page_title: Omineca Gold Rush
section_title: Vital Creek
hierarchical_section_title: Omineca Gold Rush / 1860s / Vital Creek
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken 1930 Photograper Unknown BC Archives #G-09467 [1]
context_page_description: The Omineca Gold Rush was a gold rush in British Columbia, Canada in the Omineca region of the Northern Interior of the province. Gold was first discovered there in 1861, but the rush didn't begin until late in 1869 with the discovery at Vital Creek.
  There were several routes to the goldfields: two were from Fort St. James, one of which was a water route through the Stuart and Tachie Rivers to Trembleur Lake to Takla Lake and the other was overland, called the Baldy Mountain route. A third route came in overland from Hazelton on the Skeena River and a fourth route used the Fraser River and crossed over the Giscome Portage to Summit Lake, through McLeod Lake, and up the Finlay River to the Omineca River.
context_section_description: The Peace River Prospecting Party set out from Quesnel on May 3, 1869 having been supplied with a large boat, the necessary tools and a year's supply of food. The party followed the water route via the Fraser, Nechako and Stuart Rivers and up through Stuart, Trembleur and Takla Lake. When they arrived at Silver Creek, Vital Laforce discovered gold on one of its tributaries on June 21. In honor of this discovery the creek was named Vital Creek and the nearby mountains were named Vital Mountains.
  The party received unexpected company near the end of June with the arrival of two of Silver Creek's original discoverers, Ezra Evans and Gaylord. Now the party had a problem, they had promised that they would simply explore and prospect, not actually work claims. Evans and Gaylord weren't bound by any such commitment and they moved upriver from the party and commenced mining. In retaliation the party stayed at Vital Creek and mined until freeze up. 
  One thing the two groups did agree on was that they wanted to discourage any more miners from coming up the following year. Though obliged to report their earnings, they all intended to report that the diggings were not very good and that more should be known of the country before any discoveries were reported. With the exception of Patrick Kelly and Vital LaForce, who stayed at Fort St. James, the other miners all returned to Quesnel with the news that the venture had only been marginally successful. However, suspicions were raised when the men announced they were returning to Vital Creek for the winter and even more eyebrows were raised when it was discovered that LaForce and Kelly had spent an astounding $2500 at the Fort St. James trading post.
  On October 29 the Peace River Prospecting Party and Ezra Evans' group left to return to Vital Creek, but they would not be alone for long. Gold rush fever had swept Quesnel and letters had been sent to nearby Barkerville urging friends and family to drop everything and head for Omineca. Among these newcomers was Rufus Sylvester, who would not only mine in the Omineca district but would also run a letter and parcel express service between the Omineca diggings and Quesnel. Two other mining parties were organized, one under "Twelve-foot" Davis and another led by Duncan McMartin. Sylvester's party returned in December to record that they had staked 56 claims and they reported that the original miners at Vital Creek had been incorrect and the discovery was richer than everyone had been led to believe. Upon hearing this news, many more miners decided to go north to the Omineca diggings and the rush was officially on.
caption: Vital LaForce 1930