While gold was discovered on Haida Gwaii (previously the Queen Charlotte Islands) in 1851, Haida oral histories show that the Haida Nation has lived on Haida Gwaii for thousands of years.
Reports of gold discoveries on Haida Gwaii sparked great excitement among British and American settlers along the Pacific Northwest. On March 29. 1851, Governor Richard Blanshard wrote Earl Gret, the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies: "I have heard that fresh specimens of gold have been obtained from the Queen Charlotte Islanders. I have not seen them myself, but they are reported to be very rich."
When he learned pf the increased efforts of American gold seekers on Haida Gwaii, Governor James Douglas wrote to the Duke of Newcastle, the Queen's principle Secretary of State for the Colonies on April 11, 1853, declaring the rights of the Crown to gold found "within the limits of Queen Charlottes Island, and forbidding all persons, to dig, or disturb the soil in search, of gold..." Thus, Haida Gwaii became known as the Colony of Queen Charlotte Islands with James Douglas as the Colony's appointed Lieutenant Governor.
Throughout the early 1850s, groups of miners arrived on Haida Gwaii in hopes of mining gold. However, their endeavors turned up small quantities and were repeatedly face with accidents, shipwrecks, and resistance from the local Haida people. By the late 1850s, Haida Gwaii's gold rush was declared a bust, but it did help strengthen the new Colony of British Columbia.