Barkerville - B.C.’s Gold Rush town

Karen arrived Friday and she and Chuck came for dinner.

Today she and I went to Barkerville in a light rain. It’s 86 km and at one point, half of the road was washed down into the river and you drove on the remaining lane, one at a time. Very scary.

When Billy Barker discovered gold in Williams Creek at the back of the current town, it triggered a stampede of thousands. Over the next 8 years, these adventurers traveled the Cariboo Wagon Road to reach Barkerville. Today it is western Canada’s largest living heritage site. There are many actors in period costumes living the parts of the residents of the 1870’s.

We started at the original St. Savior’s Anglican Church, where a wedding was to take place in the afternoon. It is still privately owned. Then we walked into the Wendle House where John Wendle’s sister Martha was cooking breakfast of fried potatoes, porridge and steak. The cattle herd had arrived in town and this was only if you could afford to buy. She visits from Chicago for the mining season, as the miners work around the clock for 5 months of the years due to the ground being frozen for the rest. She explained the green paint on the wainscoting was made with arsenic so the bugs that dropped down died from it. Pest control. We asked where she lived and she wouldn’t do anything but play her part although we finally learned she lives in Wells.

We had lunch at the Wake Up Jake Saloon seated next to 4 distinguished looking Chinese people. We wandered up into Chinatown and were happy to stop into a Chinese Miner’s Cabin with mahjong tables set up and the wood stove very cozy. The Chinese fellow gave us all the history of the Opium War with Britain, the changing of the laws so Chinese could emigrate and their coming to Canada, where many were indentured and had to work for 5 years to pay off the fare. Then we stood in front of the Chee Kung Tong Building where Mr. Yang Qiang, Consul General of the Peoples Republic of China, gave his speech in Chinese (interpreted by his young assistant) acknowledging the Heritage Site Designation of this building. This was followed by a tour of a new interpretive building of Chinese history and a wine and cheese party with more speeches by many assorted dignitaries.

We really enjoyed our day, the period costumes, the street actors and scenes you got involved with, the stores and satellite museum sites explaining many diverse aspects of the time.