A Typical Mining Camp

There were many mining camps set up along the Fraser River during BC’s Gold Rushes. Some were quickly abandoned once it was deemed that there was minimal gold to be found, but some lasted long enough to develop into towns and cities, some of which are still around to this day.

Miners would come up to BC and start mining along the river during late August when the river was low enough that work could be done. They would first arrive at one of the Forts, the closest to Coquitlam being Fort Langley, before starting their journey up the river to find a good spot to begin mining.

Once miners found a spot, they would pitch up a tent and typically set about creating simple log shelters. This was the main source of cover as logs were plentiful in the area and the shelters were easy to build with common tools such as axes and augers. The common build for log shelters were horizontal logs with notches in them and overlapping at the corners. The roofs were covered with sod which helped keep the chill out but tended to leak when it rained. There was a shortage of window glass, so people used all sorts of materials for their window coverings, like cloth, stretched animal skin, and glass bottles.

At first the cabins were not very good at keeping the heat in, but as new inventions and supplies came through the conditions improved. When stoves started arriving in the country in 1888, miners no longer had to deal with smoke in their cabins from fires or having to make bread in their gold pans.

Many of these cabins were typically abandoned if the land being prospected offered minimal returns. But if the place was deemed gold heavy, then permanent log structures were built, and log caches were constructed to store additional supplies.

Access to supplies was a big problem for miners at the camps. People coming to the camps were expected to bring their own supplies, but those typically ran out, broke, or were lost during the journey. Food especially was a cause for concern as it was costly and difficult to send food upriver. For example, the cost of a barrel of flour at Bellingham Bay was $16, but at Fort Langley it was $25, and $100 at Sailor Bar (outside Spuzzum). Miners often went hungry and even when they did have the money to buy food there often was none available as there weren’t enough mules to bring up provisions. Some places only had flour and dried salmon to offer. The lack of variety in food and the minimal amount of it meant many miners faced health problems, such as dyspepsia, anemia, rheumatism, pneumonia, scurvy, and more. Many miners worked for food rather than pay and some carried rifles in the hope of shooting wild game. Thankfully, the prices didn’t stay high forever. By the time the Cariboo Road was built (LINK), prices had dropped down to 35 cents a pound for flour rather than $2 a pound in 1862.

Popular pastimes at the camps included telling stories, jokes, singing, and gambling. Poker was a favourite, but bets were also common. Miners also did their best to celebrate holidays like Christmas with special meals and fun activities like foot races.

All in all, mining camps were not fun places to be. Mining for gold was both hard and dangerous, and often miners traveled to these camps on their own, leaving behind friends and loved ones. Life mining for gold exposed the miner to loneliness, homesickness, isolation, physical danger, bad food, illness, and even death.