PEOPLE
A.C. Anderson
Barnard Family
Madelon Cruickshank
Charles and Jane Evans
D.W. Higgins
On Lee
Peter O'Reilly
Joseph Trutch
Johnny Ward
RBCM Images
Historic Overview of Yale
Fort Named After James Yale
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JAMES MURRAY YALE, CHIEF TRADER AT FORT LANGLEY
Fur traders from England and other European countries started coming to British Columbia (used to be known as New
Caledonia) about 200 years ago. They traded manufactured goods (such as iron pots and blankets) for furs which they took to
Europe for making hats.
Simon Fraser was the first fur trader to travel down the river which now bears his name. He came past
Yale in 1808, but the river is very rough and dangerous here and most fur traders preferred to use other routes for traveling. In
1848 an English fur trading company called the Hudson's Bay Company ( or H.B.C. for short) established a small wooden fort
here and called it Fort Yale. Yale was named after James Murray Yale who was once the chief factor for Fort Langley.
Gold Rush of '58
Yale suddenly
became a very large city with many stores, restaurants and hotels along the river. Houses and churches were built on the hill
overlooking the river. Yale once was known as the biggest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco.
In 1858 gold was discovered on a gravel bar just 2 miles south of Yale on the Fraser River. This place was soon known as
Hill's Bar named after the prospector who found gold there. The discovery of gold caused a massive influx of people to pour
into the region from all over the world, the majority of which came from the California Gold Rush of 1849.
Learn interesting details about the people of Yale during the time of the gold rush! Just use the side bar to pick such people as David W. Higgins, a journalist that wrote exciting tales about Yale, or have a look at Madelon Cruickshank's autograph book.
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Last updated 31 August 1998. This digital collection was produced under contract to Canada's Digital Collections Program, Industry Canada. Produced by Canada's Digital Collections Team. Content provided by BC Heritage Branch, Province of British Columbia. |
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