{"@context":{"@language":"en","AggregatedSourceRepository":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","CatalogueRecord":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","Collection":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","Contributor":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/contributor","Creator":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","DateAvailable":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","DateIssued":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","Description":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","Extent":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent","FileFormat":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","FullText":"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note","Genre":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/hasType","Identifier":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/identifier","IsShownAt":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/isShownAt","Language":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/language","Notes":"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2009\/08\/skos-reference\/skos.html#note","Provider":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/provider","Publisher":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/publisher","Rights":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights","SortDate":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/date","Source":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","Subject":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","Title":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/title","Type":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/type","Translation":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description"},"AggregatedSourceRepository":[{"@value":"CONTENTdm","@language":"en"}],"CatalogueRecord":[{"@value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=1638775","@language":"en"}],"Collection":[{"@value":"British Columbia Historical Books Collection","@language":"en"}],"Contributor":[{"@value":"Macdonald, Evan","@language":"en"}],"Creator":[{"@value":"Townsley, Benjamin Franklin","@language":"en"}],"DateAvailable":[{"@value":"2022-06-28","@language":"en"}],"DateIssued":[{"@value":"[1935?]","@language":"en"}],"Description":[{"@value":"\"Includes a chapter on B.C., mainly 19th century, on the discovery and development of coal and minerals.\"-- Edwards, M. H., Lort, J. C. R., & Carmichael, W. J. (1975). A bibliography of British Columbia: Years of growth, 1900-1950. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 279.","@language":"en"}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"@value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bcbooks\/items\/1.0415848\/source.json","@language":"en"}],"Extent":[{"@value":"246 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits, tables ; 24 cm","@language":"en"}],"FileFormat":[{"@value":"application\/pdf","@language":"en"}],"FullText":[{"@value":" MINE-FINDERS\n T. F. SUTHERLAND, B.Sc.\nDeputy Minister of Mines of Ontario\nsays . . .\n\"MINE-FINDERS\" is one of the most interesting surveys of the discovery and development of minerals and mines in Canada that I\nhave ever read. Starting with the earliest exploration, collecting a mass of facts from every\navailable source, the author has checked and\nrechecked to ensure correctness, and has finally\nblended the whole till he has produced a tale\nas exciting and interesting as any 'best-seller'.\"\nThere is no doubt that the rapid advance of\nmining is one of the chief reasons that Canada\nis in such a comparatively favourable financial\nposition today.\n\"MINE-FINDERS\" is the History and\nRomance of Canada's Mineral Discoveries. As\nsuch it is of equal importance to men of the\nmining profession, students, mining investors,\nand that portion of the general public who\nenjoy any book that is worthily written and\ndeals with a great subject.\nDistributed by\nMACDONALD GALLERIES\n26 Grenville Street, Toronto, Canada.\nPrice $3.00\nC ^ '^\u2022VV***J\n  T. F. SI\n\"MINE-FIN\nment of mir ,\nploration, co\navailable soi\nrechecked to\nblended the\nas exciting a\nposition todi\n\"MINE-1\nRomance of\nmining prof\nand that pc\nenjoy any t\ndeals with a\n  T. F. SI\nDeputy\n\"MINE-FIN\nesting surve\nment of mil\nploration, co\navailable soi\nrechecked to\nblended the\nmining is 01\n\"MINE-I\nRomance of\nsuch it is ol\nmining prof\nand that po\nenjoy any b\ndeals with a\nTHE AUTHOR\nFor the past twenty\nars the author has\n\u25a0h Canada's mineral\nningedto'r of The F>\n1 Post and he also e\n MINE-FINDERS\nTHE HISTORY AND\nROMANCE\nOF\nCANADIAN MINERAL DISCOVERIES\nIllustrations by\nEVAN    MACDONALD\nPrinted by\nSaturday Night Press\nToronto\n Copyright\nCanada\n7-A\/ca\nT4\nDistributed By\nMACDONALD  GALLERIES\n26 Grenville Street\nToronto, Canada\n Sic Vos V^on Vobis*\n\"DROM Time Immemorial, down through the Dark\n*- Ages, man has ever been cognizant of the ceaseless\nurge to discover that which lies just beyond his reach\nand yet which, by perseverance, can reveal to him treasure\nbeyond a king's ransom,\u2014his for the taking from the\nearth's vast heritage. So he encounters danger, privation,\u2014even death, in his struggle for entombed riches\nwhich may some day, each according to its nature\u2014the\nlowly base metal or the coveted gold\u2014quicken the\nwheels of Industry or prove the Open Sesame to the\nWorld's Wonders.