John A. Cameron
Encyclopedia
John Angus Cameron was a Canadian
prospector, also known as "Cariboo Cameron".
He was born in Charlottenburg Township in Upper Canada
in 1820 and grew up in Glengarry County
. He went to California
with two of his brothers as a prospector in 1850 but had returned by 1860. When gold
was discovered in the Cariboo
region of British Columbia
, he took his family west and arrived in Victoria, British Columbia
in 1862. Cameron and his partner Robert Stevenson discovered one of the richest claims in the Cariboo on Williams Creek
. His wife Margaret Sophia had died of typhoid fever
just prior to this and Cameron had promised to take her back to Canada West for burial. Cameron and his partner hauled the body 400 miles by toboggan
to Victoria, where the body was buried temporarily in a coffin filled with alcohol. The town of Camerontown or Cameronton, long since abandoned, sprung up near Cameron's claim because he wanted to finish mining his claim as quickly as possible and employed 75 men working three shifts. In 1863, he left the Cariboo and transported the coffin back by ship, crossing overland at the Isthmus of Panama
, and eventually returned home where he had the coffin reburied.
In 1865, he remarried and built a new residence at Fairfield at Summerstown, on property formerly owned by John Cameron
, a distant relative. In 1873, he had his first wife's body exhumed to disprove rumours of foul play in her death. Cameron frittered away his fortune and, around 1886, he returned to the scene of his former windfall in British Columbia. He died penniless in Barkerville
in 1888.
TRAGEDY & RICHES:
The Story of John 'Cariboo' Cameron
In '63 I left my hame,
In that same year I bought a claim
Frae Cameron Jock o' Canada -
As smart a lad's ye ever saw,
Wha's greatest faut was nane uncommon,
A gae strong likin' for a woman.
James Anderson, 1866
Perhaps one of the most pathetic love stories in the early history of British Columbia is the woeful saga of John Angus 'Cariboo' Cameron whose wife had four funerals, two caskets and three burials...
Cameron was born in Charlottenburgh in 1820 and raised on the family farm in Glengarry County, Canada West, a United Empire Loyalist settlement to which his family had retreated during the American War of Independence.
In 1852, his eyes set on the western horizon, John set out with his brothers, Allan and Daniel for California and the gold rush there. They were lucky and stayed six years making a respectable sum. In 1858 they heard of gold on Fraser's River and headed north to mine. Once again luck was on their side and the three brothers returned to Cornwall with some $20,000 in gold.
It was here in Cornwall that John Angus Cameron married his childhood sweetheart Margaret Sophia Groves, a farmer's daughter twelve years his junior. It was soon after their marriage that news began filtering east of the rich diggings in 'Cariboo' and of the fabulous fortunes being made in the interior of British Columbia. Cameron, not one to be left behind, struck west again, this time with his new bride and their 4 month old baby girl, Alice.
The trip from Canada West to the Fort Victoria via Panama was a long and arduous journey. Alice became sick; less than a week after stepping off the Brother John in Victoria she died. The Camerons were heartbroken but determined to press on to the goldfields.
Robert Stevenson, an old friend of John's from Glengarry County, managed to set up credit for the Camerons at the Hudson's Bay Co. to the tune of $2000. John used the $2000 dollars to stock up on candles which he brought with him to Barkerville and later sold for a profit of $10,000!
Much like Billy Barker, Cameron first staked a claim on upper Williams Creek but encouraged by the success of Ned Stout's claim lower in the valley he staked another claim half a mile below Barker's shaft with his wife, Richard Rivers, Allan MacDonald, James and Charles Glendenning and Robert Stevenson. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Cameron was the holder of Miner's Licence No. 7598 and was probably the only woman in the Cariboo at that time to hold such a document.
A short three weeks later, however, Stevenson had transferred to Sophia his entire interest in the Cameron claims "below the canon". Chas. Glendenning had sold out his interests to Cameron for $2,000 leaving the Camerons a majority interest in the claim. Later records indicate that R. Stevenson purchased "one full share" for $5000 and "one-eighth of 700 feet" for $15,000,. on August 25, 1862
1820 - John Angus Cameron was born of Scottish descent.
