1933 to 1942, raised six children, and eventually moved to Vancouver.

Bill Hong’s Chinese name, with surname first in the Chinese way, was Wong Mon Hong. “Bill” came from his initials W.M., a common abbreviation for William, and he adopted Hong as his last name. He was born in Stanley in 1901 and married Fay in 1923. A miner, businessman, and community supporter, his many artifact donations and book, “And So . . . That’s How it Happened,” have aided in Barkerville’s preservation.

The Lee Chong Co. store had closed by 1943 owing to a decline in business, but Pat Hong, Bill and Fay’s son, reopened it from 1946 to 1953. The Hong brothers also had business interests in Wells until 1973.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

73 MIN YEE TONG The Building Today: The Min Yee Tong in Barkerville was a multi-clan organization formed by a group of individuals whose clans were too small to create a tong. Larger clans, such as the Chows, did have their own tong.

The White Pigeon Lottery took place several times a day. Chinese runners made booklets from the sheets, seen on the table at the back of this room, and recorded each person’s bet in black. They circulated through Barkerville collecting bets and then distributing the winnings after the draw. The signs on the post indicate a maximum bet of $100 was permitted. Dominoes, fantan, cards and mah jong were other games that were frequently played.

Historical Notes: In North American Chinese communities, the tongs served as community centres, restaurants, gambling houses, and boarding houses. In a broader context, they were socio-political organizations dedicated to protecting Chinese rights and preserving language and culture.

In 1934, Low Sun, agent for the Min Yee Tong in Barkerville, stated that the building on this lot had been in the possession of the tong prior to 1894. He and his cousin were the only members of the association left in the community. Gamblingrelated slogans and the rules for mah jong were found pasted to the walls.

73b LAI SOY LUM SHOP The Building Today: Pop in to see the incredibly detailed silk embroidery “paintings� that are sold in this shop, along with other intriguing Chinese items.

Fay Hong with her children, May, Louie, Pat, and Ray standing on the stairs of the building known today as the Kwong Sang Wing Store; circa 1930. The building right behind them, with the projecting front porch, was built by Wong Jim and a man named Mok Wo lived there at one time, according to Bill Hong.

Image C-9725 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P240

Documents indicate that the Lai Soy Lum Company was a small Chinese business that sold goods and gave contributions to the Chee Kung Tong in Barkerville between 1882 and 1891.

Historical Notes: The origins of this cabin are unknown. It had been moved to a site beside the present administration building by 1960 and served as storage for the operators of the first reconstructed water wheel located in the same area. It was later relocated to a spot on the north side of the Masonic Hall. In 2010, the cabin was moved once more to this site to stand in for a similar looking building that once stood here.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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74 KWONG SANG WING STORE The Building Today: This store sells colourful merchandise, from clothing to toys to medicinal herbs, imported directly from China. The whole family will find a visit interesting.

A gambling exhibit and then an archaeological exhibit were located here after 1958. In 1982, the building was dismantled because it was leaning dangerously towards the street. An archaeological dig on this site was conducted prior to the building’s reconstruction. This store began operating in 1993.

Historical Notes: Research indicates that this building was constructed in 1902 for the Kwong Sang Wing Company. Pages from an 1894 BC Gazette were found on the ceiling, likely put there as insulation and to reduce drafts.

Eng Fong, proprietor of the company, lived upstairs with his wife and four children. The business was sold in 1914 to the Lun Wo Company and then to the Lee Chong Company in 1926. The Hong family lived in this building for several years before moving in with the Lee family across the street.

75 LEE CHUNG LAUNDRY The Building Today: A Chinese laundry is depicted in this building.

Living, ironing, and sewing functions took place in the front room. A sleeping loft, accessible by ladder, is located above. Several examples of washing equipment are shown in the back room including This may be Eng Fong with three of his children on the front porch of the two washing machines, a washboard and laundry Kwong Sang Wing Store; circa 1910.

Barkerville P7025 tub, and a mangle used for wringing out clothes.

Lee Chung is known to have operated a laundry in Barkerville as early as 1899. A document from that year titled CHEAP WASHING lists his rates per clothing or linen item. He was also known by the nickname “Forty Below.” His sideline was bootlegging and he said his liquor was good to 40 below; he actually meant to claim that it was 40% alcohol. He also operated a laundry in Wells later.

Historical Notes: It is thought that this building was built around 1890 and may have housed a small Chinese business. In 1970, Bill Hong indicated that Gee Quon had once lived here. The Lee Chong Company bought this property in 1926 from the Lun Wo Company, which had acquired it from the Kwong Sang Wing Company in 1914. Lem Kee operated a bathhouse and laundry next door to the north from 1916 to the 1930s.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

76 SING KEE HERBALIST The Building Today: Chinese medicine, which originated early in Chinese history, is based on the healing powers of herbs, minerals and animal products. Herbalists, the practitioners of this ancient science, operated in most of the British Columbia communities where Chinese people lived. They were highly trained in their medical traditions and techniques compared to many of their European counterparts.

Historical Notes: This building is thought to date to 1885 or earlier.

Records indicate that it was owned by the Kwong Sang Wing Company in the early years and was sold to the Lun Wo Company in 1914. The Lee Chong Company bought the building in 1926 and used it as a warehouse.

Sing Kee, which operated as a general merchant, was a company that consisted of several partners.

From about 1913 to 1918, they owned the lot (and buildings) on which the Wa Lee Store and Kibbee House now stand.

76B BARKER CO. SHAFT The Building Today: The first reconstructed Barker shaft was built on this site in 1960; the present one is the third. A shaft identified on several maps as belonging to the Barker Co. was located here, but it is not known if this was where they hit paydirt on August 17, 1862. The Lee Chong Company store is on the left and the former Lem Kee bathhouse is next to it. Lee Chung Laundry and Sing Kee Herbalist are the third and fourth Historical Notes: In August of 1862 the Manual of Record noted that the Barker Co. ground consisted of “eight claims of 100 ft. each commencing below the cãnon at the Baldhead Company’s upper lines and running upstream or flat 800 ft.” One end was probably just a few feet south of here and the other down near today’s Assay Office. The company was working their third shaft when they struck it rich, and in the next few years they sunk several new ones, making it very difficult today to pinpoint their activities.

buildings from the left; circa 1960.

Barkerville P637

The British Colonist noted on Oct. 20, 1862, “Below the cãnon on the flat Billy Barker had struck a very rich claim. After sinking 2 shafts without finding anything one of the partners drifted out 124 oz. of gold in 10 hours.” The British Colonist and Cariboo Sentinel also mentioned new shafts sunk by the Barker Co. in June 1864 and 1865, July 1865, and May 1866.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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77 HOUSER HOUSE The Building Today: Nettie Houser lived in this house until her death in 1933. She moved here around the time of her husband John’s death at age 53 in 1901. Her son William lived with her and cared for her. It appears that William moved to the log house across the street after her death because the official townsite plan of 1934 indicates that it belonged to him.

This log house is thought to have been built by 1900. By 1980, the house was very dilapidated and many of the lower logs were rotten. The building was carefully taken apart and then rebuilt using as much of the original material as possible.

Historical Notes: Johanette “Nettie” Saess was born in 1848 and came to Barkerville in 1867 to earn her living as a hurdygurdy girl. She returned to Germany after the fire of 1868 and married John Houser (originally Johannes Häusser); it is believed that they met in Barkerville. Houser was an accomplished violinist who came to Barkerville in the early 1860s to mine.

The Housers moved to San Francisco, where they had three children. In 1875, they returned to Barkerville with their children and Nettie’s sister Margaret, who married Charles House a year later.

Five more children were born in Barkerville. The family lived south of town at Stout’s Gulch in a building that had a small bar in front and their living quarters at the back. Houser continued mining and played the violin at all the parties and dances on the creek. He also gave music lessons to the local children, including his own.

When William, one of the Houser children, was a young adult, he lost a leg after a cave-in at the family claim. He continued to mine and partnered with Russell MacDougall on a hydraulic operation at the Ketch Mine, where a sixteen ounce nugget was found in 1937.

Jeanette Houser on the front porch of her house; circa 1925.

Barkerville P6427

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A family member has indicated that Houser was also a “boss hurdy,” who brought young women of his acquaintance or his extended family (and possibly Jeanette), to Canada from Germany to dance with the miners. Becoming hurdy-gurdys provided these young women, often from povertystricken backgrounds, the means to earn a living.

Many married miners and spent the rest of their lives in the Cariboo.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

78 FINK GARAGE The Building Today: This garage is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This structure was built in the late 1940s by Bernhard Fink. Bernhard and his wife Helena came to Barkerville in 1939 and lived in a house just to the south of this building. They added on to another small house, built in 1934, on the next lot to the south and moved there in the early 1940s. The first house, an old log cabin hidden beneath drop siding, was torn down to make way for this garage.

The Finks moved with their children Frances and Carl to Smithers in 1949.

Jugene “Eugene” Giddings lived in the house next door in his later years and this building was then known as Giddings Garage.

Chinese slogans found on an interior wall suggested that the building was built and/or used

by Chinese people. Recently, the Fink family revealed that it had been built by Bernhard.

79 CHINESE MINERS’ CABIN The Building Today: This exhibit depicts the living quarters of four or more Chinese miners. Chinese men typically lived in humble conditions for several reasons: they were paid less than their white counterparts, they regularly sent money home to their families, and they tried to save money to bring family members to Canada, or to return to China themselves.

The men may have slept in shifts in the bunks and eaten most of their meals in one of the tong buildings.

The Finks’ house and garage; circa 1960.

Barkerville P630

Historical Notes: James Ross, a local miner, owned this cabin from 1909 to 1919. John Campbell then purchased it and was still living here in 1934. In 1980, the cabin was lifted and 15 rotten logs were replaced.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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80 RUSTON ENGINE The Site Today: This Ruston engine was used to generate electricity in the Cariboo Gold Quartz Company’s power plant, which supplied power to both the mine and Wells townsite. It was fabricated by the Ruston and Hornsby Company, in Lincoln, England. This company operates today as Alstom Engines.

Historical Notes: The restoration of this engine and generator was completed in 2003. The project was led by volunteer Jim Hawke, who worked tirelessly on it for several years. Hawke was once offered a job with the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine but turned it down for personal reasons. The shed that houses the Ruston engine was built in 2003. A horse corral, constructed in 1973, had been located in this area prior to that.

81 WATEROUS SAWMILL The Site Today: This Waterous Engine Works sawmill has a patent date on the carriage of May 26, 1868 and was manufactured in Brantford, Ontario. Joe Wendle, guide, miner, and entrepreneur, was the last owner, having used it to saw lumber at his Bowron Lake property for 50 years. Little is known about the mill or how it arrived in the Cariboo prior to 1900. The intent of this operational sawmill is to The sawmill, when it was located on the back street near the present-day mill dimensional lumber for Barkerville and local corrals; circa 1960.

Barkerville P6991 area building projects. The hope is that it will also provide visitors a rare opportunity to view this old technology at work.

Historical Notes: The structure housing the mill was built in 2008.

The sawmill was restored and installed in its present location in 2009.

