This muddy trail was the route of the wagon road to Clinton, built in 1862 by G.B.Wright. In the background are the buildings of the Carson ranch, and on the left is a seldom now seen Russell fence. Credit "British Columbia, 1912" by H.G. Boam and A.G. Brown. P.401
Why the road bothered to first laboriously switchback its way first up to the plateau and then back down is one of the mysteries of G.B. Wright's road making decisions. Although he was not the first to take up land on Pavilion Mountain, Robert Carson, originally of Scotland, settled there in 1867, farming the land, and building up a herd of beef cattle. Carson also built a sizeable log cabin where stagecoach passengers stopped for a meal, or an overnight stay. Carson and his wife, Eliza Jane McGee raised a large family. Mrs. Carson came from a home where liquor was frowned upon, and she refused to have any in her roadhouse. She was also a great advocate of education for her family, and worked hard to help to provide a local school. Several of the Carson boys went to university, became lawyers, and were elected to the B.C.Legislature. Today the word 'Pavilion' is associated with Robert Carson in current histories. 'Pavilion' is a stop on the B.C.Rail line. (Encyclopedia of B.C., p.534)
Pavilion Mountain, on the Cariboo Road from Lillooet to Clinton (credit: Boam and Brown, British Columbia, 1912, p. 401)
The Robert Carson family of Pavilion (credit: the Carson family, Pavilion)
| Home| Lower Fraser| Fraser Canyon | Clinton | Barkerville | Text TOC | Indexes | Team |
|
All text and images
© Quesnel & District Museum and Archives unless otherwise
noted. Thanks to the B.C. Archives for permission to show various
images. Thanks to the BC Encyclopedia for permission to quote information
on the roadhouse communities. Thanks to the Living Landscapes Project,
the Royal British Columbia Museum, Ministry of Community, Aboriginal
and Women's Services for their support of site development.
|