This series consists of various records related to the collection of road tolls along the Cariboo Wagon Road from 1862-1883. The collection of tolls for the road from Lytton or Lillooet to Alexandria began in 1862 pursuant to BC Proclamations 3 and 4, 1862. These tolls were later revised by legislation in 1876 and 1884.

Locations tolls were collected include Yale, Lillooet, Alexandria, Lytton and Clinton. The position of toll collector was often done by government officials holding other positions, including government agents, police constables, clerks and revenue officers. Some volumes include other financial information from these government officials, such as expenses and salaries from the government officials. Volumes may record freight or other items being transported up the road.

CALL NUMBER: T2798:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Boyhood of a young trapper ; trapping around Hobson Lake and Horsefly, B.C. RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977-08-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Arrival of the DeWees family on foot from Washington when Dick was 10; the family camped for a while, then settled in an old cabin at Antoine Lake, northwest of Horsefly, where they lived for two years in the 1920s; life when Dick was a young boy; story of fishing on Horsefly Lake; trapping at Antoine Lake; schooling at Horsefly at the first and second schools there; how he earned $60.00 a month as a janitor while going to school; school at Black Creek. TRACK 2: Trapping as a young boy at Hobson Lake; his family winters on Quesnel Lake at Killdog Creek; story of trapper Bill Miner and trapping with Lloyd Walters. CALL NUMBER: T2798:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Stories of old-timers and of the local dances, Horsefly, B.C. RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Dick DeWees talks about the old Miocene Mine in 1918; mining at Jawbone Pool; mining near Joe Williams' house, east of the river, in 1923. Dick tells the story of cooking for a suppression crew when he was 13; trapping with Fred and B. Hooker and Lloyd Walters; stories about Tom Hooker and the Hooker family; blacksmith; sawmill; hunting lodge. TRACK 2: Stories of old timers in Horsefly; Spencer Hope Patenaude and the telegraph office; John Wawn, a central figure in the community; Justice of the Peace; school trustee; his shoe repair shop; Alec and Matilda Meiss of the Meiss Hotel; the Bull Moose Club as bachelor's headquarters; dances at the community hall. CALL NUMBER: T2798:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Transportation and hunting in the Cariboo RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The trip from the United States to Horsefly in 1918; early roads; Horsefly in 1918. TRACK 2: Trapping around Horsefly Lake and Quesnel Lake. CALL NUMBER: T2798:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Big game hunting in the Cariboo RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: Big game hunting around Horsefly, B.C. CALL NUMBER: T2798:0005 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: [No content summary available for this tape.] CALL NUMBER: T2798:0006 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Prospecting and mining in the Horsefly area; both placer and hard-rock. TRACK 2: Mining around Horsefly; dances in the community hall.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Earl Shaw Baity recounts his coming to BC in 1920 to move to Prince George with his father, Nick Baity. He describes Prince George in the 1920s, and Quesnel as he moved there in 1922. There is a detailed description of the road to Quesnel and the ferry. After he arrived in Quesnel, he took up a homestead. He discusses the growth of Quesnel between 1922 and 1947. He describes Wells and Barkerville as well, and tells stories of Dr. Gerald Ramsey and Paddy Baker. Mr. Baity outlines the differences in the populations of Quesnel and Barkerville. TRACK 2: Mr. Baity talks about several pioneers including John A. Fraser and the growth of Quesnel since World War II. The interview concludes with a discussion about life during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The series consists of microfilmed transcripts of short essays on various subjects, including the transport and mining industries in B.C., the history of B.C., descriptions of Victoria and other B.C. cities by Cariboo grocer Leonard A. Coton. Also includes accounts of car trips taken by L.A. Coton to the Okanagan, the Cariboo and on Vancouver Island in the 1950s.

The item is an audio recording of an interview with Gilbert Forbes in 1976.
T0330:0001 track 1: Mr. Forbes discusses his background: born in 1889 at 100 Mile House; father was a rancher; moved to 122 Mile (Lac La Hache) in 1893; family ran the 122 Mile House as a ranch and a stopping house on the Cariboo road. The operation of a stopping house. School. Worked for Bank of British North America in Ashcroft, ca. 1906-08. Worked with Frank Swannell survey party, 1908. Experiences while working with Swannell in Nechako region. T0330:0001 track 2: More about surveying with Swannell. Worked on mining construction, 1909-10. Mining camp conditions. Trip to South America, 1912-13. Anecdotes about Forbes' trip in Argentina, Bermuda and the United States and his return to Lac La Hache, 1913. Anecdote about the death of "Bugs" at Lac La Hache, 1906.

