Gold Mines and a Winter Trip to Yale, B.C.
Excitement over the gold mines and a trip up to Yale, British Columbia have the Wright siblings enjoying their first winter in Canada.
This post is all about gold mines up Harrison Lake, a trip to Yale, and planning for Christmas.
Yale, British Columbia
Yale, British Columbia is a historic town that was built during the gold rush of the 1850’s. It is located 50 kilometers from Agassiz. The historic site has been preserved and can be visited today. The St. John The Divine Church remains open and you can imagine what it would have been like for the Wright siblings to sit inside and listen to one of Mr. Croucher’s Sunday sermons.
For more information about Yale Historic Site and to plan your visit check out the link here: https://historicyale.com/plan-your-visit/
The Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada. It is named after Simon Fraser who led an expedition in 1808. The river was the main route between the interior and the coast.
The SS Western Slope pictured above at Yale around 1881 is one of the 35 riverboats that travelled along the Fraser River transporting passengers and freight. Today the Fraser River is known for its abundance of salmon and sturgeon.
Hell’s Gate
Farther up the Fraser River is Hell’s Gate. Now a popular tourist attraction, it was once one of the hardest places to travel through on the Fraser River.
To learn more about Hell’s Gate and to plan your visit click here: https://bchistorydiary.ca/hells-gate-bc-fraser-canyon/
The Letters
May’s Letter to Mother- November 4, 1896
Received November 24
My dearest Mother,
I am very sorry I did not write last week but I went up to Yale from Saturday to Tuesday & didn’t get a chance there; Harold stopped on there & has not come home yet. I wish he would stay another week as he has one of his stormy moods on & he is very hard to live with. I hope he will come home in a better mood.
I enjoyed myself up at Yale very much, Mr. Croucher was very kind, so were the people at the school, Miss Woodward (Grace) seems a very nice girl, she has promised to come down for Sunday soon to see me, we talked a great deal about the Willis’ and she allowed me a copy of the paper on account of Wela’s wedding in it, she sees to have had lovely presents.
There is a Miss Moody at the school who was very pleasant to me, I hope they will call me to go & stay there some day, as then I could go without one of the boys.
The rain has set in at at last, it has rained for a week except yesterday, & it was a lovely day, it is much colder, there is snow on all the mountains now, but it is not really cold yet, not any colder, if as cold as at home. I went in early yesterday afternoon to the Jemmetts & had tea there & went to choir practice with Mrs. Jemmetts & stopped the night with her & walked home this morning. It did not begin to rain until after I got back.
Captain Hamilton has almost bought a place next to Captain Jemmetts he is just going to build a big house there, he is very anxious to know when you & mother are coming out. I told him I hoped you would never come to settle here, but I hope you will come on a visit some day.
The valley is in a great state of excitement about a supposed gold mine at the head of Harrison Lake, but Mr. Jack Brown who has found it has not returned yet, so no one knows particulars, but everyone expects to be rich in no time; I hope it is so, but I have my doubts.
I hope you will like the photographs I am sending they were taken just before the Wood’s left, we say Cecil looks like our black slave in one, but I am good in that.
Mr. Burkitt has made far more money by letting his calves roam with the cows than we have with selling the cream & just think of the hours of would we have had, prices are batter this fall potatoes still $11 a ton. Mr. Dale came to see us the other evening, he seems to be doing well he says he has got about 50 tons of potatoes and 5 tons of wheat. I believe he has sold most of it, or knows where he can do so.
It looks as if it were going to snow again, Mr. George & Cecil have ridden in to the station this afternoon.
With very much love,
Your affectionate daughter
May Wright.
P.T.O
We didn’t care very much about Atalanta, it has gone off very much, the boys would like The Stretch but perhaps you would care about that. Always sends me Pearson’s magazines, that is very good.
Cecil’s Letter to Father – November 8, 1896
Agassiz
Nov 8th
Dear Father,
Thank you very much for the P.O. which I got yesterday it was very good of you sending it at once.
Mr. Hamersley was up here to-day he says that most likely he is going to England next Wednesday he has to go east on some business & he says if he gets time he is going to run across to England. I told him that if he did he was to be sure to go and see you. He says that if he does go to England he will write to you. Harold is staying with Mr. Croucher up at Yale.
I had a rather funny little note from Archie which I am sending on to you. I don’t know what he would say if he knew that I had sent it on to you. Every body is in a sort of frenzy here about the gold mines. Mr. Hamersley says that down in Vancouver people are all giving up their ordinary businesses and going into mining.
Your aff.
Son
Cecil Wright.
May’s Letter to Mother – November 10, 1896
Hazeley,
Agassiz, B.C.
Nov 10, 1896
My dearest Mother,
I want you to get me some books to give to the boys at Christmas & keep it out of my allowance; they do so much reading now that the weather has set in & it keeps them contented the have read all my books twice I think; I know you will think it would be a very good thing if they would read something improving but I know it is no use expecting it, because they won’t, but they really prefer good stories to trashy novels, there are two or three people here I supply with reading, Mr. Gibson & Mr. Burkitt regularly.