\nTo the memory of the courageous prospectors, explorers\nand pioneers who made possible Canada's mining industry, this book is respectfully dedicated.\nB. F. T.\n*Tbus you toil, not for yourselves.\n\\\nJ\n ^Acknowledgments\nWHEN a chronicler endeavors to relate the history\nof events pertaining to mining on a half continent from the time of the white man's discovery he\nmust obviously rely on the vast storehouse of information\nthat has been recorded by countless hundreds who have\ndelved into the intangible past in seeking material for\ntheir particular subject.\nI wish here to acknowledge my grateful appreciation\nto those prospectors and early pioneers who have so\nwillingly related their experiences in the finding and\ndeveloping of Canadian mineral deposits; to the members of the Geological Survey of Canada who have faithfully investigated and recorded the history of far-flung\ncamps; to officials of Provincial Governments, and\nmining companies who have aided me unstintingly in\nendeavoring to add to the store of knowledge; and to all\nwriters who have chronicled events that have contributed toward making this historical reference more\nauthoritative or interesting.\nI realise the controversy that is unavoidably introduced when pioneers share honors in wresting new\nmineral wealth, and I shall feel aggrieved if any contribution has been overlooked or misplaced.\n Prologue\nf~^\\ OLD: mention of the magic word and Kings and\nOr\nQueens were moved, men honored and dishon\nored, fleets lost, and in the end,\u2014a New Continent, a\nfew beads of copper from the savages, and vaults of\nworthless muck.\nAfter perilous expeditions had proved futile and\nvoyageurs had been knighted, the vast storehouse was\nnot even scratched and was to remain hidden from Man's\neyes for future decades, through the evolution of a New\nNation.\nSuch was the fate of the gold and copper wealth of\nNew France which, sought after at the behest of\nSovereigns, withstood these Lilliputian probings. Riches\nsecure in its bosom never filled the coffers of the Old\nWorld Kingdoms. It was not for them to know the\nromance of reaping mineral wealth from the New\nWorld. Profiting them nothing, royalty lost interest, and\nonly when the sturdy sons of the young nation took up\nthe search and wrested, through science, the secrets of\nNature, did she reward those who by sacrifice sought\nwealth and independence.\nMining consolidated the Canadian Provinces,\u2014East\nand West; fostered the construction of railways and the\ndemand for highways and airways.\nMining transformed the Wilderness; established\nnew frontiers; extended urban centres; encouraged\ncivilisation and stimulated prosperity in critical periods.\nJ\n n\nTable of (Contents\nCHAPTER I.\u2014The Early Explorers   .... 1\nCHAPTER II.\u2014Nova Scotia  17\nCHAPTER III.\u2014Quebec  27\nCHAPTER IV.\u2014Ontario  43\nCHAPTER V.\u2014Manitoba  129\nCHAPTER VI.\u2014British Columbia  149\nCHAPTER VII.\u2014Yukon and N.W.T  217\n   CHAPTER 1\nTHE EARLY EXPLORERS\n> OLD, symbolic of all mineral wealth, has perhaps\ndone more to lure adventurers, civilise frontiers,\nextend commerce and shape the course of human\nevents than any other factor; yet the thirteen-foot\ncube of gold representing Canada's billion dollar\nproduction to date \u2014 four centuries after its\ndiscovery\u2014could have been accommodated in the poop-house of\nCarrier's barque.\nThat this search for gold was not for its intrinsic wealth alone\nbut for its symbolic value is confirmed by the attitude of the most\nuncivilised tribes of the darkest corners of the earth,\u2014the urge for\nits discovery forming one of the most romantic chapters in\nCanada's history.\nHad not a stumbling horse spelt bad omen to Eric the Red,\nhe,\u2014not his son, Leif Ericson,\u2014would have had the honor of\nbeing the first white man to set foot on the New World. In 1000\nA.D., that adventurous Viking became known as Leif the Lucky\nwhen he sighted land at what is doubtless Kangalakscorvik Bay,\n T\nMINE-FINDERS\none hundred miles south of Cape Chidley, Labrador. So impressed\nwas he by the flat stones of the inlet backed by the snow-capped\nmountains that he named the spot Helluland (Land of the Flat\nStones). Thus it was that the rocks of the New World gave rise\nto the naming of the first land-mark. But the stones of this long,\njagged coast produced no gold for him or his hardy followers, and\nnot for five hundred years was the search for minerals taken up.