Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/225045
>> camps of fame Gold rush at Rock Creek The boom and bust of Rock Creek and Camp McKinney Gold panning on Rock Creek, home to a gold rush in 1860. 13-11-01 9:11 AM T he first gold discovery in British Columbia was made in 1854 along the Pend d'Oreille River and its tributaries in an area southeast of Trail. Cries of "Gold!" echoed through the mountains, and soon hundreds of prospectors and placer miners were stampeding into southern B.C. in search of the next bonanza, some flocking from as far as Washington. Four years later, gold was discovered on the bars and benches along the Fraser River from Hope to Lillooet, and a year after that, prospectors and Chinese miners rushed to Boundary Creek near Greenwood. In October 1859, Canadian prospector Adam Beame, on his way westward to prospect the Similkameen River near Princeton, camped on the banks of York Creek (soon after to be renamed Rock Creek) 36 kilometres west of Greenwood, at a location later to be called Soldiers' Bar. Fortuitously, he scooped up a pan of gravel at this site to find coarse gold flakes lining his gold pan. Beame staked the first claim on Rock Creek and left the site with great expectations to return in the spring. It was virtually impossible to keep the news of a gold discovery a secret, and by spring of 1860, hundreds of miners, Photograph : Greenwood Archives p112-117_CampsOfFame.indd 113 By Ed Kimura many of them Chinese, swarmed northward from the U.S. and descended on Rock Creek. Beame returned on May 6, and in the first six weeks he recovered 60 ounces of gold with a rocker. By the end of July there were more than 300 miners spread along Rock Creek, where several bonanza bars and gulches were discovered along a 10-mile stretch. Gold rush fever was heightened as daily reports flashed news of abundant coarse gold flakes the size of melon seeds, described as "gourd gold." Many nuggets recovered from Rock Creek were over one ounce, the largest of which weighed in at a hefty 9.3 ounces. One of the richest claims was the Nolan, where three owners recovered 437 ounces to yield over $7,000 at a time when gold was $16 per ounce. There were many other claims on which the pay streaks of gravel produced between $2,000 and $5,000. The boom town of Rock Creek sprang up on the banks of the creek in 1860. Initially, it consisted of a cluster of 12 log houses and shanties to accommodate two saloons, a liquor store, a butcher shop, five stores, a restaurant and one hotel. Most of the miners squatted along the creek on their own claims, and only came to town for supplies and maybe some frolicking. The migration of men to Rock Creek continued steadily through August, when about 150 hopefuls arrived from Oregon and as far away as San Francisco. To their disappointment, the best ground had all been staked and there was little for these latecomers to do other than odd jobs around town or working for wages at $4 per day for established claim holders. Furthermore, all was not golden at Rock Creek as the huge influx of men created a serious shortage of supplies and groceries. These were being shipped in limited quantities by mule trains from the U.S. and Hope, a supply chain that became more reliable when wagon trains eventually replaced the mules. Another issue was undesirable rowdies among the late arrivals who were causing mayhem, especially among the Chinese miners. Very quickly, the Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas, appointed Peter O'Reilly as gold commissioner with orders to restore peace at Rock Creek. But the lawlessness continued as O'Reilly was threatened and the trouble escalated into the "Rock Creek War." Douglas returned in full uniform, confronted 300 miners and threatened to return with 500 marines if British law was not obeyed. The meeting ended peacefully, and the so-called war was over. w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 113 13-11-27 10:20 AM