No. 15

1. Since I had last the honor of addressing you in my Despatch
Gold fieldsconditions in
No 35 of the 29th of December last,

in reference to the discovery of gold, in the
Couteau

or Thompson's River District, we have had much communication with
persons, who have since visited that part of the country.

2. The search for gold and "prospecting" of the country, had up
Indiansas gold miners
Indianshostility to miners
to the last dates from the interior 
been carried on almost exclusively by
the native Indian population,

who have discovered the productive beds, and put out almost all the gold,
about eight hundred ounces, which has been hitherto exported from the
country; and who are moreover extremely jealous of the whites
and strongly opposed to their digging the soil for gold.

3. The few white men who passed the winter at the diggings,
chiefly retired Servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, though
well acquainted with Indian character, were obstructed by the
natives, in all their attempts to search for gold. They were on
all occasions narrowly watched and in every instance, when they
did succeed in removing the surface and 
excavating to the depth
of the auriferous stratum, they were quietly hustled and crowded
by the natives, who having, by that means, obtained possession
of the spot, then proceeded to reap the fruits of their labors.

4. Such conduct was
unwarrantable

and exceedingly trying to the temper of spirited men, but the savages
were far too numerous for resistance, and they had to submit to their
dictation. It is however worthy of remark and a circumstance highly
honorable to the character of those savages that they have on all
occasions scrupulously respected the persons and property of their
white visitors, at the same time that they have expressed a
determination to reserve the gold for their own benefit.

5. Such being the purpose of the Natives; affrays and collisions
with the whites will surely follow the accession of numbers, which the
latter are now receiving by the influx of adventurers from Vancouver's
Island and the United States Territories in Oregon, and there is no doubt
in my mind that sooner or later the intervention of Her Majesty's
Government will be required to restore and maintain the peace; up to the
Indiansas gold miners
Indianshostility to miners
present time however, the country continues quiet; but simply I believe
because the whites have not attempted to resist the impositions of the
natives. I will however make it a part of my duty to keep you well
informed in respect to the state of the gold country.

6. The extent of the gold 
region is yet but imperfectly known,
and I have therefore not arrived at any decided opinion as to its
ultimate value as a gold producing country. The boundaries of the gold
district have been however greatly extended since my former report.

7. In addition to the diggings before known on Thompson's River
and its tributary streams, a valuable deposit has been recently found by
the natives on a bank of Fraser's River about 5 miles beyond its
confluence with the Thompson, and gold in small quantities has been found
in the possession of the natives as far as the Great Falls of Fraser's
River,

about eighty miles above the Forks. The small quantity of gold hitherto
produced 
about eight hundred ounces by the large native population of
the country is however unaccountable in a rich gold producing country,
unless we assume that the want of skill, industry, and proper mining
tools, on the part of the natives, sufficiently account for the fact.
Indiansas gold miners
Indianshostility to miners

8. On the contrary the vein rocks and its other geological
features as described by an experienced gold miner encourage the
belief that the country is highly auriferous.

9. The Miner in question clearly described the older slate
formations thrown up and pierced by beds of quartz, granite,
porphery,

and other igneous rocks; the vast accumulations of sand, gravel and
shingle, extending from 
the roots of the mountains to the banks of
Fraser's River and its affluents; which are peculiar characteristics of
the gold districts of California and other countries. We therefore hope
and are preparing for a rich harvest of trade which will greatly redound
to the advantage of this Colony.

10. I have further to communicate for your information that the
Proclamation

Proclamationasserting rights of crown to gold
Mininglicenses required
issued by me asserting the rights of the Crown to all gold in its natural
place of deposit, and forbidding all persons to dig for gold without a
licence have been published in the Newspapers of Oregon and Washington
Territories, and that notwithstanding some seventy or eighty adventurers
from the American side have gone by the way of Fraser's River to the
Couteau mines, without taking out Licences.

11. I did not, as I might have done, attempt to enforce those
Law enforcementneed for
ShipsSatellite
rights by means of a detachment of Seamen and Marines, from the
"Satellite",

without being assured that such a proceeding would meet with the approval
of Her Majesty's Government; but the moment your instructions on the
subject are received, I will take measures to carry them into effect.

12. There being only two practicable routes, from the sea coast to
Gold fieldsroutes to
the Couteau Mines; those could be guarded at little expense, and the
country rendered as secure from foreign intrusion, as the fabled garden
of the Hesperides.