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How difficult was it to travel to the Cariboo in 1862? How did the discovery of gold affect the development of British Columbia? What is a Red River cart? And why were they pulled by oxen? Scroll down to learn more about the Cariboo Gold Rush and the world in which Lisa and her family lived.
Travelling to the Cariboo
In 1862 there were no roads to the Cariboo -- just rough trails -- which made it extremely difficult for prospectors to travel there. But this didn't stop them from trying! However, unlike Lisa and the Overlanders, most of them traveled by ship to Victoria (then a small port called Fort Victoria). After a short boat ride to the mainland and up the mouth of the Fraser to Yale, they began the difficult journey, more than 600 kilometres long, up the rough trail to the Cariboo. In 1862, construction started on a road to the Cariboo. It was finished in 1865 and stretched from Yale all the way to Barkerville in the heart of the Cariboo.
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Gold and European settlement in British Columbia
 In 1862, when gold was discovered in creeks near the Cariboo River, very few Europeans lived in what would eventually become British Columbia. Victoria (then Fort Victoria) was just a small outpost founded by the Hudson's Bay Company, Vancouver as we know it today did not exist, and most of the towns that dot British Columbia's interior today were little more than roadhouses along the side of a trail. The gold rushes of 1858 (along the Fraser River) and 1862 changed all that. By 1862 Fort Victoria had become a bustling city of more than 20,000 people, and the inland port of Yale (where the trail north along the Fraser began) had grown to a similar size. Villages along the Cariboo trail also grew and prospered, particularly after the Cariboo Road was completed in 1865. Today, towns such as Hope and Quesnel are busy, prosperous places; but some of the gold rush settlements, including Yale and Barkerville, have only a handful of residents left. GO BACK TO THE TOP
Red River carts and oxen
Red River carts were invented by the Métis people and were especially well suited for long trips along unfamiliar terrain. Unlike most carts then in use, Red River carts were made entirely from wood -- no nails, rivets or iron wheel rims were used. This meant they were much easier to repair while on the trail. To stop the wheels from wearing down, they were tightly wrapped with strips of rawhide. Red River carts were usually pulled by oxen. An ox is a neutered bull that looks similar to a cow but is much bigger. The oxen pulling the Overlanders' carts were extremely strong and, unlike horses, could survive on a diet of rough grass. The only problem with oxen: their speed. On average they could only walk three to four kilometres in an hour -- about half the distance a healthy girl like Lisa could comfortably cover!
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