\nFrom the Old World came skilled navigators, despatched by\nthe Sovereigns of Europe in the hope that in a new land might be\nfound riches to restore the depleted coffers of their kingdoms. The\ntales taken back to Europe by these early explorers pictured new\nworlds \"rotting with gold\", which gained for America a reputation for fabulous wealth. That these early explorers understood\nthe psychology of their sponsoring Sovereigns is illustrated by\nJacques Carrier who seized two Indians and carried them back to\nFrance where they affirmed a mythical kingdom of Sagana \"rich\nand wealthy in precious stones, abundant in cloves, nutmeg and\npepper\". By way of embellishment, he told the gullible King of\n\"men who have wings on their arms like gnats and are able to fly.\"\nWhen the Genoese navigator, Christopher Columbus, brought\ntidings of a new land back to his financial sponsor, Queen Isabella\nof Spain, in 1492, Spanish-born Pope Alexander the Sixth backed\nthe Queen in barring other Sovereigns from exploring and\nexploiting new land to the west.\nBut France, England and Portugal also had territorial aspirations which precipitated bitter enmity against Spain, an already\nformidable nation.\n\"Well-beloved John Cabot\" the Genoa-born Venetian citizen\nwho, with his sons, Sebastian, Lewis and Santius in the good ship\n\"Mathew\", sailed on May 2, 1497, from Bristol, armed with a\npatent from King Henry the Seventh of England, was a despondent\nnavigator, for Columbus, five years previous had robbed him of the\ndiscovery of the New Continent. A decade before, Cabot had\ninterested British merchants, not in his spherical world theory, but\n THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nin the possibilities of commerce by a new trade route to the east,\nbut these expeditions invariably ended in failure. For England's\nking he discovered a new continent and became the first authentic\nchronicler of the presence of copper in the new land, when he\nfound the natives wearing \"beadstones hanging from their ears\",\nevidence of \"a great plenty of copper.\"\nThere it was, after fifty-two days at sea, on Saturday morning,\nJune 24, 1497, that Cabot unfurled the royal banner and took\npossession of Cape Breton Island, which he mistook for the coast\nof Asia, and discovered not gold but a new found wealth in cod on\nthe Grand Banks off Newfoundland. On his return, Henry the\nSeventh granted a royal interview and the handsome reward of\n\u00a310 for his discovery. Cabot's discovery made an important commercial contribution to the Port of Bristol's thriving fish trade, but\nmore than that it stimulated King Francis the First of France to\nfoster expeditions, and Jacques Cartier, St. Malo-born navigator,\nset sail from that port on April 20, 1534. Skirting the Gaspe\nPeninsula and entering the Bay of Chaleur, he took as hostages\ntwo Indians of the Huron-Iroquois tribe, who related tales of gold\nand mythical wonders, which were inspiration for a second trip in\n1536. On September the first, entering and naming the St.\nLawrence River, he pressed on and anchored at the mouth of the\nSaguenay, which Indians told him was \"rich and wealthy in precious stones.\" Here he was presented with \"a great knife of red\ncopper\", hammered out of native metal by the friendly Indians.\nSailing farther up the St. Lawrence, he reached the Isle of Orleans,\nwhich he named after the King's third son. Here the Indians\ninformed him was the kingdom of Canada, in the Huron-Iroquois\ntongue, \"Village.\"\nThus it was that while seeking gold it was copper that was first\nintroduced to the early explorers. On October 2, 1536, Cartier\nreached the Indian village of Hochelaga\u2014(Montreal). Here the\nIndians escorted him to the summit of the Mountain Island,\u2014\nMount Royal, where he gazed northward over the confluence of\n_J\n ^^\nT\nMINE-FINDERS\nthe St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers to the kingdom which the\nIndians called \"Sagana.\" Carrier's diary records,\u2014\"this river, we\nthink, is the river that flows past the kingdom and province of\nSagana; and without our putting any questions or making any\nsigns, our Indian guides took the silver chain of the captain's\nwhistle and the handle of a dagger that hung at the side of one of\nour sailors,\u2014which was of brass, as yellow as gold,\u2014and made\nsigns that such things came from up the said river.\"\nThe \"precious stones\" have yet to be discovered after four\nhundred years of research, but up the Ottawa River one finds the\nmost accessible route to the famed gold fields of Porcupine,\nKirkland Lake and Northwestern Quebec, while almost on the\nbanks of Lake Temiskaming which formed the main travel route\nof the Indians up the Ottawa River to Hudson Bay, are the great\nsilver mines of Cobalt. Could the Indians of Carrier's time have\nknown of these?