TheBig Bend Gold Rush was agold rush in theBig Bend Country of theColony of British Columbia (now aCanadian province) in the mid-1860s.
In 1861, thegold commissioner atRock Creek reported a First Nations account of coarse gold some miles above theBoat Encampment. However, the actual first "strike" by Europeans is unclear.[1] That year, a party of miners led by Hamilton McKenzie paddled up theColumbia River and wintered nearDeath Rapids.[2] During 1861–1862, small teams worked the Columbia bars and its tributaries.[3] Four Frenchmen, who had settled onFrench Creek in spring 1865, were very successful.[4] To avoid the gold export tax, half the gold leaving for the U.S. was estimated to be unreported.[5]
Gold rushes expanded the colony beyondVancouver Island onto the mainland.[6] These emanated from theFraser Canyon Gold Rush, the first to dominate the colony's history. A huge influx of miners, drawn from California to the Fraser, dispersed throughout the colony in search of gold. Other rushes during the period were inRock Creek,Wild Horse Creek, theCariboo,[7]Omineca,Perry Creek,[8] andStikine, as well as theColville andColorado Gold Rushes.
The upper Columbia was extremely remote. Many prospectors came overland up theRocky Mountain Trench from what is nowMontana, or up the Columbia River fromWashington Territory. A regular steamboat service on the Columbia fromMarcus, Washington Terr. to La Porte, the head of navigation, began in 1866, but was first attempted in 1865.[9] FromVancouver Island, the route viaPortland up the Columbia was also promoted.[10]
However, most left the Cariboo goldfields to head eastward along the wagon road to present daySavona, to board a steamer. Maintaining an easterly direction, they crossedKamloops Lake, passedFort Kamloops, along theSouth Thompson River, crossedLittle Shuswap Lake, and along theLittle River, and acrossShuswap Lake (formerly called Big Shuswap Lake). The SSMarten operated the 111-mile (179 km) Savona–Seymour run to the mouth of theSeymour River.[11] Trails over theMonashee Mountains, familiar to First Nations, led to the Columbia.[12] Seymour to the Columbia was 35 miles (56 km),[13] with snow 20 feet (6 m) deep in places.[14] Parties from Kamloops also travelled overland inpack trains, completing the journey down Smith Creek[8] (a.k.a. Gaffney or Kirbyville creek)[15] to the Columbia.
In 1865,William Downie, an experienced prospector, and his party of ex-Cariboo miners ascended the Columbia from Marcus. They discovered gold in paying quantities atCarnes Creek. Others continued up the Columbia to theGoldstream, and its tributaries,French andMcCullough creeks, and were also well rewarded.[16] News spread, and the rush truly began in 1866. Between 8,000–10,000 flocked to the creeks and valleys. That year, the SSForty-Nine commenced ferrying miners toLa Porte, at the foot of Death Rapids.[17] Conflicting accounts put this at either four[18] or 37[8] trips from Marcus during the season. TheMarten made twice weekly trips to Seymour. Many smaller boats also operated on the Shuswap. During the previous winter, a number of miners had hauled their equipment across the frozen lake.[10]
The main ore finds were on the southwestward leg of the river beyond the bend, south from today'sMica Creek. At French Creek City in 1866, Arthur W. Vowell was appointed constable (one of the four colonial constables prior toConfederation), serving for six years.[19][20]Peter O'Reilly was appointed as gold commissioner,[8] andWalter Moberly laid out the proposed town site. Kirbyville arose on the Goldstream. Prospecting spread from above to below the rapids, venturing alongDownie Creek. The mining settlements around French Creek, McCullough Creek, Kirbyville, and Wilson's Landing became sizeable towns with cabins, hotels, stores, saloons, blacksmith shops, laundries, billiard halls, and barber shops.[17] In one incident, 18 miners drowned when a boat capsized in the rapids.[21]
By year end, the rush was over. In 1869, 37 miners remained at French Creek, and none on the others creeks.[19][22] The rush itself had been modest in terms of earnings compared to the Fraser and Cariboo.[23]Big Bend mining activity sporadically occurred later. Most of the goldfields, and what remained of their boomtowns and old mining camps and workings, are now submerged by the reservoirs ofMica Dam orRevelstoke Canyon Dam.