Fond Memories

A day trip along a winding gravel road, up & down each hill.

The annual trek with the family, driving to Barkerville.

Childhood memories of a long drive, getting car sick.

Passing creeks where miners used a gold pan & their pick.

8 and 11 mile hills, Cottonwood House, Mexican Hill, Wingdam, Stanley, Devil’s Canyon, Slough Creek, Jack of Clubs Lake, Wells.

All familiar names along the way, each with a story to tell, stopping for snacks, drink, picture, taking in sights, sounds, and smells.

All eyes were peeled, looking at the side of the road, in swamps, the shadows of the forest or through the sun’s glare.

All the while, hoping to catch a glimpse of a deer, moose, caribou, wolf, black bear, or elusive grizzly bear.

After a couple hours of bumps, dust, and turns.

Stepping out of the car, the stomach churns.

A quick visit to the washroom.

Then off to see a mining flume.

A stop at the candy store and Mason & Daly. As small children we ran, jumped, & smiled with glee.

Gold panning at the Eldorado never got old. Shaking, sifting, for that sparkling speck or flake of gold.

Next, tickets were purchased for a stage coach ride & Theatre Royal show.

Into the saloon, for a mug of root beer & the bakery for sourdough.

Down the street or on the boardwalks we ran as fast as we could go.

To dress up at LA Blanc’s studio for an old fashioned photo.

A walk to Chinatown to see buildings, artifacts, & where terraced gardens lie.

A look at Barker’s mine shaft, the Cornish waterwheel, & Williams Creek flowing by. Hats off, no pictures, bench seating, stomping, hollering, clapping, slapstick, music, songs, high stepping & twirls.

Fran Dowie, Sid Williams, Michael B. Palmer, Richard Wright, Amy Newman, Stu Cawood, & Hurdy Gurdy Girls.

A walk along the Cariboo Waggon Road to the Courthouse in Richfield.

The place where Begbie, the hanging judge ruled & where his sentences were revealed.

To the north & west of town, up a hill, is the pioneer cemetery plot.

If you dilly dally or sit too long, you may secure your final resting spot.

As you leave, you have a view of Waverly, Greenberry, & Murray.

On either side of you are the campgrounds of Forest Rose & Lowhee.

To the east is the chain of Bowron Lakes where you can paddle for sport.

At Pinegrove you drive beside the popular local Troll Ski Resort.

A must, is to drive through the eclectic town of Wells, quaint, beautiful, and creative. Colourful homes and characters, crafty, talented people who are innovative.

At the site of Charles Blessing’s grave there is a roadside rest stop.

Robbers Roost above the old Wagon Road is a rock outcrop.

All that remains of Stanley is the Lightning Hotel, lonely and solitary.

Visit the grave sites and kiosk for a glimpse of history in the cemetery.

Follow west, Lightning & Peters Creek which both feed into the Swift River.

Forming the Cottonwood, into the mighty Fraser it will deliver.

Upon arrival at the city of Quesnel. You will have some fascinating stories to tell.

– Grant Johannesen Feb. 2023

I have been printing regularly for 5 years and change, and I have been in the shop for 7 years. The first two years of being in the Cariboo Sentinel I was only talking about the Newspaper, the people involved with the paper, its part in Barkerville’s history, and of course, the press itself. Talking about the press presented the biggest challenge when I first opened the shop, primarily because at that time I had no idea how it worked. Luckily there was a gentleman still in town who had worked in the print shop many years prior to me being there. They were nice enough to come by and give me a rundown of how the press worked, how to print, how to set up a frame to print, and what the names of the tools and equipment were called. From there I had enough to explain the process to the people stopping by. Unfortunately, I was unable to use the press as it was sitting for quite sometime before I entered the picture. However, because of my actor training, I became very good at miming how the press worked. It was remarkable, but not a substitute for running the press itself. After my first two years and a particularly difficult summer in 2015, I decided to take a break from Barkerville and decided I wouldn’t be returning in 2016.

Fast forward to the spring of 2016 and I am living in Vancouver. I had turned down two job offers from other employers in Barkerville and Wells when my former employer and friend messaged me that Barkerville had acquired a newer press that they could print on. I picked the wrong time to take a leave. I did come up for a few days to help the person who would now be working in the Cariboo Sentinel and using the new press. I made regular trips to Wells as Barkerville that summer and would always stop by the print shop and look on with envy.

