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River of Gold
by Susan Dobbie
Vancouver: Ronsdale
Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-55380-071-2, 199 pp., $19.95 paper.
River of Gold, by BC writer Susan Dobbie, is a sequel to Dobbie's previous historical novel, When Eagles Call, which covered several years in the 1840s and told the little known story of the role of Hawaiian labourers in the development of BC. Two such labourers, Kimo Kanui and his friend Moku, came to Fort Langley on the lower Fraser River, inland from Vancouver, where they were employed by the Hudson's Bay Company.River of Gold continues the adventures of these two friends, seventeen years after their arrival from Hawaii. It covers a period of several more years, beginning in 1858, when the area was inundated by fortune hunters following the discovery of gold along the Fraser River and its tributaries farther inland. The story begins with the two friends still employed at Fort Langley. Kimo's wife, Rose (the daughter of a native woman and a French Canadian), had been killed the previous spring by a grizzly bear. Their daughter, Kami, is four years old. Moku is also married, to a native woman, who helps look after Kami while Kimo is at work. Fort Langley is swarming with gold seekers on their way upriver and Kimo would like to join them. But he has recently renewed his contract with the Hudson's Bay Company and will not break it.
Several years pass. As the Fraser gold dries up, the Cariboo Gold Rush takes over, and when his contract does end, Kimo decides to join the fortune hunters and head upriver, hoping to find enough gold so he can provide a better future for Kami, either by returning to Hawaii or by buying land around Fort Langley. Moku decides to join him and they leave in September, planning to reach a creek upstream where there are still sites to stake a claim. The rest of the book follows the adventures of the men as they travel upriver, joined by "a Negraman," Ezekiel (Zeke), and a native woman, Morning Bird, whom Kimo frees from slavery by winning her in a poker match. They travel first by canoe, then later on foot through the dangerous canyons of the Fraser and beyond, on the Cariboo Waggon Road, recently completed by the Royal Engineers. After much hardship, they stake a claim, then overwinter there, making preparations for spring, when the mining can begin in earnest, and dealing with threats and attacks from neighbours and the displaced natives.
I really enjoyed this book. The author has portrayed an exciting historical period and has worked in plenty of details without slowing down the pace of the novel. Readers learn about the necessary preparations and supplies needed by the miners, about the infamous "Hell's Gate" Canyon, and the treacherous roads that cling to the canyon wall, where mules frequently and men occasionally fall to their death. Later, as the men set to work at their claim, there are descriptions of the different methods they will use--panning, rockers, and sluice boxes. The author also includes actual historical characters such as James Douglas, the first governor of the colony of British Columbia, and Judge Begbie, the famous "hanging judge," as well as details of historic centres such as Yale and Barkerville.
River of Gold is a story of greed and friendship, of facing dangers and learning new skills, of meeting people from all over the world, and of learning to love again. I admired the author's skill at inserting historical and geographic details. Some descriptive passages read like poetry; for example, this description of the new Alexandra Suspension Bridge, spanning 269 feet across the Fraser:
It's made of iron, with great cables of wire, and it looks both frail and strong at the same time, a thin ribbon arcing across the swirling waters below. It's beautiful. And terrifying. I want to remember it, every grey line, every stretched silver wire, with the river snaking and snarling below, and great trees rising like warrior spears along the mountainsides. The current rages, hurtling through the canyon with a noise like thunder. (81)
Although River of Gold is a sequel, it is not necessary to have read the previous book, When Eagles Call. There is a time lapse of several years between the two, and necessary background information is carefully worked into the new story. I had not read the previous one before, but I'd like to do so now. One thing I would have liked in this book is a map showing the various rivers and locations where the protagonists travelled.
Donna Gamache is the author of Spruce Woods Adventure (Compascore Manitoba) as well as many short stories for both children and adults.
Buy this book at McNally-Robinson Booksellers.