When asked about Barkerville, most anyone in the Cariboo could tell you it’s whereabouts and a few bits of information about it. Because of its preservation and infamy as the gold rush town of the Cariboo, Barkerville overshadows most all of the ghost towns on the gold rush trail. When asked about Stanley, it’s unusual for people to have even heard of this community, which isn’t particularly surprising, as only one building remains.
When gold was found on Lightning Creek in 1861, the communities of Stanley and Van Winkle sprang up, about 60 km from Quesnel. The town was located at the branch to the old road to Barkerville, a route which has since been abandoned in favour of the longer road through Wells. Of course, people were drawn to Stanley with expectations of gold from the LaFontaine, Slough Creek and Willow River mining operations.
Stanley met its heyday around the turn of the century; in 1905, its population surpassed even that of Barkerville. In the summer months, Stanley was home to about 500 people, of which more than 40 per cent were of Chinese ancestry. Freight teams on their way from Barkerville to Quesnel would often stop overnight at Stanley to avoid traveling through Beaver Pass, though if no accommodations were available, the team would have to pass through anyway.
For other travelers, a room for the night could be found at one of Stanley’s three hotels; the Stanley Hotel, the Lightning and the Grand. Also in the town were many stores and businesses, including a shoemaker’s operated by Davie Edwards, shops owned by four Chinese men; Hook Kee, Kwong Lung Kee, Wing Shang and Yee Wo Sang, four gambling houses and three saloons. There was also a dance hall, jail, post and telegraph office and BX agency.
The gold mines surrounding Stanley proved to be as bountiful as those on William’s Creek. In two years, Stouts Gulch, the Lowhee and Mosquito Creek yielded more than a quarter-million dollars between them. Other mines proved just as successful and many men came away from the gold fields a lot richer than when they arrived.
The town of Stanley started to decline in the 1920s and 1930s. The Grand Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1937 and the Lightning Hotel burned down in 1924; the dance hall burned to the ground that year as well. As gold supplies dwindled, the population of Stanley moved to bigger and more prosperous centres, leaving little behind of the small town. Many buildings were torn down and others were abandoned and left to collapse and be destroyed by the elements.
Today, the only surviving building in Stanley is the Stanley Hotel. It sat, boarded up on the roadside for decades and is currently undergoing renovations. Another reminder of the town is the Stanley cemetery, which sits on a hilltop near the old town site. The cemetery is the last resting place of many expired residents of Stanley. Many of the graves which once held Chinese miners have been exhumed and the remains sent back to China.
As was the case for many gold rush towns, little remains of Stanley except for a few ruins and old memories. Thanks to books like W.M. Hong’s And So..That’s How it Happened, Stanley will be saved from being completely forgotten in the future, even if only the memories remain.
Lauren Perdue is the first place winner of the Friends of Barkerville $500 Jerry MacDonald Memorial Scholarship.