26 CHRONICLES OF/#ER CARIBOQ

toria; Duncan .McMartin, died in New, Westmingtgz: _ Neil Campbell,
father of Al. B. and Robert N., ana their sisters of Horsefly,. pe ire

Following these, swarms of miners soon over-ran’ the. river. So-werrr-+

see how the goldfever runs. It is not, recorded how much gold the Dun-. -
levey party got out of that flat. But it is estimated that, all told, over
a million dollars was taken out of it.

The miners made haste to utilize the high water for thet sluicing,
and to make the lumber for their boxes. their precious whip saw came

into strong demand. But when later.they got down to bed-rock they.,..

found it not rock but a solid, sticky blue clay, and Crow recognized it.
at once as the same sort of stuff as he had encountered in California.
They found some of Tomaah’s Lillooet, beans imbedded in it all right,
so they had to dig up the surface of_it., But when, they dumped this .
into their sluice boxes it failed to dissolve, but rolled on down over the
riffles and out on the dump intact, picking up other precious gold
pieces on the way. So the word soon got around: “Look out for that
California blue clay or it will rob your sluice boxes!”

As a sort of postscript to this, that same flat just East of the pre- ~
sent village of Horsefly is owned by Dougherty and Hooker, now as a
sheep ranch, and in “digging around” just'.a year or two ago they lit
onto a small patch of pay dirt, that was somehow overlooked by the
early miners, out of which they as several hundred dollars of that
same old Horsefly gold.

The Neil Campbell bunch didn’t: stay lone on the Horsefly. Tt is
certain they heard the story of Baptiste’s ring that was made of gold
found on some creek on the headwaters of the North Fork: of the
Quesnel River and that must have been the lure which made them too
restless to stay and battle that blue clay on- the Horsefly. So, that
same summer of 1859 they drifted down to the Forks; then up the
North Fork and located and left a partner on each of the three Creeks:
Goose, Antler and Grouse, and the following year (1860) pooled their
interests and divided $125,000 between the five partners. Some built
boats on Quesnel Lake and attempted to run the river in them but the
boats were shattered and a good many were drowned.

But that didn’t daunt John McLean and a few other reckless
daredevils. They built a raft of dry cedar that must have been, as it
was said to be, a model of powerful) construction; for they succeeded
with many hair-raising experiences, in running thé river with it all
the way to the Fraser. Then they went up the raser to Manson
Creek. But finding nothing worth their while there they returned to
William’s Creek.

By 1860 the miners were leaving the Brigade Trail at Mud Taner
and going in to William’s Creek by way of Beaver Lake, Quesnel
Forks and Keithley. Dunlevey saw a chance "of opening a stopping
place and supply station—with gambling as.a side issue, at Beaver
Lake with Jim Sellers only as a partner. But Moffitt and Manifree
were there too, off and on, as assistants. Dunlevy. declared he made
more mcney there than he ever did at mining. But he saw that the