Records indicate that the Kwong Sang Wing Company sold this lot to Frank Kibbee in 1920. The Lee Chong Company acquired the property from Kibbee in 1927 as settlement of a debt. According to Bill Hong, the land had been occupied by a stable, which was being used as a garage by 1934. The roof of that large structure is visible in an aerial photograph of Barkerville taken in 1951. Vinse Halverson indicated that his father Gunnar also operated a blacksmith shop on this site.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

82 EAGLE CLAIM CABINS These Building Today: These cabins are not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This is the third known site on which this double cabin has been located. It was situated north of St. Saviour’s Church in the 1930s. The continuous roof and back wall joined the two sections, creating a covered entrance area in the middle. In the 1960s, the back wall was cut in half. The resulting two cabins were moved to sit side by side just south of the Tregillus complex. In 1987, one cabin was moved to the current site and the other one was reunited with its other half in 1991. Pages of newspapers and magazines, which acted as insulation and dated from 1928 to 1937, were found between the floor layers and in the lower parts of the walls.

Records indicate that the Eagle Claim was located in this general vicinity in the early 1860s. During that time, it is estimated that the company took out only $10,000 in gold.

83 CORNISH WATER WHEEL AND FLUME The Site Today: The owner and the chief engineer of this claim are certain they are on the verge of striking it rich.

They “generously” invite potential investors to the site to learn how their contributions will translate into personal fortunes. While there, visitors experience the mighty wheel in action, and witness a gold clean-up in progress.

Thomas Drasdauskis photo

This overshot water wheel is 16 feet in diameter.

It is modelled after wheels and pumps used in the tin mines of Cornwall, England. The technology is at least 2000 years old and was used all over Europe in mining operations and to move water.

The early miners found that the richest pay gravel often lay 40 to 100 feet below the ground’s surface.

The wheels were used to pump water from these deep workings and to lift gravel and miners to the surface.

Historical Notes: This water wheel was constructed in 2007 to replace one that was built in 1985. There were many such water wheels along Williams Creek at the height of the area’s first gold rush.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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84 STAMP MILL The Site Today: Stamp mills were used to reduce ore into a fine powder in order to separate gold from rock. This four stamp mill was used on Mount Proserpine and brought down to Barkerville in the early 1960s.

It was restored in 2007 and installed here in 2008.

Historical Notes: This mill was already thought of as old in 1935; it may predate 1878 when the Forrest Company was considering the purchase of a ten stamp mill for their operations on Mount Proserpine. Many miners were convinced the motherlode was located in the mountains around Barkerville. Testing of hard rock on Mount Proserpine dates back to 1864 when it was undertaken by a Mr. Wilkinson. The existence of this early mill indicates that hard rock The Sheepskin Company’s mine shaft with a windlass at the top. mining played as important a role in local area Image A-2049 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P1282 mining history as placer mining.

85 SHEEPSKIN CO. SHAFT The Site Today: This shaft is a replica of a typical mine shaft. Shafts of up to sixty feet in depth were sunk through gravel and clay to reach bedrock where 90% of the placer gold was recovered. A two-man winch called a windlass was used to hoist large buckets of gold-bearing gravel to the surface. The gravel was then dumped into a sluice box where it was washed with water provided by a flume.

Historical Notes: The Sheepskin Company’s claim, which adjoined the Barker Company claims, was located in this area. It earned a total of $150,000, according to the 1896 report by Gold Commissioner John Bowron.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

86 SHEEPSKIN CO. CABIN The Building Today: The office and living quarters for the owners of the Sheepskin Company are depicted in this exhibit.

Shovels, pickaxes and other mining tools are stored in the corner. Furnishings are simple; the most important item is the wood stove, essential for heat and cooking food.

When it’s raining, summer visitors sometimes gather on the front porch for informative mining discourses presented by historic interpreters at the Barker Co. Shaft House across the street.

Historical Notes: This cabin was moved from Stanley and reassembled on this site in 1960. It straddles two lots: a cabin once stood on the northern lot and Bill Hong indicates that there was a vegetable garden on the southern one.

87 WONG DAN’S CABIN The Building Today: Wong Dan, known as Little Dan, lived in this cabin at one time. He came to Barkerville in the mid 1880s, having walked via Quesnelle Forks from Yale, and stayed until his death in the early 1930s. He was only four and a half feet tall, thus his nickname. He prospected on his own and worked for other placer companies.

Historical Notes: This cabin was reportedly constructed soon after the 1868 fire. A 1934 townsite map indicates that Dea Chung was living here at that time.

88 TRAPPER DAN’S CABIN The Building Today: Chan Lun Fong, nicknamed Trapper Dan, came from Kaslo. He worked on the Point Claim for the Slough Creek Hydraulic Mine in 1921. He was also a trapper and had a placer claim at Summit Creek. He lived in this “hospital” cabin, owned by the Tsang Shang Association, in later years. He eventually moved to Kamloops where he lived past the age of 70.

Historical Notes: This cabin is thought to date to just after the 1868 fire. In 1934, Bill Hong acted as an agent for four Chinese men, possibly all members of the Tsang Shang Association, to make an application for a declaration of title on their behalf.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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88B BARKER CO. SHAFT HOUSE The Building Today: This reconstruction of the Barker Co. shaft house is based on Peter Toft’s painting (bottom left), which he described as “View of Barker claim and town from the Canadian cabin.”

Let Billy Barker himself tell you all about the early days on the creek. And, as prospective investors, watch miners use the windlass to bring up buckets of rich ore to wash in the sluice box.

Historical Notes: The exact site of the Barker Co. shaft house shown in the painting is unknown, but it was located in this part of Barkerville. Before the bulkheads were built to control Williams Creek’s path, water flowed freely through the valley, depositing large amounts of sand and gravel. As a result, the ground level today is 10 to 20 feet higher than it was in the 1860s, making it difficult to determine the exact location of early structures.

The company had a shaft near the present day Sandy McArthur’s Blacksmith Shop (#53 on site map) and one in Chinatown (#76b on site map) and either site may have been where they first struck the lead on August 17, 1862. On that day, miners drifted out 124 ounces of gold within 10 hours and news of the strike spread rapidly. Thomas Elwyn reported on August 22, 1962, “At a distance of forty feet from the surface Messrs. Barker & Co. (eight Englishmen) Four men, one of whom could be Billy Barker, standing around the windlass on have found a stratum of gravel and slate lying the Barker Claim; circa 1868. Photograph by Frederick Dally. immediately upon the bed-rock which as far as they National Archives C-019424; Barkerville P1272 have yet tested it yields an average of about a third of an ounce of gold to the pan of dirt. This strike I consider to be of great importance for now the lead will in all probability be traced for a long distance down the creek.”

The note on the back of this painting reads, “View of Barker claim and town from the Canadian cabin. Drawn by P. Toft, Cariboo - June - 1863” The artist, Peter Toft, arrived in San Francisco in 1850 and became one of the first illustrators for Harper’s Magazine.

Barkerville 2005.0042.0001

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Few characters represent the Cariboo Gold Rush more aptly than William “Billy” Barker. His gold discovery on Williams Creek, followed by the rise of internationally famous Barkerville, was of great significance in the development of British Columbia.

Barker is often depicted by popular historians as “a happy-go-lucky Englishman, with more luck than brains” – the very essence of the rags to riches, hard living, hard drinking spirit of the frontier. While he certainly earned this reputation, the known facts of his life actually reveal a shrewd man who worked hard for his well-deserved place in Canadian history.

Barker sold his share of the claim in 1864 and died a pauper in Victoria in 1894.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

89 ANDERSON CABIN The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: Marius Anderson purchased this cabin from Ah Quan in 1920. He lived here from that time until at least 1934. In 1934, the cabin had a front porch.

The porch had been removed and the building was used to store lumber by 1965, as indicated in a photograph from that year.

As part of a 1980-81 building stabilization project, many of the rotten logs in this building were replaced. Door and window openings were not cut into the front because it wasn’t known at the time how the building would be used in the future.

90 BEAMISH CABIN The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: Imer Beamish built a new house on this lot in 1934.

It was moved in 1961 to New Barkerville, just north of the Barkerville Cemetery, around the same time that the few remaining Barkerville residents, and their houses, also moved there. A 1975 map shows a building on this lot with similar dimensions to the present log cabin, suggesting that it had been moved here by then.

The house built by Imer Beamish in 1934 is second from the right with Williams The original Beamish house is on the move to New Barkerville in 1961. On the Creek behind it. The Theatre Royal is in the foreground. Barkerville BP2903 left is the Nicol Hotel with its north addition still intact. Barkerville BP1945

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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91 MYATOVIC HOUSE (CHINESE SCHOOL) The Building Today: This building houses Barkerville’s Chinese school during the summer. Attend a class and try your hand at Chinese calligraphy, learn how to use an abacus, and find out more about Chinese culture.

This small frame cabin was reconstructed from photographs and drawings of the original building, which was beyond repair. Nick Myatovic, the first owner, was interviewed by Barkerville staff in 1983 and 1995. On both occasions, he shared colourful stories about the Barkerville region during the 1930s. He recalled building this little house in 1932, constructing first one fourteen by sixteen foot section and then adding another the same size. He later rented it to a friend for three dollars.

Historical Notes: Nick was born in Herzegovina, Yogoslavia in 1903 and came to Canada in 1928. He travelled and worked at several jobs before coming to Barkerville in 1932. Nick worked for the French Creek Hydraulic Company for several summers and lived in this cabin during the winters. In 1937, he went to Atlin, BC where his gold mining endeavors finally met with success. After serving during World War II, he went to Europe where he met and married his wife.

The family eventually settled in Prince George, BC. The 1934 townsite plan indicates that a “new frame cabin” stood on this lot at that time. In June of that year, Andrew Manjlovich asked to have priority in respect to the ownership of this lot. He indicated that he had been unable to find anyone who claimed to own the property.

The Myatovic house before reconstruction.

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Ah Cow’s Cabin; circa 1940.

Barkerville P2576

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

92 AH COW’S CABIN The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: William Kelly purchased this property from Ah Cow in 1910. Ah Cow was in the area from at least 1870, when it was recorded that he was paid $73.77 for road labour. He paid one ground rent in the vicinity of Barkerville in 1873 and was engaged in mining operations on or near Nelson Creek by 1875. He bought a trade licence in 1889 and by 1897 was described as being a trader at Barkerville. He obtained a retail merchant licence for the period of 1907 to 1909.

This cabin may date to the late 1860s. According to Fred Ludditt, the last people to live here were Eddie and Dot Potier. Eddie worked as a bartender for the McKinnons.

93 HIBERNIA CO. CLAIM BUILDING The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: The Hibernia Company claim was located in this vicinity in 1862. William Kelly purchased this lot in 1908. In 1934, Lottie McKinnon’s application to the Townsite Titles Investigation Act stated that Kelly erected the building that is now on the lot.

(He died in 1917; Lottie was his widow.) A newly constructed “storage and ice house” next door to the north is shown on 1933 and 1934 townsite maps and visible in an historic photograph. It is no longer standing. The present log structure is identified as a barn, blacksmith shop or “auto” depending on the townsite map.

94 THEATRE ROYAL STORAGE The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This building is believed to have been built in the 1930s. It appears south of the administration building in a 1962 photograph but it is not shown there on a 1958 site map. Where it was originally built is not known. The structure was moved to lot 95 on the back street between 1975 and 1985, and moved once more to its present site in 1985.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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95 LOWHEE MINING CO. CABIN The Building Today: This cabin is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This log cabin is believed to have been built by the early 1890s. It was owned from around 1896 to 1913 by Cariboo Gold Fields Ltd. It was then bought by John Hopp. He had been a mine owner and operator for many years prior to 1913 and was engaged in developing what subsequently became known as the John Hopp Mining Property.

In 1929, the Lowhee Mining Company Ltd. was incorporated for the purpose of acquiring Hopp’s mining properties. He became a director of the company, which purchased this property and several more pieces in 1930. At that time, Hopp indicated that this cabin was occupied by J.P. Delhanty, a trespasser.

