A report on Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) and Fraser Canyon Gold Rush

The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody, and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.

The Columbia Detachment of the Royal Engineers was a contingent of the Royal Engineers of the British Army that was responsible for the foundation of British Columbia as the Colony of British Columbia (1858–66).

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, requested that War Office recommend a field officer who were 'a man of good judgement possessing a knowledge of mankind' to lead a Corps of 150 (later increased to 172) Royal Engineers who had been selected for their 'superior discipline and intelligence'.

Moody, who is considered to be the founding father of British Columbia, founded the Colony of British Columbia, when he was selected to 'found a second England on the shores of the Pacific' by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who desired to send to the nascent Colony 'representatives of the best of British culture' who had 'courtesy, high breeding, and urbane knowledge of the world'.

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, requested that War Office recommend a field officer who were 'a man of good judgement possessing a knowledge of mankind' to lead a Corps of 150 (later increased to 172) Royal Engineers who had been selected for their 'superior discipline and intelligence'.

Sir James Douglas (August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877), was a British Columbian fur trader and politician who became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia.

In 1858, he became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia and asserted the authority of the British Empire during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which had the potential to turn the Mainland into an American state.

When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, Bulwer-Lytton, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, requested that the War Office recommend a field officer, "a man of good judgement possessing a knowledge of mankind", to lead a Corps of 150 (later increased to 172) Royal Engineers, who had been selected for their "superior discipline and intelligence".

Moody was charged to establish British order and transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west" and "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific."

The town was founded during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858–59, when it was known as "The Forks."

This event was held as part of the Village of Lytton's BC150 celebrations, which marked the 150th anniversary of the date that the community received its name, in addition to the province-wide celebration of the establishment of the original Colony of British Columbia on August 2, 1858.

The conflict posed a threat to the newly established British authority on the British Columbia mainland (which had only just been declared a colony the previous summer), at the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.

The story, as relayed to Victoria by Vigilance Committee messengers, was that Ned McGowan had launched an attempt to overthrow the British authority in the new colony and declare the gold fields to be part of the United States.

The area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, beginning in 1858.

Hope became part of the new British colony of British Columbia when it was created on 2 August 1858.

In 1858, Begbie became the first Chief Justice of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in colonial times and in the first decades after British Columbia joined Confederation as a province of Canada.

Given the influx of prospectors and others during Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and the following Cariboo Gold Rush of 1861, Begbie played a crucial role in the establishment of law and order throughout the new colony.