\nBut Francis the First was having trouble with Spain and it was\nnot until October, 1540, that Jean Francois de la Rocque, (Sieur\nde Roberval) the aristocratic soldier, was appointed first Viceroy\nof New France. Plans were laid for ten ships to carry Sieur de\nRoberval, Cartier and their colonisation expedition to New France.\nImpatient, Cartier sailed from St. Malo on May 16, 1541, without\nthe Viceroy, landing at Stadacona (Quebec) late in August, and\nproceeded up stream to Cape Rouge (Three Rivers) where he\nbuilt two forts and passed the winter of 1541-42. Here he was\ntold of a nearby iron mine, also rocks that contained gold.\nWhen Sieur de Roberval had not arrived by the following\nspring, Cartier retraced his steps to find his chief off the coast of\nNewfoundland, and complained bitterly of spending the winter,\nunaided, against the savages. But he had at least found time while\nawaiting Sieur de Roberval to sail up the St. Lawrence to\nHochelaga, where from the Indians he obtained \"ten casks of gold,\nseven of silver and seven quintels of pearls and rubies.\" Lest he\nbe robbed of the credit for his pioneering, Cartier, disgusted,\n THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nrefused to accompany Sieur de Roberval back to Cape Rouge and\nslyly headed for his native St. Malo.\nThis, the first commercial exploitation of Canada's precious\nmetals tested \"good value\", but the \"pearls and rubies\" gave rise\nto the French expression \"a Canadian diamond\", for they were\nworthless pebbles.\nWhile credit goes to Cartier as the first explorer to traffic in\nCanadaJs precious metals, there is no evidence that he did any\nprospecting, but merely accepted the overtures of the\nIndians bent on barter.\nInterest was awakened in\nCanada's gold after several\ndecades, when Sir Martin\nFrobisher, in 1576, was able\nto enthuse Queen Elizabeth of\nEngland with his samples of\n\"black earth\". Thus it was\nthat women indirectly motivated Canada's first prospector,\nfor seeking to evade the nagging propensities of his wife,\nFrobisher at the same time\nsought the favor of the Queen. The Yorkshire-born navigator\nhad weighed anchor at Blackwall, England, on June 7, 1576,\nwith his tiny armada comprising barks, \"Gabrielle\" and\n\"Michael\", and a pinnace of ten tons. The pinnace was lost\nand the Michael deserted, but the Gabrielle with Frobisher\npressed on in search of a northwest passage to Cathay and\nIndia. Mistaking a bay (Frobisher Bay) for the Straits, trouble\nwith the natives resulted in five of his men being decoyed\nand captured. Anchoring at what was later to be known as Hall\nIsland, on the north side of the bay, Frobisher impatiently awaited\nthe return of his men. While here he gathered fossils and some\nJ\n 1\nMINE-FINDERS\n\"black earth\" as proof that he had been to the new land. Rumor\nhad it that the \"black earth\" was in reality gold ore, and a welcome\nreception was given Frobisher at Court on his return to London\non October 9, 1576.\nQueen Elizabeth was so thrilled with the possibilities of gold\nfrom the new land that she fostered a big expedition. Why belittle\nso important a venture when the spoils were apparently so tremendous? Accordingly, she loaned the \"Aid\" from the Royal\nNavy, even subscribing \u00a31,000 toward the venture. Then Canada's\nfirst mining company was\nformed, \u2014 a Company of\nCathay, under a charter from\nthe Crown, and on May 26,\n1577, Frobisher led an expedition with the \"Aid\" followed by the barks, Gabrielle\nand Michael, boats and pinnaces, with an accompaniment\nof one hundred and twenty\nmen, including Cornish miners\nand refiners.\nAll thought now of a northwest passage was deferred. Retracing his steps of the previous year, Frobisher loaded up two hundred\ntons of ore and in August returned to receive the adulation of the\nQueen at Windsor.\nWaxing enthusiastic over the productiveness of the new land,\nQueen Elizabeth named it \"Meta Incognita\", and planned an even\nlarger expedition on May 31,1578\u2014this time his armada increased\nto fifteen vessels. Her Majesty again received the explorer to bid\nhim Godspeed and dramatically placed a chain of fine gold about\nhis neck.\nBut in the height of the excitement, no one seems to have\ntroubled to assay the \"black earth\", so carefully guarded in the\nvaults.   When the chemist learned the truth and found the\n THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nprecious cargo only iron pyrites,\u2014fool's gold, of no commercial\nvalue, Frobisher did not seem to lose favor with his Queen and\nwas later rewarded for his services with a knighthood. This incident in Canada's early mining history gave rise to Shakespeare's\ncryptic comment that \"all that glitters is not gold.\"\nWhile the English and French were exploring Canada from\nthe Atlantic coast, the Spanish were engaged with their gold and\nsilver search in Mexico and Central America. Not content with\ntheir successful exploits there, Juan de Fuca came up the Pacific\ncoast in 1592 and gave his name to the famous Straits. Through\nthese straits passed Canada's first gold-mad horde of miners when,\nover two centuries later, the Fraser River became the site of\nCanada's first commercial gold diggings.