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Gold nugget
An unworked nugget of gold, .09g. This is reputed to be the piece of gold that launched the gold rush in California. It was found on 24 January 1848 by James Marshall while supervising the construction of a sawmill for Col. John Sutter on the South…
Rigged model of the Gold Rush clipper ‘ Challenge’
From the east coast of the US the journey to the Californian gold fields was long and arduous whether undertaken by land or a combination of land and sea. ‘The Challenge’, the largest merchant ship at the time, was built in 1851. It was a clipper…
Correspondence and papers re: schools
A letter, with attached table of figures, from a secretary for the Vancouver Schools Board, to Vancouver City Alderman. The letter, in response to the Alderman’s request for information, details the enrolment history of Asian, predominantly Chinese,…
Newspaper advert for Vancouver Island
An advertisement in the Daily Colonist newspaper for Vancouver Island in 1941, with illustrations of a cargo train hauling lumber along with cargo steamships. The advertisement was published in the leading newspaper for British Columbia, with a vast…
Ship passenger list arriving into ports of Victoria and Vancouver
Documents recording the arriving steamships and passengers into the ports of Victoria and Vancouver in January 1925. Recorded for the purposes of controlling the arrival of potential migrants to Canada. The documents offer significant detail on both…
Despatch to London: Douglas to Stanley
This report describes a number of different aspects all related to the Fraser River. Douglas first acknowledges that a large amount of people are coming to the area from San Francisco, in order to mine for gold. Towards the end of the document,…
Envelope ( He Zu Jian of Wing Sang company)
This is an envelope addressed to He Zu Jian, it shows a majority of the scripture in Chinese apart from the address. The Chinese scriptures are written in typical Chinese style by scribing characters downwards. Chinese immigrants in Vancouver often…
Digger Indians, Yosemite Valley
This is a wet-plate processed photograph of a group of Indigenous people in Yosemite Valley, California. The appearance of the four subjects is muddy, with soil streaks on their faces and clothes. The title is actually a derogative term used by white…
Chisel
This object is a chisel, most likely used by labourers during the Gold Rush Era, and in the development of the railway network in California. Chisels were digging tools which helped to shape the metal railway tracks that were gradually laid across…
Sugarcane Field
In regards to migration, sugarcane fields were a place where many people worked in order to make some money, so they could afford to live in their new home and support their families in a new environment. There were a lot of strikes to improve work…