T0330:0002 track 1: Worked on his father's ranch at 122 Mile House, 1913-22. Freight hauling on the Cariboo Road declines after 1919. Worked at Cedar Creek gold mine, 1922-23. Gold mining in the Cariboo region. Ranched and had a trap line during the Depression. Building with logs. Ranched during the 1940s.
T0330:0002 track 2: Brief account of activities in 1950s. Early freighters on the Cariboo Road described. Anecdotes about the teamsters on the Cariboo Road. Anecdotes about gambling. Preachers. (End of interview)

SUMMARY: "Trail of Gold", number 8 in the series, recalls the coming of Simon Fraser and the story of the Cariboo Gold Rush -- but more particularly, the results of the gold rush, such as the Cariboo Road, inns, stagecoaches, freight wagons, pack trains, etc. Techniques of gold mining. The story of Barkerville. Voices heard include: Annie York, Rose Baker, Nellie Baker, R.T. Crosby, Captain Norman Evans-Atkinson, Gus Milliken, A.W. Ludditt, Roddy Moffat, Art Phair, Tom Carolan, Bryson Patenaude, Martin Starret, and Albert Drinkell.

CALL NUMBER: T2792:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Harry Brown's family; Dairy farming in the Fraser Valley before the Depression; selling milk to individual buyers; organisation of Fraser Valley Milk Producers; moving to the Cariboo, Likely; and Horsefly; ranching in Beaver Valley during the 1940s; what the place was like when he bought it; getting the ranch going; haying; feeding cattle; daily chores and routine; milking cows and shipping; cream to Williams Lake and Quesnel. TRACK 2: Ranching Beaver Valley; leisure time in the winter; feeding cattle in the winter; travel by horse and cutter in winter time; condition of roads; cattle drives to Williams Lake; Williams Lake in the 1940s; operating a general store in Horsefly in the 1950s; managing a men's clothing store in Williams Lake; Horsefly in the early 1940s; the general store in Horsefly from 1950 to 1958. CALL NUMBER: T2792:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1977 SUMMARY: Harry talks about his years living in the Corner House, a large rambling log house in the centre of Horsefly; taking in boarders; feeding people; the General Store in Horsefly in the 1950s; bringing in beer for the local population; Niquidet's freight line from Williams Lake to Horsefly in the 1950s; customers; trappers, hunters, locals, tourists, forestry people; store goods; on the ranch in Beaver Valley; chores, fencing, irrigation; buying seed; pigs; the log home that was on the place when Harry moved in; building a barn; comparison between farming in the Fraser Valley and the Cariboo; winter on the ranch; Melba's father, Harry's father-in-law; food on the ranch.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-23 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. James Isnardy talks about the Cariboo, and plays some old time fiddle music. Mr. Isnardy discusses his background, how his father Amadie Isnardy came from Nice to the Cariboo via California, and the Cariboo gold rush. Mr. Isnardy describes how his father started a ranch at Chimney Creek, and drove cattle to Peace River, Isnardy's schooling in New Westminster, travel on the Cariboo Road, stopping houses along the road, various early settlers, countryside at site of Williams Lake, and playing the fiddle at dances. Then he plays two songs on the fiddle including the Victoria Waltz. TRACK 2: Isnardy plays: Dream Waltz, Springhouse Waltz, Carlyle's Reel, MacDonald's Reel, Oxford Reel, Where Is My Darling Tonight?, Smash The Window, Old Hall and several more.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-24 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. James "Jim" W. Keefe talks about his experiences in the Soda Creek area of the Cariboo, 1912 to 1930. Mr. Keefe discusses how he arrived from Colorado in 1912 along the Cariboo Road. He describes transporting a bull on a riverboat and the ferry at Soda Creek. He bought Buckskin Ranch after WWI. He describes hunting deer, more on the Soda Creek ferries and riverboats, his partnership on Buckskin Ranch with Joe Demarre, a description of Soda Creek, placer mining, a prospector named Talbot, the Bryant family at Soda Creek, his family background, the American Midwest, Buffalo Bill Cody and Indians.

TRACK 2: Mr. Keefe describes his childhood in the U.S., stories about hunting wild horses, Christmas, an old prospector, bootlegging in Soda Creek, more on the Soda Creek ferry, and finally the story of a bull and a wild boar on the ferry.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-12-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. James Robertson remembers life as a rancher and as a freighter. Mr. Robertson describes how he came from Scotland to Banff in 1904; his work on the Canadian Pacific Railway; the Gang Ranch from 1905 to 1907; Vancouver in 1907; more on the Gang Ranch; the Dog Creek Ranch (the Joseph place); more about the Gang Ranch to 1910; other ranches; a strike at the Gang Ranch; J.D. Prentice, Managing Director, Western Canadian Ranching Co.; owners of the Gang Ranch; fishing; 100 Mile House, Benjamin "Benjy" McNeil of the 105 Mile Ranch; and the BX Stage. TRACK 2: Mr. Robertson continues about the BX Stage; "Drummers", traveling salesmen; his own freighting business; Ashcroft in 1910; Horsefly in 1915; Cataline, Miocene; and the Cariboo Road from 1911 to 1914.

