Song Lyrics Explanation: "Cariboo Gold Rush"

Song by Shawna Audet and The Overlanders

Verse 1, Line 1 - Billy Barker was 44 years old when he arrived at Williams Creek. He had already been a miner in California.

Line 2 - Billy got five partners together and started mining a claim in 1861. Other miners thought that Billy was wasting his time because he was digging too far from the river.

Line 3 - This line contains an allusion to the child's game of "You're Hot, You're Cold." In the game, one person is supposed to be looking for an object. If they are far from the object then they are told that they are "too cold."

Verse 2, Line 5 - Billy sunk two shafts without success. On his third try (on August 17, 1862) he struck pay dirt.

Line 7 - When Billy struck it rich, miners rushed in to mine near his claim. A town sprung up right around his claim. The town was called Barkerville in honour of Billy.

Verse 3 John Cameron brought his wife (Sophie) to Barkerville. While en route to Barkerville, their baby got sick and died. Sophie was heart-broken, but she still continued on to Barkerville. She got pregnant again, but she lost the baby. This second tragedy broke Sophie. She caught a disease and died. On her deathbed, she asked John to bury her in Ontario. The West had not been kind to Sophie and she did not feel that she could rest in peace there.

Verse 4 John struck it rich and was able to honour his promise to Sophie. He put her in a casket and packed it with alcohol to preserve her body. Next, he hired men to carry Sophie down the Cariboo Wagon Road and then all the way to the ocean. From there, Sophie was to be put on ship so that she could finally get back to Ontario. People thought that it didn't make sense for John to go to such trouble over a dead body. A rumour started that the casket contained gold instead of Sophie (remember that it was very heavy because of the alcohol). John buried Sophie in Ontario, but the rumours did not die down. Finally, he dug her up to show people that she really was in the casket.

Verse 5 Line 26 - In 1859, Matthew Ballie Begbie became the judge of British Columbia

Line 27 - Begbie was nicknamed the "Hanging Judge." This was not a fair name. On average, Begbie did not hang more men than other judges. The problem was that the punishment for many crimes was death. Verse 6 Begbie was a man of many talents. For example, he understood many Native languages. The ability allowed him to hold court for Natives in their own language. Although Begbie was a man of refined tastes, he could shoot, swear, or fight as well as any miner. He earned the respected of people from all areas of the colony. Verse 8 James Douglas was the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company in British Columbia. When it became clear that the 49th parallel was going to become the dividing line between the U.S.A. and the British Colony, Douglas was put in charge of finding a new site for the H.B.C. headquarters. He chose Victoria.