"Destiny, which has lately riveted our attention on the burning plains
of the extreme East," says the _Times_ of 9th July, "now claims our
solicitude for the auriferous mountains and rushing rivers of the Far
West and the shores of the remote Pacific. What most of us know of
these ultra-occidental regions may be summed up in a very few words. We
have most of us read Washington Irving's charming narrative of
`Astoria,' sympathised with the untimely fate of Captain Thorn and his
crew, and read with breathless interest the wanderings of the pilgrims
to the head waters of the Columbia. After thirty years, the curtain
rises again on the stormy period of the Ashburton Treaty, when the
`patriots' were bent upon `whipping the Britishers' out of every acre of
land on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. And now, for the third
time, we are recalled to the same territory, no longer as the goal of
the adventurous trader or the battle ground of the political agitator,
but as a land of promise--a new El Dorado, to which men are rushing with
all the avidity that the presence of the one, thing which all men, in
all times and in all places, insatiably desire is sure to create."
This El Dorado lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific; it is
bounded on the south by the American frontier line, 49 degrees of
latitude, and may be considered to extend to the sources of Fraser
River, in latitude 55 degrees. It is, therefore, about 420 miles long
in a straight line, its average breadth from 250 to 300 miles. Taken
from corner to corner, its greatest length would be, however, 805
miles,--and its greatest breadth 400 miles, Mr Arrowsmith computes its
area of square miles, including Queen Charlotte's Island, at somewhat
more than 200,000 miles. Of its two gold-bearing rivers, one, the
Fraser, rises in the northern boundary, and flowing south, falls into
the sea at the south-western extremity of the territory, opposite the
southern end of Vancouver's Island, and within a few miles of the
American boundary; the other, the Thompson River, which rises in the
Rocky Mountains, and flowing westward, joins the Fraser about 150 miles
from the coast. It is on these two rivers, and chiefly at their
confluence, that the gold discoveries have been made.
Fraser River is about as famous a point as there is today on the earth's
surface--as famous as were the Californian diggings in 1848, or the
Australian gold mines in 1853. It is now the centre of attraction for
the adventurous of all countries. The excitement throughout the Canadas
and Northern States of America is universal. In fact, the whole
interior of North America is quite in a ferment--the entire floating
population being either "on the move," or preparing to start; while
traders, cattle-dealers, contractors, and all the enterprising persons
in business who can manage to leave, are maturing arrangements to join
the general exodus. Persons travelling in the mining regions reckon
that, in three months, 50,000 souls will have left the State of
California alone. The rapidity and extent of this emigration has never
been paralleled.
It is now established that the district of British Columbia, holding a
relation to Puget's Sound similar to that of Sacramento Valley to the
Bay of San Francisco, contains rich and extensive gold beds. The Fraser
River mines have already been mentioned in the British Parliament as not
less valuable and important than the gold fields in Australia,
Geologists have anticipated such a discovery; and Governor Stevens, in
his last message to the Legislative Assembly of Washington Territory,
claims that the district south of the international boundary is equally
auriferous.
The special correspondent of the _San Francisco Bulletin_, a reliable
authority, writes from Fort Langley, twenty-five miles up the Fraser,
under date the 25th May, that he had just come down from Fort Yale,
where he found sixty men and two hundred Indians, with their squaws, at
work on a "bar" of about five hundred yards in length--called "Hills
Bar," one mile below Fort Yale, and fifteen miles from Fort Hope, all
trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company. "The morning I arrived, two
men (Kerrison and Company) cleaned up five and a-half ounces from the
rocker, the product of half a day's work. Kerrison and Company the next
day cleaned up ten and a-half ounces from two rockers, which I saw
myself weighed. This bar is acknowledged to be one of the richest ever
seen, and well it may be, for here is a product of fifteen and a-half
ounces of gold, worth 247 and a half dollars, or 50 pounds sterling,
from it in a day and a-half to the labour of two rockers. Old
Californian miners say they never saw such rich diggings. The average
result per day to the man was fully 20 dollars, some much more. The
gold is very fine; so much so, that it was impossible to save more than
two-thirds of what went through the rockers. This defect in the rocker
must be remedied by the use of quicksilver to `amalgamate' the finer
particles of gold. This remedy is at hand, for California produces
quicksilver sufficient for the consumption of the `whole' world in her
mountains of Cinnabar. Supplies are going on by every vessel. At
Sailor Diggings, above Fort Yale, they are doing very well, averaging
from 8 to 25 dollars per day to the man. I am told that the gold is
much coarser on Thompson River than it is in Fraser River. I saw
yesterday about 250 dollars of coarse gold from Thompson River, in
pieces averaging 5 dollars each. Some of the pieces had quartz among
them. Hill, who was the first miner on the bar bearing his name, just
above spoken of, with his partner, has made some 600 dollars on it in
almost sixteen days' work. Three men just arrived from Sailor Diggings
have brought down 670 dollars in dust, the result of twelve days' work.
