Cariboo Gold Rush Story: "The Barkerville Fire"

By Shawna Audet

Some of the characters in this story are fictional, but the events are based on historical facts. We know that the fire started in the back of Barry and Adler's saloon. Several sources suggest that a Hurdy Gurdy girl was involved in starting the fire. This story provides a picture of how the event might have happened.

September 1868

Anna shivered and pulled the blankets up closer as dawn broke on Barkerville. She pushed her long blond curls away from her face and smiled. This was her favourite part of the day. She loved the early morning stillness because it reminded her of the little German town where she had grown up. At most other times of day, Barkerville was the noisiest place that Anna could imagine.

Anna had lived in Barkerville for three months. She had not completely adjusted to her new life. Sometimes she still felt like she was having a dream and that she would wake up back in her parent's tiny farmhouse in Germany. She missed her family very much. They were a poor, but honest family and their house was always filled with laughter. Anna was the middle child in a family of five girls. She had just turned sixteen.

When Boss Hurdy came to Anna's village and offered to hire Anna as a Hurdy Gurdy Girl, Anna had been just as excited as her parents. She remembered dreaming of the pride that she would feel when she sent the money from her first paycheck home. She remembered trying to imagine how nice she would look in her new Hurdy Gurdy outfit. It had all seemed so glamorous when Boss Hurdy described it. A dancing girl in Canada!

"Anna has just the right look," Boss Hurdy told her parents as he eyed her slender frame and bright blue eyes. "Of course this job is completely respectable," he added.

Boss Hurdy told them that Anna would sail across the ocean to California and then travel north to where she would take the Cariboo Road to Barkerville. To a simple girl such as Anna, who had never been more than twenty-kilometers from her own village, this trip seemed as improbable as going to the moon. And yet here she was, in Barkerville.

From the start, things had not gone as Anna had imagined. Boss Hurdy did not exactly lie when he was trying to convince her parents to let her come to Barkerville, but he had definitely left out some important points. Anna was shocked when she found out that she was expected to pay her employer back for her travel expenses. No one had mentioned that she was supposed to pay for her own uniform. This made her very upset because she didn't even like the long red hoop skirt dress with the tight bodice that she was supposed to wear. Anna cried all night when she added up the money that she owed. Janie, another Hurdy Gurdy Girl with whom she shared a room, tried to comfort her by telling her that she was in the same position.

"Just keep working and try not to think about it," Janie advised. "It costs a dollar for each dance and we get a part of each dollar. Get as many dances as you can."

Janie gave good advice. She was a tall, sturdy girl who was just a year older than Anna. Janie had been in Barkerville for a full year and she knew how things worked. Janie had taken Anna under her wing and she had always been a good friend. She helped Anna learn how to dance and she tried to show her how to entice the miners to choose her as a dance partner. Anna learned the dance steps but she was hopeless at the enticing part. Anna had been taught that modesty was a virtue and she did not feel comfortable smiling widely and cooing over the miners like Janie. Instead, Anna stood quietly by the others girls and waited until the men sought her out.

Ironically, Anna ended up with more dance partners than anyone else. All of the miners wanted to dance with Anna because she was the smallest girl. The miners could swing her from side to side and raise her over their heads with ease. Almost nightly, Anna would find herself dancing with her feet on the ceiling. At first, it had terrified her, but now she was used to "ringing the bell."

Anna stared at the empty bed on the other side of her tiny room and missed Janie. Winter was coming and Janie had left Barkerville with most of the other Hurdy Gurdy Girls. They would come back in the spring when things warmed up. Anna had planned on leaving with Janie, but then she met Kevin Thomas. Kevin was an Overlander from Ontario. He was twenty-two years old, with soft brown eyes and a tall lean frame. Kevin had come to Barkerville, like countless other men, to strike it rich by mining.

After two years of scratching out a living from his claim, Kevin was almost ready to call it quits. He had told Anna that he would winter in Barkerville and marry her in the spring. Kevin almost had enough money saved up to pay off her debts. When he did, Anna would be free and the two of them would head back to Ontario to Kevin's family farm.

