The Chinese, quietly and unobtrusively, followed the news of the big strikes along the Fraser and soon found their way to Barkerville, mostly on foot from Yale. To protect themselves against prejudice, they banded together as they had dome while travelling and panning the creeks. They spoke little English and if something went wrong it was easy for the whites to blame John as most of the Chinese were called; hence they presented a united and stoical front to the white community. There are no tabulated records of the lifestyle of the early Chinese in Barkerville but pictures tell the tale. The Chinese worked hard and established a little settlement where they lived in poverty because they sent their money home to China. They celebrated their religious holidays and paid homage to their dead by traditional funeral processions, being careful to display the reverence which was always shown in their homeland. Nearly all belonged to the Chinese Freemasons; their leisure-time activities were almost solely within the confines of their walls and were secretive. Their first temple was burned in the fire that razed Barkerville.
The children were enterprising and bright and loved to play in the muddy streets of Barkerville. They were polite, helpful and willing to run errands or do whatever was asked of them. The community was, in general pleased to see these youngsters around. The adults were helpful also; there were Chinese gamblers, cooks and handymen, as well as miners, and they would so almost anything for a dollar. The Chinese in Barkerville were an honest, hardworking people and contributed greatly to the history of that town. |
