Family Histories

Spirit of the East: Gatineau Valley Cousins, the Cariboo Gold Rush and Lasting Legacies

By D. Jeffrey Brown¹

Original document ^{1.8 MB}

James Reid (1839-1904) and John Maxwell (1836-1915) were first cousins, born of pioneering parents from County Down who settled in the Gatineau Valley (along the Gatineau River) north of Ottawa. Despite their close family connection, their childhood experiences were poles apart, with James born in Canada and John spending the first ten years of his life in Killyleagh, Ireland.² From John’s arrival in 1846, however, the cousins would have seen one another regularly, and by the time they reached their early twenties they would embark on an adventure that changed their lives and leave a mark on the history of two towns in British Columbia.

James was born in 1839 to James R Reid (1803-1896) and Ann Maxwell (1809-1890), seven years after his parents arrived from County Down. James Sr. was born in Belfast and Ann in nearby Killyleagh. They departed from the port of Belfast in 1832 with their two infant children, James and Jane. James did not survive the 14-week voyage to Quebec City and was buried at sea. Upon reaching Quebec City, the Reids made their way to Farm Point, Quebec, where they settled on the east side of the Gatineau River on what is now the Mont Cascades Golf Club.

Like many pioneers, James and Ann chose their new home to be close to family. Ann’s older brother, Anselm Hance (Hance) Maxwell (1801-1881), had come to Canada about ten years earlier. In 1822, he married Scottish-born Sarah Robina Taylor (1800-1863), and the couple settled in Chelsea, a few kilometres south of Farm Point, on the west side of the Gatineau River. Another brother, John (Jack) Maxwell (1801-1877), arrived with his wife, Mary Ann Quinn (1798-1852), in 1830, at the invitation of Hance, who had requested land for John from Philomen Wright, the founder of Hull and landlord to many farmers in the Chelsea area. Yet another brother, William Burnette Maxwell (1808-1857), arrived with his wife, Jane McMillan (1801-1892), in 1832 (the same year as James and Ann). William and Jane joined Hance, Jack and Mary Ann in Chelsea, but soon after he, Jane, Jack, and Mary Ann “crossed Meech Creek as it flowed into the Gatineau” and settled on the west bank of the Gatineau River, about two kilometres south of Wakefield and about the same distance north of James and Ann.³ Two years later, in 1834, another Maxwell sibling, Martha (1798-1851), and her husband Thomas Copeland (1791-1858), settled north of William and John on the west side of the river.⁴

After the Copelands’ arrival, only one sibling, Thomas William Maxwell (1792-1869), remained in Ireland. As the eldest, he may have stayed to look after their parents, Anselm Maxwell (1770-?)⁵ and Sarah Wells (1770-?), and to tend the family farm in Killyleagh. Even for Thomas, it was only a matter of time before he would join his siblings in Canada. In 1847, possibly due to the death of his parents, the Great Irish Famine (which began in 1845), or both, Thomas, his wife Catherine McVeigh (1803-1877), and their six children arrived in Canada, settling a short distance inland on the east side of the Gatineau River, not far from Thomas and Martha Copeland’s farm. Among the six children was 11-year-old John, the second youngest of the children, whose life would intertwine with that of his then eight-year-old cousin, James Reid.

While the Maxwell siblings — William, Jack, Martha, Ann and now Thomas — lived only kilometres from each other, in the mid-1800s travelling such distances could be arduous. Nevertheless, they were accustomed to travelling—an inevitable part of life for the period. The ultimate expression of this was their emigration to Canada, but everyday life for pioneer settlers also entailed travelling miles to the closest store, mill, church and even neighbour.⁶ Whether over land or by water, the siblings and their families would have travelled frequently to see each other. They would have gathered for farm work, like clearing trees or stumps, barn-raising, harvests, holidays, and church. Some of the farms (William and Jane’s, John and Mary Ann’s and Thomas and Martha’s) included land on both sides of the river, and a cable or ferry scow located on the Copeland farm bridged the two sides of the river.⁷ When it was frozen, the river could be traversed on foot or by sleigh.

