igs: up
gold
rush

DESPERATE ‘men, on a
desperate trek, pressed by

‘the ensuing winter and con-
fronted by a cliff’s edge lept
into space and tumbled to
their destiny.

These men, members of the.
Jones party who crossed the
American continent in 1858 seek-
‘ing gold in the Cariboo, were part
of the historic Overlanders, the
subject of a new book by North
Shore author Richard ‘Thomas
Wright.

Jones party, which finally made
ae it to its destination in the gold
' fields of the Cariboo, and some

‘ 350 other adventures are small but
important parts of Canada’s histo-
ry that. Wright brings to life in

; Overlanders.
mt
~ DIARIES STUDIED
4 The book documents the

Overlanders’ odyssey, through an
extensive study of diaries and ar-

chives across the country.
“The book deals more with the
ao] individuals than with places and
a dates,”’ says Wright. ‘It’s more
; ‘jnteresting to the average reader.”’
. In eight years of research,
ed . Wright travelled the Overlanders’
route twice and walked many

parts.

Many of the travellers expected

Indians to be their biggest pro-
blem, but river crossings and raf-
ting took far more lives than
anything else, Wright says.

While Wright says the book
we doesn't contain any great new rev-
‘ elations, it does refute a widely-
held theory that most Overlanders
did not actually go gold panning
once they arrived.

SEEKING GOLD

He documents that at least 100
men out of 350 sought gold in the
Cariboo for at least a short period
after arriving in B.C.

? AS well as writing about the
Overlanders, Wright lives out the
life of a Gold Rush miner in

- Barkerville each summer.

The freelance writer,
photographer, filmmaker and
author of 16 books says he is

. hooked on his summer pastime of

‘ i taking over the appearance and
personality of yesteryear gold dig-
gers.

Wright intends to pursue his in-
terest in this exciting period of
Canada’s history and feels there is a
market for popular history.

“I don’t think the history mar-
ket has dried up,’? Wright says.
“But it is up to the historian to tell
’ it in an interesting way.”’

Overlanders is available on the

North Shore in paperback for

$12.95. It is published by Prairie

Books.

rh

LOCAL author Richard Thomas Wri
while getting into 19th century charact
men wanting to get rich during the

who migrates to Barkerville every summer, researched the gold rush era
for eight years before writing his hook.

Without dieting

a for. more in fore

EACH EVENING FROM 5 PM

‘Live Atlantic
"avg. I Ib.

We

Free Valet Parking

1184 Denman 684-5322

displays his book Overlanders
. The book chronicles the lives of
Cariboo gold rush of 1858. Wright,

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