C19 - Wednesday, May 16, 1984 - North Shore New ~

Barkerville famous ghost town

Once booming gold

By MURPHY SHEWCHUK

BARKERVILLE. western
Canada’s most famous
“Ghost Town’’, lies 84 km
east of Quesnel, nestled in the
folds of the Cariboo Moun.
tains’ western slopes. Reach-
ed by just over an hour's
drive on paved Highway 26,
east of Cariboo Highway 97,
this ‘Gold Rush’city, now a
provincial historic park, ts a
star attraction.

Each year more than
200,000 visitors trek to the
mountains to learn more
about the settlement that
once boasted of being ‘‘The
largest town west of Chicago
and north of San Francisco”’

The discovery of gold in
the 1850s caused the ‘‘rush”’
to B.C. in 1858. By summer
1862, the vanguard of pro-
spectors, followed by the in-
evitable packers, merchants
and hurdy-gurdy girls, had
penetrated more than 700 km
into the heart of the moun-
tainous province.

While miners toiled
teverishly at Richfield) on
Williams Creek, Billy Barker
left the main camp and sunk
a shaft in the supposedly bar-
ren gravel two. kilometres
downstream. Despite his
fellow miners’ derision,
Barker followed his dream
and, at 16m, struck pay dirt.

Barker's claim yielded
$1,000 in gold in 48 hours,
(amazing because gold was
worth $16 per ounce at that
time). Barkerville’ grew
around this claim, quickly
becoming the Cariboo’s min-
ing centre and the Cariboo
Wagon Road's destination.

Fire destroyed Barkerville
on September 16, 1868, but i
was rebuilt before winter. By
then, however, wealth in
Willams Creek was fading,
and the miners were drifting
ott tonew frontiers But, had

it not been for the persistent
Chinese miners and sporadic
miterest im placer and Quartz

hard rock) gold mining in
the areca, Barkersille would
have diced

Then, just oas the oon

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The Bay Travel.

CORDIALLY INVITES YOU
TO JOIN US FOR
A LOOK INTO
THE

SUMMER OLYMPICS!!

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croaching forest seemed
about to move in, Barkerville
gained a new lease on life: it
was announced in 1957, that
the town would be restored as
an historical site.

Over the 25 years, con-
siderable money and effort
has been spent stabilizing,
restoring, and reconstructing
many of Barkerville’s
buildings. The result today is

... followed
by the
inevitable
packers,
merchants and
hurdy-gurdy
girls. ’”’

a unique gold rush town that
combines the allure of the
past with the necessary
facilities for an ever-
increasing number of
visitors.

LIKE GRANDMA

* Pan for gold at the
Eldorado Shafthouse or in
the giant Cornish” water
wheel’s shadow.

¢ Buy a loaf of genuine
sourdough bread at the
bakery.

*Become a gallery
member as Judge Matthew
Baillie Begbie holds court in
the restored Richfield Court
House.

*Watch aio blacksmith
tashion a horseshoe of iron
candle holder.

* Enjoy a snack of a meal
at the Wake Up Jake ¢ afe on
the Dim Sum Tea House

* Tour the Barkerville
Museum and the many
restored buildings

e Enyov the Theatre Royal,
where professionals present
musical drama and comedy,

AS at Was dome Over ad CCHEUES

ago. Join the audience in
hissing the villain and cheer-
ing the hero in shows that
entertain over 50,000 persons
each year.

e Visiting the Mining
Museum at nearby Wells,
Cariboo’s quartz gold mining
centre from 1932 to 1966.

e Try your hand at fishing
for fighting rainbow trout,
kokanee and Dolly Varden
char in the nearby lakes and
streams.

© In winter, when other ac-
tivities cease, you can sull
visit the Barkerville museum.
Ski touring has become a
popular winter activity in the
mountains and on long aban-
doned remnants of the

Original Cariboo Wagon
Road.
ACCOMMODATION:

Three provincias cam.
perounds, with a total of 170
campsites, in Barkerville Pro-
vincial Historic Park. Several
smaller private campsites are
nearby.

® Restaurants, motels, and
resort lodges are at Wells and
Bowron Lake. Modern
tourist facihities are at
Quesnel, 85 km west of
Barkerville.

For more information con-
tact: Ministry of Lands,
Parks and Housing, Parks
and Outdoor Recreation
Division, 1019 Whart St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 2¥9

This is a Tourism British
Columbia travel feature.

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