Gold very fine. Rising of the river driving the miners off for a time."
Correspondents from several places on the Sound, both on the British and
American territories, men of various nationalities, have since written
that the country on the Fraser River is rich in gold, and "equal to any
discoveries ever made in California." The _Times'_ correspondent,
writing from Vancouver's Island on 10th June, says, "The gold exists
from the mouth of Fraser River for at least 200 miles up, and most
likely much further, but it has not been explored; hitherto any one
working on its banks has been able to obtain gold in abundance and
without extraordinary labour; the gold at present obtained has been
within a foot of the surface, and is supposed to have averaged about ten
dollars per diem to each man engaged in mining. Of course, some obtain
more, some less, but all get gold. Thompson River is quite as rich in
gold as Fraser River. The land about Thompson River consists of
extensive sandy prairies, which are loaded with gold also; in fact, the
whole country about Fraser and Thompson Rivers are mere beds of gold, so
abundant as to make it quite disgusting. I have already seen pounds and
pounds of it, and hope before long to feast my eyes upon tons of the
precious metal." And the same high authority writes on 17th
June,--"There is no longer room to doubt that all the country bordering
on Fraser River is one continuous gold bed. Miners abandoning the
partially exhausted _placers_ of California, are thronging to this new
_Dorado_, and the heretofore tranquil precincts of Victoria are now the
scene of an excitement such as was witnessed at San Francisco in 1849,
or since in Melbourne. Land has run up to prices fabulously high; and
patches that six months ago were, perhaps, grudgingly purchased at the
colonial price of 20 shillings the acre, are re-selling daily at a
hundred times that amount. The small number of steam ships hitherto
found sufficient for the commerce between San Francisco and these
vicinities no longer suffices to convey a tithe of the eager applicants
for passage. An opening for the enterprise of British capitalists such
as was not anticipated has thus suddenly arisen, and the opportunity
will, of course, be seized with alacrity.
"Lest I should appear too sanguine in my representations, I will cite
one instance to illustrate the richness of these newly discovered
diggings. Three men returned for provisions lately, after an absence of
seven days; they had during this interval extracted 179 ounces of gold.
I state this fact on the authority of Governor Douglas, who has just
returned from the mining regions, whither he went with the view of
establishing certain regulations for the maintenance of order. In
short, all who have visited the mines are impressed with the conviction
that their richness far excels that of California in its palmiest days."
And, again, the correspondent of the _New York Times_, in a letter dated
21st June, gives the following corroborative testimony:--"The gold is
found everywhere, and even during the extreme height of the river,
parties are averaging from ten to twenty dollars per day, digging in the
banks or on the upper edge of the bars, nearly all of which are
overflowed. Big strikes of from fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars
are frequently reported. Nearly all the work at present is carried on
between Forts Langley and Yale, and for some twenty or thirty miles
above the latter an entire distance along the river of about a hundred
miles. Some few are digging on Harrison River, and other tributaries,
where the gold is found in larger particles. Those who were engaged in
mining on the forks of Thompson River shew still richer yields, but have
been compelled to leave on account of the high stage of the water, the
want of provisions, and the opposition of the Indians. The gold where
the most men are located (upon the bars of the river), is found in very
minute particles, like sand. No quicksilver has been used as, yet, but
when that is attainable, their yield is sure to be greatly augmented.
