This series consists of various administrative and operational records created by the Cariboo Forest District and its predecessors from 1923-1978. The records are arranged by the following categories of subject matter:

General records. This includes a variety of administrative and operational records, including: meeting minutes, meeting agendas, correspondence, annual reports and other reports. Records relate to topics such as: unit organization, research, engineering and recreation projects, Royal Commission on Forest Resources, pesticides, herbicides, resource management, provincial forests, and forest fires.

Grazing and range management records. This includes: grazing district annual reports, range readiness, range improvement, horse control, leasing inquiries, hay permits, and grazing permits.

Timber tenure records. This includes: PSYU (public sustained yield unit) records, engineering and recreation projects, TSLs (timber sale licences, including "X" files and "A" files), TSHL (timber sale harvesting licenses), LC (licences to cut), and Christmas tree permits.

This series consists of a wide variety of records received or created by government officials in the Cariboo region from 1868 to 1915. Most of the records are addressed to government officials or were created by courts in the following places: Richfield, Barkerville, Quesnelle Forks and other locations in the Cariboo district. Over the years, the government offices responsible for the entire Cariboo district were located in each of these towns. The majority of the records appear to have been received by the Government Office, Richfield.

At this time government offices held a very wide range of responsibilities which could be done by as few as one person. The records relate to several government officials: the Gold Commissioner, Government Agent, Magistrate, County Court judge and Supreme Court judge.

The majority of the records are related to leasing, purchasing or gaining access to water for mining claims. This includes some records from the Gold Commissioner court.

There are also many county court and supreme court records. These records include summons; wills; probate and other estate records; search warrants; assizes; court transcripts; evidence; coroner inquest records; assize court calendars; sheriff records; and notes of the Board of Liquor Licence Commissioners approving renewal of liquor licences.

Other types of records include general correspondence from settlers; census data; voters lists; voter registration forms from Keithley Creek; criminal statistics; Land Ordinances; pre-emption records and other records related to the Land Act; naturalization oaths; indentures; receipts and financial records; maps; petitions for liquor licences; a BC Savings Bank (Cariboo Branch) depositors book; and a register of letters inward and outward for 1910-1915.

The London and Canadian Fire Insurance Company (LCFIC) was incorporated by statute in British Columbia in 1890 as a general fire insurance business. Most of the original investors were shareholders or officials of the British Columbia Land and Investment Agency. The head office of LCFIC was located in Victoria with agencies in various British Columbia centres such as Vancouver, Nanaimo and Vernon. Because of its limited resources the company entered into a number of reinsurance treaties mainly with English and Scottish insurance companies. The LCFIC became inactive in 1898, was wound up in 1905 and liquidated in 1906. Most policies were replaced by Phoenix Assurance Company policies between 1898 and about 1900. Fonds consists of correspondence, financial records, insurance policies, registers and records of reinsurance treaties. For related records see MS-2880, British Columbia Land and Investment Agency fonds, series 23, 25-26, 84-91.

A metal seal embosser for the London and Canadian Fire Insurance Company was transferred to the BC Archives from the City of Victoria Archives in 2021. This is housed in container number 002340-2784.

This series contains miscellaneous bills, paid and unpaid, and a statement of personal expenses for liquor and alcohol, by John Boles Gaggin of Quesnellemouth (modern day Quesnel).

This series contains plaint and procedure books, 1864-1896. In addition to the County Court of Cariboo at Quesnel, also includes cases heard in the County Court of Cariboo at Soda Creek, Richfield, and 150 Mile House.

Adoption case files.

The series consists of records created by the Government Agent and the Gold Commissioner of the Cariboo District, between 1860 and 1938. It includes correspondence inward and outward; court, mining, land, financial and administrative records.

This series contains the records of the Gold Commissioner, Government Agent, and Assistant Land Commissioner, Cariboo District (Quesnel). The records consist of lot registers, certificates of purchase, certificates of pre-emption, registers of pre-emptions (canceled and allowed), registers of land applications and lands purchased, register of leaves of absence granted pre-emption on active service, minute books containing lot register of lands along the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and registers of hay and pasture land leases. The series also includes townsite registers for Quesnel, Barkerville, and Wells and lot registers for some townships in the Peace River Block. Volumes 89-98 and 153-158 are oversize.

The series consists of plaint and procedure books, some of which also have indexes. The volume in accession 75-G-021 includes a list of court documents and costs for the Supreme and County courts inside the front cover. The volume in container 830898-0003 includes the County Court judge's Criminal Court plaint book. This volume also includes a short list of mechanic's liens in the back of the volume.