As Wakefield’s first British Wesleyan Methodists⁸ in a predominantly Presbyterian area, Thomas and Martha Copeland would not have mingled socially with other family members at church. Indeed, their property hosted a log house that served as Wakefield’s first Methodist “Meeting House” and schoolhouse and is the site of a cemetery containing the first known tombstone in the Gatineau Valley north of Hull.⁹ This would suggest Thomas and Martha were especially devout, which, if true, may reveal something about the character of the Copeland household compared to those of Martha’s siblings. Methodists and Presbyterians shared a Protestant heritage, including strong moral judgments on such matters as temperance and even dancing, but Methodists were the stricter of the two. Therefore, while the habits of these families cannot be known for certain, it is likely that a visit to the Copeland household would have been a more serious and sombre affair, free of alcohol and secular activities that they feared might lead a person to sin.¹⁰

After spending his early years in Canada on the family farm, John, at the age of about 20, took up work on the log jams of the Gatineau River, which the timber industry used to transport logs south to Ottawa. James’ parents were also farmers,¹¹ but, in addition to farm life, James enjoyed “liberal educational privileges,” including public school, high school and a “literary course in the college at Ottawa.”¹² This education no doubt contributed to his future success in business and politics, fostering in him an even manner and cordial temperament. As for John, we know he learned to read and write,¹³ but there is no evidence he had the same educational privileges as his cousin. Similarly, while John also engaged in politics, he did not, as we shall see, share James’ even temper and affable demeanor.

One thing the two cousins did share was a sense of adventure that took them to British Columbia, and more specifically to the Cariboo, which was the site of “the greatest placer gold stampede in the history of the province when thousands of argonauts, young and old and from all walks of life, headed for [its] bonanza creeks … lured by the irresistible call of gold.”¹⁴ John headed west in 1856, at the age of 20,¹⁵ and James arrived six year later, in 1862. John’s activities during the 1856-1862 period are unknown, but James spent those years working at the Maclaren General Store in Wakefield.¹⁶ James left Wakefield in 1862 to join John in British Columbia. As the railroad to British Columbia had yet to be built, he travelled by boat down the east coast of North America to Panama, where he portaged overland then sailed up the west coast to Victoria, where he arrived on April 20, 1862.¹⁷

There are different accounts of James Reid’s first trip to British Columbia. According to Rev. A.G. Morice, Reid arrived in Victoria with “P. Hickey” and, in the fall of 1862, travelled to Quesnel, which at the time consisted of a single cabin, and then to Barkerville.¹⁸ Another account states that Reid arrived with William Johnston after they “heard exciting stories of gold in the Cariboo” but that, after leaving Victoria, they parted ways in New Westminster, with Reid continuing alone to Quesnel then, later in the fall, proceeding to Barkerville.¹⁹ The Langley Centennial Museum, however, contends that James Reid travelled with his cousin John Maxwell to the Cariboo, the two men “attracted by the Cariboo gold excitement”.²⁰ Yet another account says Reid went west with “a party of companions.”²¹ Based on these accounts, Reid may have travelled to Victoria with Hickey and Johnston, with Johnston accompanying him from Victoria but only as far as New Westminster. As we know Reid travelled on to Quesnel and Barkerville, and that Maxwell accompanied him on the Cariboo leg of the voyage, it seems reasonable to conclude that Maxwell joined Reid in New Westminster.

All of this might have gone unknown were it not for the almost tragic consequences of that trip, as described in Donald Waite’s history of Langley:

John’s departure would not be permanent. He returned in 1871 and pre-empted 400 acres of land from an old Hudson’s Bay Company farm called “Langley Prairie”.²³ The following year, John was one of 29 men who, on March 23, 1872, signed the petition to incorporate Langley into a municipality.²⁴ The petition was granted and, on April 26, 1873, Langley, along with Chilliwack, became one of the first two rural districts in the province to incorporate. At its first meeting, on June 2, 1874, John was elected as a councillor.

John was setting down roots in Langley, but he was not yet done with Wakefield. He returned home in 1874 in hopes of persuading Elizabeth Carman (1852-1906) to join him in British Columbia. While she required some convincing that British Columbia was “the land of plenty”, he was ultimately successful in persuading her to join him there.²⁵ They were married, in Wakefield, on July 6, 1874, and, shortly afterward, travelled to Langley, along with Elizabeth’s brother Simeon (1854-1900) and mother, Martha Maxwell (1828-1893), who was a first cousin of John’s.²⁶

