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Abstract

For a few years after the discovery of silver-lead ore in the summer of 1891, the Slocan was the North American focus of speculative hard rock mining. Before the end of 1897, as Klondike excitement grew, the boom was over, but its brief energy had transformed the Slocan. J.C. Harris, who in 1944 wrote the account in this booklet, arrived in New Denver in 1896, participated in the last two years of the rush and remained in the Slocan for the rest of his life. His memory was sharp, his eye for detail and odd characters keen, his writing vivid. His is the fullest first-hand account of the Slocan’s turbulent modern beginnings from which, some would say, it has yet to recover.