Mineral Exploration

Winter 2017

Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.

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CAMPS OF FAME 56 Mineral Exploration | amebc.ca PHOTO: PRINCETON MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES AND GRANITE CREEK PRESERVATION SOCIETY Granite Creek Gold Rush From boom to bust in the Similkameen By ED KIMURA P lacer gold was supposedly first discovered in the Similkameen region of southwestern British Columbia as early as 1852 by trappers working for the Hudson's Bay Co. They may have recognized the gold in Granite Creek, but these individuals were not interested in gold. However, news of the Similkameen gold discovery eventually spread and attracted many prospectors and Chinese miners to the area. Then most departed just as quickly as they arrived, o" to join the excitement and lure of the Cariboo Gold Rush at Barkerville in the early 1860s. Some prospectors and Chinese miners stayed in the Similkameen and mined undisturbed along the Tulameen River for 25 years. Then gold was discovered on Granite Creek, a northerly flowing tributary of the Tulameen River with the confluence about 12 miles west of Princeton. There are several versions of the discovery event, but Johnny Chance is credited with the discovery on July 5, 1885. Chance was a lazy roving cowboy who was with three partners, William Jenkins, Thomas Curry and E.M. Allison, herding a pack of horses along the Dewdney Trail when they camped at Granite Creek. Johnny was told to go out and hunt some game for dinner, so he loafed around and finally wandered down to the creek to rest. It was then that he noticed a bright sparkle in the gravel bed of the creek – it was a bean- sized gold nugget. He found another and another. He stu"ed them in his buckskin pouch until it was full and strolled back to camp. The excited foursome staked and recorded the Discovery claim on July 8, 1885. The claim was located about one mile south of the mouth of Granite Creek. Following the news of the Granite Creek discovery, it surfaced that William Briggs, Mike Sullivan and John Bromley had recovered coarse gold on Granite Creek in the fall of 1884. They were unable to stake a claim due to high water, but had intentions of staking their claim the following spring. However, there are no indications that they returned, and certainly no claims were recorded prior to Chance's discovery. News of this new gold strike ignited a wild stampede of miners, prospectors and fortune seekers from all directions to the promising creek. The rush was fuelled by glowing reports that the early miners were recovering $3 to $20 per day per man when gold was $16.75 per ounce. Men were coming from the Cariboo, Cassiar, Granite Creek circa 1886. The cabin of Frenchy, a Chinese immigrant and well-known placer miner, is in the foreground.

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