Hopp made oath and said in his 1934 affidavit to the Barkerville Townsite Investigation Act, “this is a cabin which was usually placed at the disposal of one of my foremen.”

96 LOWHEE MINING CO. BARN The Building Today: Today’s Butterfield Barn appears in this photograph; circa 1940.

Barkerville P2695

This barn is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: A large barn was located on or near the site of today’s building. The same chain of ownership applied to both this building and the Lowhee Cabin next door.

Although it has been said that the current structure was built in the 1920s or 30s, it does not appear on early 1930s townsite maps in its present configuration. Perhaps one of the buildings that appears on 1930s maps was later repositioned, or this structure was built in the late 1930s.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

97 BUTTERFIELD BARN The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: Like the structure to the immediate south, little is known about this building. A large barn is shown at the rear of this lot on early 1930s townsite maps.

It would seem that today’s structure was built shortly after that.

This building is situated on a large lot that stretches to the north and encompasses the next three buildings in that direction. According to Lottie McKinnon’s application for declaration of titles in 1934, the buildings on this lot and the Barkerville Hotel were sold by Alexander Butterfield to Catherine Fraser, Lottie’s mother, in 1899. In 1913, Lottie and her first husband William Kelly purchased all of this property from her mother’s estate. Lottie married Malcolm McKinnon after William’s death and these buildings are identified as McKinnon holdings on the townsite maps. The McKinnons ran a transport business and it is likely that the structures were used to store goods, vehicles, and equipment.

98 BARKERVILLE HOTEL ICE HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

The Barkerville Hotel Ice House is visible beyond the front of the truck; circa 1935.

Barkerville P2555

Historical Notes: This building is identified as “ice house & meat” on the 1934 insurance plan for Barkerville. Large blocks of ice were cut from the winter ice on Jack O’Clubs Lake and used to keep meat frozen in the log section of this building. The ice was probably loaded into the building in early spring, covered with sawdust to slow thawing, and used as needed over the summer. The unusual wooden vent on top of the roof allowed moisture laden warm air to escape. The wood frame area at the front was used to store fruit, vegetables and other perishables. The building is believed to date to the early 1900s.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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99 MCKINNON BARN The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This barn appears on townsite maps from the early 1930s but not in a 1920s photograph. In another photograph from that era, the frame addition on the front of the log structure appears to be quite new.

100 MCKINNON HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

The McKinnon Barn is on the right; circa 1935.

Barkerville P2684 Historical Notes:

This was the home of the McKinnon family, and Lottie and Malcolm may have lived here until they died, Malcolm in 1943 and Lottie in 1956. Family and friends posed for many photographs through the 1930s and 40s here in front of the McKinnon house and behind the Kelly Store and Hotel.

This house was built around a log cabin. The 1933 Official Plan of the Townsite of Barkerville identifies it as a “new log cabin.” When the structure was stabilized in 1994, the excavations around the perimeter revealed a large number of cut animal bones, suggesting that the cabin was built to facilitate the butchering of cows, pigs and Malcolm and Lottie McKinnon are on the left; circa 1935. The log cabin that is wild game. The sides and/or cut meat would have the living room of today’s McKinnon House is behind them. Barkerville P2636 been stored in the ice house next door.

When the frame house was built, circa 1940, the original cabin became the living room. A passageway connected the kitchen of the house to the kitchen in the rear annex (now the Kelly Saloon) of the hotel next door. Many of Barkerville’s buildings were similarly connected to each other in the early days - facilitating ease of passage during the cold, snowy winters - and this enclosed hallway is Barkerville’s only surviving example of this unusual architectural feature.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

101 KELLY WOODSHED The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This structure is identified as a woodshed on townsite maps of the early 1930s. It may have been built as early as 1910. Firewood for the Kelly Hotel stoves was stored here. A two-seater outhouse was attached to the southeast corner in the mid-1930s.

The dilapidated front section of McKinnon Warehouse #1 is visible behind the horses on the right.

Barkerville P2554

The outhouse that was once attached to the Kelly Woodshed is at the right.

Barkerville P2616

102 MCKINNON WAREHOUSE #1 The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This building once had a large ramshackle log structure, built in two sections, attached to the front. Photographs of the time indicate that it was in very poor condition by the 1930s. It’s quite possible that the front part may have been the original building on this site, and today’s log structure was built later.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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103 MCKINNON WAREHOUSE #2 The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: In 1933, this building was identified as a “new frame warehouse.� It, too, was owned by the McKinnons, along with most of the buildings on this stretch of the back street. Once Barkerville became a provincial historic site, this building was used as a carpenter shop until around 1967.

104 SERVICE BUILDING The Building Today:

The service building in 1970, sporting new board and batten siding.

Barkerville BP2862 This building is not open to visitors at the present

time.

Historical Notes: A.J. Harper owned this lot from around 1912. He later sold it to Thomas Nicol, who then sold it, and several others, to Joseph F. Campbell in 1934. A large barn that Campbell had here was gone by 1957 according to a photograph taken that year.

The present structure was moved here from the south side of the Tregillus property. It was one of the buildings that had been moved in 1965 from the area of the current parking lot and may date to the 1930s. The building, in its present location, had been substantially renovated by 1970 to house a first aid room and staff lunchroom.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

105 BLAIR BARN The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This barn is thought to date to the early 1900s.

Thomas Blair owned this lot from 1902 to 1925; he apparently then lost it to A.J. Elliott in a tax sale. He bought the property back in 1934.

During the early 1960s, this was a storage building for Nell Dowsett’s souvenir shop, which she ran, along with the Post Office, in Building 36 (today’s Louis A. Blanc Photographic Gallery).

106 MICHAEL CLAIM CABIN The Building Today: The living quarters of miners who operated and/ or worked on the Michael Claim, once located on or near this spot, are represented in this exhibit.

Two factors – the high cost of materials and men anxious to commence mining – often resulted in furnishings that were hastily built and few in number. Around-the-clock working shifts allowed for around-the-clock sleeping shifts and quite a few men living in a small space.

Historical Notes: R. Michael and W. Michael were partners with A.D. Barkerville’s back street, looking north, during spring flooding; circa 1935. The roof of the Blair Barn is visible in the centre of the photograph.

Osborne in a claim near here that later became Barkerville P2815 known as the Canadian Claim.

A piece of newspaper from 1946 that was used as chinking was found between two logs. This may indicate that the cabin was built in the late 1940s or the paper may have been inserted to stop a draft some time after the construction date. It is clear that the cabin was not located on this lot in the 1930s; instead, three “new frame cabins,” probably constructed by J.F. Campbell, are indicated on townsite maps. The same chain of ownership applied to this lot as the one to the south and the one to the north.

The cabin appears in this location in a 1961 photograph but it does not have a window in the south wall. When stabilization work was done in 1977, it was noted that there was a window opening on the south side but no window.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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107 BARWISE HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This house was built on the main street between the bakery and the blacksmith’s shop at some point after 1934. In 1965 photographs, it had a lean-to garage on the south side and a front porch.

Between then and 1968, the house was moved to its present site and the interior was substantially renovated. Alice Barwise, Barkerville’s postmistress, lived in the house for several years followed by her daughter, Doreen Townsend, who lived here until the mid 1970s. This house shares a lot with the Michael Claim Cabin next door.

108 BARKERVILLE POWER & LIGHT CO. POWER HOUSE (1/2 OF ORIGINAL - SEE BUILDING 117) The Building Today:

The Barwise House on the main street in 1965 when it was still located where Barnard’s Express Office now stands.

Barkerville BP1798 This building is not open to visitors at the present

time.

Historical Notes: This log structure was moved to this site, once part of a laneway, in the 1960s. In the 1930s, this cabin was structurally connected to a similar building and they housed the Barkerville Power and Light Company’s power plant. The plant was located across the street from the Tregillus complex. An upper floor was later added to create one large consolidated structure. (See Building 117 for early photos of the transition.)

Material recovered from between the logs included fragments of a 1908 newspaper and part of a boned corset, suggesting that the structure were built long before 1933, when the company was formed.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

109 KELLY HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST The Building Today: This cozy bed and breakfast establishment features down-filled quilts, feather beds, old fashioned soaker tubs and tasty breakfasts. Friendly hosts will help to make your visit memorable.

Historical Notes: This house was built where Bibby’s Tin Shop now stands on the main street by Walter Kelly in 1934.

The lot (42) was given to Walter and his bride Hazel Houser as a wedding present by his mother Lottie McKinnon. Bibby’s, a warehouse at the time, was moved towards the back of the lot to make way for the house and then returned to its original position when the house was moved to this site in 1967.

109B SKID SHACK #1 The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This garage was originally located between the Doody House and the William Bowron House. It was recently restored and moved to this site from the Operations Compound, where it had served as a storage building for many years.

Buildings like this one, with its rounded roof, were frequently used in work camps. They were very practical because they were small, lightweight, simple to build, and easy to move. They were often used as bunkhouses for logging and mining crews.

110 TURNER WAREHOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: George Turner purchased this lot, including W.D. Moses’s former shop on the main street, in 1922.

The official townsite plan of 1934 called the old shop the “Geo. Turner dwelling house” and this structure is identified as a “new frame building.”

Turner began mining in Porcupine, Ontario with his uncle, Mr. Windt. They came to British Columbia prior to 1900 and Windt settled in Alexandria, near Quesnel, while Turner came to Barkerville to mine.

His first marriage, to Wyn Orr in 1899, ended in divorce. He married his second wife Mary in 1920 and their daughter Margaret was born in 1921.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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111 W. BAKER STABLES The Building Today: This barn stables the horses that pull the stagecoach and wagons on Barkerville’s streets today.

Historical Notes: W. Baker is listed as a stables owner in the 1874 British Columbia directory.

Joseph Wendle purchased this lot from John Stevenson around 1910. John Stevenson, a former sheriff and assessor, was in Barkerville as early as 1876. The lot is vacant in an 1897 photograph and it is believed this log structure was built shortly thereafter. The 1934 insurance map indicates that it was being used to house an automobile at that time.

112 MUNDORF STABLES The Building Today: This barn stables the horses that pull the stagecoach and wagons on Barkerville’s streets today.

Historical Notes: Jacob Mundorf came to Barkerville around 1865.

Mundorf and Co. ran the Miners’ Bakery and Restaurant, a well-known establishment that was leased to P. Eddy and Co. in 1866. “Good stabling convenient to the establishment,” stated the advertisement at the time. “We notice that Mr. Mundorf is having the building lately occupied by him as a livery stable converted into a dancing saloon,” announced the Cariboo Sentinel of April 29, 1867. The new establishment was known as the Crystal Palace Saloon.

Mundorf married Catherine Elizabeth Haub, a Barkerville hurdy-gurdy girl. They moved to 20 Mile House after Barkerville’s 1868 fire, where they raised a family and ran a roadhouse and ranch.

This barn is believed to have been built around 1900, when Andrew Locke owned the lot. His daughter, Mrs. W.V. Livingstone inherited the property in 1916.

Duncan McIntyre owned it in 1931.

113 MCINTYRE CABIN The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This building is identified as a “dwelling house” on 1930s townsite maps. Duncan McIntyre owned it and the house at the front of the lot, which faces onto the main street.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

114 GOLDFIELDS GARAGE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This building is identified as the “Goldfields Garage” on 1930s townsite maps. Its name suggests that the business had a connection to Cariboo Gold Fields Ltd., a large mining operation based in Barkerville in the early 1900s.