\nJuan de Fuca pronounced Canada's west coast \"rich of gold\nand silver, like New Spania\", and had his convictions for the\noccurrence of these metals been as strong as his record was bold,\nCanada's destiny might have rested with Spain.\nThen came a lull in the attempts to colonise New France.\nWhen Henry the Fourth ascended the French throne in 1589,\nAymer de Clermont, (Seigneur de Chastes), got the King's ear\nand financial support for another colonisation scheme, and with it\na concession,\u2014a monopoly on the fur trade in New France. Here\nit was that Samuel de Champlain, first Governor of French\nCanada, sailed in 1603 on behalf of de Chastes, to relaunch\nanother exploration effort. With Champlain was Monsieur\nPrevert and while it was colonisation that motivated the voyage,\nPrevert spent much time exploring the mineral wealth of the\nnew land. Champlain's account of Prevert's mineral explorations\nwould indicate that \"mines\" were everywhere, and his nonchalant\nreference to them differs little from the enthusiastic reports of\nprospectors that followed him down to the present day. His casual\nreference to a \"mine\", as subsequent developments have confirmed, may have consisted of nothing more than a few pieces of\nnative copper or a showing of galena.\nJ\n cpp\nMINE-FINDERS\nOn June 15, 1603, Champlain tells of Prevert's search for a\ncopper mine while the party were anchored in the Bay of Chaleur,\nNova Scotia. A vague description of his route to the \"mine\"\nterminates at a \"high mountain glittering in the sunlight, containing a large quantity of verdigris which issues out of the copper\nmine.\" Thus it was that Cape d'Or, at Minas Basin, on Nova\nScotia's west coast, got its name, but the \"mine\" that Monsieur\nPrevert referred to so glibly never became a commercial operation.\nSo perfectly does the location described by Champlain fit Cape\nd'Or that it leaves no question of its identity. To this day, nuggets\nand wafers of native copper may be found.\nIn August Champlain made yet another reference to \"a metal\nof dark brown color, but white when cut.\" He describes how the\nsavages had used this metal for their arrows and knives, and had\nbeaten it out thin with stones.\nIt is quite apparent that neither Champlain nor Prevert saw\nthis mine, although Indians said that the metal was to be found\nunder about a foot of earth. Giving the savages wedges, chisels\nand other things necessary to extract the ore, Monsieur Prevert left\nthem, and they promised to bring him the metal when he visited\nthem next year. Champlain describes the metal as being neither\n\"lead nor tin,\u2014it being so hard.\" While the mine has never been\nrediscovered, the Indians' description of the site fits Pictou Island,\noff the mouth of Pugwash River, for Champlain described how the\nIndians were prone to decorate themselves with a pigment which\nis to be found near this point.\nThe country seemed to be fairly overrun with mines, for while\nat Gaspe Champlain learned from the savages that by following a\nriver (Metapedia) emptying into Chaleur Bay, one comes to a\nlake, (Metapedia Lake) which dried up in summer and where one\nand one-half feet underground was a metal which the Indians said\nresembled the silver which Champlain showed them. Also near\nthis lake, he said, is a \"copper mine.\"\nThese extensive evidences of copper and silver must have\n  THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nimpressed Champlain and Monsieur Prevert, for the next year,\u2014\n1604, on his second voyage to this continent, Champlain brought\nwith him Master Simon, a mining engineer, to make a close check\nof Prevert's reference to minerals.\nOn May 16, 1604, Champlain records that he sailed farther\ninto French Bay (Bay of Fundy) to approach Cape d'Or by\nanother and more accessible water route. On this occasion he\nfound two more \"copper mines, not in native state\", which he said\nMaster Simon \"considered very good.\" This place has been\nidentified as Black Point, some two miles along the Coast from\nCape d'Or. Master Simon seems to have been quite successful at\nprospecting, for Champlain records that on May 15 he sailed\nnortheast from Long Island, which forms the western shore of\nSt. Mary's Bay on the southwest corner of Nova Scotia. In a cove\nhe found a safe anchor and with it \"a very good silver mine.\" This\nis no other than Mink Cove, on the east side of Digby neck, but\nMaster Simon's mineral identification seems to have been somewhat at fault, because the rocks here contain galena, often\nmistaken for silver.\nA quarter of a league from the \"silver mine\", Champlain found\nan \"iron mine\", which Master Simon estimated would yield fifty\nper cent metal. Thus it was that the present day Sandy Cove, just\nnorth of Mink Cove, came to Champlain's attention.