Cariboo

The name Cariboo, was first given to the region around Quesnel and Barkerville during the Gold Rush, and has since been extended to identify the region between Prince George and Cache Creek.

BC ARCHIVES I-20901 Detail of Caribou on Mt. Wells in Tweedsmuir Park

The spelling is traced to an 1861 dispatch from colonial governor Sir James Douglas where he mentions the popular term for the area which should, he said, be properly written "carboeuf."

Caribou, part of the reindeer family, were plentiful in the northern part of the region at the time and recieved that name from French interpretations of the Algonguin word "xalibu," for pawer or scratcher.