1830 - Alexander Cameron was born in Scotland.
1845 - John and Alexander Cameron came to British America. They settled with his parents in Glengarry, near the United Empire Loyalist settlement of Cornwall in Canada West.
-John began courting his sweetheart, Miss Sophia Graves from a neighbouring farm.
1852 - John Cameron and his brother Alan, headed for the gold fields of California.
1858 - John Cameron, and two brothers, Alexander and Roderick, travelled to the Fraser gold rush in the Cariboo.
-John had two good told strikes and made $20,000.
-John returned to Cornwall and married Sophia Groves, his childhood sweetheart 12 years his junior.
1861 - John and Sophia had a daughter Alice Isabel.
1862 - John and his family arrived in Victoria on February 27th. The long trip via the Panama Canal was hard on young Alice and she died at the age of 14 months, 5 days after they arrived in Victoria. The couple then met Robert Stevenson, who offered them a partnership in the Antler Creek Store in the Cariboo so John and Sophia travelled to Antler Creek. Soon they staked claims at upper Williams Creek. He later moved down stream nearer Stout's Gulch. A partnership was formed between John and Sophia, Allan McDonald, Richard Rivers, and Charles and James Clendennin. The group would be known as Cameron & Co. and would stake 6 claims. John and Sophia had another child but it was stillborn. The winter was hard and typhoid was rampant. Sophia died of typhoid fever, then called mountain fever, on October 22nd or 23rd when the temperatures plummeted to -30 degrees. Her dying wish was that her body be taken back home to Ontario. She was temporarily buried at nearby Walkers Gulch. One month later, on December 22, one mile below the Barker claim, the partnership struck gold.
1863 -John Cameron and James Cunning established the first area cemetery. John Cameron offered $12 a day and a $2000 bonus at the end, to any man who would help him carry out Sophia's coffin from the William's Creek to Victoria. It was a tough trip, with temperatures dipping to - 50 degrees. They took Sophie's coffin over Yank's Peak in a middle of snow storm and had to leave the coffin near Little Snowshoe to take refuge from the storm. The next morning they went back and pick up the coffin and continue on their way. The group travelled only 72 miles in the first 11 days. They would finally arrive in Victoria on March 6 after a 36 day trip. Sophia Cameron's coffin was filled with alcohol and then buried in Victoria in March. John then returned to his Cariboo claim, he bought out the Clendennins and two other adjacent claims and mining commenced with as many men as he could hire. The town of Cameronton grew up around the claim. In October John returned to Victoria with $300,000 in gold. He left November 8th and took Sophia's body by ship around South America and back to Glengarry, in Ontario, Canada West. Sophia's father asked to see his daughter's face when the coffin arrived but John refused and she was buried again. He shared his good fortune, believed to be eight pack horses laden with gold, with his five brothers.
1865 - John, now 45 years old, married Christy Anne "Emma" Wood, and would build her a lavish mansion.
- John invested in timber, the construction of the Lachine Canal and some eastern mines.
1872 - Rumours had spread that John had sold his first wife Sophia into slavery and that he had brought the coffin home filled with gold. John after nine years, relented to pressure and had the coffin raised and drained the alcohol from the coffin which had helped to preserve Sophia's body. The rumours were laid to rest but grass never again grew over Sophia's grave where the alcohol had been spilled. Sophia was moved and buried for the last time at Summertown, near by the mansion that was built from the Cariboo gold.
1881 - John and Christy Anne Cameron are listed in the census of Charlottenburg, Glengarry, Ontario. John is listed as farmer and 60 years old. Christy Anne is listed as his wife and 39 years old and born in Ontario but of German descent. They are also listed with young Mary McPherson, 12 years old. Alexander Cameron, brother of John, is listed in the census as a gold miner, 51 years old and born in Scotland.
1886 - With his gold fortunes now reduced, John and his second wife returned to the Cariboo in search of more gold but the easy-to-reach gold was gone. He worked a time in the Big Bend mines.