Anna loved the idea of leaving the hustle and bustle of town life to live on a farm again. Kevin was camping out at his claim, but he would be coming to town to see her that night. Anna felt a flutter in her stomach as she thought of seeing Kevin. It was going to be a long day because she would be counting the hours until they were together. Maybe an early morning walk would help to settle her nerves. Anna rose and dressed quickly in the mid-September chill. Even though the woodstove was in the next room, it was always low on fuel in the morning.

Anna stepped out of her room at the back of Barry and Adler's Saloon and took a deep breath. The sky promised another clear crisp fall day. It was still a few hours before the businesses would open, so there were not many people stirring. Anna went back inside and through the other door in her room. She passed through the saloon so that she could walk down the mainstreet towards Chinatown. The town was impossibly crammed with buildings and there seemed to have been little thought given to town planning.

Anna walked carefully up and down the sloped sidewalks that linked the buildings and enjoyed the feeling of the wind on her face. The sidewalks were made high above the street because the street flooded in the spring. Often, the street was a sea of mud, but it was dry now because it had not rained in weeks. She paused as she passed the Wake-Up Jake Cafe to enjoy the smell of fresh bread. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Hattie Lucas coming down the street. Anna guessed that she was on her way home after a wild night with some man. She was dressed like many of the other town prostitutes, in the clothes of a man with a revolver and bowie knife at her waist. Anna pretended to be staring at a shop window as Hattie passed her on the other side of the street.

Hattie was tall and graceful, but she was known for her wild temper. Anna did not say hello, and Hattie did not even glance in her direction. Hattie was swearing to herself about money and puffing away on a big cigar as she swaggered past. Anna guessed that she was still drunk from the night before and thanked God that she did not have to live the life of Hattie.

Anna was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard a deep voice say, "Good day, Miss."

She whirled around to see that she was standing face to face with John Bowron. Like Anna, he was out for an early stroll. John was a very respected man in town. He was responsible for the town library and had recently taken the job of postmaster. Like Kevin, he was an Overlander.

Flustered, Anna smoothed her skirt and said, "You bet your life."

Anna's knew some simple phrases, but she still had a lot to learn about English. Kevin taught her a little more each time they met. Janie helped the most because she knew German too.

John smiled as Anna spoke. She smiled too when he tipped his hat as he walked by. It was nice to be treated like a lady.

Anna walked slowly and soon she started hearing more sounds of the town waking up. A baby was crying in the upstairs of a boarding house. Further down the street, a dog began to bark. Anna turned around before she got to Chinatown because she saw a man stumble out of a house on that side of town. The house was known for its prostitutes and opium. Anna had seen the blank dead eyes of the people in town who were hooked on opium and she vowed to never try the drug.

Anna thought that it was strange that one part of town was called Chinatown because Chinese people lived on the other side of town too. Similarly, there were non-Chinese people living in Chinatown. As Anna neared Barry and Adler's Saloon, she heard the first ring of metal from the blacksmith. His pounding was a constant sound in the town, like a heartbeat.

Anna settled into one of the chairs in front of the saloon to quietly watch the day unfold. More and more people appeared. Some acknowledged Anna with a smile or a few words; others walked by without so much as a nod. When the Bank of British North America got ready to open, Anna decided to have some breakfast. After that, she had a friend help her to write a letter to her family and then she took a nap.

Anna woke up in the afternoon at about two o'clock. The bun that had held her hair had definitely suffered from the nap so she took it out, letting her hair fall around her shoulders. She had not changed before her nap and she looked at her wrinkled dress in despair. She wanted to be looking her best when Kevin arrived. Anna decided to iron her dress and then do her hair. Anna got the iron and went to the woodstove room.

The room was tiny but there was a flat bench where Anna could do her ironing. Someone had put some new wood in the stove and the room was getting warm. Anna took off her dress and heated the iron. Before long, she was uncomfortably hot. She decided to open the door, just a crack, to let in some cooler air. Anna worked with her back to the door.

Ironing the skirt was a long hard job because there were a lot of pleats to work through. Anna dreamed of Kevin as she worked. She became so absorbed in her thoughts and work that she didn't even notice when the wind blew the door open wider. Anna was dreaming of her future life in Ontario while, unbeknownst to her, a few lucky miners were enjoying the free show of Anna in her underwear. The two miners, Big Bennie and Ted, were in town getting supplies when they happened to glance through Anna's open door. They were fun loving men with a reputation for rowdiness and shady business deals.