\nThree leagues farther northeastward, Champlain reports yet\n\"another good iron mine\", where the soil was \"red like blood.\"\nThis leaves little doubt that the site was Waterford, Nova Scotia.\nAgain, in June, 1613, Champlain tells of meeting two Indians,\none an Algonquin and the other a Montagnais, when eight leagues\ndown the St. Lawrence from Quebec. He took them into his\npinnace and \"entertained them well\", whereupon \"the Algonquin\ndrew a piece of copper a foot long out of a sack and presented it\nto him.\" Champlain said that it was very fine and pure and he was\n\"much pleased with the gift, although it was of small value.\" He\nwas given to understand that the metal was abundant \"on the\njb\n MINE-FINDERS \t\nbank of a river, near a large lake.\" But here, too, the source of the\ncopper seems to have escaped identification.\nOn December 3, 1653, when Louis the Fourteenth of France\ngranted to Sieur Nicholas Denys a patent to explore for minerals\nin New France, he gave a sweeping concession which was virtually\na monopoly, lightly taxed, of the mineral resources, as the patent\nwill testify. \"It is our will and intention that Sieur Denys shall\nreserve to himself and enjoy fully all the lands previously conceded to him by the Company of New France,\u2014to him and his\nheirs, and to grant and alienate such part of these as he may think\nbest; that he shall have careful search made for the mines of gold,\nsilver, copper and other metals and minerals and have them\nbrought and converted to use, reserving for us from the profit\nwhich shall arise from those of gold and silver only, ten per cent,\nand we leave and assign to him that which would appertain to us\nfrom any of the other metals or minerals, in order to help him to\nmeet the other expenses which his charge will bring him.\"\nThe expedition of Denys was the first full time attempt to\ndevelop minerals on this Continent, and while there is no record\nof Denys' venture being profitable, he is the first accredited\nobserver of the coal outcropping on Cape Breton Island. Not\nuntil the voyageur published his memoirs in Paris in 1672 is\nmention made of coal. Casually he refers to this, one of the\ngreatest coal deposits on the North American Continent, as being\n\"as good as the coal of Scotland\", according to tests made on the\nsite and in France. How this outcrop could have been overlooked\nby keen-eyed explorers for one hundred and seventy-five years is\ninexplicable, unless it was that while they observed it, they considered it of so little value that they failed to make reference to it.\nWhile Denys' report is dated 1672, it is certain that Talon,\nIntendant of New France, knew of Cape Breton coal, for in 1667\nhe compared his Quebec \"coal\" discovery with that of Cape\nBreton.\nWhen Jean Baptiste Colbert, Louis the Fourteenth's able\n10\n THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nstatesman, made lawyer Jean Talon Jntendent of New France in\n1665, and commissioned him with the management of the colony,\nanother effort was made to explore the mineral riches of Canada.\nFollowing the reports of silver, copper and iron, Talon\nappointed Sieur de la Teserie in August, 1666, to prospect, and\nconfirm the rumors of minerals that had come to him. It was on\nTalon's order that Sieur de la Teserie explored and favorably\nreported on the Baie de St. Paul iron indications, sixty-five miles\nbelow Quebec, that prompted Colbert's sending M. de la\nPotardiere, able French iron operator, to inspect the showing in\n1667.\nCartier had told of iron near Cape Rouge; thus it was that the\nbog iron deposits of the St. Maurice River were rediscovered in\n1666, which gave birth to the first metallurgical industry in\nCanada, when they came under commercial exploitation in 1737.\nTalon also reported enthusiastically to Colbert in 1667 of coal\nat the foot of Quebec Rock, which he said \"is good enough for\nthe forge.\" \"If the test is satisfactory I shall see that our vessels\ntake loads of it to serve as ballast. It would be a good help in our\nNaval construction. We could then do without English coal.\"\nThe next year Talon again reported to Colbert,\u2014\"The coal\nmine opened at Quebec, which originated in the cellar of a lower\ntown residence and is continued through the Cape under the\nChateau St. Louis. Could not be worked, I fear, without imperilling the stability of the Chateau. However, I shall try to\nfollow another direction, for notwithstanding the excellent mine\nin Cape Breton, it would be a capital thing for the ships landing\nat Quebec to find coal here.