John’s career in municipal politics began as a councillor, but he would also serve as Langley’s Reeve (the equivalent of mayor) in 1878-79, 1884 and 1889-91. If recorded history is a guide, John could be combative and quick witted. At one of the council’s early meetings, he objected to what he considered an excessive cost estimate for a bridge and “directed some improper language at the roadbuilder” who had submitted the estimate:

Warden Gibbs responded by expelling John from the meeting, and three other councillors left as a gesture of support for him. The Warden charged each of them with unlawfully leaving council, for which they were found guilty and fined five dollars.²⁸

John’s combative side also came out when, at a meeting of candidates running to represent the New Westminster district in the provincial legislature, he challenged one of the four candidates:

John also had an impetuous side, which would surface in 1891 in a confrontation with fellow councillor James Murray Johnstone, who complained that he paid more taxes on his 100 acres than Reeve Maxwell paid on his 300 acres:

Despite his sometimes combative personality, John was regarded as an “efficient officer” of the municipality who made a significant contribution to its development.³¹ He participated in the milestone of Langley being connected by “a new system of telegraph” to the outside world, which began with “greetings … exchanged between Mr. John Maxwell Reeve of Langley, and the Mayor and Councils of Chilliwack and Vancouver.”³²

Even after leaving politics, he would play an important role in Langley’s development from a settlement into a town. In 1910, a year after Langley Prairie was renamed Milner (after a colonial administrator named Vincent Alfred Milner), John and another resident, Robert Burns Hutchison, subdivided their farms as part of an effort to begin developing the town.³³ Hutchison advertised the new town as “a place for ‘the brain-weary city man’ to have a ‘quiet country home.”³⁴ It became, for many years, the “centre of activity in the Langley region, boasting a general store, blacksmith shop, two churches, community hall, livery stables, B.C. Electric Station, B.C. Telephone exchange, cheese factories and numerous farms.”³⁵ Today, it includes a street, Maxwell Crescent, named after pioneer John Maxwell.

John died “suddenly at his home in Milner … from an attack of heart failure” on March 11, 1915, predeceased by his wife Elizabeth by six years.³⁶ He, Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s mother Martha and her brother Simeon are buried at the Fort Langley Cemetery.

As for James, he did not abandon the Cariboo after his and John’s near-tragic journey in 1862:

With winters spent in Victoria, James’ semi-annual trips between there and the Cariboo would have given him ample occasion to see John and his family in Langley, which was on the route.

While he did not abandon the Cariboo, nor did he return to mining immediately after his and John’s misadventure. According to Rev. A.G. Morice, Reid initially “found fortune rather spare of her smiles” in the Cariboo.³⁸

Rev. Morice goes on to describe a subsequent “little incident” that exemplified James’ “daring … and his stubbornness against adversity” that would prove to be a sign of his future success: ⁴⁰

James returned to mining following this brief departure, but his second foray also ended “without tangible results”.⁴² In 1868,⁴³ “feeling unwell and broken”, James resolved himself to the fact he would not make his fortune as a miner.⁴⁴ Seeking out alternative ventures, he worked as a clerk at the store of F.W. Foster in Lillooet then moved to Barkerville, where he took up work with the Barnard Express Company, which transported people, pack animals, supplies, equipment and, of course, gold up and down the “Cariboo Wagon Road”.⁴⁵ His initial job with the Barnard Express was as a security escort. After the company’s request for “a mounted police of four men … in the Cariboo district from the Mouth of Quesnelle to Williams Creek”⁴⁶ was rejected by the government, the company put in place its own security to guard its stagecoaches.⁴⁷ Rather than a four-man security detail, it chose to hire one man, armed only with a rifle, to guard its stagecoaches. About his brief stint guarding the stagecoach from Soda Creek, James would later recall how he “guarded $20,000 to $100,000 of gold dust on a trip and was never molested.”⁴⁸

After one year as a stage guard, James moved to Quesnel in 1871, where he became the Barnard Express’ agent. Aided by an investment in a mining claim that, after many years, finally began to yield returns, James invested in several business ventures in the town.⁴⁹ In 1873, in partnership with Hibbard Hudson, he built a large store in Quesnel. “By careful management, he soon attained his goal of having the most modern and well stocked emporium in the Cariboo,” which “was a natural stopping place for the stages.”⁵⁰ In 1879, he formed the Hixon Creek Mining Co. with friends, which remained active for many years.⁵¹ In 1886, James partnered with his old friend William Johnston to found the Cariboo Mills, which included a sawmill and grist mill.⁵² He was President of the Quesnelle Quartz Mining Company.⁵³ In 1896, he partnered with Stephen Tingley and Captain John Irving to form The North British Columbia Navigation Company.⁵⁴ The company commissioned construction of a steamboat that, starting August 3, 1896, ran between Soda Creek and Quesnel for many years.⁵⁵ The ship was named the SS Charlotte, after James’ wife, Charlotte Clark, whom he married in Ottawa in 1883. The SS Charlotte ran until early 1910, when it struck a rock and sank.⁵⁶