115 HOLT & BURGESS CABINETMAKERS The Building Today: A woodworking shop is depicted in this exhibit.

The services of carpenters and cabinetmakers were in great demand in towns like Barkerville, where so much was constructed of wood. The construction of buildings, cabinets, furniture, horse-drawn vehicles, mining flumes, water wheels and other equipment all required the services of these tradespeople.

The moulding planes in this shop were used to create decorative trim. The treadle jigsaw had many uses, one of which was to cut gingerbread trim for buildings such as the Bowron House.

The Cariboo Sentinel of November 21, 1868 noted, “Holt and Burgess are building a large two storey building at the lower end of main street.” That structure is believed to have been located near where the John Bowron House stands today.

“Church of England, Divine Services will be held in the upper room over the Holt and Burgess workshop,” announced the Cariboo Sentinel of December 12, 1868.

Historical Notes: The 1934 official townsite plan calls this building the “Russell McDougall new frame cabin” and the insurance plan of the same year identifies it as a bakery. McDougall and Bill Houser owned and operated the Ketch Hydraulic Mine at Slough Creek. Later, he and Frank Jameson used a D8 bulldozer to mine the ground in the Lowhee’s old workings that hydraulic mining couldn’t reach.

McDougall also helped build Barkerville’s first reproduction water wheel in the 1960s, after the town became a designated heritage site.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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116 CHICKEN HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: A.J. Harper owned this lot until 1912, when he sold it to Charles Catlett. This cabin was built around 1925 and is called a chicken house on the 1934 Official Plan of the Townsite of Barkerville. Catlett still owned the property, which included a cabin next door to the north, at that time.

117 BARKERVILLE POWER & LIGHT CO. POWER HOUSE (1/2 OF ORIGINAL - SEE BUILDING 108) The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This log structure formed one half of the power plant that generated electricity for Barkerville during the 1930s and ‘40s. The connected log buildings were located near the present day Visitor’s Centre. The cooling system was located in one and the diesel engine, which generated power, in the other. The engine was reportedly started at dusk and shut down at 11:00 pm.

F. Tregillus, K. Campbell, S. Dabovich, W. Hong, E. Armstrong, Mrs. Hudson, L. Ford, J. Murray and T. Blair were shareholders in 1943. All had owned shares since 1933 when the company was formed.

It appears that both log structures were later moved to the area where the other half of the plant is currently situated. This building was then moved here in the 1960s.

Above: Both power house log cabins with a connecting structure in between are shown at the right; circa 1925. Note that the lower logs look newer and are more rounded than the upper logs. These may have been very old cabins, possibly from Chinatown, that were moved here and repurposed.

Barkerville P7640 Right: An upper floor and new roofing and siding have been added to the cabins in this photograph of the Cariboo Trail Riders on parade in the 1960s.

Barkerville P6684

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

118 MORFORD HOUSE (PRIVATELY OWNED) The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: The 1934 report of the Registrar of Victoria declared title of this lot to the crown. It further stated that in 1933, one A.H. Booth built a small carpenter shop on the lot. Prior to this, the lot had been vacant.

This building was originally a small cabin that was added onto on the west side.

Harold Garden lived here and later, Fred Ludditt.

In the 1950s, Ludditt recognized that Barkerville was important historically and should be preserved. He promoted the development of Barkerville as a heritage site but was not happy with some of the ways in which it was done. As a result, he chose not to sell his property to the government. Recent owners have removed a garage from the west side, extended the house and made changes to the exterior.

119 MCLEOD CABIN The Building Today: This exhibit depicts the home of Kenneth McLeod in 1900, when he was about 60 years old. He and his partner Neil Wilson, better known as “Swamp Angel,” lived at Bear Lake (now Bowron Lake) from the early 1860s. For forty years they operated a commercial fishery, selling salmon and rainbow trout to the people of Barkerville and surrounding area. McLeod may have retired to this cabin or spent time here during the long winters when he was still actively fishing at Bear Lake.

The note on the back of the photograph reads, “Now Bowron Lake – cutting initials on tree at Kenneth McLeod’s cabin.”

Barkerville P36

”Fish! Fish! McLeod and Co. have established a fishing station at Bear Lake and are prepared to supply houses on the road between Williams Creek and the Mouth, at thirty-seven and a half cents per 16, free of express charges,” announced the Cariboo Sentinel of October 30, 1868.

Historical Notes: Kenneth McLeod owned this cabin in 1900. He sold it in 1912 to F.C. McCarthy, from whom J.H. Kew purchased it in 1927. P. Burnett bought it in 1930 and sold to Lottie McKinnon in 1932. The cabin had an enclosed front porch which included an outhouse, before it was removed during stabilization work in 1980.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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120 TREGILLUS CABIN The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This cabin was identified on a 1933 townsite map as “F. Tregillus workshop.” Construction details suggest that it was built in the early 1900s.

121 CONKLIN PUMP HOUSE The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: The Tregillus Cabin is visible near the log bulkhead, left of centre in this circa This building was moved from Lot 95 in 1973. It 1930 photograph. The old jail building is to the right of it. Barkerville P7639 was probably built in the 1930s on yet another site

and moved to Lot 95 after 1958, where it sat with two other small buildings awaiting relocation.

122 SMOKING ROOM The Building Today: This structure provides visitors with a covered area in which to smoke cigarettes.

Historical Notes: Modelled after a small garage, this building was constructed in 1992 to serve as an information kiosk for guests after they passed through the visitors’ centre into the townsite. It was later moved to Chinatown and housed a wagon for several years. It was relocated to this site, away from other buildings, to protect Barkerville in case of an accidental fire caused by a cigarette.

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See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

123 KELLY STORAGE SHED The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This is a prefabricated building that was constructed in 2008-09 at Quesnel’s College of New Caledonia by carpentry students, and later assembled on this site.

124 SKID SHACK #2 The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: Like its former neighbour (Building 109B), now located beside the Kelly House, this building was once used as a garage on the main street. It was located on the north side of the King House and was moved to this site in the 1970s.

Buildings like this one, with its rounded roof, were frequently used in work camps. They were very practical because they were small, lightweight, simple to build, and easy to move. They were often used as bunkhouses for logging and mining crews.

The building on the right is the Lowhee Stable and to its left is the Lowhee Mining Company Cabin; circa 1900. The stable’s roof is similar to that of the new Kelly Workshop.

Barkerville P2817

125 KELLY WORKSHOP The Building Today: This building is not open to visitors at the present time.

Historical Notes: This service building was constructed in 2007. The exterior design was based on historic photographs of several large barns and warehouses that once stood in this area.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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126 CANADIAN CO. CABIN AND TUNNEL The Building Today: Visitors can enter this little cabin and while gazing through the window, visualize 1860s Barkerville and the “workings.” Peter Toft’s 1863 depiction of the Barker claim and town was painted from the vantage point of the Canadian cabin, which is believed to have been located along this stretch of creek.

This is a reconstruction of a typical mining claim structure. The cabin’s design was based on an 1861 photograph of the Point Claim on Lightning Creek.

(See below left.)

VANTAGE POINT 5 VANTAGE POINT 4

VANTAGE POINT 3

VANTAGE POINT 1

YOU ARE HERE

There are five illustrated interpretive signs on the Canadian Claim and Gunn Hydraulic Mining Pit sites. The two nearest the bridge discuss regional geology and hydraulic mining. The stairway and path up the hillside lead to three more signs that discuss points of interest, gold claims on the creek, and the importance of a water supply to mining.

The exact location of the Canadian Claim is not known, but it is believed to have been along this stretch of the creek. This building is a reconstruction of a typical mining claim structure.

The design of the cabin, with the adit below, was based on a photograph of the Point Claim on Lightning Creek taken in 1861.

VANTAGE POINT 2

Historical Notes: This view of the modern day site shows the bridge across Williams Creek, the On June 17, 1862, Thomas Kelly, A.D. Osborne and cabin, five information vantage points, and the stairway up the hillside.

John Duval recorded three claims “commencing

immediately above Michael and Co. and mining upstream.” R. Michael transferred to A.D. Osborne one third of three claims known as Michael and Co. on August 20, 1862. Another transaction took place the same day and the holdings of this group were soon known as the Canadian Company. The Daily British Columbian of September 10, 1862 noted, “The Canadian Co. on Williams Creek has struck it rich.” This discovery came just a few weeks after Billy Barker made his famous strike on Williams Creek.

The Point Claim adit on Lightning Creek.

Image 10170 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P113

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The company changed hands several times over the years and the claim was highly successful. In 1896, Gold Commissioner John Bowron reported yields of $350,000 to the Department of Mines.

With the price of gold at $20 per ounce at the time, that translates to 17,500 ounces of gold.

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

127 GUNN CLAIM HYDRAULIC MINING PIT The Site Today: This is the site of the Gunn hydraulic pit, which Jack Gunn worked in the late 1940s with the assistance of Vinse Halverson. An example of a “giant” hydraulic monitor, a “wingdam” and a “long tom” sluice box can be seen in the pit. The reconstructed wingdam and sluice are positioned in the same locations as the originals. Reportedly, work in this pit ceased because the townspeople feared that tailings would block Williams Creek, causing it to flood Barkerville.

A hydraulic monitor works like a water cannon, forcing large amounts of water under pressure through a nozzle to wash gravel down into a sluice.

Large rocks are sorted from the finer gravel. Gold, which is heavier than rock, settles in the sluices while the rocks are washed out. The gold and remaining gravel are then removed and panned out, separating the gold from the gravel.

Historical Notes: Hydraulic mining originated from ancient Roman techniques that used water to excavate soft underground deposits. The method was also used in Elizabethan Britain for developing lead, tin and copper mines.

Although often associated with California owing to its widespread use there, the technology was exported widely to other parts of the USA, including Hydraulic monitors in operation on the Thistle Claim.

Deadwood in South Dakota and Alaska. The Australian gold rushes and the 1860s Central Otago Gold Rush in New Zealand also saw the use of hydraulic mining, or sluicing as it was called there.

Barkerville P3047

In British Columbia, the use of a “hose” to wash away the overburden (non-gold bearing dirt) was first noted by Bishop Hill when he met Billy Barker on a sand bar in the Fraser River in 1860, two years before Barker’s big strike here on Williams Creek.

By 1869, there were eighteen hydraulic mines operating above Barkerville. Notable regional operations were the Lowhee Pit, almost two miles in length, the Waverly Pit on Grouse Creek and the Amadour Pit on Lightning Creek. From 1900 to 1930, the Bullion Pit, near Likely, was one of the largest open pit hydraulic operations in the world.

Hydraulic mining was discontinued in 1972 because the resulting damage to fish habitat and the environment was finally recognized.

The Gunn hydraulic mining pit is visible within the yellow ellipse on this 1949 photograph taken from the Shamrock Dump. All of the buildings in the foreground stood in the area now occupied by Barkerville’s administration building, visitor centre, and parking lot.

Barkerville P3011

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

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128 RICHFIELD COURTHOUSE The Building Today: It’s an easy 1.6 km walk from Barkerville up to the Richfield Courthouse, with several stops of interest along the way. This last mile of the famous Cariboo Waggon Road, which ran through Richfield and ended at Barkerville, was completed in 1865.

At the courthouse (one of the oldest in British Columbia) Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie and his colleague reminisce about their early days in the colony and recreate historical trials. These Richfield, B.C. in the 1860s or 70s. “sessions” are held daily through the summer.

Image A-5968 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P887 Visitors are encouraged to attend and to tour the historic building.

