William Downie papers relating to exploration of British Columbia

The William Downie Papers Relating to Exploration of British Columbia consist of diaries, correspondence, writings, printed works, photographs, and other material that document William Downie's life, interest, and travels in the Northwest during the 1850s and 1860s. The papers offer evidence of early exploration and mining in British Columbia, particularly in the Quesnel Forks area, one of the oldest mining camps in the Cariboo district. Downie's interest in, and encounters with, British Columbia's indigenous inhabitants are also recorded.

Series I. Diaries is comprised of seven manuscript diaries that document Downie's travels in British Columbia and the Northwest. The earliest volume, recorded in an 1856 Union Diary, was mainly kept by Downie during the summer and early fall of 1858 while in Nanaimo. A diary dated 1859 Sept 10 to Sept 20 relates an exploratory canoe journey along the Skeena River, with comments about geography, mining prospects, Indian traveling companions, and local Indian customs. Loose notes from 1860 Apr 16 to Apr 20 relate a Nass River prospecting trip, and record impressions of William Duncan and his mission at Fort Stimpson as well as descriptions of several Indian village. These notes, originally discovered in the 1859 diary, are foldered separately.

A bound volume, titled "Family Register", bears an inscription to Downie from James Duneau, 1860 Jan 3. The volume contains Downie's dated diary entries from January to November 1860, as well as two sketched maps: one of the "South Channel" and Kitimat Village; another of Pitt Island and Gull Island. The diary entries, which record Downie's traveling arrangements and his observations, are written from Victoria, Fort Rupert, Fort Simpson, Nasse, Bellacoola, Knight's Inlet, and other British Columbia sites.

Two diaries from 1861 Jul 4 to Aug 9 describe Downie's and Alexander McDonald's joint exploration of British Columbia's interior, beginning at Bute Inlet and following the Homathko River, in an unnsuccessful search for a route that would link the Pacific coast to the Fraser River. A printed 1866 diary completed in manuscript records Downie's stay in Portland, his steamer voyage to San Francisco and return to Oregon, and his subsequent travels through Washington State and B.C.'s Okanagan Valley. The latter part of the diary records difficult working conditions at Wild Horse Creek in the East Kootenays where Downie set up camp to mine gold alongside Chinese miners.

Series II. Correspondence consists of 8 letters to and from friends, officials, and business associates, documenting Downie's mining and business interests, his political opinions, and his relationship with the Canadian government as an independent explorer and a participant in British Columbia's gold mining industry. A letter from the editor of Downie's memoir, Chris M. Waage, describes work on the volume.

Series III. Writings and Other Papers includes manuscript documents concerning placer mining in British Columbia, infrastructure of the Queen Charlotte Island mines, an 1870 duel involving a member of the Know Nothing party in Downieville, California, and the Pioneer Association of B.C. A manuscript map of property leased in 1881 by the Quesnelle Mining Company, showing the site of a proposed dam on the Quesnelle River, and a manuscript ledger (528 p.) with most entries dated 1863 are present.

Series IV. Printed Works consists primarily of materials concerning British Columbia and the province's mining industry.

Series V. Visual Materials is organized into three subseries: Drawings, Photographs, and Postcards. The Photograph subseries includes photographs of individual Native Americans, including one indigenous youth in a military uniform, as well as a portrait of a group prepared for potlatch, and a portrait of William Downie.

The 2006 Addition (Box 4) consists of correspondence, photographs and printed material relating to William Downie and the Downie family.