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Events/Rush · 1858

Fraser River gold rush

Rush, 1857 to 1858, Canada.

What happened

Gold was found in the Fraser River in 1857 and by 1858 it had become a full rush. The BC Legislature says many of the miners were American. Parks Canada puts the number of miners at about 30,000 and says Fort Langley became the centre of the rush.1,2,3

Why it matters

The rush led Britain to create the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, partly from fear of American annexation. The legislature dates this to 2 August and Parks Canada to 19 November (proclamation by Governor James Douglas).1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Paddy Hannan born

    Paddy Hannan born (date from Wikidata).4

  2. Victorian gold rush begins

    Victorian gold rush begins.5

  3. Steamer Winfield Scott leaves San Francisco with US$1 million in gold

    The Pacific Mail steamer sank off Anacapa Island the next night.6

  4. Welcome Nugget found at Ballarat

    It shows how rich the Victorian deep leads were.7,8

  5. San Francisco ships US$724 million of treasure in 16 years

    Eastern ports took US$462 million, England US$168 million and China US$68 million.9,10

  6. Alluvial gold found at Pilgrim's Rest

    It began the gold rush in the eastern Transvaal.11,12

  7. Ernest Oppenheimer born

    Ernest Oppenheimer born (date from Wikidata).13

  8. Gold found on the Witwatersrand

    It created the largest gold field known and Johannesburg.14,15

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Financed byMifflin Wistar GibbsA Black merchant who outfitted miners and became a politician.16Led byKlatsassinA Chilcotin chief fought the Bute Inlet road for the goldfields.17Worked hereFanny BendixenDrawn from California to the Fraser and Cariboo rushes.18

Events

Came out ofCalifornia gold rushMany of the Fraser River miners were American, says the BC Legislature.1InspiredKlondike gold rushCanada's next big rush came in 1897, when more than 100,000 set out for the Klondike.19

Places

Came out ofBarkervilleThe Fraser rush led Britain to create the Colony of British Columbia in 1858.1

Sources

  1. Fort Langley National Historic Site: History Parks Canada
  2. 1858: The Mainland of British Columbia Becomes a Crown Colony Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
  3. Fort Langley National Historic Site (item Q1282806), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Wikidata item Q2057649 (Paddy Hannan)
  5. Wikidata item Q2096366 (Victorian gold rush begins)
  6. Shipwrecks: The Winfield Scott US National Park Service, Channel Islands
  7. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  8. Ballarat (item Q17856), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Peabody A., Early voyages to California (treasure shipped from San Francisco 1854-1869) Library of Congress (Essex Institute Historical Collections)
  10. Wikidata item Q62 (San Francisco)
  11. Mpumalanga South African History Online
  12. Pilgrim's Rest (item Q2992348), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. Wikidata item Q819374 (Ernest Oppenheimer)
  14. Discovery of the Gold in 1884 South African History Online
  15. Johannesburg (item Q34647), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  16. GIBBS, MIFFLIN WISTAR Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  17. KLATSASSIN Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  18. BENDIXEN, FANNY Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  19. Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike (Teaching with Historic Places) US National Park Service

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0).