Historical Notes: When gold was initially discovered on Williams Creek, Richfield was the first town to spring up in the area, and it was soon booming with saloons, restaurants, merchants, bakeries, blacksmiths, a dentist and a church.

The first courthouse, a simple two room log cabin built in the summer of 1862, was both the home and office of the government magistrate, Thomas Elwyn. In the early days of the goldfields, the magistrate was also the gold commissioner, government agent, tax collector, registrar of voters, Indian agent, and assistant commissioner of lands and works.

Supreme Court Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie presided over his legendary trials in the original log courthouse. The construction of several government buildings, including the jail, police barracks and Begbie’s house, began soon after the first courthouse was built.

Voting on Election Day at the Richfield Courthouse; circa 1900.

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Today’s courthouse was constructed in 1882 and in regular use until 1912; it was then used for special occasions until 1927. The building also housed the gold commissioner’s office until 1895, when it was moved to Barkerville. Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie only presided in this building once: he convened a grand jury in 1889, a session that was apparently more symbolic than functional. This event enabled Begbie to revisit the “good old days” of the Cariboo Gold Rush and drew a crowd of old timers and friends that included Will Bowron and Wellington Delaney Moses.

Barkerville P895

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

129 WELLS-BARKERVILLE CEMETERY The Site Today: A visit to the Wells-Barkerville Cemetery provides an opportunity to learn about some of Barkerville’s early residents. Information, such as where the deceased came from, their dates of birth and death, names of family members, occupation, and cause of death, was often inscribed on their headboards.

The trail that starts beside St. Saviour’s Church and leads to the cemetery is part of the original Cariboo Waggon Road, which ran from Yale to Barkerville and was completed in 1865. A National Historic Sites monument, erected in 1928 to commemorate the building of the road, stands beside the trail just west of the Shamrock Dump. (See photo, top right.)

Next, along the trail, is the Shamrock Dump, a huge pile of material that was created when the Newmont Mining Corp tunnelled into Barkerville Mountain in search of gold. (See photo at right.)

The trail then passes the foundation of the Royal Cariboo Hospital. The hospital was built in 1891, operated until 1925, reopened for a short time after 1934, and burned to the ground in 1936. The first hospital in the area was a small log cabin in Marysville, just to the north on the creek, that was built in 1863. (See photo at right, third from top.)

The Wells section of this cemetery is still in use today and many of the flowers that bloom among the graves have been planted by local residents.

The historic Chinese and Catholic Cemetery near Richfield is being restored with the assistance of the Chinese community. The cemeteries in the ghost towns of Stanley and Quesnel Forks are cared for by volunteers with occasional financial support from other sources. If you wish to assist in preserving these sites, please contact the Friends of Barkerville-Cariboo Goldfields Historical Society.

Sadly, there are also graves scattered throughout the region that are often unmarked and forgotten.

Historical Notes: The historic Barkerville cemetery grew up around a single grave. On July 24, 1863, Peter Gibson, a 31 year old miner working with John “Cariboo” Cameron, died of mountain fever. His friends buried him up the hill from the diggings. The cemetery overlooks the spot where Cameron struck it rich and the settlement of Cameronton sprang up.

Many of the original headboards were made by Johnny Knott, a carpenter. Knott even made his own headboard but when he died his ungrateful nephew sold it to another family.

Image A-4578 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives; Barkerville P2390

See site map on pages 48 & 49 for building locations.

Barkerville P4967

Barkerville P699

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William “Billy” Barker – Myth and Reality

by Ken Mather

Perhaps no other character has come to represent the era of the Cariboo Gold Rush more than William “Billy” Barker. His discovery of gold below the canyon on Williams Creek in 1862 and the subsequent growth of the most famous gold town of them all, named Barkerville in his honour, have taken a significant place in the history of British Columbia.

Barker has become somewhat of a folk hero. Popular historians have taken great delight in depicting him as a happy-go-lucky Englishman, with more luck than brains, who found a fortune in gold and spent it as fast as he could dig it out of the ground. In fact, the name Billy Barker has come to represent not only the “rags-to-riches” theme, but also the very essence of the hard-living, hard-drinking spirit of the frontier.

But, while Barker certainly earned this reputation, a thorough examination of the known facts of his life reveals a man who, through shrewdness and hard work, also earned a well-deserved place in British Columbia history.

Little has been recorded of the actual details of Barker’s life. Almost all references and articles on him have been taken, most often without credit, from an article written by Louis LeBourdais in 1937.1 LeBourdais, popular MLA for the Cariboo at the time, based his article upon the reminiscences of those Cariboo old-timers who had known Barker in the distant days of the gold rush. He also had access to a few references from primary documentation found in the Provincial Archives. Unfortunately, the article is full of inaccuracies, primarily where it relies upon the memories of old-timers, but also in its all-too-cursory examination of primary references.

What emerges in the LeBourdais article is a story which, while it captures the spirit of the men and times of the Cariboo Gold Rush, gives little of the detail required for us to understand William Barker and the forces that moved him.

Primary documentation of Barker’s life does exist and the detailing of it does much to explain not only his life, but those of so many of the men who travelled to the Cariboo in the early days of the gold rush in search of their fortunes. Barker was in many ways representative of a great number of the Cariboo miners and the telling of his story may make it possible to understand the forces and events that moved all of them to the distant, unforgiving Cariboo in the prime of their lives. The strength of character that made him persevere against the harsh environment and push on in spite of setbacks is not so much remarkable as it is typical

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of the men who struggled and still struggle in the isolated corners of British Columbia to maintain a life of independence and closeness to nature.

Barker was not a hero in the truest sense, but his contribution to the development of British Columbia was perhaps much more significant than anyone has realized.

William Barker’s Death Certificate lists his place of birth as Cornwall, England, and his age at time of death to be 75 years,2 which indicates that he was born in 1819 or 1820. However, both of these details can be questioned. The marriage certificate for his first marriage in 1839 lists Barker’s residence at Earith in the County of Huntingdon, miles away from Cornwall, and his father’s occupation as “Waterman.”3 It is extremely unlikely that Barker’s family moved from Cornwall to the Fens when he was young and more probable that he was born in one of the Fen counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk or Huntingdon. At any rate, on October 31, 1839, at which time he was considered of “full age,” William Barker, “Waterman,” son of Samuel Barker of the same profession, was married to Jane Lavender, widow, in the Parish Church of Bluntisham with Earith, Huntingdonshire. The circumstances of Barker’s marriage to Jane Lavender are indicated by the birth of their daughter, Emma Eliza, some six months later, on May 3 of the following year in nearby March, Cambridgeshire.4 Both Earith and March are located on the elaborate system of natural and man-made waterways that drain the Fenlands of England. It was on these canals and rivers that William Barker was a waterman on the flat-bottomed wooden barges called “lighters,” designed to travel on the shallow and narrow waterways of the Fens. The lighters were between 40 and 50 feet long and were usually worked by crews of five watermen. The cargoes carried downriver were primarily wheat, oats, barley, rye and cole seed while the upriver cargoes consisted of coal from Newcastle; salt and wine from Lisbon and Oporto; and lumber, iron and pitch from Scandinavia. The coming of the railways in the mid-1840s spelled the end of the waterways as the main arteries of transportation for the Fens. The London to Cambridge and Ely, and the Ely to Norwich lines opened in 1845 and the tonnages carried by water dropped rapidly; Barker and hundreds of watermen like him were thrown out of work.5 Life in the Fens was far from easy at the best of times.

The continual damp and the small overcrowded

cottages with no running water caused frequent illness. Malaria, cholera and the “ague” were frequent as were deaths from drowning. Barker’s choices were few and when the opportunity arose to immigrate to America, he gave little thought to his family and left. We will never know the exact circumstances of his departure, but no doubt he intended to send for his family once he had established himself in America, or at least send them money when he made his fortune.

Whatever his intentions, Barker was not immediately successful enough, either to send for his family, or to send them money. Jane Barker died in 1850 in the Union Workhouse in Doddington, Cambridgeshire at the age of 35 years. The death certificate lists her “Occupation” as “Wife of William Barker” indicating that she did not remarry.6 Barker’s daughter, Emma, was probably raised by relatives as she was still living in March when she married Gowler William Driver in 1866.7 Little is known of Barker’s activities in the United States prior to the time that he appeared in British Columbia. It is known that he was working in the California gold fields during the 1850s. The earliest reference to William Barker in British Columbia is found in the Record Book for Lillooet District, compiled by Gold Commissioner Thomas Elwyn, in 1859. Elwyn was sent by Governor Douglas to administer to the ever-growing number of miners who had reached the Fraser River above the treacherous Fraser Canyon. He travelled up the recently completed Douglas-Lillooet route and reported it “at present, the best in every way.” Elwyn arrived at Cayoosh, near present-day Lillooet, in July and reported that “there are at present about 150 people here, half of whom are only waiting for a supply of provisions to start for the Canal [Quesnel] River diggings.” On September 26, 1859, Elwyn began to issue Free Miners Certificates, required by all miners through the newly passed Gold Fields Act. Three days later he issued certificate number 9 to William Barker and number 10 to John Butson, who appears to have been Barker’s partner at the time.8 Water is the lifeblood of all placer mining operations because it is the action of water that separates the much heavier gold from the sand and gravel in which it occurs. While many miners had effectively employed the rocker box on the Lower Fraser diggings, it was evident that a steady supply of water and sluice boxes were required to make the most of the often scanty Fraser River sand bars. The Lillooet District Book of Record shows that, on the fifth of November 1859, William Barker and John Butson were given “the right to 100 inches of water to be taken out of French Creek provided always that 16

inches recorded to Messrs. Bonnett and Calmels are left untouched. The ditch to run about two miles and to be completed by 1st July next.”9 The construction of two miles of ditch was an ambitious project and one in which Barker and Butson were going to need assistance.

Barker and Butson quickly teamed up with five other Englishmen and staked a block of claims on Canada Bar. These men were led by William Martin who, along with his son Richard, had also mined previously in California. The block of seven claims, each measuring 100 feet and running back from the river bank, covered a sizable area of rich ground. The men began to construct their “ditch,” primarily consisting of a wooden flume to carry the water of French Creek to their claims. Not much mining could be carried on as the cold British Columbia winter descended on the area, so Barker and his partners began working on their ditch. This was not to be accomplished without considerable expense. The lumber and other materials necessary for construction were highly inflated in price, as was the cost of food and other essentials for living. All commodities reaching the Lillooet district had to be brought in over the Douglas Lillooet trail and this, combined with their relative scarcity, made prices extremely high. Elwyn was to report later in 1860 that miners on Canada Flat were making between $4 and $6 per day, leaving very little profit after expenses.

But the cost of living was not the greatest problem confronting Barker and his countrymen. In January, Amable Bonnett, who had recorded the right to 16 inches of water in French Creek prior to Barker and Butson, complained to Governor Douglas that he should have first water rights to the Creek. Bonnett was not without influence in Victoria—he had established a ferry across the Fraser River at Lillooet and gained the approval of the Colonial government for his efforts. Governor Douglas had instructed the Gold Commissioner, Thomas Elwyn, to settle the matter and when Elwyn was unable to reach an agreement with Bonnett, the Governor directed him to “make over to Mr. Bonnett the vested and indefeasible right to his ditch full of water.” Elwyn complained that “Mr. Barker, Butson and Company on the strength of my record have constructed a ditch at a cost of over $2000” and allowed the company to retain 30 inches of water in French Creek which, he said would be “sufficient to enable them to work their claims and gradually get out of debt.” This decision was a crushing blow to the company, especially to Barker who had been the main instigator of the project. The company mortgaged their ditch for $3000 in order to purchase the full rights to all the water in French Creek from Bonnett and Calmels.10

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Barker did not remain long on Canada Flat. Even before the mortgage of the company’s ditch was completed, he moved upriver and claimed the right to 800 inches of water in Texas Bar Creek which ran into the Fraser about one and one half miles above Texas Bar. He then appears to have returned to Canada Flat to look for a buyer for his claims there.

