High Slack: Waddington's Gold Road and the Bute Inlet Massacre of 1864

Nora D.S. Robins is co-ordinator of Internal Collections at the
University of Calgary Libraries.

In 1861, rich gold deposits were discovered in the Cariboo region of
British Columbia. The new gold fields were far inland and the Fraser
Canyon presented obstacles to the transportation of men and equipment.
Alfred Waddington, a Victoria businessman, was convinced that an
overland route from the head of one of the many inlets along the B.C.
coast would overcome the many problems. He planned to establish a port
at the head of Bute Inlet and to build a road from it up the valley of
the Homathko River to Cariboo country. In 1861, he sent Robert Homfray
to survey the route. By 1864, 33 miles of road had been built, despite
Native protests over the opening of their country to whites. That same
year, the work parties were attacked by a group of Chilcotin Indians,
and 19 men were killed. The governor of British Columbia took prompt
action that resulted in the apprehension of the murderers, five of whom
were hanged.

The author has drawn upon information from contemporary newspapers,
court records, letters, books, and oral reports. Robert Homfray’s
account of his journey up Bute Inlet in the winter of 1861 forms a major
part of her narrative. “High Slack” is a term used when the tide has
risen to its highest point and pauses before it ebbs. For Williams, it
is a metaphor for “a pause in ideological currents, a time to collect
ourselves and perceive, not just what we have been taught to see and
how, but to imagine what might be if our socially-acquired filters
evaporate.”

This engrossing and well-researched account of life in the interior of
British Columbia over 130 years ago is greatly enhanced by maps and
black-and-white photographs.