At Hill's Bar those at work had averaged fifty dollars per day the whole
time they had been there. The Indians all have gold, and are as much
excited as the whites. It is of no use to cite various reports of
individual successes in this or that locality. The impression of all
who have gone is unanimous and conclusive as to the great facts of new
gold fields now being explored equal to any ever yet developed in
California or elsewhere. No steamer has yet returned with more than
twelve or fifteen passengers, and nearly every one of these had come
down to obtain supplies for himself or his party left behind in the
diggings. They all say they are going back in a few weeks."
The following personal testimony may also be cited:--"On Sunday," says
the _San Francisco Globe_, "we received a visit from Messrs. Edward
Campbell and Joseph Blanch, both boatmen, well known in this city, who
have just returned from the mines on Fraser River. They mined for ten
days on the bar, until compelled to desist from the rise in the river,
in which time they took out 1340 dollars. They used but one rocker, and
have no doubt that they could have done much better with proper
appliances. There were from sixty to seventy white men at work on
Hill's Bar, and from four to five hundred Indians, men, women, and
children. The Indians are divided in opinion with regard to Americans;
the more numerous party, headed by Pollock, a chief, are disposed to
receive them favourably, because they obtain more money, for their
labour from the `Bostons' than from `King George's men', as they style
the English. They have learned the full value of their labour, and,
instead of one dollar a-day, or an old shirt, for guiding and helping to
work a boat up the river, they now charge from five to eight dollars per
day. Another portion of the Indians are in favour of driving off the
`Bostons,' being fearful of having their country overrun by them."
The proprietor of the San Francisco _News Letter_ had determined to be
at the centre of the present excitement in the El Dorado, and to judge
for himself, or, rather to solve the problem of how much gold, how many
Indians, and how much humbug, went on board the Pacific mail steam-ship
_Cortes_, Captain Horner, and made the passage to Victoria, 840 miles,
in five days. Although nine hundred persons were on board, yet no
actual inconvenience was felt by the high-pressure packing; the greatest
good humour and accommodating spirit prevailing, controlled by the
gentlemanly conduct of Captain J.B. Horner and his officers. On the day
of arrival, the operations of the Government Land Office at the fort in
Victoria was 26,000 dollars. The importance of the amount can best be
realised by comparing it with the prices, viz. 100 dollars per lot, 60
by 100 feet, unsurveyed. Some of these lots have been sold at 200 to
1000 dollars. Lots at first sale, surveyed price, 50 dollars; lots,
second and last sale, 100 dollars each, are now being sold from 500 to
1000 dollars each. Six lots together in the principal street are valued
at 10,000 dollars. The figures at Esquimault Harbour and lots in that
vicinity assume a bolder character as to value, from the fact that the
harbour is a granite-bound basin, similar to Victoria, with an entrance
now wide and deep enough to admit the Leviathan. Victoria has a bar
which must be dredged, dug, or blown away. We noted at Victoria that
the most valuable lot, with a flat granite level, with thirty feet of
water, sufficient for any ship to unload without jetty, is now covered
by a large building constructed of logs, belonging to Samuel Price and
Company. A ship was unloading lumber at this wharf at 35 dollars per M,
which was the ruling price. At Victoria, on the 21st June, a Frenchman
landed from the steamer _Surprise_, who came on board at Fort Langley
with twenty-seven pounds weight of gold on his person, which we saw and
lifted. Another passenger, whom we know, states that there are six
hundred persons within eight miles of Fort Hope, who are averaging per
man an ounce and a half of gold per day minimum to six and a half ounces
per day maximum. The largest sums seem to be taken out at Sailor's Bar,
five miles above Fort Hope. The lowest depth as yet reached by miners
is fifteen inches; these mere surface scratches producing often 200
dollars per day. At Fort Hope, potatoes were selling at 6 dollars per
bag; bacon, 75 cents per pound; crackers, 30 cents. From Fort Hope to
Fort Thompson the road is good, with the exception of twenty miles. For
20 dollars, the steamers will take miners from Victoria to the diggings
at Fort Hope, and for three or four dollars more an Indian will
accompany you to Fort Yale. Bowen, steward of the _Surprise_, says that
about a hundred Indians usually ran after him to obtain little sweet
cakes, which he traded off four or five for 1 dollar in gold dust.
