Lillooet’s Golden Miles of History
In 2015-16, the District of Lillooet embarked on an ambitious project – creating Lillooet’s “Golden Miles of History” historic panels and plaques. Here is an overview of the panels in the kiosks around the community. 1.The Fraser River “Tacoutche Tesse” – The Mighty One In the spring of 1808, Nor’wester Simon Fraser and his companions set out from Fort George (now Prince George) in four canoes to follow Tacoutche Tesse – a river they thought was the Columbia – to its mouth. The expedition camped below the present town of Lillooet north
Photo Credit: BC Archives
of Cayoosh Creek. Across the creek stood a fortified village of the St’át’imc who called the visitors “the Drifters” and said the leader had a tattoo of the sun on his forehead and the moon on his chest. It was an uneasy night - some St’át’imc wanted to raid them but a chief restrained them saying, “They might be able to help us one day.” “I have never seen any thing equal to this country,” Fraser wrote in his journal June 28, 1808. Aided by First Nations all the way down, Fraser noticed the onceseething river began to rise and fall with the tide. His expedition almost reached salt water but were driven away by Musqueam warriors when they tried to land.
of gold to San Francisco in 1857, word got out and the stampede was on. By 1858, there were 30,000 miners along the Fraser River and they faced a winter without re-supply. Douglas contracted Otis Parsons to build a pack trail along the route along the lakes between Harrison Lake and Lillooet, with labour supplied by the miners themselves. Two years later, the Royal
2. The Gold Rush In 1856, Hudson’s Bay Chief Factor James Douglas began supplying First Nations with hand tools to collect placer gold for trade on the Fraser River while American miners trickled in from Oregon Territory. Douglas sent a shipment 5