History

It started with the First Nations

The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast is a region that is steeped in history that starts with the First Nations. Centuries before European arrival, Aboriginal people brought their rich and diverse culture to the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast. Living by land and sea, the coastal tribes of Heiltsuk, Nuxalk and Kwakwaka'wakw subsisted on salmon and eulachon (or smelt fish). They traded with the Shuswap and Carrier tribes across the Coast Mountains for obsidian, furs and other goods.

European arrival

In 1793, North West Company explorer Alexander Mackenzie traveled the Nuxalk-Carrier Grease Trail, becoming the first European north of Mexico to complete an overland journey across North America. The Nuxalk and Carrier people helped to guide him through the region on his way toward the Pacific Ocean. That same year, legendary voyager Captain George Vancouver visited the region's coastal villages.

There's gold in them hills!

When gold was discovered on a gravel bar in the Fraser River in 1858, the real rush began. Prospectors from California, then from as far as Europe and Asia, surged into the country searching for gold along the bars of the Fraser Canyon and up the creeks of the Cariboo.

Home on the range

While the Cariboo became synonymous with the Gold Rush, the Chilcotin’s gold came from the endless miles of rolling grasslands that spawned some of the largest ranches in the province.

Connecting communities

In 1886, the Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed, moving cattle, lumber, minerals and other supplies out and bringing settlers in. Communities such as Williams Lake and Quesnel flourished.