This he was successful in doing and, on July 10, 1860, he transferred his interest in the water rights and his French Bar mining claims to Colin Ross.11 Just before he headed north to try his luck, his camp was visited by Bishop Hills. The Anglican bishop for the Columbia District was travelling up the Fraser observing the mining operations and talking to the men who worked them. His entry for July 7, 1860 bears quoting in full: “Canada Flat, where, among others, is a company of seven Englishmen. They live in two log huts.

An elderly man named Martin is their captain.

They had all lived in California . . . One of these miners on Canada Flat is named Barker, he comes from Norfolk, and used to ply the river between Cambridge and Lynn. The railway sent him, he says, to America. He was glad to talk about Old England. I knew, of course, well, some of the places he most fondly remembered. He had not written for years, and no letters now came to him. Yet he had a daughter, whom he had not seen since she was two years old—that was fourteen years ago. I urged him to write, he said he would. He hopes to get back to the old country.”12 This confirms that the William Barker, waterman of March in Cambridgeshire (not nearby Norfolk as Bishop Hills records), was the same William Barker who achieved fame in British Columbia. But either Bishop Hills or Barker had gotten his numbers mixed up. If Barker had left fourteen years previously (i.e.

1846), which would coincide with the coming of the railway and the end of the life of the watermen in the Fens, his daughter would have been six years old, not two. This is but a minor detail; the other information provided is extremely valuable in placing Barker’s origins and his location on the Fraser River that summer, before his fateful arrival on Williams Creek.

At that point in time on the Fraser River, there appears to have been a rather free interpretation of the mining regulations governing the size and number of claims available to each individual. In November of 1859, Elwyn had reported that the miners were extremely unhappy with the size of “bar” claims allowed through the Gold Fields Act; at that time only twenty-five feet of river frontage was allowed for each miner. The miners were, by mutual agreement, staking fifty or even one hundred feet of frontage and taking their chances by not recording

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their claims. Considering the almost impossible task of keeping track of claims over hundreds of miles of the Fraser and Quesnel River systems, Elwyn appears to have decided to record what the miners themselves had agreed upon as a standard claim. Thus Barker and his companions had initially recorded claims of 100 feet each on Canada Bar. Barker was one of those who had no hesitation in holding the rights to more than one claim in different locations, another practice prohibited by the Gold Fields Act. He and the company of seven Englishmen with whom he had been associated at Canada Bar, purchased J. Larner’s claims, ditch and sluices on McLaughlin’s Bar in July of 1860. On August 13 of the same year he, in company with Charles Kirwin, registered another claim on Carrolis Flat on the Fraser River. The exact location of these river bars is now lost in obscurity and quite often more than one name applied to the same location, but it would appear that Barker held claims on McLaughlin’s Bar and Carrolis Flat all at the same time.12 As late as October 26, 1860, Barker was still working on the upper Fraser. On that day, he recorded the rights to the water in Texas Spring which ran into the Fraser River at Texas Bar. This does not appear to be the same as Texas Bar Creek from which Barker had claimed 800 inches of water in June. The two creeks must have comprised almost all the water available for mining at Texas Bar. What is peculiar is that Barker does not appear to have staked claims on Texas Bar. It is possible that he had purchased a claim or claims from some other miner but, if so, this transaction is not recorded in the Manual of Records for the district. Another possibility is that Barker, having seen the power of water rights in his difficulties on Canada Bar, was not speculating in water rights alone. Miners were probably quite prepared to pay good money for access to water from a ditch or flume which would allow them to successfully mine the gravel bars of the Fraser.

Whatever the case, while a small group of miners remained in the new region called the Cariboo, most of the miners on the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers headed to Victoria to enjoy the winter in the milder climate and well-stocked bars of that growing city.

Barker was among these and it is probable that it was in Victoria that he first heard of the fabulous riches being mined out of the creeks of the Cariboo.

Victoria was also a good place to live it up in the true California style–spending hard-earned gold dust on drinking and gambling. It is not surprising that the next reference to William Barker is in the Victoria Colonist where it is recorded that he “was arrested . . . on a charge of threatening to stab a Mr. Townsend at the Victoria Hotel.” The following day, May first,

Barker was “let down easily” and discharged.13 This incident may have prompted Barker to head to the new Cariboo gold fields early, for it was not long afterwards that he arrived at Williams Creek to keep his rendezvous with history.

In the spring of 1861, all eyes in the new Colony of British Columbia were turned to the Cariboo.

Fortunes had been made the previous year along the Quesnel River and at Keithley Creek. But the most exciting find of all had taken place in the late fall of the year when Ben McDonald and John Rose had struggled over the Snowshoe Plateau and found incredible gold deposits on a small stream they called Antler Creek. When word leaked out of their discovery, a rush to Antler Creek took place in the dead of winter. The Gold Commissioner, Phillip Henry Nind, had travelled there by snowshoe in March of 1861 and found “one log cabin on Antler Creek built by the discoverers Rose and McDonald, the rest of the miners were living in holes dug out of the snow . . .”14 Most of those who had wintered there were well rewarded for their privations– Antler Creek proved to be extremely rich over a short stretch of creek. Those who had staked their claims in the first rush were virtually assured of success, but not so the latecomers. The good ground was soon taken and even before spring had arrived, miners were off in search of another creek.

In March of 1861, a small party of miners led

by William “Dutch Bill” Dietz set out over Bald Mountain, on the slopes of which Antler Creek finds its origin. There they discovered the headwaters of another creek which they named Williams Creek in honour of Dutch Bill. The new creek was not quick to yield its riches to the gold-hungry miners, but this did not deter about one hundred of them from staking claims on it, primarily in the area above the canyon. In May, Gold Commissioner Nind was to report “Another stream called William’s Creek north west of Antler Creek has lately been discovered and claims taken up on it, it is reputed rich but little is known of it except to the discoverers.”

William Barker arrived on Williams Creek early that summer and staked a claim in partnership with five others. These claims were registered on August 15, at the same time as the claims of the discoverers, William Dietz, Ned Stout and others.15 Considering the great distance to the nearest Gold Commissioner, Phillip Henry Nind at Williams Lake, and the extreme shortness of the mining season, it is not surprising that claims were not registered until late summer.

The six claims, referred to as Barker and Company, were registered as “already taken possession on the right bank, a small gulch runs in at the head of the claim from the left bank proper.” At the same time,

water rights to the small gulch were registered. This original Barker claim was located well up Williams Creek, above where Mink Gulch enters. The group of claims changed hands many times over the years and was eventually consolidated into the BradleyNicholson Real Estate Claim with only one of Barker’s original partners, A. Nicholson, being involved.

During most of the summer of 1861, only limited amounts of fine gold were taken from Williams Creek. Miners dug down to a layer of hard blue clay which they believed to be bedrock and sluiced out what gold could be found. In their discouragement, they dubbed the stream a “humbug,” a term of disparagement. But later in the summer, Ivel “Long” Abbott (so nicknamed because he stood 6 feet 6 inches tall) cut through the layer of blue clay and discovered the pre-glacial “lead” of rich gold- bearing gravel. For a brief while, before the Cariboo winter set in, fabulous amounts of gold were taken out of the ground in the claims immediately above Black Jack Canyon. The Abbott and Jordan, Cunningham, Steele and Dawson claims yielded amounts of gold that were previously unheard of, even in the early days of the California Gold Rush. But, in 1861, only a few of the claims on Williams Creek were producing gold in paying quantities. The Barker claim, well up the creek from the centre of activity, was not yet giving up any significant amounts of gold.

By the end of September 1861, the short Cariboo mining season was drawing to a close and miners began to struggle back to Victoria under the happy burden of hundreds of pounds of gold. The Victoria Colonist published daily accounts of the fortunes in gold returning from the Cariboo. The Abbott and Jordan Company had mined $80,000 in gold from Williams Creek and the Steele Company reported a single day clean-up of 475 ounces or $7600. By the end of the mining season, it was estimated that over $2,600,000 had arrived in Victoria, most of it from the Cariboo. The merchants of Victoria braced themselves for the anticipated onslaught of gold rushers in the spring of 1861 and were not disappointed. Thousands of hopeful miners passed through Victoria on their way to the now worldrenowned Cariboo.

Spring came early to the Cariboo in 1862 and with it the frenzy of activity on Williams Creek began.

A town, optimistically named Richfield, began to take shape near the richer claims. The claims near the canyon that had produced well in 1861, showed even better results than the previous year. In June, Thomas Elwyn, who had been appointed resident Gold Commissioner on Williams Creek, reported that “the rich claims have risen to three times their market value of last winter” and that “there are

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between five and six hundred men on the creek sinking shafts.”16 Barker and his partners, sinking a shaft in promising and yet still unproductive ground, must have looked with envy at the fortunes coming out of the claims a short distance from theirs and hoped that their efforts would be rewarded in like manner. Early in June, Barker decided to “hedge his bets.” Encouraged by Ned Stout’s discovery of gold in a side gulch running into Williams Creek below Black Jack Canyon, he staked a second claim just downstream from Stout’s Gulch, in partnership with four other Englishmen: Richard Goldsworthy, William Greenwood, Charles Hankin and Samuel Travers. Some staking had taken place below the canyon as early as 1861, but the ground was generally considered to be worthless, the theory being that Black Jack Hill, which caused the creek to take a wide bend into the canyon, formed a barrier to the deposit of gold any further downstream.

The staking of a second claim on the same creek was entirely contrary to the Gold Fields Act. Thomas Elwyn was to report in August “that it has been permitted custom for a Free Miner to hold, if he wished to do so, two claims, one by pre-emption and one by purchase . . . I am aware . . . that each Free Miner can legally hold only one claim, but . . . recommend that no existing titles be interfered with.”17 Although Barker held both of his claims by pre-emption, Elwyn’s decision not to tamper with existing titles allowed him to hold two claims, both known as Barker and Company, on Williams Creek.

But the situation could not be allowed to continue for long and it was no doubt under pressure from Gold Commissioner Elwyn that Barker began to divest himself of his holdings in the upper Barker claims. On June 20, “William Barker transfer[red] to Chas Hankin half his interest being one eighth of 400 ft. of mining ground situate on the right bank and immediately adjoining Major Downie’s upper line for value received.” One can only speculate on what the “value received” was. On July 7, Barker completely divested himself of his interest in the upper Barker claims by selling his remaining share to John Boyd.18 In an ironic twist of fate, within one week of his selling out interest in the upper claims, Barker was to learn that gold had been struck on his old claim. On July 13, Elwyn reported “The rich lead on this creek [Williams] hitherto only found in Steele & Cos and a few other claims near the town has been ‘struck’ at a point on the right bank of the creek about a mile above where the lead was lost.”19 These claims were eventually to prove among the richest on the creek.