The series consists of a Magistrate's record book for Quesnel, created between December 1892 and July 1896. The volume continues as Provincial Police (Quesnel) daily diary from August 1896 to May 1915. Back pages include the following: applications for gun licences; constable's account book; police court and gaol inventories; and mining claims, 1912. A second volume is a register of motor-vehicles licences in the Quesnel area, from 1922 to 1924, giving owner's name, description of vehicle, and licence, engine and serial numbers. The volume continues with lists of individuals receiving chauffeur's licences, 1922 to 1924; and the remainder is a daily diary for Provincial Police (Quesnel), from September 1931 to July 1934. The back of the book has a list of motor vehicle registrations for1921.

The series consists of a prisoner's description book from Quesnel police gaol, created between July 1915 and May 1919.

The series consists of record books created by the Quesnel Police Court between 1911 and 1925. Volume 1: Feb 1911 - Jul 1919; Volume 2: Dec 1919 -Oct 1925.

The series consists of Quesnel Police Court record books created between October 1925 and October 1950.

The series consists of original wills probated between 1986 and 1998 in the Quesnel Supreme Court registry.

The wills are arranged by probate number, which can be requested from BC Archives staff. Not all probate records have an accompanying will. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51460-30.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. William Alvin Johnston describes the Quesnel area before 1900. Mr. Johnston tells the story of how his father, W.A. Johnston, came to BC from Quebec in 1864. His mother, Rosalind Cadwell Crooker, came to the Nicola country in 1861. His father built a stopping house on Jackass Mountain, and later built a flour mill in 1884 and sawmills near Quesnel. He describes the Quesnel district; farms, roadhouses and the town itself. He tells the story of a murderer in 1848, the first miners; John Cameron Dunlevy and transportation; trails, steamers and mill ways.

TRACK 2: Mr. Johnston continues discussing railroads, the lumber industry and Johnston Flats. He discusses gold in the eastern Cariboo, the development of the Johnston Flats, near Quesnel; Jerome Harper, his childhood memories from the 1890s of school and the town of Quesnel. He mentions several people: James (Jim) Reed, John Cameron Dunlevy, John McLean and Bob McLeese. Finally, he describes Soda Creek.

The item consists of film footage from 1967. It shows people disembarking from a DC-3 at Quesnel Airport; cars leaving airport and on highway; signs for "Vigor Explorations Ltd." and "Hannandor Gold Ltd."; crossing log bridge; dredge bucket and sluicing operation; examining gold; panning for gold.

CALL NUMBER: T1148:0001 [and T2747:0001]
RECORDED: [location unknown], 1972
SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Pearl DeBolt (formerly Pearl Whitmer) discusses how she came to the Quesnel Forks area in 1947, and the people in the area then (most of whom were miners). She describes the history of Quesnel Forks, which had a population of 8,000 in 1922, when the Cedar Creek boom hit; hunting; ranching; the gold commissioner, Mr. [William] Stephenson; how many white people moved to Barkerville and Chinese miners moved into Quesnel. Martin George discusses his life as a miner in Quesnel Forks after arriving in 1943. Both then discuss what they liked about living in Quesnel Forks, including the weather, geography, and hopes of finding gold. Mr. George describes the process of mining for gold and the value of gold back then (thirty dollars an ounce). Mr. George only made enough to survive; he never was able to accumulate wealth as a gold miner. Mrs. DeBolt discusses more about the geography and history of Quesnel Forks, including some people whose name became place names thanks to Simon Fraser. She recalls moving away from Quesnel Forks in 1965; she claims she was the last person to leave. She describes why the government would not save Quesnel Forks; she says it had to do with hydro power. She describes the roads in and around Quesnel Forks. All the Chinese miners moved north when Quesnel Forks closed down in the 1920s. It became a true ghost town in the mid-1960s. She offers details about the Chinese people in the area, including a ritual where, seven years after a Chinese person died, their bones were exhumed, cleaned and sent back to China. The remains of just three Chinese are left in the cemetery. A grave outside of the cemetery gate may be Mr. Stephenson's, but it may also belong to Mr. Winkley, for whom Winkley Creek is named.
TRACK 2: Mr. Dennis McConnel is interviewed on site in the abandoned Cariboo town of Quesnel Forks. He discusses the buildings in the area; the meeting of the two rivers; the buildings on the banks of the river, which are likely to collapse; tourists digging for relics, such as brass tokens and whisky bottles from the gambling hall; the erosion of the town. A story about moving Mrs. DeBolt's grand piano. Inside an abandoned house, Mr. McConnel and Jurgen Hesse discuss the condition of the house, vandalism, and the Chinese writing on the walls. McConnel discusses mining on the banks of the river; gold panning; artifacts he has found; and the old General Store at Quesnel Forks. [End of interviews]