1888 - In September John returned to Barkerville. On November 7th, at the age of 68, John Angus "Cariboo" Cameron died of a massive stroke. Reg. Number: 1888-09-234243. He was buried in the Cameronton Cemetery.
1992 - Around this time the descendants of John Cameron had a plaque placed in his memory in Summertown.
Cariboo Cameron gets my vote for the most amazing mix of good and bad luck. Hed already made a good strike in the California gold rush with his two brothers. They then heard about the strike on Frasers River, went north and hit it big again, returning with $20,000 between them, a sizeable sum.
John Cameron then married a beautiful woman, Margaret Sophia Groves, and she had a baby daughter just in time to take her to Cariboo, where Cameron wanted to try his luck.
The baby died on the trip.
Meanwhile, Cameron bought $2,000 worth of candles and sold them for $10,000 in the mine fields. That was a surer profit than he could have probably made with gold itself, and a reminder that you can do just as well in pick-and-shovel makers than gold miners, (something Ill be sure to include in my Red-Hot Canadian Small-Caps).
A bitterly cold winter set in. Sophia had another baby stillborn and then Sophia died as well. Cameron became obsessed with the mine, working at it night and day. And sure enough, he struck paydirt.
Cameron was rich, but he was also heartbroken. He wanted to take his wife home for burial, so he hired miners to work three shifts, 24/7 to get the gold out soon as possible. Then he took her home, pickled, in a tin coffin.
The story doesnt end there. Cameron invested his money in everything from steamships to timber, and lost it all. He married a new wife, came back to the gold fields, and met with no success at all. He died flat-broke.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
prospector, also known as "Cariboo Cameron".
He was born in Charlottenburg Township in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
in 1820 and grew up in Glengarry County
Glengarry County, Ontario
thumb|right|Glengarry located within OntarioGlengarry County , an area covering , is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is historically known for its settlement of Scottish Highlanders due to the Highland Clearances.Glengarry was founded in 1792 by Scottish loyalists, mainly from...
. He went to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with two of his brothers as a prospector in 1850 but had returned by 1860. When gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
was discovered in the Cariboo
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia along a plateau stretching from the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the woodland caribou that were once abundant in the region...
region of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, he took his family west and arrived in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
in 1862. Cameron and his partner Robert Stevenson discovered one of the richest claims in the Cariboo on Williams Creek
Williams Creek (British Columbia)
Williams Creek is an important historical gold mining creek in the Cariboo goldfields of the Central Interior of British Columbia, entering the Willow River between Barkerville and the town of Wells, which is at the headwaters of the Willow River....
. His wife Margaret Sophia had died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
just prior to this and Cameron had promised to take her back to Canada West for burial. Cameron and his partner hauled the body 400 miles by toboggan
Toboggan
A toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...
to Victoria, where the body was buried temporarily in a coffin filled with alcohol. The town of Camerontown or Cameronton, long since abandoned, sprung up near Cameron's claim because he wanted to finish mining his claim as quickly as possible and employed 75 men working three shifts. In 1863, he left the Cariboo and transported the coffin back by ship, crossing overland at the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
, and eventually returned home where he had the coffin reburied.
In 1865, he remarried and built a new residence at Fairfield at Summerstown, on property formerly owned by John Cameron
John Cameron (Upper Canada politician)
John Cameron was a farmer and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in the Mohawk Valley in New York state, the son of a United Empire Loyalist. He lived on a property he named Fairfield in Charlottenburgh Township, located near the current location of Summerstown, Ontario. He served as a...
, a distant relative. In 1873, he had his first wife's body exhumed to disprove rumours of foul play in her death. Cameron frittered away his fortune and, around 1886, he returned to the scene of his former windfall in British Columbia. He died penniless in Barkerville
Barkerville, British Columbia
Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...
in 1888.
External links
TRAGEDY & RICHES:
The Story of John 'Cariboo' Cameron
In '63 I left my hame,
In that same year I bought a claim
Frae Cameron Jock o' Canada -
As smart a lad's ye ever saw,
Wha's greatest faut was nane uncommon,
A gae strong likin' for a woman.
