Old Cariboo Road
Encyclopedia
The Old Cariboo Road is a reference to the original wagon road to the Cariboo gold fields in what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia
. It should not be confused with the Cariboo Road
, which was built slightly later and used a different route.
It was built from Lillooet
to Alexandria
, beginning in 1859, and was a precursor to the slightly later Cariboo Wagon Road
that was built from Yale
via Cache Creek
-Ashcroft. Access to the start of the road at Lillooet was made by the Douglas Road
or Lakes Route from Port Douglas
, at the head of Harrison Lake.
It is the mileages from Lillooet on the Old Cariboo Road, properly known as the Lillooet-Alexandria Road, that the "road house" placenames of British Columbia, such as 100 Mile House, are measured. The road was a toll-route and built by private contractor Gustavus Blin-Wright, a prominent British-Swedish entrepreneur in colonial British Columbia who also contracted to build roads and provide steamer services in the Kootenay region. Blin-Wright also operated the steamer which connected the end of the road at Alexandria with Quesnel
(then Quesnellemouthe).
When the Cariboo Road proper was built, it converged with the existing route of the Old Cariboo Road at Clinton
, and followed the earlier road to Alexandria, but was extended up the Fraser from there to Quesnel (thereby eliminating the need for steamer travel on that stretch of the upper Fraser) and completed eastward from there to Barkerville
.
It was along this route that an attempt was made to use Bactrian camels
purchased from the U.S. Camel Corps for freight, and also a tractor-style Thomson Road Steamer known as a "road train", one of the earliest motorized vehicles.
area on the Columbia River
and passed north through Eastern Washington along the Columbia River to the Okanogan River
and north into British Columbia
.
Hudson Bay Company fur traders brigades followed this route up until 1847, when the Hudson's Bay Company withdrew from the Northwest. Cattle drives were common along this trail to supply the gold miners, who arrived in British Columbia in the lat 1850s.
In Washington Territory
a wagon road from Wallula
(Fort Nez Percés
near Walla Walla
) to the gold mining regions of British Columbia was known as the "Cariboo Trail" or the "Wallula-Okanogan Road". Connecting to the Oregon Trail
at Wallula, it ran north across Quincy Flats past Moses Lake
, then crossed the lower Grand Coulee
at present day Coulee City
. From there it turned north and crossed the Waterville Plateau to reach the Columbia River near Fort Okanogan
. From there it followed the valley of the Okanagan River into Canada, connecting with the Okanagan Trail
.
MacLeod Gunn, M.A. Thesis (Geography), University of British Columbia, 1961. FC 3822.4 G95 1965 c.1
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. It should not be confused with the Cariboo Road
Cariboo Road
The Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...
, which was built slightly later and used a different route.
It was built from Lillooet
Lillooet, British Columbia
Lillooet is a community on the Fraser River in western Canada, about up the British Columbia Railway line from Vancouver. Situated at an intersection of deep gorges in the lee of the Coast Mountains, it has a dry climate- of precipitation is recorded annually at the town's weather station,...
to Alexandria
Alexandria, British Columbia
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road...
, beginning in 1859, and was a precursor to the slightly later Cariboo Wagon Road
Cariboo Road
The Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...
that was built from Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
via Cache Creek
Cache Creek, British Columbia
Cache Creek is a junction community northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of British Columbia at its junction with northbound Highway 97...
-Ashcroft. Access to the start of the road at Lillooet was made by the Douglas Road
Douglas Road
The Douglas Road, aka the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior...
or Lakes Route from Port Douglas
Port Douglas, British Columbia
Port Douglas, sometimes referred to simply as Douglas, is a remote community in British Columbia, Canada at the head of Harrison Lake, which is the head of river navigation from the Strait of Georgia...
, at the head of Harrison Lake.
Quesnel, British Columbia
-Demographics:Quesnel had a population of 9,326 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 7.1% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Quesnel was $54,044, which is slightly above the British Columbia provincial average of $52,709....
(then Quesnellemouthe).
When the Cariboo Road proper was built, it converged with the existing route of the Old Cariboo Road at Clinton
Clinton, British Columbia
Clinton is a village in British Columbia, Canada, located approximately 40 km northwest of Cache Creek and 30 km south of 70 Mile House.It is considered by some to straddle the southern edge of the Cariboo country of British Columbia, although others consider Ashcroft-Cache Creek, Lillooet, Savona,...
, and followed the earlier road to Alexandria, but was extended up the Fraser from there to Quesnel (thereby eliminating the need for steamer travel on that stretch of the upper Fraser) and completed eastward from there to Barkerville
Barkerville, British Columbia
Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...
