Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

on the

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 annua ...

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

, and was the end of the

Old Cariboo Road The Old Cariboo Road is a reference to the original wagon road to the Cariboo gold fields in what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. It should not be confused with the Cariboo Road, which was built slightly later and used a differe ...

and the Cariboo Wagon Road. It is located on

Highway 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia - Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Colu ...

, north of

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 ...

and south of Quesnel.

History

On June 21, 1793, explorer Alexander MacKenzie reached the shores of the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

village at what would become Alexandria. He was told by the people of the village that the river was not safe for navigation beyond that point. Mackenzie heeded their advice and he and his party turned around and returned upriver to what would become the town of Quesnellemouth, (later Quesnel) and continued on to Bella Coola. In 1821, the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great we ...

erected a fort at Alexandria, the last the company would build before it was merged the same year with the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

. The fort was named Alexandria in honour of Alexander Mackenzie. They also built a

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

and wintered their horses there. Alexandria became a key way station along the

Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail The Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort ...

By 1859, in response to the gold discoveries that would ultimately set off 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 Riv ...

, Alexandria had grown from a simple Hudson's Bay post to a large tent community of miners and AD McInnes bought some of the HBC property at Alexandria to build a roadhouse that would serve travellers on the Old Cariboo Road once the road's construction was completed in 1863. When the road was completed as far as Alexandria, the road-builder Gustavus Blin Wright launched his sternwheeler ''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

'' at Alexandria. The ''Enterprise'' would ferry passengers and supplies up the

to Quesnel. From Quesnel, a wagon road was built in 1864 so travellers could continue on to

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, whi ...

. Another road to the gold fields had been planned to Alexandria, this one from

Bute Inlet Bute Inlet is one of the principal fjord, inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is long from the estuaries of the Homathko River, Homathko and Southgate Rivers at the head of the inlet, to the mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island ...

by entrepreneur Alfred Waddington. However, this road would never be built and its plans would be the harbinger of tragedy. In the spring of 1864, when members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) First Nations learned of the plans to build the road through the Homathko River Valley to the gold fields at Barkerville, they feared both infringement on their territory and the increased threat of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...

, (an epidemic that had already killed many of their people) and eight Tsilhqot'in men, led by Klatsassin, attacked one of Waddington's work camps, killing fourteen road construction workers, an incident known as the Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre.

Notes

Book references

* ''Ghost Towns of British Columbia'' Bruce Ramsey Mitchell Press, Vancouver, 1963, OCLC: 39371 ISBN Unknown *''Paddlewheels on the Frontier'' Volume One, Art Downs

External links

Alexandria Limo & Taxi Rental

Construction details of the Cariboo Road

{{Authority control Ghost towns in British Columbia Hudson's Bay Company forts Heritage sites in British Columbia Geography of the Cariboo Populated places on the Fraser River Populated places in the Cariboo Regional District National Historic Sites in British Columbia Hudson's Bay Company trading posts 1821 establishments in the British Empire

History

See also

Notes

Book references

External links