People/financier

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs (1823–1915), financier, from United States. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

Went to the California goldfields in 1850, then came to Victoria in June 1858 with a large invoice of miners' outfits, which sold at once.1

The downfall

Left California after growing discrimination against Black residents, including the refusal of the vote.1

Legacy

Opened a Victoria store in partnership with Peter Lester, reportedly the first mercantile business outside the Hudson's Bay Company, and became a businessman and politician. Over 400 Black migrants have been identified who reached Vancouver Island, most from 1858 to 1860.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1848 to 1855California gold rush2
  2. 1857 to 1858Fraser River gold rush3
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Where next

Events

FinancedFraser River gold rushA Black merchant who outfitted miners and became a politician.1Worked atCalifornia gold rushHe left California after the vote was refused to Black residents.1

Sources

  1. GIBBS, MIFFLIN WISTAR Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  2. The California Gold Rush (California National Historic Trail) US National Park Service
  3. Fort Langley National Historic Site: History Parks Canada

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); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).