.
It was along this route that an attempt was made to use Bactrian camels
Bactrian camel
The Bactrian camel is a large, even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of central Asia. It is presently restricted in the wild to remote regions of the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang. A small number of wild Bactrian camels still roam the Mangystau Province of southwest...
purchased from the U.S. Camel Corps for freight, and also a tractor-style Thomson Road Steamer known as a "road train", one of the earliest motorized vehicles.
The Old Cariboo Trail
From Wallula Gap on the Columbia River, the Cariboo Road was built over the old Caribou Trail, an American Indian routes that began at Wallula GapWallula Gap
Wallula Gap is a large water gap of the Columbia River through basalt anticlines in the Columbia River Basin in the U.S. state of Washington, just south of the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers...
area on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
and passed north through Eastern Washington along the Columbia River to the Okanogan River
Okanogan River
The Okanogan River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 115 mi long, in southern British Columbia and north central Washington...
and north into British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Hudson Bay Company fur traders brigades followed this route up until 1847, when the Hudson's Bay Company withdrew from the Northwest. Cattle drives were common along this trail to supply the gold miners, who arrived in British Columbia in the lat 1850s.
In Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
a wagon road from Wallula
Wallula, Washington
Wallula is a census-designated place in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 179 at the 2010 census.-History:Lewis and Clark reached the area April 27, 1806, on their return journey from the Pacific...
(Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés, sometimes also spelled Fort Nez Percé , named after the Nez Perce people and later known as Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified British fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington...
near Walla Walla
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
) to the gold mining regions of British Columbia was known as the "Cariboo Trail" or the "Wallula-Okanogan Road". Connecting to the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
at Wallula, it ran north across Quincy Flats past Moses Lake
Moses Lake
Moses Lake is a lake and reservoir along the course of Crab Creek, in Washington state, USA.Moses Lake is part of the Columbia River basin, as Crab Creek is a tributary of the Columbia River....
, then crossed the lower Grand Coulee
Grand Coulee
The Grand Coulee is an ancient river bed in the U.S. state of Washington. This National Natural Landmark stretches for about sixty miles southwest from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, being bisected by Dry Falls into the Upper and Lower Grand Coulee....
at present day Coulee City
Coulee City, Washington
Coulee City is a town in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 600 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Coulee City is located at ....
. From there it turned north and crossed the Waterville Plateau to reach the Columbia River near Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan was founded as a fur trade outpost by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company in 1811. It was built at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers, in what is now Okanogan County, Washington...
. From there it followed the valley of the Okanagan River into Canada, connecting with the Okanagan Trail
Okanagan Trail
The Okanagan Trail was an inland route to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush from the Lower Columbia region of the Washington and Oregon Territories in 1858-1859...
.
See also
- Douglas RoadDouglas RoadThe Douglas Road, aka the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior...
- Dozier's Way
- Cariboo RoadCariboo RoadThe Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...
- Lillooet Cattle TrailLillooet Cattle TrailThe Lillooet Cattle Trail, also known as the Lillooet-Burrard Cattle Trail and also as the Lillooet Trail , was an unusual and daring public works undertaking by the Province of British Columbia in the 1877, and was the largest 19th Century public works expenditure at $35,000 of the new province...
- Hudson's Bay Brigade TrailHudson's Bay Brigade TrailThe Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver and those in New Caledonia and also in...
- River TrailRiver Trail (British Columbia)The River Trail was a main route for travel in the colonial era of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia, running northwards along the Fraser River from to present day Lillooet to Big Bar, British Columbia and points beyond in the Cariboo District...
- Old Cariboo HighwayOld Cariboo HighwayThe Old Cariboo Highway is a portion of the historic Cariboo Highway near Prince George, British Columbia. It runs northward from its junction with Highway 97 just south of Prince George, and terminates at the Yellowhead Highway just east of Prince George....
- Cariboo Highway
Further reading
- Gold Mining and the Early Development of British Columbia, Winifred Emily Foster, M.A.* Thesis (History), University of California, 1936. FC 3822.4F68
- The Development of Communications in Colonial British Columbia, Helen Ferguson, M.A. Thesis (History), University of British Columbia, 1939 FC 3822 F47
- Gold and the Early Settlement of British Columbia,, Angus
MacLeod Gunn, M.A. Thesis (Geography), University of British Columbia, 1961. FC 3822.4 G95 1965 c.1
- Halfway to the Goldfields - A History of Lillooet, Lorraine Harris, J.J. Douglas, North Vancouver, 1977
- Short Portage to Lillooet, Irene Edwards, Irene Edwards (self-publ.) 1977