James Anderson, 1866
Perhaps one of the most pathetic love stories in the early history of British Columbia is the woeful saga of John Angus 'Cariboo' Cameron whose wife had four funerals, two caskets and three burials...
Cameron was born in Charlottenburgh in 1820 and raised on the family farm in Glengarry County, Canada West, a United Empire Loyalist settlement to which his family had retreated during the American War of Independence.
In 1852, his eyes set on the western horizon, John set out with his brothers, Allan and Daniel for California and the gold rush there. They were lucky and stayed six years making a respectable sum. In 1858 they heard of gold on Fraser's River and headed north to mine. Once again luck was on their side and the three brothers returned to Cornwall with some $20,000 in gold.
It was here in Cornwall that John Angus Cameron married his childhood sweetheart Margaret Sophia Groves, a farmer's daughter twelve years his junior. It was soon after their marriage that news began filtering east of the rich diggings in 'Cariboo' and of the fabulous fortunes being made in the interior of British Columbia. Cameron, not one to be left behind, struck west again, this time with his new bride and their 4 month old baby girl, Alice.
The trip from Canada West to the Fort Victoria via Panama was a long and arduous journey. Alice became sick; less than a week after stepping off the Brother John in Victoria she died. The Camerons were heartbroken but determined to press on to the goldfields.
Robert Stevenson, an old friend of John's from Glengarry County, managed to set up credit for the Camerons at the Hudson's Bay Co. to the tune of $2000. John used the $2000 dollars to stock up on candles which he brought with him to Barkerville and later sold for a profit of $10,000!
Much like Billy Barker, Cameron first staked a claim on upper Williams Creek but encouraged by the success of Ned Stout's claim lower in the valley he staked another claim half a mile below Barker's shaft with his wife, Richard Rivers, Allan MacDonald, James and Charles Glendenning and Robert Stevenson. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Cameron was the holder of Miner's Licence No. 7598 and was probably the only woman in the Cariboo at that time to hold such a document.
A short three weeks later, however, Stevenson had transferred to Sophia his entire interest in the Cameron claims "below the canon". Chas. Glendenning had sold out his interests to Cameron for $2,000 leaving the Camerons a majority interest in the claim. Later records indicate that R. Stevenson purchased "one full share" for $5000 and "one-eighth of 700 feet" for $15,000,. on August 25, 1862
1820 - John Angus Cameron was born of Scottish descent.
1830 - Alexander Cameron was born in Scotland.
1845 - John and Alexander Cameron came to British America. They settled with his parents in Glengarry, near the United Empire Loyalist settlement of Cornwall in Canada West.
-John began courting his sweetheart, Miss Sophia Graves from a neighbouring farm.
1852 - John Cameron and his brother Alan, headed for the gold fields of California.
1858 - John Cameron, and two brothers, Alexander and Roderick, travelled to the Fraser gold rush in the Cariboo.
-John had two good told strikes and made $20,000.
-John returned to Cornwall and married Sophia Groves, his childhood sweetheart 12 years his junior.
1861 - John and Sophia had a daughter Alice Isabel.
1862 - John and his family arrived in Victoria on February 27th. The long trip via the Panama Canal was hard on young Alice and she died at the age of 14 months, 5 days after they arrived in Victoria. The couple then met Robert Stevenson, who offered them a partnership in the Antler Creek Store in the Cariboo so John and Sophia travelled to Antler Creek. Soon they staked claims at upper Williams Creek. He later moved down stream nearer Stout's Gulch. A partnership was formed between John and Sophia, Allan McDonald, Richard Rivers, and Charles and James Clendennin. The group would be known as Cameron & Co. and would stake 6 claims. John and Sophia had another child but it was stillborn. The winter was hard and typhoid was rampant. Sophia died of typhoid fever, then called mountain fever, on October 22nd or 23rd when the temperatures plummeted to -30 degrees. Her dying wish was that her body be taken back home to Ontario. She was temporarily buried at nearby Walkers Gulch. One month later, on December 22, one mile below the Barker claim, the partnership struck gold.
