A Canada Day Through Time
7 juillet 2016 18:58 Laisser vos pensées
British Columbia wasn’t always made up of lumberjacks, like myself (I don’t actually cut down the trees, I just help in the production process, but I like the idea of being a lumberjack). Back in the 1800’s BC’s biggest attraction was a glittery yellow-y rare element called gold. And the man who struck gold in the Cariboo, was Billy Barker. That lead to the development of Barkerville, one of the biggest North American cities of it’s time.
This Canada Day aka Dominion Day, I travelled back in time to 1867 and took a little trip to Barkerville. Luckily, the portal through time didn’t start until we went through the gates. It was about an hour to drive there. It was scenic but I might have felt a lot more car sick if we had to take the horse and wagon along the old Cariboo Wagon Road.. I also appreciate having paved roads in present time. There was rain and a few close calls of slipping in mud when we got into the town. We stepped through the time portal doors and saw old Canadian flags and Union Jacks everywhere. Many of the people were wearing different clothes and hats. The buildings were small, wooden, and quaint. The Barkervillians were friendly and eager to show visitors their way of life. But, I was a little surprised at how much celebration there was in Barkerville for Dominion Day, since BC didn’t join Canada until 1871. Maybe they were just happy for the first provinces that joined.
I took some friends with me to take part in the festivities. My suitor, Karl, is from Ireland, and his friends, Gavin and Stephen, made the long journey over to visit us in the New World. I thought I would show them the big, gold rush city so they could learn about the history of the land and explore. We were all a little bit shy, being from another time. So, we were more observers than participants in all of the Dominion Day events that were going on. We really tried to get Karl to do the “greasy pole climb”, which was what it sounds like; trying the climb a greasy wooden pole. He didn’t think he could climb it until it was over. Then he changed his mind and reckoned he could have. I guess we’ll never know. We also watched a good game of tug o’war, had some chilli for lunch, and took a walk up the hill and found an abandoned mine shaft. Alas, with no leftover gold nearby.
We had a good time in Barkerville, but without any gold prospects we had to leave sometime. Luckily for us, while we were travelling forward through time again, my home of Quesnel became not just a stop along the way to Barkerville, but a small city with a lot to offer. The gold rush died down and forestry took it’s as a main industry around many nearby towns. Some people still look for gold, and it would be nice to find, but until I do, I’ll stick to working with the trees. Gavin and Stephen work with computers, I wonder what the people of Barkerville would think about them being a use of gold. Maybe next Dominion Day they can visit our time and see.
For more information about Barkerville, Quesnel, and the Gold Rush, visit:
http://www.barkerville.ca/about-us/#history
http://www.quesnelmuseum.ca/History.html