Cariboo Road

From Freepedia

The Cariboo Road (also called the Cariboo Wagon Road, the Great North Road or the Queen's Highway) was a project initiated in 1862 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas. It was a feat of engineering stretching from Fort Yale to Barkerville through extremely hazardous canyon territory in the interior of B.C. The road was a reaction to the high concentration of gold in the Cariboo region and the dangerous "mule trail", which was a rough-hewn cliff-side trail wide enough only for one mule that ran along the approximate route of Cariboo road. In order to lower supply costs to the settlers in the Cariboo region, Douglas ordered the construction of a more viable and safe form of transportation to the gold mining settlements. It cost nearly one and a quarter million dollars, but only created a debt of £112,780. It saw the transportation of over six and a half million dollars worth of gold. Originally Douglas wanted to stretch the Road to Edmonton, an early vision of the Trans-Canada Highway, but this plan was abandoned when Douglas retired.

Along the Cariboo Gold Rush trail, the cost of food was astronomical. Gold rushers who ran out of money quickly found themselves on the verge of starvation. The jobs created by the building of the Cariboo Road provided money and food for the desperate, and saved many lives.

Camels were used along the Cariboo Wagon Road for a short time.