"Well look at that!" said Big Bennie in shock."I think I've died and gone to heaven."

"That can't be," said Ted, "you'll never get to heaven."

"Well then she must be an angel here on earth," Big Bennie told him.

"No Bennie," Ted told him, "that girl is sure pretty, but she ain't no angel."

"She sure is an angel!" argued Big Bennie. "Look at her blond hair streaming around her head like a halo."

"Why don't you go touch her and see if she's real?" dared Jake.

Big Bennie did not need much prompting. "Now there's an idea!" he said clapping his hands. "That's the only way to know for sure."

Big Bennie stepped into the doorway. He paused, feeling the heat from the room hitting his face. He leaned over, and stroked Anna's hair. Poor Anna was startled out of her wits. She spun around at the touch and was shocked to see a huge man with a wild black beard, just centimeters away from her face.

Big Bennie smiled comically and said, "Hello, Angel." He touched Anna's face gently and then kissed her mouth.

For a long moment, Anna stood frozen in place. When she did move, it was to place the hot iron on Big Bennie's arm. He shrieked in pain and jerked his arm away. In doing so, he knocked the iron out of Anna's hand, sending it flying through the air. The iron struck the woodstove pipe with great force and dislodged it, sending sparks flying everywhere. In moments, the canvas roof was in flames. Anna watched the flames in disbelief.

"Get out of here, girl!" shouted Big Bennie.

When Anna did not move, Big Bennie picked her up under his arm and carried her outside. "Let's get out of here, Ted!" said Big Bennie as he put Anna on the ground. "That fire is going to set the whole town in flames!"

Big Bennie gave Anna one last look and shook his head before leaving. "Women," he said to Ted in disgust. "That woman ain't no angel."

"They'll get you in trouble every time," Ted agreed.

Anna watched the two men run off. It was a few minutes before she realized that she was still holding her dress. Anna dressed as quickly as she could. People were starting to notice the flames and they were running everywhere in confusion. Anna was shocked at the speed at which the flames leapt from building to building.

Instinctively, Anna headed for the river. She was surprised to see that a great number of people were there ahead of her. People were trying to save their possessions. She saw Photographer Dally protecting his cherished camera equipment. Some people were dashing madly back and forth as they tried to empty their houses into the river. Anna spotted Big Bennie and Ted and watched in horror as they waited for a man to run back to his house for more goods and then stole his silverware in his absence. One of Anna's regular dance customers was standing close by.

"The Upper Town is safe," he told her. "The Barker flume that divides the town is doing its job. Men are standing on it and using the water from it to fight the fire. It's working."

Anna felt an enormous sense of relief at this news. Maybe she would only be responsible for ruining half of the town. The man moved off to search for his friends. Anna felt very alone. She sat down on the riverbank and watched the chaos and the raging fire. It had all happened so quickly. Once again, she was lost in thought when she realized that Big Bennie was standing over her.

"I just came over to tell you to keep your mouth shut, Angel," he told her gruffly. There was an edge to his voice that made Anna afraid. "People are going to be hopping mad over this," he continued. "They could be in a lynching mood. Do you get it?"

Anna nodded and watched as Big Bennie disappeared into the throng of people. Anna crossed her arms to try to keep warm. The wind seemed colder now. Two women came near, and Anna listened to them talking excitedly.

"The upper town is on fire now!" shrieked one woman.

"But what about the flume?" protested her friend.

"The hot wind drove the men that were standing on the flume away. The upper town is in flames."

Anna's heart sank. She knew that she would follow Big Bennie's advice. There was no way that she was going to tell anyone that she was responsible for burning the town to the ground. As far as Anna was concerned, it could go down in history as a mystery.

Afterword

By ten o'clock the next morning, the people of Barkerville had started rebuilding the town. The fire destroyed almost everything in its path. Only one building was left standing near the upper end of town. It was Scott's Saloon (it was close to the Barker flume). Most of Chinatown survived the fire.