The Barkerville of Then and Now

In the late 1850's prospectors followed the Fraser River to the creeks of the Cariboo in B.C.'s northern country as gold became more difficult to find in other areas. Billy Barker was one of those prospectors who decided to try his luck elsewhere. He formed the Barker Company along with seven other Englishmen. The area they chose to work was considered by most miners to be a poor choice but Billy and his group of men persevered. Surprising everyone, Billy and his group struck gold in 1862.

News of their gold strike spread and thousands of miners poured into the area. With their arrival, a town mushroomed like magic from the rocks and dirt surrounding their site. Saloons, dancehalls, general stores and boarding houses sprang up beside the wooden plank sidewalks and a new town was born.

Horse races and prize fights became part of life. The Hurdy Gurdy girls offered entertainment, charging the miners one dollar for every dance. Money flowed and prospectors paid for their whiskey with gold dust. As the town grew more and more women arrived in Barkerville.

Between 1862 and 1870, over one hundred thousand people had traveled the Cariboo Wagon Road to reach Barkerville hoping to find gold along the creeks that meandered through the Cariboo. After the road was completed in 1865, the well-known stage coach lines of Barnard Express traveled between Yale and Barkerville carrying miners and passengers to their destination.

The Chinese played a large part in the formation of the town and in helping with the construction and building of the Cariboo Wagon Road. It later became known as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World'.

At its height Barkerville was considered to be the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. Even during 1910 and the 1930's, the town managed to thrive until the 1940's when the new mining town of Wells came into being. Barkerville then became somewhat of a ghost town until 1957 when the provincial government began restoring the buildings.

The historic cemetery in Barkerville came into being when the first person was buried on the side of a hill on July 24, 1863. Peter Gibson was laid to rest at 31 years of age. On our visit to Barkerville, we walked through this interesting cemetery. After reading the tombstones, a visitor will note that the average age of those buried is about 32 years. This quaint cemetery is the last resting place of some of the great and not so great residents of Barkerville. We spent several interested hours exploring it and even the four year old we had in tow continued to be interested.

At present there are over one hundred buildings that are original to the town with about twenty reproductions. Unfortunately, we didn't go at the height of season when entertainment is in full swing but all 'residents' were in period costumes and we were able to enjoy a stagecoach ride. Our four year old was able to ride up top with the driver. That made his day. We panned for gold and saw how people used to live during that time period. Many of the shops feature Victorian-era merchandise. We also viewed displays, exhibits and demonstrations and some street entertainment. There are guided tours (which we didn't take) to Chinatown and the Theatre Royal.

Barkerville is the gateway to the past and thousands of visitors from around the world visit this historic town annually. In December for two weeks there are also old fashioned Christmas celebrations. To enjoy your visit to the past, I would recommend two days to see everything because, as we discovered, the visit to the cemetery alone will take several hours. Unfortunately, we had only planned for a one day visit which means we will be taking another trip sometime in the future. When visiting Barkerville, you can follow the route taken by miners in the Cariboo gold rush days so many years ago by following the old Gold Rush Trail along Highway 97 to Quesnel and then onto Highway 26.