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-20 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Janet Yorston talks about the Australian Ranch, the stages on the Cariboo Road and various Cariboo people, from 1860 to 1914. Mr. Yorston describes how Andrew Olsen and Steve Downes came to the Cariboo and started the Australian Ranch; farming and activities there; how they sold produce to miners; settlers in the area; Chinese miners; Fort Alexandria; more on the Australian Ranch and how it was purchased by her husband John Yorston; the stopping house; and life on the ranch. TRACK 2: Mrs. Yorston tells stories of two Barkerville old-timers, Harry Jones and the "Duke Of York". She describes details of stagecoaches, travel and places on the Cariboo Road.

CALL NUMBER: T1038:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-07-17 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Lawrence Dickinson recalls his journey from Wisconsin and arrival at Francois Lake in 1910, when he was about 15 years old. He describes his journey along the Cariboo Road; stopping in Quesnel Forks to help mine for the winter; the route he had to take to Francois Lake; filing preemptions upon arriving in Francois Lake; joining a survey crew for Swannell company; life as a surveyor ;in the Fort Fraser, Prince George and general Upper Nechako area in 1910. He describes Fort St. James and the HBC post located there in the summer of 1911; the old trails in the area, leisure activities at Fort St. James, and how much everyone enjoyed the area; A.G. Hamilton's trading post in Fort St. James; work he did over the next several winters; how the war disrupted life; his father's trading post at Fort Fraser in 1915; how he and his brother bought out the trading post and went into business for themselves; the kind of people in Fort St. James before the war, including railroad construction men and other old timers; Mr. Murray who was a factor for the HBC and other characters; what makes the area so attractive; the difficulty nowadays at making a living as a trapper; shifts in mining techniques, changes in the Necoslie Valley after WWI; and how Fort St. James continues to be a jumping off point for miners and people of various vocations. TRACK 2: Mr. Dickinson continues how t;he HBC got supplies to their forts; how the war affected business in the area and how the mercury mine boosted the economy; how preemptors could not get good land because companies took all the prime ;real estate.;

CALL NUMBER: T1038:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1971 [summer] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Dickinson comments on the attitudes of people and various characters in Vanderhoof from his past; anecdotes about gold miners and how the landscape has changed; buildings at Fort St. Jam;es that are no longer standing; how the younger generation is not as reliable as the older generations; the fur trade around Fort St. James and how the local buyers had the monopoly; and a few old timers. TRACK 2: Mr. Dickinson describes traffic going through Fort St. James; changes in the area resulting in growing industry and construction; the rivalry among stores between the HBC and Dickinson and others; placer mining areas; freight service into the Nechako Valley by the HBC, Dickenson's surveying career from 1910 to 1913, including descriptions of places he surveyed; and miscellaneous comments about today's pioneers and industries.;

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Mary Baker discusses her father, Henry Steffans, who was from Switzerland and had a store in Lytton, then went to farm in the Nicola Valley; Mary's visits to an aunt and uncle Charlie McGillivray on the Cariboo Road; the Lytton Hotel and store fire; anecdotes about characters around Lytton; the Lorings. TRACK 2: Mrs. Baker discusses other settlers around Lytton; life on her father's Nicola Valley ranch; Ashcroft from 1907 to 1914; her husband Fred Baker, who came to Canada from England and ran a freighting business.

Amateur film. Harriet Gerry shot this film during an automobile journey from Rosedale to Williams Lake and Soda Creek on the Cariboo Highway, and part of the return trip via the Dog Creek Road, in the summer of 1941. Includes footage of wagons en route to the Williams Lake Stampede; rodeo events (various horse races, bucking broncs, etc.); Indians at stampede playing the team gambling game "lahal". Unidentified Indian village or mission settlement(s); boys at the swimming hole; women display their embroidery; fiddler plays and women with cane dances a jig. Livestock. Dip net fishing in Fraser River. School and convent buildings at St. Joseph's Mission, Williams Lake. Beaver aircraft at dock and taking off from lake. Staff of Williams Lake Indian Hospital. Views of landscape, back roads, wooden fences, steam shovel, etc. Dip net fishing. Dog Creek village scenes; displaying bead work. Views of and from the Dog Creek Road; Indians on horseback; cattle and cowboys on road. Examining a man with trachoma (eye condition). Car negotiating steep switchbacks; road conditions alternately dusty and muddy.

