Without a doubt, the best known and most iconic business enterprise associated with our province's gold rush era was the B.C. Express Company - the famous "B.X."
For more than half a century, it moved freight, mail, bullion, and passengers over the renowned Cariboo Wagon Raod and through some of the most challenging terrain on the continent. In its time, it grew into one of the largest companies in B.C., with hundreds of employees, land holdings throughout the province, and a coordinated network of depots. All this was the brainchild of an unsuccessful businessman from Toronto, Francis Jones Barnard.
Barnard, born in Quebec City in 1829, was only 12-years-old when his father, a hardware merchant, passed away. Being the oldest child, he had to go to work, and he was unable to provide for his mother and younger siblings. When he was 25, he married, and two years later he, his wife and newborn son moved to Toronto, but he was unable to establish himself there. In 1858, he left his young family and travelled third class and steerage by way of ship, the Panama Railway, and San Francisco to Victoria, arriving in the spring of 1859, just as the Fraser River gold rush was peaking. He made his way to Yale with only $5 in his pocket, and worked chopping cordwood by hand and delivering it on his back. He staked, and later sold a modest gold claim on the river, and that summer he was appointed as a police constable.
He did not enjoy this job, and after an incident where he was overpowered by two prisoners he was escorting to the New Westminster penitentiary, requiring him to hunt them down and re-arrest them, he resigned to take a position as a purser on the river steamer Yale. In addition, he and a partner took on a government contract to construct a wagon trail from Yale to Boston Bar. That winter, he was able to send for his wife and two young children, who arrived in Yale in December 1860.
Shortly after they arrived, Barnard was blown out through the window of the dining room and was rescued by some local First Nations men. Once again, he decided to seek a safer line of employment.
In 1861, Barnard began carrying mail and newspapers on foot all the way from Yale to the goldfield towns of the Cariboo, a 760-mile round trip, charging $2 per letter and selling the newspapers for $1 per copy. He made this hike several times over the next two years and as well, he carried packages on foot between Yale and New Westminster, a 200-mile return trek. In 1862, he established a one-horse pony express, with himself as the only rider, serving the Cariboo from Yale, taking mail, newspapers, and packages to the goldfields and gradually becoming entrusted to bring back shipments of gold dust on the return trip.
With the completion of the Cariboo Wagon road to Soda Creek in 1862, Barnard saw a great opportunity to get into the cartage business. He invested much of his own savings and found other financial backing to form Barnard's Express and Stage Line. It began with 14 six-horse coaches and a group of excellent men to drive them. One of these first drivers was Steve Tingley, who would later buy the company.
Barnard's express business began just as the movement of people and goods to the goldfields in the north began to peak, and the new company prospered. In 1864 the enterprise expanded even further with the purchase of more coaches and wagons as well as the awarding of the government mail contract. In 1865, Barnard's Express was carrying over 1,500 passengers, $4.5 million in gold, and was covering more than 100,000 miles annually. By 1866, Barnard controlled virtually all of the overland transportation business between Victoria and the Cariboo. Five years later, he officially incorporated the business as the B.C. Express Company, but everyone still referred to it as the BX.
In 1867, Barnard purchased over 400 head of breeding stock in California and Mexico. These horses were driven, north to Vernon, and the famous BX Ranch was established there, providing the company with their stage and wagon horses. The stage horses were never really broken, and were never saddled. They were used exclusively for staging and were quite wild. Weighing an average of about 1,150 pounds, they were smart animals, learning very quickly what was expected of them.
To prepare a stagecoach for departure, first the mail, the express packages, and the baggage were loaded and tied down securely. Then, the passengers took their places, with the women being given the choicest seats. The driver, accompanied by an armed guard with a locked strongbox and/or a secure "treasure bag" then climbed into place. Only then were the horses led out, two at a time and backed into place, then hitched up and the reins passed up to the driver.
Once the hostler had all in place and ready to go, he quickly backed away, the driver released the brakes, and the team lunged forward. After about 100 yards, they settled into a brisk trot, which they could keep up for considerable distances.
Along the main line, there were way stations an average of 18 miles apart, with fresh horses waiting at each stop. Many of these stops also had a roadhouse where meals, drinks, and accommodations were available. At an average speed of six miles per hour, a regular run from Yale to Soda Creek took about 50 hours to complete. The way stations were usually run by old horsemen, who loved working with animals and who took great care of them. There were even competitions to see which hostler could turn out the best conditioned teams, with some going so far as blackening and polishing the horses' hooves.
All the B.X. equipment had standard colours, red for the rolling stock and sleighs with yellow for the running gear and the lettering. Harnesses were made from the best leather available, and the company rule was that they must be cleaned every time they were removed from the horses. In the winter, sleighs replaced the stage coaches and freight wagons. Winter service was maintained even though the temperatures reached minus 40 degrees or lower. Passengers wrapped themselves in robes, fur coats, and layers of thick woolen clothes. Thirty- to 40-pound heated stones helped to keep their feet warm.
Contrary to some accounts, the BX drivers were not hard drinking rough men. Rather, they were outstanding horsemen who had extensive training. Most were experts with a whip, and it was said they could touch up any horse in a string without the other five horses being aware of the act. The driver was responsible not only for his passengers. These were tolerant, even tempered men who put the needs and comfort of the customers and the horses before their own.
Barnard operated the BX for almost 25 years, sometimes branching out into the other business ventures. He also became involved in politics, serving as the provincial MLA for the Yale-Lytton riding from 1866 to 1870, a later as a federal Conservative MP in Ottawa from 1879 to 1887. A major stroke in 1880 left him a partial invalid, and he passed away from another stroke in July of 1889.
In 1886, Barnard sold the company to Steve Tingley, who had worked his way up over the years from driver to manager to partner. Tingley transferred his headquarters to Ashcroft. People, mail, and freight came to that point by train and then transferred to stage coaches and freight wagons. Because of the move, Ashcroft became the new gateway to the Cariboo, and the B.C. Express Company continued to prosper.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the freighting business was in decline. In 1897, the BX lost the mail contract to two partners from Toronto, and shortly after, Tingley sold the company to them. He remained in Ashcroft until 1910 when he moved to Victoria, where he passed away in 1915. His obituary referred to his driving skills when it called him "the whip of the Cariboo."
From 1896 until 1920, the BX operated a fleet of steamships and sternwheelers on the Upper Fraser from Soda Creek to Fort George and beyond. The steamers did a good business in freight and passengers, hauling supplies south for the construction of the PGE railway and Cariboo products north for distribution by rail out of Fort George.
Between 1910 and 1915, the BX stage coaches were gradually replaced by a fleet of 12 60-horsepower Winton Six automobiles, all painted in the red and yellow company colours. These were quickly dubbed "fresh air taxis" by their passengers. The horse drawn stagecoach service officially ended in 1917 with a final run from Ashcroft to Quesnel. The Wintons carried on for another three years, but their days too were numbered. Better roads, the advent of truck transport, and the completion of the PGE meant that in 1920, after 57 years of service, the venerable BX closed its doors for the final time.
The B.C. Express Company was an integral and important part of the development of the Interior region of B.C. Throughout the entire existence of the BX stagecoach service, not a single trip was ever cancelled. It was the first land transport system established west of the Rocky Mountains, with routes which eventually covered over a thousand miles, second only in size to the legendary Wells Fargo Company. Its place in our history is a well earned testament to the resilience and toughness of its owners, drivers and employees.
For this article I used information from Art Downs (Wagon Roads North), the B.C. Historical News (Summer 19980, Canada West Magazine (Spring 1971) and the internet. All photographs are courtesy of the B.C. Provincial Archives.
