|
A historical journey of
"THE YANKEES
ARE COMING!"
This Cache is located in Burnaby Mountain Park along an abandoned section of North Road. * * * * * * * * *
At this time another war was brewing. With the possibility of loosing the Southern States, America was forced to pull its military resources inward. A civil war would halt American expansionism for several years. This gave Britain some breathing room. It is little known that Britain's resources were so overtaxed defending colonies around the world, Queen Victoria declared British Columbia expendable. The militarial role in Western Canada was little more than posturing. Whether Britain's ploys were successful in thwarting an enemy attack is in question but the same tactics were used when the ownership of Vancouver Island was in question. This is why Victoria is the Capital of British Columbia today. If anything came out of Polk's decree it was Canadian nationalism. Knowing that Britain's interest in Canada was increasingly waning, the colonists began to band together to form their own nation. By the end of the American Civil War, Canada was well on the path towards self-government. Canadian Confederation in 1867 would halt any chance of an easy victory for the sects of Yankee society that believed in Manifest Destiny.
After construction, North Road spawned several towns along Burrard inlet. Alliceville, Barnet and "fashionable" Port Moody (named after R.C. Moody -- streets named after his children and grandchildren) were linked to New Westminster by British Columbia's first urban transit system -- a stagecoach. The many fruit orchards planted along the route made the road's mid section a very popular picnic destination during blossom time. With flatter routes available, the steep Burnaby Mountain section of North Road was eventually abandoned. Aliceville's well known hotel (some say brothel) at the foot of North Road has long since vanished under the Petro Canada refinery while a mountain stream has found a new path in the road's trench. Kids on mountain bikes now zoom over the stage coach route. THE CACHE
SPOILERS AHEAD
The cache is about 8 meters off the creek trail so to minimize any possible damage to the flora due to the search, I have placed a sign in the general cache location. It is easily seen from the trail if you know where to look but I suspect the sign will become hidden as the foliage gets thicker. Please remember that there is always a way through an urban forest without bushwhacking or trampling the flora.
Look for a
small stand
of large deciduous trees. The northernmost tree has snapped about
a storey and a half up. The cache is where the top part of the
tree
has fallen.
|
The
War of 1812 was still fresh in memory. America was winning the
race
for Western expansion and the British knew that if they were to
maintain
a North American colony from the Atlantic to the Pacific they had to
use
it or loose it. 
By
1857, an invasion of a different type was well under way. The
discovery
of gold along the Fraser river brought a flood of Yankee prospectors
who
had little regard for British Law. Numbering over 30,000 by the
summer
of 1858, Governor James Douglas commented that ‘they are represented as
being with some exceptions a specimen of the worst of the population of
San Francisco – the very dregs in fact of society.’ It was widely
believed that if called for action the newly landed migrants would not
hesitate to fight on the side of the United States. British
Columbia
would easily fall into American hands. 
If
you're on the right track you will eventually follow a stream (dry in
the
summer) that flows through part of North Road's original route.
Note
that the access roads used by the refinery next to the park also use
some
of the lands occupied by the original route. Depending on which
direction
you come from, you may spot some old relics from the days the road was
in use. There are several old signposts standing in the forest.