\"\nWhat Talon referred to as \"coal at the foot of Quebec Rock\"\nis a vague chapter in early history, for it is unknown to-day, and\nthe absence of reference to it in subsequent reports to Colbert\nwould indicate that it was an unsuccessful development. It may\nbe that across the St. Lawrence River at Levis where anthraxolite\noccurs in black shales was the coal deposit that Talon referred to\nJ>\n *m\n1\nMINE-FINDERS\nas being at the foot of Quebec Rock. When Sieur Chevalier de\nTroyes headed for Moose Factory on James Bay, early in 1686, he\nmight have changed the destiny of France and the North American\nContinent, if his eagerness to oust the British at Moose Factory had\nbeen turned to the more practical ambition of prospecting, when\nthe Indians showed him the silver-lead mine on the east shore of\nLake Temiskaming.\nDe Troyes' diary of May 24, 1686, describes the mine as being\n\"a rock in the form of a half circle.\" French maps as early as\n1744 showed \"Ance a la Mine\",\u2014 (Bay of the Mine). De Troyes\napparently was not impressed with the lead-silver ore encountered,\nand pressed on to Moose Factory, little realising that near the\nopposite shore of Lake Temiskaming, he was brushing past silver\ndeposits, discovered two hundred years later, that proved to be one\nof the greatest silver camps in the world, and which directly lead\nto the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake goldfields a few miles north,\nthat were to elevate Canada to the position of second largest\nproducer in the world.\nLittle is heard of Canada's minerals for the next fifty years,\nuntil the bog iron deposits on the St. Maurice River were turned\nto practical development and the first iron smelter was blown in,\nlaunching Canada's first successful metallurgical enterprise.\nFollowing in Champlain's footsteps came scores of explorers\nthat penetrated far into the hinterland of Canada, made accessible\nby its rivers and lakes.\nIn this vanguard of explorers were two native sons of Three\nRivers, Quebec,\u2014Pierre Radisson and Mederic Groseilliers who,\nin 1667, found English financial support for their fur-trading\nproject, and thus came the formation of \"The Company of Gentlemen Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay\", contracted to \"Hudson's Bay Co.\"\u2014an enterprise having an intimate\nassociation with Canada's mineral discoveries, as its frontier trading posts became Meccas for barter and gossip for Indian and white\nprospectors alike.\n THE   EARLY   EXPLORERS\nAnd thus it was that the history of Canada's early mineral\ndiscoveries were all along the early water routes of transportation.\nThe copper showings along the north shore of Lake Superior\nattracted comment of these early explorers. In 1636, copper was\nreported in the hands of the barbarians in the district, by the Jesuit\nmissionaries who in 1660 had knowledge of native copper at\nMamainse Point, while in 1770 Alexander Henry, backed by the\nDuke of Gloucester, formed Ontario's first mining company to\nwork the deposit.\nFrom the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the forty-ninth parallel\nto the Arctic Circle, copper was known to the aborigines of\nCanada. When the first explorers of British North America met\nthese natives, the Micmacs of Nova Scoria were wearing ornaments\nand had crude utensils from the native copper of Acadia. The\nHaida Indians, on Vancouver Island, the Hurons of the north\nshores of the Great Lakes were all familiar with this metal, while\nthe Esquimaux of the Far North early gave name to the Coppermine River as their source of the metal. When Samuel Hearne,\nthe youthful clerk of the Hudson's Bay Co. at Fort Churchill,\nreached the Coppermine River in 1771, he found the Indians well\nversed in the use of crude copper implements. At Bloody Falls,\non the Coppermine River, Hearne's Indians swooped down on a\nparty of sleeping Esquimaux, who gathered there each summer to\nfish, and murdered the entire band encamped on that side of the\nriver. Hence the name of the falls. Hearne's knowledge of\nminerals was undoubtedly limited, and he reported having seen\nthe copper mines from which the natives were securing the copper,\nbut failed to give an accurate description of any deposit. Like\nother early explorers, his \"mines\" have proven showings of native\ncopper with the commercial aspects yet to be demonstrated.\nThree hundred and forty-six years after Cabot touched the\nshores of Canada, which precipitated a controversy between the\nEnglish and French for its possession,\u2014settled on the Plains of\nAbraham in 1759,\u2014the young Government of Canada first gave\n13\n MINE-FINDERS \t\nserious consideration to the mineral possibilities of the country,\nwhich had drawn favorable comment from the early explorers.\nPrevious to this time, no precious metal or base metal mining had\nassumed commercial proportions. True, the iron furnaces of the\nSt. Maurice had been operating for over a hundred years, and the\ncoal fields of Nova Scotia were beginning to find commercial\nexploitation in private hands.\nIn 1843 begins a chapter of Canada's commercial mining history that has slowly but surely evolved into its greatest industry,\neven exceeding the renowned wheat production. With its Pre-\nCambrian shield, blanketing two-thirds of the Dominion,\u2014one of\nthe most important mineral storehouses of the world,\u2014the young\nGovernment of Upper Canada, in 1842, became cognizant of its\npotential mineral riches and appointed Sir William E. Logan as\nthe first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, who started\nthe first scientific study of its minerals.