Next week, a historic Gold Rush Trail sign will be presented in Quesnel.
Community members are invited to the Quesnel and District Museum and Archives Tuesday, May 28 at 3 p.m. to see Quesnel Coun. Ron Paull receive one of only 10 of the original Gold Rush Trail signs being presented.
Paull was a founding member involved with establishing the Gold Rush Trail route, according to Quesnel’s museum and heritage manager, Elizabeth Hunter.
The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association and the Gold Rush Trail Management Committee are excited to hit the road and present the historic Gold Rush Trail signs to communities, museums and founding partners this month.
“We are pleased to have this opportunity to ensure Gold Rush Trail artifacts are preserved in our communities for future generations,” Amy Thacker, CEO of Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association, said in a press release. “The Gold Rush Trail is our collective asset.”
The Gold Rush Trail begins at the mouth of the Fraser River in New Westminster and winds its way north to Barkerville Historic Town and Park, following the traditional Indigenous peoples’ trading routes utilized during the fur trade and expanded during the gold rushes of 1858-1862.
The original Gold Rush Trail highway signs were established by the provincial government in the mid-1980s to promote the Gold Rush Trail.
In 2015, the Gold Rush Trail Management Committee, in collaboration with communities and partners along the corridor, completed a brand refresh and became the first aligned brand with Destination British Columbia’s Super, Natural British Columbia brand.
“As an aficionado of the Gold Rush Trail for 50 years, the old Gold Rush Trail signs were a significant marker along the journey, and the fact that these sign will be preserved in local museums and heritage sites is a brilliant idea,” says Brent Rutherford, a Gold Rush Trail Management Committee member.
“It is a transition from the old to new.”