Queen Charlottes Gold Rush
Encyclopedia
The Queen Charlottes Gold Rush was a gold rush
in the southern Queen Charlotte Islands
(Haida Gwaii) of what is now the North Coast of British Columbia
, Canada
, in 1851.
The rush was touched off in March 1851 when a Haida man sold a 27 ounce nugget in Fort Victoria for 1,500 blankets.
The crew of the Hudson's Bay Company vessel Una were the first to mine, discovering a vein 6.5" wide, 80' long at 25% gold content. As the crew began blasting, Haida would rush into the blast site to gather gold, competing with the crew, with the natives, according to the ship's log book, grabbing crewmen by the legs to prevent them from reaching the gold. Half the gold found was abandoned, along with the mine, to avoid bloodshed between the two parties, but each had taken in roughly $1,500 in gold ($60,000 in modern dollars) as the yield from three blasts. On her return voyage, the Una was wrecked off Neah Bay and her gold lost. The Hudson's Bay Company
, having no other ship available, did not attempt to mine in the Charlottes again.
Of several American ships to visit the Charlottes during the rush, the first, the Georgiana, was wrecked on the east coast of the Charlottes and her crew taken captive by Haida. Her crew's freedom was bartered back by the next vessel to come northwards, which had put in at Mitchell Harbour
but returned back south to Olympia to refit for the return trip to rescue the Georgiana's crew (the Georgiana was burned by the capturing Haida).
In 1852, ten American ships came to the Charlottes in search of gold, but hostility from Haida throughout the islands made mining and prospecting difficult, and most actual mining was prevented. Among these ten vessels was the Susan Sturgis, which traded along the coast and at Skidegate was befriended by Chief Edenshaw, who joined the crew as guide and interpreter, bringing along with him some of his own men. Pulling into Masset Inlet to trade, the vessel was suddenly mass-boarded by the Masset Haida, who fought with Edenshaw and his few men who were trying to protect the crew. Word reached Chief Trader John Work at Fort Simpson in ten days and Work arrived to negotiate the release of the Susan Sturgis crew at the rate of $250 each for captain and mate, and $30 for each of the men (i.e. at the dollar equivalent in blankets). The vessel could not be saved because it had been looted and destroyed by the Masset.
The total value of gold recovered from the Queen Charlottes Rush was reckoned to be in the range of three hundred dollars.
The rush was complicated by the fact that in 1851 the Queen Charlotte archipelago
, though recognized by treaty as British, was as yet unincorporated as a formal possession or colony. With American ships converging on Mitchell Harbour (Mitchell Inlet) on Moresby Island, which was the main port for rush activity, the islands came to the attention of the British Colonial Office, which in 1853 appointed Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas
as governor of a new Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands
. Colonial status arrived, however, long after the rush was over. The Queen Charlotte Colony, which effectively existed on paper only since the governor's power was barely exercised in the archipelago, was quietly absorbed into the Colony of British Columbia
in 1863.
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
in the southern Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
(Haida Gwaii) of what is now the North Coast of British Columbia
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in 1851.
The rush was touched off in March 1851 when a Haida man sold a 27 ounce nugget in Fort Victoria for 1,500 blankets.
The crew of the Hudson's Bay Company vessel Una were the first to mine, discovering a vein 6.5" wide, 80' long at 25% gold content. As the crew began blasting, Haida would rush into the blast site to gather gold, competing with the crew, with the natives, according to the ship's log book, grabbing crewmen by the legs to prevent them from reaching the gold. Half the gold found was abandoned, along with the mine, to avoid bloodshed between the two parties, but each had taken in roughly $1,500 in gold ($60,000 in modern dollars) as the yield from three blasts. On her return voyage, the Una was wrecked off Neah Bay and her gold lost. The Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, having no other ship available, did not attempt to mine in the Charlottes again.
Of several American ships to visit the Charlottes during the rush, the first, the Georgiana, was wrecked on the east coast of the Charlottes and her crew taken captive by Haida. Her crew's freedom was bartered back by the next vessel to come northwards, which had put in at Mitchell Harbour
Gold Harbour, British Columbia
Gold Harbour, was a gold and silver mine and camp on Mitchell Inlet, part of Tasu Sound on Moresby Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada...
but returned back south to Olympia to refit for the return trip to rescue the Georgiana's crew (the Georgiana was burned by the capturing Haida).
In 1852, ten American ships came to the Charlottes in search of gold, but hostility from Haida throughout the islands made mining and prospecting difficult, and most actual mining was prevented. Among these ten vessels was the Susan Sturgis, which traded along the coast and at Skidegate was befriended by Chief Edenshaw, who joined the crew as guide and interpreter, bringing along with him some of his own men. Pulling into Masset Inlet to trade, the vessel was suddenly mass-boarded by the Masset Haida, who fought with Edenshaw and his few men who were trying to protect the crew. Word reached Chief Trader John Work at Fort Simpson in ten days and Work arrived to negotiate the release of the Susan Sturgis crew at the rate of $250 each for captain and mate, and $30 for each of the men (i.e. at the dollar equivalent in blankets). The vessel could not be saved because it had been looted and destroyed by the Masset.
The total value of gold recovered from the Queen Charlottes Rush was reckoned to be in the range of three hundred dollars.
The rush was complicated by the fact that in 1851 the Queen Charlotte archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, though recognized by treaty as British, was as yet unincorporated as a formal possession or colony. With American ships converging on Mitchell Harbour (Mitchell Inlet) on Moresby Island, which was the main port for rush activity, the islands came to the attention of the British Colonial Office, which in 1853 appointed Vancouver Island Governor James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
as governor of a new Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands
Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands
The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands was a British colony constituting the archipelago formerly of the same name from 1853 to July 1863, when it was amalgamated into the Colony of British Columbia....
. Colonial status arrived, however, long after the rush was over. The Queen Charlotte Colony, which effectively existed on paper only since the governor's power was barely exercised in the archipelago, was quietly absorbed into the Colony of British Columbia
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
in 1863.
See also
- Colony of the Queen Charlotte IslandsColony of the Queen Charlotte IslandsThe Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands was a British colony constituting the archipelago formerly of the same name from 1853 to July 1863, when it was amalgamated into the Colony of British Columbia....
- Colony of Vancouver IslandColony of Vancouver IslandThe Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
- British Columbia Gold RushesBritish Columbia Gold RushesThe presence of gold in the region that is now British Columbia is mentioned in old legends that, in part, led to its discovery. The Strait of Anian, claimed to have been sailed by Juan de Fuca for whom today's Strait of Juan de Fuca is named, was described as passing through a land "rich in gold,...
- List of ships in British Columbia
- Gold Harbour, British ColumbiaGold Harbour, British ColumbiaGold Harbour, was a gold and silver mine and camp on Mitchell Inlet, part of Tasu Sound on Moresby Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada...