Fraser River District
Today, the lands on and around the
Fraser River are represented in two districts: the Regional District of Fraser-Cheam,
1 to the south, and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George,
2 to the north.
During the late 1850s gold rush, however, these districts appear less defined, for
example,
this correspondence inquires as to the present state of the
various Districts of Fraser's River,
and this draft of a warrant, enclosed with
this correspondence, and which appoints
Douglas as Governor of
Her majesty’s Territories and Possessions in North America,
includes the
Fraser’s River Territory
in its list of possessions.
In its most general sense, and as
this correspondence suggests, these
Mining Districts
denoted the lands, sites, and bars worked for gold along
the Fraser, chiefly, between
Hope and
Yale, and through the
Fraser Canyon. In 1858, it is thought that at least 30,000 gold seekers of various backgrounds,
national and otherwise, swarmed
the Fraser region in search of auriferous reward.
3
- 1. Regional District of Fraser-Cheam, BC Geographical Names Information System.
- 2. Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, BC Geographical Names Information System.
- 3. Daniel P. Marshall, Fraser River Gold Rush, The Canadian Encyclopedia.