Sugar at Fort Langley, 1 dollar 50 cents per pound; lumber, 1 dollar 50
cents per foot; tea and coffee, 1 dollar per pound; pierced iron for
rockers, 8 dollars; plain sheets, 2 dollars each; five pounds of
quicksilver sold for 40 dollars--10 dollars per pound was the ordinary
price. The actual ground prospected and ascertained to be highly
auriferous extends to three hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of
Fraser River. One hundred miles of Thompson River has been prospected,
and found to be rich, south-east of Fraser River. The same will apply
to all the tributaries of Thompson River. A large extent of auriferous
quartz has been discovered ten miles from Fort Hope. Exceedingly rich
quartz veins have been found on Harrison River.
The most astounding facts have yet to be divulged. A river emptying
into the Gulf of Georgia, not a hundred miles north of Fraser River
hitherto supposed to contain no gold, has proved fabulously rich. An
Indian arrived at Victoria from this locality, having twenty-three
pounds weight of pure gold, obtained solely by his own labour, in less
than twenty days. In confirmation of our figures, and being short of
space, we append the following statistics, derived from an official and
authentic source of the strictest reliability. We deem the above facts
sufficient to cause an exodus of a far more alarming character, and of
higher proportions as to number, than any hitherto known in history.
Suffice it to say, that the present _furore_ is well founded; that it
holds out busy times, high prices, speculations, contracts, and
employments of a thousand kinds.
Fountain's Diggings (Fraser River, at 51 degrees 30 minutes north),
month of June 1858.
Five rockers worked by half-breed Canadians.
+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+
|June | 1.| 2.| 3.| 4.| 5.|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| |dollars|dollars|dollars|dollars|dollars|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 1| 38| 50| 42| 40| 50|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 2| 40| 51| 38| 29| 51|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 3| 41| 53| 39| 51| 52|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 4| 28| 55| 18| 33| 56|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 5| 32| 60| 54| 54| 53|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 6| 64| 62| 39| 58| 55|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 7| 52| 58| 48| 52| 64|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|Total | 295| 385| 268| 327| 381|
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|Average| 42.14| 55.50| 38.70| 46.72| 54.40|
+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+
A highly reliable correspondent sends the following from San Francisco,
under date 5th July:--
The emigration for Fraser River has gone on for months with no signs of
growing less. The best means of judging what grounds there are for the
belief in the existence of gold in large quantities on its banks, is by
letters received from persons who are engaged in mining. It is worthy
of note that there is no discrepancy between the accounts given by
different individuals, all their statements agreeing. The mines are
reported to be exceedingly rich, and yielding large returns to those
engaged in digging. The river is very high, and miners have been driven
from several of the most lucrative bars until the water subsides. Mr
Hill, from whom Hill's Bar took its name, is mining some distance above
that point. He and six hands were making from an ounce to an ounce and
a-half of gold dust a day to each man. For three weeks prior to the
freshet, Mr Hill and one man averaged one hundred to one hundred and
fifty dollars a day. The freshet, however drove him off for the time
being. Mr E.R. Collins, who has spent some time in the Fraser River
gold region, and who brought down last week a quantity of dust, has
communicated the following intelligence to the _Alta California_. Mr
Collins is a trustworthy gentleman. He left San Francisco in March
last, and was at Olympia when the excitement first broke out. He then,
in company with three others, proceeded to Point Roberts, from whence
they proceeded up Fraser River to the mouth of Harrison River, about
twenty-five miles above Fort Langley. This portion of the journey they
performed without guides or assistance from the natives. The current
was moderate, and occasionally beautiful islands were discovered with
heavy timber, which presented a beautiful appearance. From Fort Hope to
Fort Yale, a distance of fifteen miles, the river runs narrow, and the
current running about seven miles per hour, though, in some places, it
might be set down at ten or twelve. At Fort Yale, the first mining bar
was reached. It extended out from the left bank a distance of some
thirty yards, and was about half a mile long. Twenty or thirty squaws
were at work with baskets and wooden trays, while, near by, large
numbers of male Indians stood listlessly looking on. Here some of Mr
Collins' companions, who had now increased to twenty, proposed to stop
