d. 1876-09-21
Ivel “Long” Abbott, who stood six foot six inches tall, struck gold in the summer
of
1861 on
Lowhee Creek, nicknamed Humbug Creek before the gold finds.
1 While his partner
William Jourdan went to fetch supplies, Abbott carelessly struck through what was thought to be the
blue-clay bedrock to expose rich gold deposits underneath.
2In this despatch,
Douglas
remarks on the richness of the find, which he claims could produce up to $100,000
for each member of the company; however, Akrigg and Akrigg write that the
Otter docked in
Victoria with $250,000 from Abbott and Company.
3
Abbott became a local personality when he took his share and spent it on gambling
and drinking sprees in
Victoria, on one of which he smashed a mirror with gold pieces.
4 After spending all his funds, he tried his luck in Cassiar gold country.
5His luck failed him, and he died in 1876 in Glenora, where his death certificate reads as “Joel Abbott.”6
- 1. Richard Wright, Barkerville, Williams Creek, Cariboo: A Gold Rush Experience, rev. ed. (Williams Lake: Winter Quarters Press, 1998), 122-23.
- 2. Don Waite, The Cariboo Gold Rush Story (Surrey: Hancock House, 1988), 34.
- 3. G. P. V. Akrigg and H. B. Akrigg, British Columbia Chronicle, 1847-1871 (Victoria: Discovery Press, 1977), 212.
- 4. Ibid., 257-58.
- 5. Richard Wright, Barkerville, Williams Creek, Cariboo, 122-23.
- 6. Geneaology: Abbott, Joel, Royal BC Museum.