Barker must have been devastated to have been within a few feet of untold riches and to have let

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them slip away. He could only persist with the claims below the canyon and hope that they would bring his dreams to fruition. It was in this despondent state that he encountered Bishop Hills on Williams Creek. Hills was to write in his diary: “Experienced Miner at Fault – Barker the Cambridgeshire miner whom I met the year before last and roused about his neglected home sought me out today. He has done well and thinks of returning to England for a while. He was one with about 100 others who prospected this creek last year, he was himself upon the richest Claim, pronounced it valueless and came away.”20 It is significant to note that Hills, in this reference, corrects Barker’s home to Cambridgeshire and that Barker appears to have followed Hills’s advice and written home. Later correspondence was to show that Barker had renewed contact with his daughter Emma.21 Hills probably consoled Barker and encouraged him to return home, a possibility to which he seems to have given serious consideration.

But first he would see what the claims below the canyon would yield.

The difficulty with mining below the canyon on Williams Creek was the great depth of overburden.

Unlike the ground above the canyon, where the pay streak was only fifteen to twenty feet down, the stretch of creek below the canyon had been buried under forty to sixty feet of gravel by the retreating glaciers. As the miners dug deeper into this gravel, they had to contend with water seepage, necessitating the construction of Cornish wheels to pump the shafts dry. During the course of the summer, Barker and Company sank two unsuccessful shafts into the gravels of Williams Creek. But Barker and his partners were undeterred. They sank yet another shaft and, on August 17, 1862, struck the lead. Within ten hours, they drifted out 124 ounces of gold. The celebration that accompanied this discovery is now part of legend and has been duly recorded by Bishop Hills: “On the Spree – Striking the Lead. Heard of the lead being struck on the Barker claim, which I visited on Williams Creek several days ago. At once each partner places his interest as worth twenty thousand dollars. All for several days have been ‘on the spree,’ that is, more or less intoxicated and off work, excepting one member of the company, a very worthy young Englishman, and well brought up.”22 Bishop Hills’s obvious distaste for what was considered the acceptable way of celebrating a rich strike was not shared by the others on Williams Creek. They were aware of the implications that the discovery had on all of the claims on Williams

Creek, especially those below the canyon. Thomas Elwyn was to report on August 22: “At a distance of forty feet from the surface Messrs.

Barker & Co. (eight Englishmen) have found a stratum of gravel and slate lying immediately upon the bed-rock which as far as they have yet tested it yields an average of about a third of an ounce of gold to the pan of dirt. This strike I consider to be of great importance for now the lead will in all probability be traced for a long distance down the creek.”23 The “very worthy young Englishman . . . well brought up” mentioned by Bishop Hills was Charles Hankin. It was Hankin who applied for water rights for the Barker and Company claims on September 1 and remained behind on Williams Creek for the winter of 1862-63 to supervise the mining operations while the other partners headed to Victoria. The advantage of the deep diggings below the canyon on Williams Creek was that they remained unfrozen all winter long and, when there was no flow of water to wash the gold from the gravel, the paydirt could be stockpiled until spring. Before the shortage of water made it impossible to wash gravel on January 19, 1863, some $137,000 worth of gold was taken out of the Barker claim.24 The amount of gold that Barker and his partners carried down to Victoria from the Cariboo amounted to a fortune. Barker would have been regarded as a rich man and his lifestyle would certainly have supported this opinion. It is not surprising that, on January 13, 1863, he married Elizabeth Collyer, a widow from London who had recently arrived on the Rosedale, a ship which had run aground one month earlier at what is now Ross Bay.25 To Barker, then in his early forties, Elizabeth, who was 36, must have seemed a lovely companion with whom to share his good fortune. Her attraction to him was probably based upon more worldly assets.

Barker and his new wife travelled to Williams Creek for the summer of 1863 to find a booming town growing beside the Barker and Company claims. At first the new town, sandwiched as it was between the equally booming towns of Richfield upstream and Cameronton below, was called by the unimaginative name of Middletown but before long the more appropriate name of Barkerville became the common usage. Barker’s status as a shareholder ensured that he could be a man of leisure, free from the hard labour of actual mine work. This would have allowed Barker the time to become involved in various other mining ventures in the Cariboo. Elizabeth Barker even took out a Free Miner’s license, no doubt to give her husband another name to use for speculating in claims. Barker’s ever- growing fortune allowed

him to invest in a number of enterprises. One of these has recently come to light. There exists in the Colonial Correspondence in the Provincial Archives an unsigned document that appears to be a lawyer’s rough draft of an agreement between William Barker and an unnamed party for a loan secured by a quantity of candles “stored at William Meacham’s store on Williams Creek with William Meacham for sale on commission.”26 It appears that Barker was careful to invest some of his money in commodities such as candles, always valuable in the mines.

By spring, there were three shafts operating on the Barker claims, yielding up an average of 100 ounces per day. The obvious intent was to reap the benefits of the rich ground as quickly as possible without a great deal of thought to the high costs of labour and materials involved in sinking three shafts. The shafts were worked night and day all season long, except for a short time in June when two of them were flooded out. The erection of an overshot Cornish wheel allowed the shafts to be pumped out with only a three-week loss of working time.27 The season was a very successful one for the company and, even considering the costs of development, Barker’s share of the profits for the 1863 season would have been close to $20,000. It is quite likely that, by the end of the 1863 mining season, the rich gravel of the preglacial lead had been worked out, leaving the less lucrative ground above and to the sides to be worked.

Once again, Barker returned to Victoria for the winter, this time even richer than before. There is some evidence that the Barkers owned a house in Victoria. This is not surprising since the couple spent a full eight months of the year there. Perhaps because he felt that the Barker claim had yielded the major portion of its riches, Barker sold a half interest in the claim to Phillip Hall in February of 1864 for the sum of $1500.28 This seems a rather low amount when one considers that Samuel Travers had sold out a full share for $10,000 just eighteen months before. The gold that remained in the Barker claim would require more development work, with a greater outlay of capital, to be mined. Barker sold his remaining half-interest on July 1, 1864 to Dominique Ercole for $2000, ending forever any connection with the claim that made him famous.29 The Barker Claim was successfully mined well into the 1880s.

Barker probably invested the greater portion of his fortune in mining work around Williams Creek. In 1864, he was listed as one of the shareholders in the New Found Out Company on Williams Creek and there is little doubt that his money was invested in many more mining ventures in the Cariboo.

Enthusiasm for investing in new claims was common among the discoverers of rich properties,

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partly because of the fact that they knew of no other business. But it was also because there was a greater thrill in risking capital in a new venture than in the actual fortune to be gained. While this must have exasperated Barker’s wife Elizabeth, who no doubt could think of more interesting investments, the tendency of a miner to remain a confirmed miner could not be denied.

Barker’s personal life suffered a severe blow when his wife, Elizabeth, died on May 21, 1865 in Victoria, at the age of 38 years. There is no indication what the cause of death was, the notice of death in the Victoria Colonist merely mentioning that she was the “wife of William Barker, of Cariboo” and that the funeral would take place at “the residence, Yates Street.”30 The story that Barker’s wife ran out on him, detailed in the LeBourdais article, probably originated when he headed back alone to the Cariboo to continue mining. Throughout the season of 1865, he was involved in the Never Miss Company on Burns Creek and probably worked on that claim with other shareholders until January 7, 1866 at which time the claim was “laid over” because of the freeze-up of all water.31 For the next few years, Barker spent his summers in the Cariboo, working on various mining ventures, and his winters in Victoria. Although his profits, derived from the Barker claim, would have kept him comfortably for the remainder of his days, he was committed to the mining way of life and was happiest when prospecting a new area. The anticipation of sinking a shaft in new ground and the exhilaration of life close to nature were more meaningful than anything that money could bring. Before long, with the drain of unsuccessful mining investments and the high costs of wintering in Victoria, Barker saw his fortune dwindle and disappear. Tradition has it that Barker was an easy touch for a loan or for a grubstake and cared little for collecting his money.

This, coupled with the miner’s natural desire to stand drinks for the house, helped to dissipate what many would have considered a limitless fortune. When the money was gone, nothing changed for Barker. He continued to mine in the Cariboo and to look for that second big strike that could prove that he was one of the great placer miners of the Cariboo.

For a while in 1869 and 1870, it appeared that Barker might just have discovered his second major lead of gold. He was working on the little shoulder of hill that separates the lower end of Williams Creek from Valley Creek, with the theory that the original pre-glacial channel had connected the two valleys. This theory was logical and based upon the relative scarcity of gold recovered from mining further down the “meadows” of Williams Creek. In

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November of 1869, he reported that he had struck a “prospect” in the claim he called Barker No. 2.

The following summer, he had tunnelled into what he considered to be the edge of the channel when his workings were rendered useless by the flow of “slum,” the mixture of clay and water that exhibits the same properties as water when exposed to air.

But Barker, as always, was not to be discouraged.

In 1871, he teamed up with his old partner, William Martin, with whom he had worked on Canada Bar some twelve years before. The two men staked their claims on part of what was formerly Barker No. 2, calling the claims the Martin Company in deference to the older Martin.32 The claim was not successful but Barker was partially vindicated when, in the years to follow, rich gold deposits were discovered in the ground between Williams and Valley Creeks.

From the area of Williams Creek, Barker turned his attention to the rugged country lying southeast of Quesnel Forks. The mountainous territory between Quesnel and Horsefly Lakes, called the Horsefly Country, was to be the focus of his prospecting for the next few years. This remote and extremely difficult terrain, had been prospected as early as 1860. The area had yielded gold in limited quantities during the 1860s, mainly to the persistent and meticulous Chinese miners. Many prospectors, including Barker, felt that it held placer gold deposits equal to the Cariboo.

Barker probably spent the summer season of 1872 gaining a knowledge and appreciation of the Horsefly country, for in 1873, he led a prospecting party to the area.33 He returned again the following year, firmly convinced that the country had the potential to be a great mining ground. In January of 1875, a petition was drawn up and signed by 378 Cariboo miners asking the Legislative Assembly for support in further exploration of the Horsefly country. The petition went on to “recommend to your favourable notice Mr. William Barker, a miner known throughout the length and breadth of this province–a person of acknowledged experience and undoubted ability–as being particularly well adapted for this undertaking, for, in addition to the qualifications above enumerated, he has mined there before, knows every inch of the country . . .”

This document indicates the high regard in which Barker was held by the mining community, both as an experienced placer miner, and as a leader of men.

When the petition was presented to the Legislative Assembly in the following March, it was “ruled out of order” and thrown out.34 Barker, undeterred, returned to the Horsefly country for the next four summers. In 1876, he took part in a minor gold rush to Black Creek, which runs into

Quesnel Lake. The following year, he was back on Black Creek, this time in company with John Butson, the partner with whom he had first mined in British Columbia some eighteen years earlier. The Butson Company of 1877 consisted of twenty-one miners, led

by John Butson and William Barker.35 The company may have wintered in the Horsefly country. This is indicated in the diary of the famous Barkerville barber, W.D. Moses, who recorded on May 11, 1878 that “old Billy Barker arrived in town today from the Horsefly Country.”36 Barker was approaching sixty and past the age when he could work with younger, stronger miners. Nonetheless, he returned to the Horsefly Country in 1879, and was involved in a partnership known as the Eagle Company, in mining ground on the Horsefly River. Barker’s contribution to the exploration of the Horsefly country was commemorated by the naming of a mountain and a creek after him.

Throughout the 1880s and early 1890s, Barker used the town of Clinton as a base of operations. Directories for the years 1885 and 1889 list his occupation as “miner.” During these years Barker continued to spend his summers prospecting and his winters at the Dominion Hotel in Clinton, operated by Robert Walker. By this time, Barker was considerably advanced in years and not able to make the long trek to the Horsefly country. He was probably content to work on the gravel bars of the nearby Fraser River.

