Lisa:

Thanks much for the info -- I will definitely have to look into these leads, especially the land grant info. Unfortunately, the timing of the Census and a lot of the info on Black immigration to BC doesn't work for me. The family members I'm tracing left Ontario in 1864 and moved first to BC for just a brief time (@5-6 years) and then split up with some going to California, some to the Idaho Territory and some to Oregon by 1870. (I don't want to sound pessimistic but based on the moves, I'm wondering if the gold rush hunt wasn't too sucessful.) But again, the land grant info you've suggested might offer some clues -- all of them were traditionally farmers so I'm hoping some of them might have owned some land for a bit.

Thanks again,

Janice