Constructed between 1862 and 1865 at a cost of $1,500,000, the 400 mile Cariboo Road was the best and most used of several routes into the Cariboo gold fields. Until 1885 the road began at Yale, the head of steam navigation on the Fraser, and aimed tosecure all trade for that river, thus excluding American competition. Intended to reduce the cost of goods in the mining area, and to encourage British immigrants and capitalists to come there, the road put the colony deeply into debt.