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British Columbia Tourism Region : Cariboo Chilcotin Coast
Description From Owner:
Van Winkle Creek
- Jack of Clubs Lake - An item in the Daily British Colonist of 30 July 1861 gives the story of this name:
- 'a redskin had first struck the new creek and had communicated the discovery to an individual rejoicing in the sporting appelation of Jack-of-clubs.'
- Louis Le Bourdais (see Le Bourdais Lake) had a story that Jack of Clubs was an Italian gambler so nicknamed because he cut his beard like that of the jack of clubs playing card.
- Jawbone Creek - 'Jawbone' was a word used in the gold camps for 'credit.' Presumably the prospectors on this creek were particularly adept at persuading others to finance them.
- Klehini River - From a Tlingit Indian word said to mean 'queen salmon.'
- Lowhee Creek - Named after a secret society at Yale University by Dick Willoughby, who struck it rich here in 1861.
- Van Winkle Creek - The name, dating back to 1861, is said to have been taken from a rich Rip Van Winkle Bar on the Fraser, with the hope that the creek would prove rich also.
- The gold rush settlement of Van Winkle was superseded by nearby Stanley after the rerouting of the highway to Barkerville in 1885.
- Wells - After Fred M. Wells. In 1932, after ten years of prospecting in the area, Wells discovered the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine.
- His mine introduced a new era in the history of gold mining in the Cariboo since there had hitherto been little lode mining. The town of Wells, which did not exist before 1932, had a population of 3,000 by 1940.
- With permission from G.P.V and Helen B. Akrigg 1997 British Columbia Place Names. UBC Press.
Address of this page: http://bc.ruralroutes.com/Wells