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| <tab>Amid his triumphs, Cameron was harassed by speculations about the real story behind the death of his wife and the strange journey of her coffin. One charge was that she was still alive, but that Cameron had sold her to an Indian chief for gold. On 19 Aug. 1873 Cameron had his wife disinterred and the face was shown to the crowd of spectators in Cornwall. Their child, who also died in British Columbia, had likewise been buried in Cornwall. It is probably impossible to tell now exactly how the travels of the child’s body connect with those of the mother. At any rate the two were now reburied at Summerstown in GC, where they still lie. How Cameron lost his fortune is not known in any detail. In fact, for someone so celebrated, surprisingly little is known about his career in GC from the 1860s to the 1880s. But at any rate, the money was gone when he returned near the end of his life to the scene of his gold mining triumphs in the Cariboo. He died at Barkerville, B. C., where his gold mine had made his fame and fortune, and he is buried close at hand at Camerontown, which is named after him. He was married: (1) in 1860 to Margaret Sophia Groves, of Cornwall Township, (2) in 1865 to Christina Adelaide Wood, who died in Montreal 3 Nov. 1928 a few days short of the 40th anniversary of her husband’s death. Her family were foundry owners at Lunenburg, west of Cornwall. (See life of [[cameron_mrs_alexander|Mrs Alexander Cameron]]). There is no truth in the legend that Christina Adelaide died destitute in an old people’s home her husband had endowed. However, Mary Mack, who remembered her as a tall, thin old lady living in somewhat spartan lodgings in Cornwall, confirmed that she was poor in her later years. Cameron’s splendid Fairfield was the home of Patrick Purcell before Cameron’s death, though it is not clear from the documentation what the legal processes of the transfer to Purcell were. Fairfield in recent years has been the home of Le juvenat du Sacré Coeur. | <tab>Amid his triumphs, Cameron was harassed by speculations about the real story behind the death of his wife and the strange journey of her coffin. One charge was that she was still alive, but that Cameron had sold her to an Indian chief for gold. On 19 Aug. 1873 Cameron had his wife disinterred and the face was shown to the crowd of spectators in Cornwall. Their child, who also died in British Columbia, had likewise been buried in Cornwall. It is probably impossible to tell now exactly how the travels of the child’s body connect with those of the mother. At any rate the two were now reburied at Summerstown in GC, where they still lie. How Cameron lost his fortune is not known in any detail. In fact, for someone so celebrated, surprisingly little is known about his career in GC from the 1860s to the 1880s. But at any rate, the money was gone when he returned near the end of his life to the scene of his gold mining triumphs in the Cariboo. He died at Barkerville, B. C., where his gold mine had made his fame and fortune, and he is buried close at hand at Camerontown, which is named after him. He was married: (1) in 1860 to Margaret Sophia Groves, of Cornwall Township, (2) in 1865 to Christina Adelaide Wood, who died in Montreal 3 Nov. 1928 a few days short of the 40th anniversary of her husband’s death. Her family were foundry owners at Lunenburg, west of Cornwall. (See life of [[cameron_mrs_alexander|Mrs Alexander Cameron]]). There is no truth in the legend that Christina Adelaide died destitute in an old people’s home her husband had endowed. However, Mary Mack, who remembered her as a tall, thin old lady living in somewhat spartan lodgings in Cornwall, confirmed that she was poor in her later years. Cameron’s splendid Fairfield was the home of Patrick Purcell before Cameron’s death, though it is not clear from the documentation what the legal processes of the transfer to Purcell were. Fairfield in recent years has been the home of Le juvenat du Sacré Coeur. |
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| <tab>There is a painting of Cariboo Cameron by Stuart McCormick. Cameron features in A.P. Gardiner’s //The House of Cariboo// (1900) and Alan Sullivan’s //Cariboo Road// (1946), both novels. Bill Gallaher’s //The Promise: Love, Loyalty and the Lure of Gold: the Story of “Cariboo” Cameron// (2001) tells the story of Cariboo Cameron “in the voice of Robert Stevenson,” i.e., it is in effect a biography of Cameron as told by an imagined Stevenson (Robert Stevenson this dictionary), and is both a novel and a fictionalized biography. It has material accordingly throughout on Stevenson himself. In 1999, a play by Gysèle Poirier, “Ode to Cariboo Cameron,” was staged at Glen Walter, GC. (//Glengarry News// 2 June 1999) There is at least one poem, Lee McKnight, //The Colorful Career of Cariboo Cameron// (1969), printed as a four-page leaflet. See also Thomas Hall, James McPherson, and J. C. Steacy in this dictionary. | <tab>There is a painting of Cariboo Cameron by Stuart McCormick. Cameron features in A.P. Gardiner’s //The House of Cariboo// (1900) and Alan Sullivan’s //Cariboo Road// (1946), both novels. Bill Gallaher’s //The Promise: Love, Loyalty and the Lure of Gold: the Story of “Cariboo” Cameron// (2001) tells the story of Cariboo Cameron “in the voice of Robert Stevenson,” i.e., it is in effect a biography of Cameron as told by an imagined Stevenson (Robert Stevenson this dictionary), and is both a novel and a fictionalized biography. It has material accordingly throughout on Stevenson himself. In 1999, a play by Gysèle Poirier, “Ode to Cariboo Cameron,” was staged at Glen Walter, GC. (//Glengarry News// 2 June 1999) There is at least one poem, Lee McKnight, //The Colorful Career of Cariboo Cameron// (1969), printed as a four-page leaflet. See also [[hall_thomas|Thomas Hall]], [[mcpherson_james|James McPherson]], and [[steacy_john_graham|J. C. Steacy]] in this dictionary. |
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| <tab>Several people in GC history through the similarity of name can be confused with John A. (“Cariboo”) Cameron. Cariboo Cameron himself had at least two nephews called John A. Cameron, and a William Cameron, of Williamstown, was also called “Cariboo.” | <tab>Several people in GC history through the similarity of name can be confused with John A. (“Cariboo”) Cameron. Cariboo Cameron himself had at least two nephews called John A. Cameron, and a William Cameron, of Williamstown, was also called “Cariboo.” |
