The Cariboo Road

The Need For A Road In the 1860’s the governor of British Colombia, James Douglas, decided that the colony needed a major road Why? o Due to the Gold Rush BC experienced a massive influx of visitors o Communication across BC was slow and difficult o Improve the economy and population of BC

Why: A Massive Influx of Visitors With the promise of gold, people came to British Columbia from Germany, Scotland, England, USA, and China Without a road, these prospectors were forced to travel by boat The Fraser River, however, was extremely dangerous and people could make it no further than the city of Yale

Why: Difficulty in Communication The Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were separated by geography and out of touch Communication was even worse within BC itself as roads were non existent and rivers were dangerous and unreliable Douglas feared this lack control as Americans began to dominate the area

Why: Economy and Stability James Douglas realised that if a road was built, people coming in and out of BC could be monitored better, but more importantly, taxed The building of a road would also lead to conglomeration, and in doing so cities James Douglas was extremely adamant about creating British settlements in the colony

The Royal Engineers For these reasons, James Douglas ordered the Royal Engineers to map and control the building of the road On top of this, the Royal Engineers had to build towns and divert rivers The Royal Engineers were a group of 200 sappers from Great Britain

Where Did they Decide to Build?

The Building of the Road The road was split into five sections and contracts were given out to a number of different road builders Those who promised to build it the fastest were given the job Often, groups such as the Royal Engineers looked for help from anyone and advertised throughout Victoria Unlike the building of the railroads, minorities such as the Chinese did not have a major role in building the Cariboo Road

The Building of the Road The building of the road was extremely dangerous as much of the canyon had to be blown up and the road was supported by large wood pilings Even with the lack of metal and modern technology, the Royal Engineers managed to build a safe sturdy road

The Results The road would end up taking four years to build and cost over $750,000 By the mid 1860s, the Gold Rush was coming to an end and provincial revenues were in steep decline leading to debt First Nations suffered as tribes along the road had their villages and resources bases infiltrated by miners In 1862, the high numbers of miners led to another smallpox epidemic among First Nations in British Columbia

Did You Know? Before the roads miners were forced to travel along trails hung on canyon walls high in the canyon above dangerous rapids Before the building of the road, 21 camels were brought to the area to use as pack animals. They were later removed as they bit, kicked, and stunk so bad horses would bolt and fall to their deaths The Cariboo road is now part of the Trans Canada Highway, the third largest national highway in the world

Now Its Your Turn For this activity, you will replicate the challenges the Royal Engineers had building the Cariboo Road Since we do not have enough time to build an entire road, you will be building a single piling out of a group of materials I have chosen The group that builds the tallest piling or structure that is able to support the weight of a marshmallow will win the challenge

A Similar Experience Time: When building the Cariboo road, it was extremely important that it was built fast. For this reason you will only have half an hour to build your piling/structure Resources: The Royal Engineers did not have the sturdy modern resources and neither will you Groups: People building the road often did not pick who they worked with, neither will you. Regardless you must work as a team.

Instructions You will be split into groups of five One person from your group will grab the following materials One marshmallow One strip of string One strip of tape One piece of paper 30 Spaghetti Sticks You can use only these materials You have half an hour… Good Luck