Sojourners in the North

Hua qiao they called themselves - the Sojourners. Early Chinese settlers to BC lived a shadowy life. Sometimes feared, always misunderstood, these people farmed, mined, and lived in central BC with hopes of returning home rich to their villages. However, they were the victims of crime, beatings and death in a foreign land. Chow brings us forward from those early days of Chinese settlements to present day when Chinese citizens are celebrated for their role in BC's history.

Until Chinatown North, the impact of Chinese settlement on central and northern British Columbia has not been written about. Chow begins to fill that gap. She moves us from Barkerville during gold rush days to 20th century Prince George, where events in the "Middle Kingdom" often had disruptive influences on a small, isolated community half a world away.

Winner of the Jeanne Clark Award for Local History

w5x9 Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-240) and index.

Lily Chow was born in Malaysia, but has lived in Canada since the mid-sixties. She has taught in the Prince George School District and at the University of British Columbia. She now devotes her time to research and writing. Her first book, Sojourners in the North, won the Jeanne Clark Local History Award and is used as a textbook in many colleges and universities. Chasing Their Dreams is her second book.

Acknowledgements ix

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

1 The Gold Rush Along the Fraser River 11

2 Yale, Lillooet, Ashcroft 24

3 Ghost Towns (Quesnel Forks & Stanley) 39

4 Quesnel 53

5 Barkerville I 70

6 Barkerville 11 86

7 The Omineca District 98

8 Prince George: The Early Settlement 118

9 Prince George: The Period of Transition 127

10 Prince George: The Years of Immigration Relaxation 138

11 Chee Duck Tong 158

12 The Chinese Freemasons Society 167

13 The Chinese Nationalist League 180

14 The Chinese Benevolent Association 189

15 Chinese School 210

Conclusion 223

Appendix I 231

Appendix II 232

Bibliography 23S

Index 241