Lost gold bars (Cariboo-Amelia Mine at Camp McKinney)

On August 18, 1896, George B. McAulay of Spokane, Washington, one of the major shareholders in the Cariboo mine, left Camp McKinney for Midway.

McAulay had three gold bricks valued at more than $10,000. He was robbed half an hour later on his way to Midway. Cariboo Mining Company posted a $3,000 reward for information leading to recovery of the gold bars.

The bars were never recovered. It is believed the bars were hidden or buried somewhere in the area, close by Camp McKinney still waiting to be discovered. (Source Wikipedia)

Photo thanks to Okanagan Archive Trust Society

The Oliver Osoyoos branch of the Okanagan Historical Society is having its Annual General Meeting on Sunday, April 9th in the lower level of the Osoyoos Anglican Church, located at 7200 88th Street. The meeting will begin at 2:00 with a presentation by Mr. Jim Arnusch, our guest speaker.

His topic will be the August 1896 Camp McKinney gold robbery. He has been researching this topic with a passion for many years and probably knows more about it than anyone else alive today. This is a fascinating story with many twists. One of them is the assumption that Matt Roderick, the leading suspect, was returning to the area to retrieve some of the gold bars, several months after the robbery, when he was shot and killed by Mr. Keene, a foreman in the Cariboo mine. Mr. Keene was charged with manslaughter but found not guilty, as he claimed Mr. Roderick was in the process of attempting to shoot him. Perhaps Mr. Arnusch will give us some clues on where we can find the missing gold bars.