Haphazard History of the Cariboo Chilcotin

The history of The Gold Escort

When you're transporting millions of dollars of gold for miners, especially in the late 1800's, the thing you value most is... trust. Trust in the bank, the assayers, and the people transporting your gold from the remote region of Williams Creek, Lillooet and others to banks in Vancouver. But who can you REALLY trust? And at what cost? Today we learn about the challenged life, and expensive lesson learned, of the Gold Escort.

The great Barkerville fire of 1867

In 1867 the gold rush town of Barkerville, at the time the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco, was almost entirely demolished in a raging fire. Nearly the entire town was wiped out. Thankfully there were no fatalities despite the fire brigade/social club only using buckets. However, in todays episode we'll learn about what happened in the moments before and after this tragedy thanks to first hand accounts, learn about how it was entirely preventable despite the belief of a special kind of wood, and how the town was never really the same again.

The Story of the original Gold Rush Photographer

Most of us have seen the iconic photograph of two freight wagons being pulled by mules through the Great Bluff cut above the Thompson River, or the equally famous photo of the S.S. Enterprise at its berth on the Fraser River below the town of Soda Creek. Both of these images were captured for posterity in 1867 by Frederick Dally. Todays episode helps us learn more about the man known as the "Gold Rush Photographer" and whose photos are still helping us learn more about the province of British Columbias history.

The Story of Thomas Menefee

The city of Williams Lake owes a great deal to the history of Thomas Menefee despite the fact not many people even know his name. As an early settler in the area he was at the forefront of the Cariboo Gold Rush. Capitalizing on the success from prospecting, his entertaining nature and his shrewd business skills he built up quite a variety of properties. Exploring from the Okanagan to the Horsefly River, he became a very rich man that also helped create the building blocks for the community, and now city, of Williams Lake. His stubbornness also almost rang the death knell for the early township. Listen in and learn more!

The Mad Russian Island Mystery

There is an island that exists on the Fraser River near the Rudy Johnson Bridge that holds a mystery. For a while during the 1950's a man appeared virtually out of nowhere and began to inhabit the island. No one knew his name, where he came from or anything else about him. Todays episode explores the details surrounding his homestead there, what his reasons were for being there and his mysterious disappearance. 

The First Tourists to the Cariboo

Tourism is big business. But when did the first "tourists" visit the Cariboo Chilcotin area of British Columbia? In this episode we uncover a story of the first people who came to the area purely for recreational purposes. Where do you think they came from? Where did they go while they were here and what happened? Did everyone go home with all their limbs and digits? Listen in and find out the rest of the story!

History of the Fraser River Bridge

The Fraser River Bridge goes by a few different names in the Cariboo Chilcotin. It's known as the Sheep Creek Bridge, the Chilcotin Bridge, the Fraser River Bridge and a few other choice names. Whatever you call it there's no denying this bridge opened up access to the Chilcotin area of the province. How did this impact the province at the time? What did it cost? And how in the world did they build something so large and vital in a sparsely populated part of BC? Find out in this months episode! 

Haphazard History of the Cariboo Chilcotin trailer

Get to know what the Haphazard History of the Cariboo Chilcotin is all about. Originally written as a newspaper column in the Williams Lake Tribune local historian Barry Sale writes, and host Jason Ryll narrates and produces, these historical recounts of this wild and untamed area of the province of BC. Learn the origins of names of streets, local landmarks and what makes this area so unique and important to the development of British Columbia with the Haphazard History of the Cariboo Chilcotin podcast!