Personal papers; subject files consisting of newspaper clippings, notes of interviews, drafts of articles, correspondence, and photographs relating to LeBourdais' interest in the history of the Cariboo district. Louis LeBourdais was born in Clinton in 1888 and died in Quesnel in 1947. He was the son of Adalbert LeBourdais, telegrapher and postmaster at Clinton and Eleanore LeBourdais. Louis LeBourdais also became a telegraph operator. He worked in Kootenay and Okanagan districts for the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Dominion Government Telegraph Service, before settling in Quesnel, apparently in the early years of World War I, as telegrapher for the Dominion Government Telegraph Service. In 1937 he became an insurance agent for the Confederation Life Association. He was elected to the provincial Legislature in 1937 as the liberal member for Cariboo district, and was re-elected in 1941 and 1945. LeBourdais was keenly interested in the history of the Cariboo district and the Central Interior in general. He wrote and sold articles on the past history of the region and on current economic trends to a number of magazines and newspapers, and was a correspondent for the Vancouver Daily Province. His topics included gold mining and the "back to the land" movement. The records were accumulated primarily in connection with LeBourdais' historical interests. Records include: papers and newspaper clippings of general interest, and subject files arranged alphabetically. The subject files consist of newspaper clippings, handwritten and typewritten drafts of articles, notes of interviews, correspondence and photographs. The bulk of the records date from the 1930s and are concerned with old timers, mining, particularly the resurgence of gold quartz mining, and the "back to the land" movement. Some subject files contain photographs. Printed material transferred to the North West Library Collection is identified in the finding aid. Approximately 450 black and white photographs, 75 black and white negatives, and nine glass negatives of various subjects, and approximately two hundred lantern slides of the Cariboo-Barkerville area were transferred to Visual Records accession, 198501-11. Mining maps of the Central Interior of British Columbia have been transferred to map registration numbers: 12916-12928. A list of maps is available at the end of the attached finding aid. Related records in MS-0361.

The file contains a black photograph album with 280 b&w photographs taken or acquired by Frank Boucher between 1924 and 1946. The albums contains photographs of holidays in Prince Rupert and Quesnel, 1944-1946; Victoria scenes including parades and fairs, and celebrations during V.E. and V.J. day; photographs from Africa in 1924, and May Day parades.

This series consists of cutting permits and other forest tenure records created from 1967-2003 by the Quesnel Forest District, a division of the Cariboo Forest Region. Before 1978 the records were a part of the Cariboo Forest District. Records may also relate to the Williams Lake, Cariboo, and Prince George Forest Districts. All files were managed as part of the Quesnel Forest District when the files were closed and transferred to the archives.

The series includes the following types of timber tenures: forest licences, timber sale licences (TSL), timber sale harvesting licences (TSHL), cash sales, licences to cut, woodlot licences, farm woodlot licences, as well as Tree Farm Licences (TFL) 5 and 52. There is also one silviculture opening file. Some records regard the Big Valley, Bowron, Cottonwood and Narcosli public sustained yield units (PSYU). The majority of files relate to cutting permits. Licensees were required to apply for a forest licence or similar tenure and cutting permits in order to harvest timber. Records regard the issuance, evaluation, administration, monitoring, planning, replacement, cancellation, deletion and extension of these timber tenures.

The records include legal documents, annual reports, development plans, management plans, operations information, correspondence, forms, reports, maps, licences, permits, permit amendments and renewals, logging plans, cruise compilations, compilation summaries, reports, silviculture prescriptions, Stumpage adjustment, timber marks, scale site designation, stumpage invoices, appraisal reports, harvesting reports, inspection forms, road layout or design information, financial records, timber scales, timber mark designations, inspection records, photos, and stumpage fees.

Accession 92-2643 also includes some administrative records related to timber tenures. This includes reports, policies, pulpwood agreements

The ministries responsible for creating these records, and the years that they were responsible, are:
Department of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
Department of Forests (1975-1976)
Ministry of Forests (1976-1986)
Ministry of Forests and Lands (1986-1988)
Ministry of Forests (1988-2005)

The records were classified as 19500-45, 19540-25, 19600-45, 19600-55, 19600-60, 19620-25, 19700-45, 19710-20, 19720-20, 19720-45 and 19720-50 in the Forest Operational Records Classification System (ORCS).

The item consists of two reels (one main reel and one duplicate reel) of unedited negative footage of Premier W.A.C. Bennett on an election tour of B.C. during the provincial election campaign, September 1963. Bennett is shown making speeches, riding PGE trains, shaking hands and generally "campaigning" in North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Vancouver, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Dawson Creek, Peace River dam site, Fort St. John, Prince George and Nanaimo. Highlights include Bennett setting off a large explosion at the dam site and touring the mills and roads.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1970 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: This tape features is a discussion of Canadian identity with various young people in Quesnel in 1970. Imbert Orchard asks them to describe their personal reaction to being part of Canada. Includes discussion of the relationships and differences between BC and Canada and between Canada and the U.S. [TRACK 2: blank.]

The item is identified as a copy.

The series consists of a day book kept by Robert Middleton, a blacksmith at Quesnel.