Summer 2015

What’s INSight

Illustration of Florence Wilson by Royal BC Museum artist in residence Aimée van Drimmelen.

Follow in the Footsteps of Florence WilsonFlorence Wilson arrived to BC from England in 1862 on a ‘bride ship’ that was intended to send more women to the colony. While other women married or found employment in Victoria, Florence was self-reliant and opened her own store on Government Street.

In 1864, she sold off everything and left for Barkerville, where she ran a small saloon. Then in 1868, a great fire swept through the town and destroyed her saloon! She rebuilt it next to the fire hall and called it The Phoenix after the mythical bird rising from the ashes.

Florence had a lively spirit. Newspapers in 1865 reported that she travelled through the snowy Fraser Canyon on snowshoes, returning two months later with 130 books for the town!

Bring this page along with you to the Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC exhibition to follow in the footsteps of Florence Wilson.

Pemberton Dress

This silk dress belonged to a woman from the

Pemberton family, and was worn in a BC gold rush

community. The white sleeves and collar were

removable for easy washing when things got dirty.

Could you imagine Florence wearing a dress like this

when she snowshoed through the Fraser Canyon?

Why would someone bring this dress to a mining town?

Play ScriptsFlorence Wilson had a passion for theatre and acted in many plays with the Cariboo Amateur Dramatic Association in Barkerville. Her specialty was acting in comedies. Along with acting, music, playing games, gambling, and reading were popular pastimes in gold rush town.What would you do for fun in a gold rush town?

For more activities related to this feature exhibition and our permanent galleries, visit royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/schools/self-guided-visits

Gold has been considered a precious and valuable item for thousands of years. It’s primarily used to make jewellery and currency but has some other pretty incredible uses.

For example, gold is a non-corrosive metal and is a highly efficient conductor of electricity so it’s used to manufacture electronics like cellphones, calculators and GPS. Do you know anyone with gold fillings in their teeth? Gold is great filling for your cavities. Gold is also used in life support devices and it can be injected to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers. Astronauts have a layer of gold in the glass in their helmet visors to protect their skin and eyes from dangerous solar radiation. Wow!

If you’re curious about gold, come for a visit and learn all about how gold contributed to the creation of the province of British Columbia and the amazing stories of how gold has transformed lives, broke dreams and built empires.

Why are People so Crazy About gold?

Use a scale to weigh yourself, then fill out the calculation below to determine how much you would be worth if you were made of solid gold.

1 gram is equal to approximately $52.52 in Canadian dollars today.

_________ grams x $52.52 = $________.__

Example60000 grams x $52.52 = $3,151,200

Are You Worth Your Weight in Gold?

Check out the Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC exhibition on now until October 31, 2015.

Gold Miner’s Word SearchCan you find everything you need to pack for your journey along the Gold Rush Trail?

D T Y C T P Q L M A T Z R L M I M F Y T

I X K S W Y A P X R W R H A E U U O K E

U I J C E S Z C G U N I T Y I V Y O M N

E T K O E I I M K B S C N W C R O D S G

I X L Q Z Z F D A B H A A U F F C H V A

T E A Z E E B O H E O S H U F X X X S M

C Q V C R D F C S D O A P M Z K D Y S H

O Q V K S R A B V C Y W R H M N B G K Z

O M P Y D J F B X C H P N D Y Y B J A E

D H R R T Z F J Y C H A B H A T Z Q V O

K S C Y S S A P M O C M K F Y J K E R L

N I A H N W B S C Z Q O W T H X I C M Y

P O B W G O J B M O I Q M O V S U J F D

N O T J E Q Q N T B X H X R I O Q T J A

X E P X P X Y M Z V U B C D F G P N O D

P H N A Q T H L I S Q C N P P J K H U K

V I N N X S A W C E R T I F I C A T E K

Y P C V U E R F R P N V K N I F E S B Y

K W G K M O F X O K Q H Y Z V Z J K Y P

T D S M O K Z Q N Q H X G Y D N O B C C

CertificateYou need a permit to be able togo and mine for gold.

ShovelCan’t go gold digging without that.

PickBreak up rocky surfaces intosmaller rocks.

PanSift through the river rocks with this!The gold will sink to the bottom because it’s heavier than just regular rock.