This series contains records relating to winter sleigh roads and bridges in the Cariboo district. It includes tenders, specifications and an 1892 report by the district road superintendent.

The item is a photocopy of the reminiscences of Ernest Hubert Allcock. Allcock emigrated from England to Alberta in 1909 and worked on farms and on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. In 1914 he homesteaded near White's Landing, north of Quesnel. He was highway foreman in Quesnel, and from 1941 to 1952 in Lillooet.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Cariboo recollections RECORDED: Williams Lake (B.C.), 1974 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: In an interview with Reg Beck, Spencer Hope Patenaude discusses early Williams Lake, Horsefly, 150 Mile, and 153 Mile House. Bullion Mine described. Telegraph lines in the Cariboo. Anecdotes about telegraphy and the life of a telegraph operator. 150 Mile House pioneers. Chinese in 150 Mile House. Ox teams and freighting on the Cariboo Road. Grist mills and grain growing. Sawmilling. TRACK 2: Description of the engines and workings of the Miocene mine. Anecdotes about maintaining the telegraph lines. [End of interview]

The item is an audio recording of an interview with Thomas Windt in 1976.
T0454:0001 track 1: Mr. Windt discusses family background: father came to B.C. from Ontario in 1898; brought family to Pavilion in 1902; family background; settling the family ranch after 1902. Windt's early schooling. Food and supplies. Economic conditions of the family farm. Anecdotes about the Cariboo Road. Brother began freighting on the Cariboo Road in 1907. Description of freighting on the Cariboo Road between Ashcroft and Quesnel.
T0454:0001 track 2: Windt visited the grave of Cataline (Jean Caux) at Old Hazelton. Cataline described. Experiences freighting on the Cariboo Road with wagons and sleighs. Details about wagons, sleighs and horses.

T0454:0002 track 1: Description of freighting on the Cariboo Road. Horse medicine. Steamers on the Fraser River between Soda Creek and Quesnel. Anecdotes about local policeman, Dave Anderson. Canoe travel on the Fraser River. More about freighting on the Cariboo Road. Anecdotes about Charlie Ross of Soda Creek. Other anecdotes about local characters.
T0454:0002 track 2: Windt worked at Antler Creek (near Barkerville), 1924-28. Techniques of working with a dredge described. During the Depression, Windt mined gold on the Fraser River. Chinese along the Fraser described. Comments about the changes in the Indigenous population.

T0454:0003 track 1: Freighters on the Cariboo Road described. In response to a list of former freight drivers on the Cariboo Road, Mr. Windt describes them and relates anecdotes and stories about freighting, freighters A - G.
T0454:0003 track 2: freighters G - Z.

CALL NUMBER: T0423:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Thomas "Tom" Carolan discusses various aspects of settlement and life in the Cariboo, 1850 to 1930. The interview begins with the story of William Pinchbeck, Cariboo pioneer. Stories follow about Amadie Isnardy; Mexican packers and the pack trains; Antonio Boitano; the Chilco Ranch area; the local history of the Cariboo; his perceptions of Native people; and the television series "Cariboo Country". Carolan discusses his own background in Alberta and hunting wild horses in the Cariboo, circa 1927. He tells stories about the famous packer Jean Caux ("Cataline"), the Tressiera family, and Rosetti.

TRACK 2: Carolan continues his stories about packers and Cataline. He describes fiddlers in the Cariboo; Johnny MacLean and the MacLean brothers; hangings in Williams Lake; Judge Begbie's justice; Charlie Skinner; the James railway survey circa 1870; more on William Pinchbeck; and the Cache Creek boarding school. Mr. Carolan discusses settlers entering the Chilcotin and the China Flats; and Chinese miners. He mentions Becher's place at Riske Creek; the Bryant family; and the hurdy-gurdy girls.

CALL NUMBER: T0423:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Carolan describes dances at the big ranches and changes in the Cariboo after WWI. Then he describes cattle in the Cariboo; Amedee Isnardy of Chimney Creek Ranch; the importance of Barkerville; and law and order. Mr. Carolan describes ranchers and ranches of the Chilcotin; the Harper family; Alkali Lake Ranch; Canoe Creek Ranch; Henry Koster; and Upper Dog Creek Ranch. Then he discusses the Big Bar area; raising pigs; and ranches on Chilcotin River.

TRACK 2: The final installment begins with a description of roads in the Chilcotin; Benny Franklin; the ways of the pioneers; Mr. Carolan's family background; and a discussion of Hudson's Bay company activities in the early 1800s. Fur trade routes are mentioned as well as Hudson's Bay Company posts at Anahim Lake. Finally, Pat McClinchy, an old timer of the western Chilotin; the Lee family; John Cook, a Gulf Island pioneer; and children of white/Indian parentage are discussed.