Mrs. Lillian Haddock, the daughter of Robert Walker, recalled that Barker “was a dear old man and as he spent his winters with my family for several years we grew to know him well . . . He was always a

welcome guest in our home . . . the Dominion Hotel in Clinton.” It was her father, along with David Stoddart of Clinton, who persuaded Barker to seek medical attention for a cancer in his left jaw that was spreading into his neck and shoulder.37 In early 1894, Barker went to the Old Men’s Home in Victoria where he was attended by Dr. George Duncan, the city’s Medical Health Officer. Barker was in considerable pain from the cancer but it was considered too far advanced for an operation to do any good.38 Finally, on July 11, 1894, William Barker died. He was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery, where his grave can be viewed today. His effects, consisting of a watch, gold poke, photograph and sewing kit, were sent on to the Walker family in Clinton and subsequently donated to the Barkerville Museum, where they can be viewed today.

In the final analysis, William Barker’s contribution to the history of British Columbia goes beyond his discovery of gold below the canyon on Williams Creek. Although that event has been attributed more to luck than skill, it was in fact the result of dogged determination and his shrewd assessment of the mining discoveries that were being made on the creek that summer. It is significant that Barker went on to explore the mining potential of other areas in British Columbia, most notably the Horsefly country.

What emerges as one examines the events of his life is the fact that he was not only a skilful miner but also a capable leader. Barker’s love of the wilderness and the independent lifestyle of the prospector epitomizes the spirit of so many young men and women who came to British Columbia for gold and stayed to help build a province.

FOOTNOTES 1. Louis LeBourdais, “Billy Barker of Barkerville,” British Columbia Historical Quarterly, 1937, p. 16.

2. B.C. Ministry of Health, “Verification of Death Particulars.”

3. Parish of Bluntisham cum Earith, Huntingdonshire, England; Marriage Register from 1837, page 12; for these and following references from English sources, I am indebted to Dorothy Sweet.

4. Entry of Birth; General Register Office, London, England; Application Number R40731; May 3, 1840.

5. Above information taken from: Michael Rouse, A View into Cambridgeshire, Terence Dalton Ltd., Lavenham, Suffolk, 1974, p. 60-61.

6. Death Register; General Register Office, London, England; Application Number B49662; May 25, 1850.

7. Entry of Marriage, General Register Office, London, England; Application Number R40311.

8. Provincial Archives of B.C. (PABC), GR224, Volume 21; Manual of Records, Lillooet District, 1859-60.

9. ibid.

10. PABC, Colonial Correspondence, Thomas Elwyn to Colonial Secretary, 3 January 1860, 14 March 1860 and 14 April 1860.

11. Anglican Archives of B.C., Bishop Hills’s Journal, 7 July 1860.

12. Manual of Records, Lillooet District.

13. Victoria Colonist, 30 April 1861 and 1 May 1861.

14. PABC, Colonial Correspondence, Phillip Henry Nind to Colonial Secretary, 27 March 1861.

15. PABC, GR216, “Manual of Records – Williams Creek,” 19 August 1861.

16. PABC, Colonial Correspondence, Elwyn to Colonial Secretary, 26 May and 2 June, 1862.

17. ibid, 3 August 1862.

18. “Manual of Records – Williams Creek,” 20 June and 7 July 1862.

19. Colonial Correspondence, Elwyn to Colonial Secretary, 20 July 1862.

20. Anglican Archives of B.C., Bishop Hills’s Journal, 1 August 1862.

21. PABC, uncatalogued letters, Lands and Works Department, Cariboo, Letters Received by H.M. Ball, 4 March 1872, from Emma Eliza Driver (nee Barker).

22. Anglican Archives, Bishop Hills’s Journal, 21 August 1862.

23. Colonial Correspondence, Thomas Elwyn to Colonial Secretary, 22 August 1862.

24. Daily British Columbian, 18 April 1863, p. 3.

25. Victoria Colonist, 14 January 1863.

26. Colonial Correspondence, F124, “Indenture between William Barker and ______”.

27. Colonial Correspondence, P. O’Reilly, Gold Commissioner, to Colonial Secretary, 4 June 1863.

28. Manual of Records – Williams Creek, 2 June 1864.

29. ibid., 2 July 1864.

30. Victoria Colonist, 22 May 1865.

31. Cariboo Sentinel, 21 May 1866.

32. ibid., 20 November 1869, 22 August 1870, 3 June 1871.

33. ibid., 13 September 1873.

34. ibid., 30 January 1875 and 20 March 1875.

35. PABC, Gr 216, Volume 85, Manual of Records, Keithley Creek Division, 18 April 1876, 21 April 1877, 16 June 1877.

36. PABC, Diary of W.D. Moses, Barkerville, 11 May 1878.

37. Barkerville Historic Park, Letter to L.E. Cook from Lillian M. Haddock, 16 September 1959.

38. Victoria Colonist, 12 July 1894.

95

Eat in Gold Rush Style

Places to Go, People to Meet

• McMahon’s Confectionery (9): Stop by and taste some of the finest fudge and sweets in the Cariboo!

• Historic Walking Tour of Barkerville (Starts from Visitors’ Reception Centre - 4): Join several of Barkerville’s residents for this entertaining and enlightening tour up the main street.

• Street Activities with Historic Townsfolk: Costumed interpreters stroll the streets, greeting and chatting with visitors, and partaking in amusing scenarios through the day.

• St. Saviour’s Church (12): Regular services are held in this beautiful historic church. Visitors may also walk through the building and view the exhibits.

• Cemetery Tour (Starts at St. Saviour’s Church - 12): Visit one of BC’s most interesting historic cemeteries–the final resting place of the famous and the unknown.

• Williams Creek Schoolhouse (13): Children of all ages (six and over) can drop in for a lesson. Learn about the three Rs the Victorian way in this one-room schoolhouse.

• Wendle House (18): Wander through this historic home to the warm and comfortable kitchen. Special old-style delights straight from the wood cookstove often await visitors.

• Cameron & Ames Blacksmith Shop (20): Hear the anvil’s ring and smell the forge’s charcoal smoke as the blacksmith goes about his work. Wrought iron items may be purchased.

• Barnard’s Express Office (24): Buy your tickets at this busy supply depot for an exciting ride around Barkerville or to Richfield on an authentically reconstructed stagecoach.

• Nicol Hotel Museum (31): A fascinating array of firearms, bottles, jewellery, clothing and needlework is on display. The nature of museum work at an historic site is explored upstairs.

• Theatre Royal (50): Bring the whole family to a live stage performance styled after those enjoyed by local residents 100 years ago. Several different shows are presented for your edifcation and entertainment!

• Chinese History Tour (Starts at the Chinatown Arch near Lung Duck Tong Restaurant - 63): Learn about Barkerville’s Chinese residents during this guided exploration of Canada’s oldest Chinatown.

• Halverson House Mining Museum (67): The roles of gold through history, the geology of gold, and a variety of gold mining methods used in Barkerville are explored.

• Lee Chong Co. Store Chinese Museum (72): The history of the Chinese in China and Barkerville is explored. Fascinating Chinese artifacts and the Lee and Hong families’ upstairs living quarters are presented for viewing.

• Mining in the Cariboo (83/96 rear): Watch the Cornish water wheel operating during a real gold clean-up. Discover how the gold and the gold seekers ended up in Cariboo.

• Barker Co. Shaft House Demonstration & Discourse (88b): Visit the site where Barkerville began. Find out about Billy Barker’s early days on the creek and watch as miners use the windlass to bring up buckets of ore.

• Myotavic House/Chinese School (91): Learn about Chinese culture, try your hand at Chinese calligraphy, and find out how to use an abacus. (Mid June to September.)

• Early Justice (128/7): Judge Begbie and others reminisce at the Richfield Courthouse about justice in the early days of BC. (Spring and fall sessions are held in the Methodist Church.)

• Wake Up Jake Restaurant (25): The best of Cariboo cuisine, from hearty breakfasts and light snacks to full course meals fit for hungry miners.

• Goldfield Bakery (26): Old-fashioned goodness baked fresh daily. Enjoy delicious sourdough bread and a variety of other mouth-watering treats.

• House Hotel Coffee Saloon (39): Knock back a foamy oldfashioned root beer in the saloon and enjoy fresh snacks and wonderful coffee, too. Barkerville Brewery “suds” are on tap.

• Lung Duck Tong Restaurant (63): Feast on authentic Chinese cuisine or savour traditional Dim Sum snacks.

Old-Fashioned Shopping • Eldorado Gold Panning & Gift Shop (5): Your success is guaranteed! Modern souvenirs are also available.

• Barkerville Post Office (28): BC’s eighth oldest operating post office offers full postal services. The Barkerville postmark is a collectors’ item.

• L.A. Blanc Photographic Gallery (36): Pose for a period style photograph and take away a lasting memento of your visit. Camera supplies may also be purchased.

• Pioneer Clothing (40): Select an outfit and step out in Barkerville style for the day. Enquire about rentals at L.A. Blanc Photographic Gallery.

• McPherson’s Watchmaker’s Shop (43): A fine selection of period style jewellery, watches, clocks and ornaments are available for purchase.

• Mason & Daly General Merchants (46): This fascinating store stocks everything from china to top hats. A visit to the candy counter is a must for children of all ages.

• C. Strouss & Co. Drygoods & Provisions (47): A good variety of groceries and specialty goods awaits. Stock up on cheese, cold cuts, preserves, tea and drygoods.

• Kwong Sang Wing Store (74) & Lai Soy Lum Shop (73b): Colourful Chinese merchandise - from clothing to toys to medicinal herbs to silk “paintings” - imported directly from China.

Stay Overnight in Barkerville • Bed & Breakfast Accommodations (14, 33, 109): For a real treat, spend a cozy night in one of these refurbished heritage buildings. King House and Kelly House B&Bs: call 250-994-3328 or 1-866-994-0004. St. George Hotel B&B: call 250-994-0008 or 1-888-246-7690.

• Lowhee, Forest Rose, & Government Hill Campgrounds (within 3 kms): For information and reservations, please call 1-888-994-3302 ext 99.

NOTE: The numbers in brackets after the building names (above and right) indicate the building locations on the site map on pages 48 and 49.

Notes

Right: A view of Barkerville looking north with a bridge crossing the main street.

Barkerville staff knew about a sketch and descriptions of the bridge, but until this glass slide surfaced in 2011, no one at Barkerville - in recent history, at least - had ever seen a photograph of it.

Photo used by permission of Richard Wright Below: Nils Helmer “Elmer” Frome’s circa 1959 artistic interpretation of the bridge looking south. He appears to have drawn this sketch from historic photos of the buildings and added the bridge details based on descriptions provided by Fred Tregillus and others who remembered it.

Barkerville 4-4-3-57-9

The glass slide (above) of Barkerville’s street bridge was purchased on eBay in 2011 by historian and writer, Richard Wright. No photographs of the bridge were known to exist so he was thrilled with his find. “Street in Barkerville 83” is written in the lower right corner of the slide. For more info, visit: https:// richardtwright.blogspot.ca/2012/02/ reading-historic-photograph.html?m=1 Wright and partner Amy Newman run Barkerville’s Theatre Royal and he wrote “Barkerville and the Cariboo Goldfields.”

In his “Impressions of Barkerville,” William Vivian Bowron (b. 1872, d. 1944) noted: My most vivid recollections of those days are of our sport days, May 24th and July 1st to 4th. . . . There were two or three high bridges crossing the street so that during flood times pedestrians could get from one side to the other. . . . During the sports these bridges were handy as “Grand Stands” and were generally pretty well packed, especially during the horse races.

1-888-994-3332

www.barkerville.ca