TweezersPick out the little bits of gold from your pan.

BarUse this to help you move largerocks and boulders.

AxeCut down brush, cut fire wood andit can also be used as a hammersquare your claim posts.

MagnetSeparate your gold from black sand, otherwise known as manganite.

MapYou won’t be able to find your waywithout this!

FoodFlour, water, bacon and anything that doesn’t need to be kept cold. You won’t be able to carry your refrigerator!

PackboardAnother name for a packsack or backback. A packbaord was usedfor very long journeys.

MatchesLight a fire to keep warm and cookyour food.

CompassThis will help you find your way ifyou end up off the trail.

SieveFind the smaller gold flakes and sift through the dust dirt.

SawCut down trees to build shelter andfor fire wood.

KnifeFor hunting, whittling wood andcleaning fish.

GunFor protection!

Miners at the Neversweat Tunnel Claim near Williams Creek, about 1868. This photo is by Frederick Dally.

Answer Key

Oro/Spanish

Slato/ Czech

Aur/ Welsh

Guld/Danish

Gold/German

Or/French

Zloto/Polish

Oro German

Slato Danish

Aur Welsh

Guld Czech

Gold Spanish

Or Polish

Zloto French

Learn How to Say Gold in Different Languages!

Can you connect the word for gold to the correct language?

Alongside the Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC exhibition visitors can enjoy the magnificent Allure of Gold exhibition

which features more than 100 golden artifacts from the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, Colombia.

Bat-man pendant. Tairona Period, 900 – 1600 A.D. Clark M. Rodriguez photograph; Museum del Oro, Banco de la Republica, Colombia.

The Gold Rush By Bobbie Kalman

A Trail of Broken DreamsThe Gold Rush Diary of Harriet PalmerBy Barbara Haworth-Attard

Hard GoldThe Colorado Gold Rush of 1859,A Tale of the Old WestBy Avi

The Greater Victoria Public Library has a variety of resources available to discover even more about the gold rush. Check out their recommended reading list! www.gvpl.ca

Learn more

On August 6, 1863, The Daily Colonist printed a list of ‘Cariboo Slang’ often heard by miners in the gold fields. Here are some of the wackiest words:

“Pay Dirt” ----- dirt containing gold

“Slum-gullion” ----- clay

“In a hog’s eye” ----- never!

“You bet your boots” ----- definitely yes

“Vamoose the ranch” ----- leave for parts unknown

“Got the dead wood on them” ----- to have an advantage over someone

“Gone up a flume” ----- to get into trouble

Cariboo Slang

Try out some ‘Cariboo Slang’

on your family and friends!

Will it be fun? You bet your boots!

Will they understand what you are saying?

In a hog’s eye!

Ask someone to fill in the blank words to create an adventure about finding ‘pay dirt’ in BC’s gold rush (and don’t show them the sheet!). Once they’ve given you all the words you need, read the story out loud!

Ever since I was ____________ years old, the shine of gold has always _________________ me. When I heard there

was a gold rush in BC, I couldn’t believe my _______________! I found myself saying ”________________ “!

I decided to leave my home in _______________ for the Cariboo to try my luck at finding gold. Before I left, I had

to gather all of the supplies that would help me strike it rich; like my trusty ________________, a handy dandy

______________, and who could survive in BC’s wilderness without _________________s!!! After travelling by boat

and _____________ *, I finally got to the gold fields. I spent over ______________ looking for gold, but with no luck!

What was I to do? I decided that I could make more money ________________, so I sold off my mining supplies, and

began my very successful career selling __________________ to the other miners around!

Did you have fun? Try making up your own story with blanks for someone else to fill in!

*No horsing around Travelling on the muddy trails to get to the Cariboo gold fields was very hard for the mules and horses that carried supplies. In 1862, 25 camels were imported to BC to use on the trails instead. Things did not go well. They scared mules and horses off the trails. Also, because camels are used to walking through sand, they were injured by the muddy and rocky roads. After two years, miners had learned their lesson and stopped using the desert dwellers to do their dirty work.

My Gold Rush Adventure(adjective)

(number) (verb ending in -ed)

(plural body part) (exclamation)

(place)

(noun)

(noun)

(piece of clothing)

(animal) (amount of time)

(verb ending in -ing)

(plural noun)