Colonial Despatches

Frederick Whymper was born in 1838 in London England.1 He moved to Victoria, British Columbia in the autumn of 1862, and the following summer travelled to the Cariboo district.2 In March 1864, he entered the Bute Inlet to publicize the road Waddington was building to connect the coast to the Cariboo gold fields.3

Whymper, who had been present in the Bute Inlet area preceding the attack, spoke to the character of the Tsilhqot'in tribe by stating They disputed with their wretched coyote dogs anything we threw out of the house in the shape of bones, bacon rind, tea leaves, and other such like luxuries. Many of them are however are able and willing to pack.4 While Whymper was hired for painting and drawing the Bute Inlet area, he gained more recognition for his account on the context of the killings.5 Whymper left the Bute Inlet area days prior the attack.6

While in Victoria, he became the artist of the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition and documented the landscape of southern Vancouver Island.7 He returned to England in November 1868 and published Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska where he discusses in depth the landscape of British Columbia.8

• 1. J Hayman, Whymper, Frederick, Dictionary of Canadian Biographies.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Dreadful Massacre, Daily British Colonist, 12 May 1864.
• 5. J Hayman, Whymper, Frederick, Dictionary of Canadian Biographies; Despatch to London, Seymour to Cardwell, 7 July 1865, 8623, CO 60/22, 192.
• 6. Dreadful Massacre, Daily British Colonist, 12 May 1864.
• 7. J Hayman, Whymper, Frederick, Dictionary of Canadian Biographies.
• 8. Ibid.

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