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Grade 4 · Social Studies · Unit 4 of 6

Gold Rushes

Fraser River and Cariboo gold

What your child practises

The 1858 Fraser River and Cariboo gold rushes, how they brought newcomers and created the Colony of British Columbia, and their effects on First Nations and the land.

BC Curriculum learning standard: The Fraser River and Cariboo gold rushes; demographic changes in pre-Confederation BC

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Put these gold rush events in order, from earliest to latest.

    • ✨Billy Barker strikes gold in the Cariboo (1862)
    • 🏝️The Colony of Vancouver Island is created (1849)
    • ⛏️The Fraser River Gold Rush begins (1858)
    • 🍁British Columbia joins Canada (1871)
    Show answer

    The Colony of Vancouver Island is created (1849) → The Fraser River Gold Rush begins (1858) → Billy Barker strikes gold in the Cariboo (1862) → British Columbia joins Canada (1871)

    Hint: Use the years to help you. The smallest year happened first.

  2. Question 2

    Why did thousands of people rush to the Fraser River in 1858?

    ⛏️
    • Free farms were being given away
    • A railway had just opened
    • Gold had been found there
    • Beavers had returned
    Show answer

    Gold had been found there

    Hint: A gold rush is when many people hurry to a place where gold has been found.

  3. Question 3

    Many Chinese miners came to the gold rushes. What did many of them do?

    ⛏️
    • Built the first trading posts
    • Mined for gold and ran stores and other businesses
    • Ran the Hudson's Bay Company
    • Became colony governors
    Show answer

    Mined for gold and ran stores and other businesses

    Hint: Chinese miners and business owners were an important part of gold rush towns like Barkerville.

  4. Question 4

    Where did many of the miners come from?

    Gold on the Fraser

    In 1858, news spread that gold had been found along the Fraser River. In just a few months, about 30,000 people rushed north, many of them from California. Most stopped in Victoria to buy supplies, and the small fort quickly grew into a busy town.

    The river ran through the homelands of First Nations such as the Stó:lō and the Nlaka'pamux. Some First Nations people were already finding gold and trading it to the Hudson's Bay Company. The sudden crowds of miners led to conflict over land and fishing places.

    To keep control of the area, Britain created the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, with James Douglas as its governor.

    • The Arctic
    • England
    • California
    • Montreal
    Show answer

    California

    Hint: Read the second sentence of the first paragraph.

  5. Question 5

    Why does gold collect at the bottom of a miner's pan?

    ✨
    • Gold sticks to metal pans
    • Gold is magnetic
    • Gold is much heavier than sand and gravel
    • Gold is lighter than water
    Show answer

    Gold is much heavier than sand and gravel

    Hint: When you swirl the pan, light sand washes out and heavy gold sinks.

  6. Question 6

    In 1858, miners arriving for the Fraser River Gold Rush stopped in which town for supplies?

    • 🏙️Vancouver
    • ⚓Victoria
    • 🐎Calgary
    • 🏢Toronto
    Show answer

    ⚓ Victoria

    Hint: Vancouver didn't exist yet! Victoria, on Vancouver Island, grew quickly as miners passed through.

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