The following year was much of the same with the exception that I had the opportunity to fill in for the typesetter/printer for a glorious tenday stint. It was heaven. I was finally able to do all the things I pretended to do and more, no more miming. It was not long after that I decided I wanted to move back to Wells even though I was not guaranteed a job in Barkerville, I just knew I needed to be back there. I found work and was happy just to be back.

In the fall/winter of 2017, the gentleman who took over the shop decided they needed to take some time away, which allowed me to enter the Cariboo Sentinel and begin my journey to the centre of the Cariboo Sentinel.

I was very fortunate that the person before me had put in a lot of work to get the shop in fantastic working order. The following season was a huge learning curve filled with challenges, all of which were welcome and important to my growth as a typesetter/printer. Other than the person who gave me my first quick rundown of the shop (30 to 45 minutes), I relied on my own curiosity and desire to become a competent typesetter/printer as well as the many visitors to Barkerville that have worked in the same type of shop, setting type, operating the press, and the maintenance of these marvellous machines.

Even today, I learn something new from a fellow typesetter/printer. I still marvel at the progress I have made, from developing an eye for minute detail to how long it takes to do a job and how quick the turnover between jobs has become. I have printed a plethora of copies of prints on the press and during the last two years we have now started using the two older presses that were there when I first started in Barkerville.

Operating these presses now comes as easy to me as riding a bike, I don’t have to think about it, I can just do it. If you had told me in 2007 that one day I would be printing regularly on a press that is over a hundred years old, I don’t think I would have believed you. To say it was a pleasant surprise would be a gross understatement. Here’s to printing for another hundred plus years.

– Chris Cooley, Cariboo Sentinel Interpretive Lead

Friends of Barkerville – Cariboo Goldfields Historical Society

“Since 1985, the FOB have raised millions in dollars in grants and donations to assist with many projects in Barkerville, and they have also undertaken important projects outside of the historic site.”

– Barkerville Heritage Trust

Annual Report 2018 - 2019

The Directors of the Friends of Barkerville –Cariboo Goldfields Historical Society (FOBCGHS) are passionate about, and dedicated to, Protecting, Preserving, and Promoting Barkerville Historic Town & Park and the surrounding Cariboo Gold Fields.

As a visitor to this historic site, we hope that you either will, or have already acquired, a newfound interest and passion for Barkerville and this surrounding area. We encourage you to either get involved with, or support, the FOB-

CGHS by first obtaining a membership at Barkerville’s registration desk in the Welcome Centre. Or, you can do so on our website using Paypal.

We are a Charitable, Non-Profit Society so you can make a donation to the FOB-CGHS and be issued a tax receipt. Our annual membership extends from May 1st until April 30th of the following year. You can choose between a single membership for $25, or a couple/family membership for $40.

Our History and Activities:

The FOB-CGHS has been in existence since 1985. Over the years we have raised funds through memberships (in-person, through our website, through Barkerville’s Visitor Reception/Welcome Centre, at trade fairs, and during Victorian Christmas events), donations, grants, retail sales (some of you will remember our former store in the Barkerville Hotel), selling shares for the Canadian Claim project, and during our inaugural Bloody Good Bash event which was held at Troll Resort on October 22, 2022. Our Bloody Good Bash is an annual affair – this year’s date is September 16th! Book your tickets!

We have partnered with Barkerville, New Pathways to Gold Society, Barkerville Gold Mine/Osisko Development - Cariboo Gold Project, West Fraser Mills Ltd., Tolko Industries Ltd. – Riverside, Emcon Service Inc., Cariboo Regional District, Dunkley Lumber Ltd, Troll Ski Resort, Barkerville Brewery, Frog on the Bog, Brick Layer Brewing, Gold Rush Cycling Club, and called upon members for work-bees, fundraising, and donations in-kind.

In consultation and cooperation with Barkerville, we identify and prioritize projects and activities identified as requiring support and toward which we can invest our volunteer efforts and funds.

The FOB-CGHS have conducted work-bees, contracted workers for trail maintenance (brushing, removing and bucking blowndown trees, assessing, identifying and falling danger trees, marking trails, putting-up posts and signage, hand ditching and water barring, laying corduroy, and GPS’ing points. We have conducted guided tours of the 1861 Gold Rush Pack Trail (GRPT), as well as snowshoe treks along a ditch line to the Richfield Cemetery and Court House along Williams Creek. Other trails used and maintained by the FOB-CGHS to some degree are the Van Winkle Trail, the 1861 Gold Rush Pack Trail, the Grouse Creek Trail, and White Grouse Creek. Alongside volunteers from Wells, in the past we have provided cleanup and repairs to the Barkerville Cemetery.