James’ success in business made him well known in the Cariboo, but it did not change him as a person. Despite his “now assured prosperity he remained the same unassuming gentlemen people had but a few years before seen pursuing the most arduous paths.”⁵⁷ He remained to his core values of hard work, generosity toward others and temperance, and earned a reputation as a man of character:

Having established himself as “the leading personality in the district,”⁵⁹ when, in 1881, the Member of Parliament for Cariboo died, leaving a vacancy, James put himself forward as a candidate and “easily conquered the suffrages of his fellow-miners and others in the north, and was elected in in 1881.”⁶⁰ His first appearance in the House of Commons occurred on February 9, 1882, when he was introduced by Prime Minister John A Macdonald and Sir Charles Tupper.⁶¹ James held the seat until 1889, when Macdonald elevated him to the Senate, where he served until his death on May 3, 1904.

Senator Reid died at his home in Vancouver, where he had lived for many years. His death was the result of “an accident, caused by a runaway team” that had occurred in Quesnel several weeks before.⁶² Following the accident, he was unwell but travelled to Ottawa to attend to his senatorial duties. While there, he took ill and returned to Vancouver by train. During the journey home, he appeared to improve, and it was hoped that his recovery would be further aided by the mild climate of Vancouver. Instead, he suffered a relapse shortly after his return and died from internal injuries stemming from the accident in Quesnel.⁶³

John and James’ parents made their mark as Irish emigrants in a new country, but John and James were pioneers in their own right. They did not cross an ocean, but they did cross a continent and extended the same pioneer spirit, and the same British influence, as their parents had done when they arrived in what was then Lower Canada. From their gold rush adventures in the Cariboo to their later contributions to the political, social and commercial life of Langley and Quesnel, their legacy is one of vision, courage, tenacity and community. Moreover, as sons of the Gatineau Valley, their legacy is part of its history as well, a permanent connection between Quebec’s Gatineau Valley and the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

Footnotes

1. The author can be contacted at djeffreybrown@outlook.com.
2. Killyleagh is both a village and Parish in County Down. Assuming they were farmers, the Maxwells came from the Parish but not the village of Killyleagh.
3. Hance and Sarah remained in Chelsea. After Sarah died in 1863, Hance moved north to Denholm, where he farmed about one kilometre east of the Paugan Falls (since 1926, the site of the Paugan Dam). In 1864, Hance married Jane Cruickshank (1834-1911) at St. Camillus Church in Farrellton. Hance and Jane left Canada in 1879 for St. Vincent, Kittson, Minnesota, located just over the border with Manitoba. All five children from Hance’s first marriage, to Sarah Robina Taylor, stayed in Canada when their father left, while the eight children from his second marriage, to Jane Cruickshank, joined their parents in Minnesota.
   
   Hance and Jane’s Denholm property includes a burial believed to be the resting place of three adult men who drowned in the Gatineau River. See Norma Geggie, A Place Apart: A Search for the Pioneer Cemeteries of the Gatineau Valley (Quyon, QC: Chesley House Publications, 1999), p. 52.
4. Norma Geggie, “Wakefield: The Earliest Settlers” (Reprinted at https://qahn.org/article/wakefield-earliestsettlers with permission from Wakefield Revisited, 2003).
5. The church record of Hance Maxwell’s marriage to Jane Cruickshank identifies his parents as “Anselm Maxwell and Sarah Wells.” The Canadian Parliamentary Companion, 1889, however, describes James Reid as “Third son of James Reid, by Ann, youngest dau. of Thomas Maxwell, whose father came from Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland, 1770.” It is possible Anselm’s full name was “Thomas Anselm Maxwell”.
6. For example, Thomas Stevenson, who was an elder in Wakefield’s Presbyterian church, rode four miles every Sunday to the scow at Copeland’s landing (located on Thomas and Martha’s farm), where he crossed the river before continuing to the church in Wakefield. Despite this, his attendance at church was “almost perfect for close to fifty years.” Norma and Stuart Geggie, Unto the Hills: A Church History (Chelsea, QC: The Historical Society of Gatineau, 1976), p. 27.
7. Norma Geggie, A Place Apart: A Search for the Pioneer Cemeteries of the Lower Gatineau Valley (Quyon, QC: Chesley House Publications, 1999), p. 15.
8. Philip Cohen, The Copeland Homesteads of Wakefield [unpublished paper] (1999), p. 2.
9. A Place Apart, pp. 15-16. See also The Copeland Homesteads of Wakefield, p. 3.
10. The difference between the denominations was one of degree, with Presbyterians in general being more moderate. Nevertheless, the differences at the level of individual congregations varied, as evidenced by an 1863 resolution of the Session (governing body) of Wakefield’s Presbyterian church:
    