1863 -John Cameron and James Cunning established the first area cemetery. John Cameron offered $12 a day and a $2000 bonus at the end, to any man who would help him carry out Sophia's coffin from the William's Creek to Victoria. It was a tough trip, with temperatures dipping to - 50 degrees. They took Sophie's coffin over Yank's Peak in a middle of snow storm and had to leave the coffin near Little Snowshoe to take refuge from the storm. The next morning they went back and pick up the coffin and continue on their way. The group travelled only 72 miles in the first 11 days. They would finally arrive in Victoria on March 6 after a 36 day trip. Sophia Cameron's coffin was filled with alcohol and then buried in Victoria in March. John then returned to his Cariboo claim, he bought out the Clendennins and two other adjacent claims and mining commenced with as many men as he could hire. The town of Cameronton grew up around the claim. In October John returned to Victoria with $300,000 in gold. He left November 8th and took Sophia's body by ship around South America and back to Glengarry, in Ontario, Canada West. Sophia's father asked to see his daughter's face when the coffin arrived but John refused and she was buried again. He shared his good fortune, believed to be eight pack horses laden with gold, with his five brothers.
1865 - John, now 45 years old, married Christy Anne "Emma" Wood, and would build her a lavish mansion.
- John invested in timber, the construction of the Lachine Canal and some eastern mines.
1872 - Rumours had spread that John had sold his first wife Sophia into slavery and that he had brought the coffin home filled with gold. John after nine years, relented to pressure and had the coffin raised and drained the alcohol from the coffin which had helped to preserve Sophia's body. The rumours were laid to rest but grass never again grew over Sophia's grave where the alcohol had been spilled. Sophia was moved and buried for the last time at Summertown, near by the mansion that was built from the Cariboo gold.
1881 - John and Christy Anne Cameron are listed in the census of Charlottenburg, Glengarry, Ontario. John is listed as farmer and 60 years old. Christy Anne is listed as his wife and 39 years old and born in Ontario but of German descent. They are also listed with young Mary McPherson, 12 years old. Alexander Cameron, brother of John, is listed in the census as a gold miner, 51 years old and born in Scotland.
1886 - With his gold fortunes now reduced, John and his second wife returned to the Cariboo in search of more gold but the easy-to-reach gold was gone. He worked a time in the Big Bend mines.
1888 - In September John returned to Barkerville. On November 7th, at the age of 68, John Angus "Cariboo" Cameron died of a massive stroke. Reg. Number: 1888-09-234243. He was buried in the Cameronton Cemetery.
1992 - Around this time the descendants of John Cameron had a plaque placed in his memory in Summertown.
Cariboo Cameron gets my vote for the most amazing mix of good and bad luck. Hed already made a good strike in the California gold rush with his two brothers. They then heard about the strike on Frasers River, went north and hit it big again, returning with $20,000 between them, a sizeable sum.
John Cameron then married a beautiful woman, Margaret Sophia Groves, and she had a baby daughter just in time to take her to Cariboo, where Cameron wanted to try his luck.
The baby died on the trip.
Meanwhile, Cameron bought $2,000 worth of candles and sold them for $10,000 in the mine fields. That was a surer profit than he could have probably made with gold itself, and a reminder that you can do just as well in pick-and-shovel makers than gold miners, (something Ill be sure to include in my Red-Hot Canadian Small-Caps).
A bitterly cold winter set in. Sophia had another baby stillborn and then Sophia died as well. Cameron became obsessed with the mine, working at it night and day. And sure enough, he struck paydirt.
Cameron was rich, but he was also heartbroken. He wanted to take his wife home for burial, so he hired miners to work three shifts, 24/7 to get the gold out soon as possible. Then he took her home, pickled, in a tin coffin.
The story doesnt end there. Cameron invested his money in everything from steamships to timber, and lost it all. He married a new wife, came back to the gold fields, and met with no success at all. He died flat-broke.
See also
- Cariboo Gold RushCariboo Gold RushThe Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...