South BC-NW USA-relief CaribooplusChilcotin

The Cariboo is an

intermontane Intermontane is a physiographic adjective formed from the prefix " inter-" (''signifying among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal'') and the adjective "montane" (inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions, especially cool, moi ...

region of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from

Fraser Canyon The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser ...

to the

Cariboo Mountains The Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the province of ...

. The name is a reference to the

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the first region of the interior north of the lower

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual ...

and its canyon to be settled by non-indigenous people, and played an important part in the early history of the colony and province. The boundaries of the Cariboo proper in its historical sense are debatable, but its original meaning was the region north of the forks of the Quesnel River and the low mountainous basins between the mouth of that river on the Fraser at the city of Quesnel and the northward end of the Cariboo Mountains, an area that is mostly in the

Quesnel Highland The Quesnel Highland is a geographic area in the Central Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As defined by BC government geographer in ''Landforms of British Columbia'', an account and analysis of British Columbia geography tha ...

and focused on several now-famous gold-bearing creeks near the head of the Willow River. The richest of them all, Williams Creek, is the location of

Barkerville 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. BC Highway 26, which ...

, which was the capital of the

Cariboo Gold Rush The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly Rive ...

and also of government officialdom for decades afterwards (it is now a museum town). The Cariboo goldfields are underpopulated today but were once the most settled and most significant of the regions of interior British Columbia. As settlement spread southwards of this area, flanking the route of the

Cariboo Road The Cariboo Road (also called the Cariboo Wagon Road, the Great North Road or the Queen's Highway) was a project initiated in 1860 by the Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, James Douglas. It involved a feat of engineering stretching fr ...

and spreading out through the rolling plateaus and benchlands of the

Cariboo Plateau The Cariboo Plateau is a volcanic plateau in south-central British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Fraser Plateau that itself is a northward extension of the North American Plateau. The southern limit of the plateau is the Bonaparte River alth ...

and lands adjoining it along the Fraser and

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada ...

rivers, the meaning changed to include a wider area than just the goldfields. The grasslands of the Cariboo are home to the regionally endangered

American badger The American badger (''Taxidea taxus'') is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-ce ...

(''Taxidea taxus jeffersonii'').

Name

As early as 1861, Governor Douglas used the name Cariboo to describe the area in dispatches to Britain.

Notable towns

North Cariboo: *

Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard language, Picard dialect of French language, French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to: Places * Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France * Quesnel, British Columbia, a c ...

* Wells * Likely *

McLeese Lake McLeese Lake, originally Mud Lake, is a lake in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the Cariboo Highway (British Columbia Highway 97) and is the namesake of the community of the same name. It was named for Robert ...

Central Cariboo: * Williams Lake * Horsefly *

150 Mile House 150 Mile House (also referred to as "the 50") is an unincorporated community of 1,172 people in the Cariboo region of British Columbia. It is located 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Williams Lake on Highway 97. 150 Mile House was an importa ...

Lac La Hache Lac La Hache is a recreational and retirement community in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the shore of Lac La Hache alongside British Columbia Highway 97 near the regional centre of 100 Mile House, the community's or ...

South Cariboo: *

100 Mile House 100 Mile House is a district municipality located in the South Cariboo region of central British Columbia, Canada. History 100 Mile House was originally known as Bridge Creek House, named after the creek running through the area. Its origins ...

* Forest Grove *

Interlakes The Interlakes, also known as the Interlakes District, is a geographic region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located along and around the Interlakes Highway between 100 Mile House on BC Highway 97 and Little Fort on the North Th ...

* Lone Butte *

70 Mile House 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

* Clinton

References

External links

Information on the South Cariboo
{{coord, 52, 00, N, 122, 00, W, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title History of British Columbia Interior of British Columbia

Name

Notable towns

See also

References

External links