Contributions made during the past 15 years:

• $20,000 to the Canadian Claim project.

• In coordination with Dunkley Lumber Ltd, the donation of a bridge to cross Williams Creek to access the Canadian Claim.

• $5,000 toward the construction of the Billy Barker Shafthouse.

• $5,000 toward the Richfield Cemetery.

• $5,000 toward construction of the low mobility access trail from Barkerville’s Welcome Centre to the Barkerville Ceme tery (including trailside benches).

• $19,000 to repair the Stamp Mill.

• $10,000 for repair and stabilization of the Barkerville Cemetery.

• Fundraised and contributed extensively to the construction of the Cornish waterwheel (the FOB-CGHS were instrumental in lobbying West Fraser Mills Ltd. to donate lumber which was processed by the Antique Machinery Parks’ sawmill for use in the construction of the present site Cornish Water Wheel).

• $5,000 was donated to the Bonepicker Gold Rush Backstories documentary project (an ongoing project comprised of numerous documentaries that further explore the backstories of Barkerville pioneers).

• We sponsored Newman & Wright Production’s Phoenix Tour in 2019, wherein that season’s Theatre Royal cast visited local Cariboo communities impacted by the 2017/18 wildfires during the month of April and performed Mrs. McGinley’s Gold Rush Variety Show.

• We paid a contractor to brush, weed, and maintain the Barkerville Cemetery.

• We arranged for the recovery of a boiler from a steam shovel used in the Slough Creek area to be displayed beside the stamp mill.

• We paid for a contractor to make replacement headboards for Barkerville Cemetery.

• We put money toward the purchase of electric scooters for use by persons with mobility issues in the site.

• We put money toward the purchase of AED’s for emergency response in the site.

• We donated two bicycle stands with locks for use in Barkerville’s parking lot.

• We sponsored Noble Players Theatrics’ production of Sawney’s Legacy, a play about historic Barkerville poet James Anderson, in the 2022 Victoria Fringe Festival.

• Annually, we award two $500 bursaries to students attending Correlieu Sr. High School who are pursuing post-secondary education.

• We oversee the Stanley Cemetery (having installed outhouses, low-mobility access, signage, fences, picket-fencing around graves, and an informational kiosk honouring those buried).

• We donated $25,000 to Barkerville in 2023 to fund an additional Chinese Historical Interpreter.

• FOB Directors and Members volunteer an average of 1500 or more accumulated hours a year (donation in-kind of nearly $45,000 annually at $30/hr value), and promote the site at events, online, and through society newsletters numerous times throughout the year (promotional donation in-kind of nearly $3200-5000 value annually).

Present Projects:

• We are working with the New Pathways to Gold Society in identifying, marking, GPS’ing, maintaining, and developing signage for along the original Cariboo Waggon Road (sic) from Stanley to Barkerville.

• The Stanley Cemetery enclosure fence and gravesite pickets will be repaired, replaced, and repainted. Tolko Industries - Lakeside Division of Williams Lake will be donating twenty-two 2x6x12 foot longboards to repair the fence.

• The brush, small trees, and danger trees in the cemetery will be pruned, felled, bucked and removed.

• The 1861 GRPT will be maintained by clearing brush and removing blown-down trees from the trail at the Richfield end, so as to allow for day hiking on the northern portion of the trail. The Cariboo Waggon Roads’ terminus is in Barkerville at St. Saviour’s Church.

Enjoy your Visit!

We appreciate your support and encourage you to experience all that Barkerville Historic Town & Park has to offer.

Please take a few days to explore the surrounding area and to become familiar with the friendly people in Wells, Bowron Lake, Troll, and savour the gorgeous scenery, trails, creeks, lakes, wildlife, mountains, and fresh country air (respectfully and responsibly, of course).

Be sure to come back with your friends and families.

– The Friends

FOB-CGHS Scholarship in Memory of Jerry MacDonald

The Friends would like to congratulate Sophie Turton and Cameron Finlay for their bursary essay entries, and for being awarded this year’s Jerry MacDonald Scholarship by the society. The first of these two entries appears below in this summer edition, and the latter will appear in our autumn edition.