and try their luck, but the majority resolved to go on, having informed
themselves satisfactorily that further up the "big chunks" were in
abundance. After resting a while, therefore, the party went ahead. Two
miles from Fort Yale they entered upon the commencement of the real
difficulties and dangers of navigation on Fraser River, the water for a
distance of thirty-five or forty miles passing through deep gloomy
canons, and over high masses of rock. At this time the river had
attained only a few feet above its usual height, so that by perseverance
and the skill of the native boatman they were enabled to make slow
progress. Numerous portages were made--one of them, the last, being
four miles long. These portages could not be avoided, the cliffs rising
perpendicularly on either side of the river, sometimes to a height of
fifty or sixty feet, affording not the slightest footpath on which to
tow. At other places the whirls, and rocks partly submerged, rendered a
water passage utterly impracticable. At every bar and shallow spot
prospected in these wild localities gold was obtained in paying
quantities, all of very fine quality--rather difficult to save without
the use of quicksilver. From the head of the canons to the forks of
Thompson's River, thirty-five miles more, the current and general
appearance of the river seemed about the same as from Fort Hope to Fort
Yale, gold also being found where there was an opportunity for a fair
"prospect". At the Forks the party were told by Travill, a French
trader, whom they met by accident, that the richest and best diggings
were up Thompson's; but that river being navigable but a few miles up,
it was thought best to keep on up Fraser, which they did for a distance
of forty miles, encountering no serious obstacles beyond a few rapids,
and they were passed by towing. Five miles above the Forks some twenty
white men were at work, making with common rockers from ten to sixteen
dollars per day. Arriving at a bar about ten miles below, where white
men were congregating in numbers considered sufficient for mutual
protection, they took up a claim and commenced digging. They worked
here steady twenty-four days, averaging fifteen dollars per day to each
man. The greatest day's work of one man was thirty-one dollars. These
figures, it is thought, would apply to all the miners.
Our latest news from the new mines reach to the beginning of July. At
that time there were immense numbers of miners on the banks of Fraser
River, waiting for the stream to fall and enable them to go to work on
the bars, which are said to be fabulously rich. Some dry diggings had
also been discovered in the neighbourhood of the river; but owing to the
presence of a large number of Indians, not of the most friendly
disposition, the miners dared not then extend their researches far from
the stream, where the bulk of the whites were congregated. The town of
Victoria, on Vancouver's Island, has sprung rapidly into importance.
Great advances have been made on real estate there. Lots, which a few
months ago were sold by the Hudson's Bay Company at twelve pounds ten
shillings, are now selling at over 250 pounds. A newspaper, called the
_Victoria Gazette_ has been started there; and an American steamer, _The
Surprise_, is also running regularly between Victoria and Fort Hope,
which is one hundred miles above the mouth of Fraser River. In the last
week of June the arrivals by steamers and vessels at the various ports
of British Columbia reached the large daily average of one thousand,
while those who have lately travelled through the mountains say that the
principal roads in the interior present an appearance similar to the
retreat of a routed army. Stages, express waggons, and vehicles of
every character, are called into requisition for the immediate
emergency, and all are crammed, while whole battalions are pressing
forward on horse or mule back, and on foot. Of course, the shipments of
merchandise from San Francisco and other ports are very large, to keep
pace with this almost instantaneous emigration of thousands to a region
totally unsupplied with the commodities necessary for their use and
sustenance. Up to the present no outbreak or disturbance has occurred,
and a certain degree of order has already been established in the mining
region, through the judicious measures adopted by the governor.
Justices of the peace and other officials have been appointed, and a
system protective of the territorial interests organised. Licences, on
the principle of those granted in Australia, are issued; the price, five
dollars per month, to be exacted from every miner. There was a good
deal of talk, as to the right or propriety of levying this tax when it
was first proposed, and some of the Francisco papers were load in their
denunciations; others took a calmer view. It is satisfactory to add
that little difficulty has so far been experienced on this head. As a
body, the miners are reported to be a steady set of men, well conducted,
and respectful of the law.