The Hudson’s Bay Company had known about gold finds on the Fraser River since early in 1856, and they had kept word of this to themselves, quietly sending gold which had come in on trade to Fort Langley for safekeeping. However, when the company had amassed some 800 oz. of gold, they sent it to San Francisco to be refined, and the secret was out.

Some 30,000 prospectors and entrepreneurs passed through Victoria and Fort Langley during the spring and summer of 1858. James Douglas had three major concerns. First, since most of the newcomers were American, he feared that they would make an attempt to take over the territory in the name of the U.S. Secondly, he worried that there was insufficient policing for the influx of people, some of whom were rather shady characters.

The third problem was that Douglas’ colonial government was virtually broke. A colonial Gold Escort was eventually formed for the sole purpose of carrying gold from the current diggings to government assay offices at New Westminster or Victoria.