Golden Bralorne Got Off to a Slow Start

Interest in the Bridge River Valley’s mineral potential dates all the way back to 1865 when a government-sponsored party reported having found gold in “that part of the country lying between the Chilcoaten and Bridge Rivers,” specifically on Cadwallader Creek on the South Fork of the Bridge River.

They were almost out of supplies by then but, determined to do the job right before turning back, Andrew Jamieson instructed his men to build two sluice-boxes and to “wash as much...dirt as possible in the short time we had at our disposal” while he and Cadwallader examined several other creeks in the immediate vicinity.

They detected colour almost everywhere they tried, as much as $9 from a three-foot layer of gravel. As their crude set-up undoubtedly had allowed even more gold to escape, Jamieson was impressed.

Yet it took three decades before miners again showed interest in the Bridge River country and what would prove to be one of the richest gold producing areas of British Columbia finally began to come into its own.

The colourful story of Bralorne in next week’s Chronicles.

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PHOTO: At the time this undated photo was taken, that ingot of Bralorne gold was valued at $30,000. —BC Government photo