Product:	BC 150th Anniversary Stamp
Scope:	Concept + Design: Stamp, Pane of 16 stamps (front & back), 1st day Issue Cover (Envelope), Cancellation Stamp

"The story of the creation of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in 1858 is the story of the political response to the Fraser River Gold Rush"

British Columbia's 150th Anniversary, Smith Research, Oct 18, 2006 page 13

The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 was the pivotal event that prompted the British Crown to form the colony of British Columbia, then known as New Caledonia, in order to protect the dominion's interests in the region. With gold being discovered in the Fraser River sandbars, thousands of American miners began flooding into the region, vastly outnumbering the local population of British colonialists. The gold rush, combined with the expansionist policy of the United States, prompted James Douglas (1803-1877), then Governor of the colony of Vancouver Island and still an HBC proctor, to take a big gamble and claim the Fraser River goldfields as part of the "British Crown", without England's approval. Lucky for him, he got his backing shortly later, and not only was it declared British soil, but the whole region was renamed "British Columbia" (by Queen Victoria herself, it is recorded) in August 1858, and James Douglas was named its first Governor in an official ceremony on November 19, 1858 at Fort Langley.

Central to the layout is the bold gold panning image, rising out from the silhouette of the province of BC; the gold panner's hands elegantly creating the eastern border of the province. The stamp image is bold, tough and authentic, without relying on an "archival" image, which is often of poor quality and is often a clichéd way of celebrating an historic anniversary. Instead, a new, modern photo celebrates this historic event in a way that still pays tribute to the original event, and gives the collectors a unique image that cannot be found in any history book.

Obviously, the Fraser River Gold Rush was not the only event in the formation of BC. The pane format allowed us to tell that story in more detail. The pane header depicts an iconographic skyline that tells nearly a chronological story of BC, from the early First Nations inhabitants of the region, to Captain Cook's mapping of the area, to early settlement, Forts Victoria and Langley, to the parliament building in Victoria, to the modern cosmopolitan city of Vancouver. And the back of the stamp pane gives ample room to celebrate some of the archival images sourced from BC Archives of James Douglas, his wife Amelia, early settlers, gold panes and miners, and the inauguration ceremony at Fort Langley. Here, the images could be given ample room and variety to tell the great story, still within the same strong layout and design. And there are small little "finds" for collectors, like the faint rushing river image in the background of the pane, and the "prospector" colour bars, which tell a very short story of panning and that "eureka" moment for a single prospector.