    In 1863, a resolution [of the Session, or governing body, of Wakefield’s Presbyterian church] was made deploring the practice of dancing, and forbidding it. Ten years later this was still a concern, and mention was made of ‘the danger to spirituality of mind arising from attending dancing parties either to participate in this amusement or to be an onlooker in connection with it.’ In the Session minutes, it went on to record that … ‘it (dancing) was held to be an amusement of such nature as to call for remonstrance on the part of Elders and if persevered in by members, leave them open to discipline by the Session.’ Also of concern to the Session were specific cases of drunkenness, dishonesty and ‘sabbath breaking’, as well as the reported adultery between a couple prior to their marriage.
    Even the installation of an organ in the church, which introduced instrumental music to the church, was considered controversial; the church did not install an organ until 1873. Unto the Hills, p. 24, 28.
11. See R. Edward Gosnell, A History of British Columbia (The Hill Binding Co, 1906), p. 462, noting that James’ father “devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits.”
12. A History of British Columbia, p 462. The “college in Ottawa” was the Fraser Academy. (See “Senator Reid Dead”, Winnipeg Free Press Prairie Farmer, 11 May 1904, p. 2.) The school, named after its first teacher, James Fraser, was founded by industrialist and founder of New Edinburgh, Thomas Mackay. It was located on John St. in a building that originally housed workman who built Mackay’s “villa”, which would later become the residence of the Governor General, Rideau Hall. See https://heritageottawa.org/50years/fraser-schoolhouse (accessed on June 5, 2025).
13. Ancestry.ca, "1891 Census of Canada", database, Ancestry.com, Operation, Inc (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 May 2025), entry for John Maxwell (age 54), New Westminster, New Westminster, British Columbia; citing Library and Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1891. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2008. . Series RG31-C-1. Statistics Canada Fonds. Microfilm reels: T-6290; Family No: 45.
14. N.L. Barlee, The Guide to Gold Panning in British Columbia, 2nd (June 1973), p. 78. Gold was discovered in the area in 1858, and by 1861 “the entire region was swimming with prospectors.” Ibid, pp, 80 85. See also Art Downs, Wagon Road North, Ken Mather ed.; Rev. Ed. (Victoria: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 2021), p. 9 (original work published in 1960).
15. See Langley Centennial Museum (http://collections.tol.ca/museum).
16. A History of British Columbia, p. 462. James would draw on this experience in years to come, when he opened a general store of his own in Quesnel, British Columbia.
17. Rev. Adrien-Gabriel (A.G.) Morice, The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia (Toronto: William Briggs, 1904), (available at https://ia904508.us.archive.org/15/items/historyofnorthe00mori/historyofnorthe00mori.pdf), p. 323 (accessed on June 1, 2025).
18. Barkerville began as a group of camps at Williams Creek, which was the site of the most significant find in the Cariboo Gold Rush. Gold was first discovered in the deep ground below the canyon there by Edward (Ned) Stout in the summer of 1862, but it was William “Billy” Barker who suspected and proved the significance of Stout’s find. “The word flashed along the creeks, ‘Billy Barker has struck the lead on Williams Creek on the flat below the canyon at a depth of fifty-two feet,’” prompting a “scramble for ground below the canyon [that] quickly turned into a mad rush.” The Guide to Gold Panning in British Columbia, pp. 87-90. See also Wagon Road North, p. 21.
19. A Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area (Quesnel: Old Age Pensionners’ Organization, 1985), p. 66. Reid would later re-connect with Johnston in Quesnel, where they would in time become business associates.
20. Langley Centennial Museum.
21. “Another Pioneer Gone,” Daily News Advertiser (Vancouver), 4 May 1904, p. 5.
22. Donald E Waite, The Langley Story Illustrated (Don Waite Publishing, 1977), p. 61.
23. https://collections.tol.ca/museum/Portal/default.aspx?component=AAAH&record=63192be8-72c7-4a67-a39a-020483d27e41 (accessed on June 1, 2025). To pre-empt land was to claim and purchase land before others had an opportunity to purchase it.
    
