Yale Historic Site

British Columbia, like California, owes its founding to a gold strike. Gold was discovered in 1858 along the Fraser River in Fraser Canyon, upstream from this point, and thousands of men arrived in the ensuing gold rush. Because it marks the upper limit of practical navigation on the Fraser, Yale rapidly became a transshipment point to the wagon roads that were being built upstream, and hence an important commercial center. And like many boomtowns, it rapidly developed its upscale neighborhoods and elites.

Meanwhile, in response to the population influx overwhelming the local population and straining the local government, the British government had formally established the colony of British Columbia. The economy still remained shaky, however. As always in a mining rush, only a few hopeful seekers found their fortune. The easy deposits had been rapidly exhausted and further development would require substantial capital—even as the embryonic colony was already struggling with debt. Finally, on September 14, 1868, delegates from all over British Columbia met in Yale for a convention of the Confederation League, in which they advocated union with the nascent Canadian Confederation to solve the colony's economic problems.

The historic site includes buildings furnished as they would have been in the 19th century, sections on historical developments including relations with the local First Nations, a "living history" tent city as it might have appeared in the Gold Rush, and a period church. Of particular interest is an exhibit about a prominent Chinese merchant, as the Chinese (here as elsewhere) have tended to be written out of historical accounts.