Fisherville BC Cemetery

Deep in the mountains of the East Kootenays of British Columbia, up the Wildhorse River, there’s a special place, a town that used to be. This is Fisherville, dating from the 1860s and on this world for but a mere moment in time. It came and went quickly. And here there’s little left today to remind one it was ever here, a once bustling community running 24/7, populated by grizzled miners, these crazed seekers of gold, dreamers all, with a lucky few who struck it rich.

Wander about the old town site and see piles of rocks here, signs of placer mining, bits of metal there, an odd collapsed building, an ancient orchard, a ditch from a century and half ago that brought in water, and still could, and other odd remains. There’s not much really. But still, it’s captivating, some remote river valley in the middle of nowhere that for a time was this rough and tumble place, both hell and Nirvana, where one risks it all and maybe, just maybe hits the jackpot. Gold fever grabs hold and never lets go.

And over there perhaps the most noteworthy reminder of what was, the Fisherville Cemetery. Here, in a fenced in parcel of land, are the graves of many miners and merchants who perished while calling Fisherville home. Most of those interred are unknown and I guess will be for eternity. But they’re not forgotten. For one, we imagine who they were, what they did and where they came from.

Fisherville sprang to life with the discovery of gold down there in the river channel. And there was a lot of the yellow stuff here. Soon in a town was established on a bench above the Wildhorse (for a few early years Stud Horse Creek). The town was initially called Wildhorse but soon in it was changed to its current name. The place boomed with prospectors coming in from all over, the west coast of BC (and this was before it was even a province), down in the States and even China. The Dewdney Trail starting out near (then) Fort Hope not far from the coast made a bee-line to the Wildhorse Goldfields. And many people made the long journey. By standards of the province, Fisherville was a very early settlement. And when established, incredibly remote.

By the 1880s the rush was over. Even so, gold continued to be pulled from the river for some time after. It goes on even today. The real good diggings were exhausted quickly. Early in its history Fisherville was levelled and the ground it stood on mined. Seems the stuff was everywhere, even under town, back then.

Life in mining camps was hazardous and general health then was not nearly as good as it is today, so early in a cemetery had to be established for those who perished. Most, if not all the burials here predate the 1880s. Records for the most part, however, are missing as to the names and so who they are has been lost to time. Only two have been positively identified, John Boles Gaggin 1830 (Ireland) – 1867. He was the local Gold Commissioner. Also here, and incidentally both a buddy to Gaggin and one who died on the exact same day, is Jack Lawson, murdered in Idaho and later brought here for burial. Friends forever, in time. While we know they’re buried there, it’s not said that we could find, which graves specifically are theirs.

It’s said there’s up to seventy five folks interred here. Depressions in the ground make it pretty clear where some of them are. A few are surrounded by picket fences. This was common in the old days in pioneer cemeteries.

A sign on the entryway read: “This ground is a portion of the original burying ground of pioneer Wild Horse Creek Miners (ed: two words and creek in the name). The grave railings are the originals. Dating from 1863 approx. Please help to preserve this cemetery. Rehabilitated by voluntary citizens 1953. Please be careful with fire.”

There was a Chinese Cemetery (a good population of the town was from there) in a separate area some couple hundred metres away. It was common practice for remains to be sent back to the old county later, so it’s empty now with nothing more than a depression or two to be found in the underbrush.

Also nearby is a single grave making the final resting place for one Thomas or Tommy Walker, said to be quite the character, who died in a gunfight* in 1864. He was from Ireland. Why he wasn’t buried in the cemetery is not known.

A ditch runs above the site. This brought in water for miners working on benches well above the river. It dates from a century and half ago and looks like it could be used today. Fruit trees mark where an old orchard once stood. Where downtown Fisherville was located huge rocks are pilled in a heap. It looks random till you realize there’s number of these stacks scattered about. These were tossed aside so that gravel underneath could be washed for gold. Remains of an old car (circa 1920s) are seen. There’s stuff left behind if one takes the time to look. Sure there’s no buildings, but so much hints at what was. I’m sure if we toured the area further we’d find even more. I’m sure we’ll be back to do just that.

The Wildhorse River (for a brief time Stud Horse Creek) produced untold riches over the years. Tens of thousand of kilos of gold was extracted (exacted number guessed at). The largest nugget pulled from it’s rich gravels was over a kilo in weight. Amazing!

*Wild west style gunfights were not unheard of in the old days in gold producing regions of British Columbia but were rare in other parts of the province (or what would become the province). Some could says it’s because of the sheer number of prospectors coming in from the US into these mining areas (lots of them) who had a general lawlessness mindset account of cultural differences, making this a probable cause. With no police presence everyone becomes judge and jury and you paid sometimes with your life.

More from the general area…
Moyie BC and St Eugene Mine.
Sunken (Lost) Creek to Dibble Mine Cranbrook BC.
Mining under Moyie Falls.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: July, 2018.
Location: Near Cranbrook, BC.
Article references and thanks: FindAGrave.com, Book – Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns by Bill Barlee, VirtualMuseum.ca, Fort Steele Heritage Town.

If you visit Fisherville please show the site respect.

This ditch was used to supply water to placer mines.

A monument to Thomas Walker, a local character.

Remains of an orchard.

Piles of rock left over from placer mining.

Vintage car remains in the woods.

The Pioneer Cemetery.

Two of those interred here.

Some graves are fenced.

Most of those here are unknown.

Burials date back to the 1860s-1880s period.