So will you send me a soon as you can six more volumes of “Dickens” for Cecil, you know the editor he has with blue grey backs. I don’t think they cost much. I will put in a list of what he has and for Harold will you send, “Mademoiselle More” & “The Atelier due Lues”; I don’t know who they are by but they are very well known & also “Christowell” by Blackmore. If Aunt Hester wants to send me anything, I should like a book or books best; either “ To Right the Wrong” or “Won by Waiting” by Edna Llyall, or any of Mr. Eiongs books
Will you order those for the boys pretty soon & then I shall be sure to have them for Christmas & keep the money for them & the postage out of my allowance. Harold is still up at Yale, he seems very contented there, playing cribbage with Mr. Croucher & looking for garnets in the Fraser; I don’t want him to hurry back as there is absolutely nothing to do here & the change will do him good.
The boys can’t get any cattle on shares, this place seems to have got a bad name, two people Cecil wrote to said it was too damp here for them to care to risk it, it certainly is damp, there is water all about in the fields now so what it will be by the end of the winter, I’m sure I don’t know. Some parts of the roads are really very good, but between us & the track it is ankle deep in slimy mud; the snow gets lower on the mountain every day, it is about three parts of the way down the mountain in front of the house, so we expect it in the valley to-morrow. I am holding, but not nearly like him. Jack will tell you who they are.
Mr. George is at home this afternoon as Cecil has gone to the station to see Mr. Hamersley who is to come up this evening & go back in the morning. Cecil received the money from Father, I don’t know whether he has written to acknowledge it. I believe our grocery bill stands this way, Inkman owes Mr. George about $200, & as he could not pay him he has given him an order on us for our bill, so now we owe to Mr. George, I think Cecil has enough money to pay everything else that is to say, the stove, a few groceries from Vancouver & the butcher, but you need not be anxious about us, as if we did — very nearly everything else we want for the winter. There is a little wheat still to sell & several people want it, we could sell several tons more.
Ever so much love,
Your affectionate daughter,
May Wright.
In answer to Dorothy =
“Afterwards” Mary Mark Lemens. John W. Muller
May’s Letter to Mother – November 15, 1896
Received Dec. 6
Hazeley,
Agassiz, B.C.
Nov 15th, 1896
My dearest Mother,
The winter has fairly begun, & very nasty it is, it has hardly stopped raining for nearly three weeks, one night last week it snowed, & again last night there was a heavy fall, there is quite a large lake between the house & the stable, as much as in the time of the high water; this house leaks so & it seems hardly worth doing much to if we get on I should like to see a nice little house here.
But I do think it is a horrible climate; the incessant rain is so depressing; & it makes the house so dirty, & there are always wet clothes to dry. You asked about Mr. George, I forget whether I answered the question, he only worked for us for about a fortnight & the boys owe him that; Cecil offered to pay him but he said he would rather settle for the cattle but now that is fallen through; I am afraid he won’t stop in Agassiz after the spring, he doesn’t care for anybody here & he is desperately homesick; it seems funny at his age & after being in Canada for six years that his home love is just the same. He often tells me about his home & his father & sisters, he seems so very fond of them; we shall miss him dreadfully if he goes, so there’s no other man in Agassiz I care in the least for, except Captain Jemmett, he I like very much, he is always so nice to me too; I wonder what you think of his photograph, it is very like him.
I haven’t been to the Agassiz’s for quite a long time, it is so difficult to get about now, it isn’t bad walking on the track, but the piece between the gate and the track is almost impossible, I hope they will gravel it next year.
Next Sunday we are to have afternoon service during the winter Mr. Croucher intends to take it in turns to have it in the morning & the afternoon.
Sometime would you send me two butter hands, you know the things I need, square pieces of board, rough on one side & smooth on the other with handles, for making up pats of butter, there is no hurry about them of course, but when we are just making butter for ourselves they are so useful; I don’t think we shall do any more dairying, except for our own use.
Your aff. daughter,
May Wright
Why The Hazeley Letters Are A Treasure of Agassiz History
These letters were nearly destroyed as they were passed through multiple sets of people to tell the story of the Wright family.
After arriving at the Agassiz Harrison Museum, it was clear that these letters were rich in local history, captured the early years of the town with great specificity, and offered a peek into the family and settler life in 1896.
Letters like these humanize the settler experience. They show the daily lives of the people who lived during this time and make it more relevant to people today.
Through transcription and research of these letters, new insights into settler life and the town have been discovered.
Explore More Pioneer Letters and Stories
If you enjoyed these letters from June and July 1896, you might also like:
- Those Named in the Hazeley Letters
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WWI Soldier Spotlight: The Story of 2nd Lieutenant Harold Purton Wright
These firsthand settler letters offer a rare look at daily life in 1890s British Columbia, from gold mining rumors to cattle ranching, hospital work, and the realities of farming on the frontier
Follow @BCHistoryDiary to get the latest letters, stories, and behind-the-scenes research.
