This reading log is where my idea for my research paper exploded.
I grew up in Prince George so Barkerville was a place that I went to many times with school and friends. It became so familiar that by the time I was old enough to actually understand what it was I had very little interest in knowing. While I was reading Mica Jorgenson’s article I could literally see what was being explained, I had clear photo in my mind of it all. This was another instance where an Indigenous group was forced away from their land…. this is getting a little repetitive isn’t it? That just goes to show how bad it really was.
While they were both talking about the Gold Rush my first thought was Barkerville and all the old schools, churches and China Town they have set up there; not the actual Gold Rush itself, and this is when I realized I had never taken the Gold Rush into consideration before. I had panned for gold at the gold panning site they have in Barkerville, but never actually considered the Gold Rush in terms of anything else. Many stories from miners were given and this opened my eyes to the hardships of the Gold Rush; it made me realize that it was not simply a time of gold and money, but rather hard work and low pay.