    The Hudson’s Bay Company eventually sold the farm, in 100 acre lots, in 1877. See “A Milner Timeline” on the Langley Heritage Society’s website: https://langleyheritage.ca/2019/01/20/a-milnertimeline/ (accessed on June 2, 2025).
24. The Langley Story Illustrated, p. 59.
25. Formerly available at www.fortlangley.ca. The text is no longer available on the site.
26. Elizabeth’s mother Martha was a daughter of William Burnette Maxwell, whose brother, Thomas William Maxwell was John’s father.
27. The Langley Story Illustrated, p. 79.
28. John and Warden Gibbs would run up against each other again. The council, which John headed at the time, later “discovered that Gibbs had juggled the minutes of the several municipal meetings. A group confronted Gibbs at his home, demanding the records. Gibbs, they learned, had cut out “whole leaves” from the minutes, and “[t]he council ran Gibbs unceremoniously out of Langley.” See The Langley Story Illustrated, p. 81.
29. “Greer Is Nothing”, Vancouver Weekly World, 6 Nov 1890, p. 3.
30. The Langley Story Illustrated, pp. 151, 154.
31. “Local Brevities”, The Daily World (Vancouver), 9 Dec 1890, p. 5.
32. “Langley in Communication”, The Chilliwack Progress, 4 June 1891, p. 1.
33. “A Milner Timeline” on the Langley Heritage Society’s website: https://langleyheritage.ca/2019/01/20/amilner- timeline/ (accessed on June 2, 2025).
34. “A Milner Timeline”.
35. “A Milner Timeline”.
36. “Another Pioneer Dies”, The Province, 13 Mar 1915, p. 22.
37. A History of British Columbia, p. 462.
38. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 331.
39. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 330-331. See also A Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p 66.
40. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, pp. 330-331. See also A Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p 66.
41. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 331.
42. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 331.
43. Accounts differ on whether he abandoned mining in 1868 or 1869.
44. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 331.
45. The Cariboo Wagon Road was an 18-foot-wide wagon road built between 1861 and 1863 along the Fraser Valley from Fort Yale, where steamboat navigation ended, to Soda Creek—a distance of 400 miles—and then, in 1864 and 1865, extended to Quesnel and Barkerville. See Wagon Road North, pp 35ff.
46. The name “Quesnel” has been used since 1900, when the Post Office imposed the change. Before then, it was called Quesnellemouth, Quesnelle City or Quesnelle. See An Historic Walking Tour of Quesnel British Columbia, booklet published by The Quesnel Museum and Archives.
47. Ken Mather, Stagecoach North: A History of Barnard’s Express (Toronto: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd, 2020), p. 78.
48. Stagecoach North: A History of Barnard’s Express, p. 209.
49. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 331. See also A Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 66.
50. Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 66.
51. Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 66.
52. Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 66. James acquired Johnston’s interest in 1892.
53. The Canadian Parliamentary Companion, 1889, J. A. Gemmill Ed. (Ottawa: J. Durie & Son, 1889). Available online at www.archive.org (accessed on June 10, 2025).
54. A Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 68.
55. Stagecoach North: A History of Barnard’s Express, p. 210.
56. Tribute to the Past: Quesnel and Area, p. 66.
57. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 332.
58. A History of British Columbia, p. 463.
59. Gordon R. Elliott, Barkerville, Quesnel and the Cariboo Gold Rush (North Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1978), p. 61.
60. The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, p. 332.
61. House of Commons Debates, Fourth Session, Fourth Parliament, p. 1.
62. “Death of Senator Reid,” The Revelstoke Herald and Railway Men’s Journal, 3 May 1904, p. 1.
63. See “Another Pioneer Gone,” The Daily News Advertiser (Vancouver), 4 May 1904, p. 5.