The Omineca Gold Rush was a gold rush in British Columbia, Canada in the Omineca region of the Northern Interior of the province. Gold was first discovered there in 1861, but the rush didn't begin until late in 1869 with the discovery at Vital Creek. There were several routes to the goldfields: two were from Fort St. James, one of which was a water route through the Stuart and Tachie Rivers to Trembleur Lake to Takla Lake and the other was overland, called the Baldy Mountain route. A third route came in overland from Hazelton on the Skeena River and a fourth route used the Fraser River and crossed over the Giscome Portage to Summit Lake, through McLeod Lake, and up the Finlay River to the Omineca River.
1860s
Toy's Bar
The first recorded gold discovery in the Omineca district was made by William Cust and Edward Carey in the summer of 1861. The two men had traveled up from Alexandria that spring and returned in the fall with 60 ounces of gold between them. Despite such a small return for a summer filled with labor and hardship, they returned the following year with a group of more than twenty prospectors. In later years, some of these men would make major gold discoveries in the region, notably, Ezra Evans and Peter Toy. Along the Finlay River they discovered gold at a bar four miles from Finlay's Forks and named it Toy's Bar after Peter Toy. The bar would yield four ounces a day for each man. Another group of men on the Parsnip River, discovered 60 ounces of gold. Reports of these successes spread and in 1863, 150 men were in the area, among them, James May and the famous "Twelve-foot" Davis who had once made a small fortune by staking out a twelve-foot section of ground between two rich claims. However, most of these newcomers were unsuccessful and, to make matters worse, supplies were scarce. Many prospectors had to leave the diggings and return to their homes in defeat. Two that stayed on and prospected at Toy's Bar were John Giscome and Henry McDame, both of whom had worked on the Peace, Smoky and Nation Rivers. McDame had made a discovery in the Cassiar district and McDame's Creek was named in his honor.
Silver Creek
Throughout 1864–1868, very little activity is recorded in the Omineca district, although many of these prospectors returned regularly and worked at Toy's Bar and other known areas where they knew they'd find enough gold to be able to fund their other prospecting ventures. In 1868, four of the miners, Ezra Evans "Twelve-foot" Davis, William Humphrey and Gaylord went from Fort St. James up to Takla Landing via the Stuart, Trembleur and Takla Lakes. Along the way they discovered what they initially believed was silver but was actually arquerite, an amalgam of native silver and mercury. They named the creek where they made this discovery Silver Creek. The four miners went back to Quesnel that fall and appealed for funds to explore the Omineca area the following year. A group of miners was organized and after a concerted effort they raised more than $1000 from Quesnel farmers and businessmen and then the Colonial government gave the miners another $1000. The group of prospectors would be called the Peace River Prospecting Party. Strangely, the party was made up of only one of the original discoverers of Silver Creek, William Humphrey. The omission of Evans, Davis and Gaylord would be an error that the group's organizers would regret.
The rest of the group was Vital Laforce and Mike Byrnes, both of whom had been scouts for the Overland Telegraph Company, along with Patrick Kelly, James Hawkins and Allen Hawkins. The arrangements for the trip were made by a committee of three well-known men, storekeeper Peter Dunlevy who owned stores at Soda Creek and Fort George, Edgar Dewdney and pioneer road builder Gustavus Blin-Wright who also owned the local paddle steamers, Enterprise and Victoria.