\nWhen Lord Durham recommended the Act of Union,\u2014passed\nin 1841,\u2014cementing the politically distressed Governments of\nLower and Upper Canada to form the nucleus of the Dominion of\nCanada, a petition of the Historical Society of Quebec and the\nNatural History Society of Montreal, pleading for a geological\nstudy of Canada's minerals, found a keen supporter in Lord Sydenham, the new Governor-General, which submerged the apathy of\nthe politicians toward Canada's minerals.\nWhen \u00a31,500 was appropriated by the New Government sitting\nin Kingston, \"to defray the probable expenses in causing a geological survey of the Province of Canada\", the choice of William\nLogan for the position found staunch support among his fellow\nscientists, and in August, 1842, he arrived from England, to get a\ncold reception at Kingston by the unsympathetic politicians, who\ntold him that minor matter such as his duties involved must accede\nto more momentous problems.\nLogan's arrival at Kingston gave conception to an atmosphere\nof mining, the educational influence of which, from the Mining\n The early explorers\nSchool of Queens University, has spread to the four corners of\nthe globe.\nBorn of Scottish parents in Montreal on April 20, 1798, Logan\nmanifested his interest in geology at Edinburgh University and\nat the age of thirty-three, when he took charge of his uncle's colliery interests in Swansea and his Forest Copper Works, the opportunity presented itself to intimately exercise his bent for geology.\nBy 1840 his celebrated paper before the Geological Society of\nLondon won him instant recognition for his ability.\nSo when the united Governments of Upper and Lower Canada\nsought its first director of the Geological Survey of Canada, Logan\nbecame the unanimous choice, and continued until 1869. During\nthe early years of his survey almost insurmountable difficulties and\nprivations presented themselves, as he indefatigably visited,\nmapped and reported on the mineral occurrences from the Gaspe\nto the head of Lake Superior. To his lasting credit as a trustworthy observer, his voluminous reports remain a monument to\nhis ability and he was rewarded by a knighthood from his Queen\nin 1856.\nLogan's genius as a scientist in interpreting the secrets of the\nrocks gave a stimulus to prospecting that brought its own reward\nwhen he saw the long-known copper deposits of the north shore of\nLake Superior assume Canada's first commercial development.\nHis regime, too, witnessed the first commercial exploitations\nof the placer gold mining in British Columbia and lode gold mining in Nova Scotia, which ushered in an era of successful mining\nand cemented these distant Provinces in a common interest and\nambition following the formation of the Dominion of Canada in\n1867.\nTruly, Logan was the father of eastern Canada's mineral\nindustry, but his activities did not stop at the International boundary, and to him goes the credit for discovering the anthracite coal\ndeposits of Pennsylvania.\n MINE-FINDERS\n NOVA SCOTIA\nCoal Mining Pioneers\nTO Nova Scotia goes the honor of cradling Canada's mining\nindustry. Here it was that coal commanded attention for\nits commercial possibilities decades before serious attention was\npaid to the mining of metals elsewhere in Canada. More than\nthat, Nova Scotia pioneered in lode gold mining and became the\ngreat training ground for prospectors who added laurels to the\nmining industry in other provinces.\nIf George the Fourth's brother, Frederick, the \"Grand old\nDuke of York and Albany\", had not managed to get himself so\ndeeply in debt with his jewellers, the coal mining industry of\nNova Scotia might have been further deferred.\nFrom Sieur Nicolas Denys' report of 1672 and his coal discoveries on Cape Breton Island, until 1825, and the financial\nembarrassment of Frederick, there had been only sporadic attempts\nto mine coal in New Scotland.\njycj\n MINE-FINDERS\nWhen Admiral Walker commanded an expedition in 1711 to\nreduce the French at Quebec, he stoked his bunkers with coal from\nthe cliffs of Cape Breton to protect him from the rigorous winter,\nbut here again it only served as a convenience and was not commercially important.\nWhile the French were in possession of the country, coal was\nundoubtedly obtained in small quantities from the exposed seams\nby the colonists. Most of this was picked up from the surface and\nno attempt made to mine it in the modern sense of the word.\nWhile the coal deposits of Nova Scotia were receiving scant\ncommercial attention, the outcrops across the Bay of Fundy at\nGrand Lake were making history by initiating export trade, as the\ncairn at Minto, New Brunswick, testifies:\n\"First Export of Coal\"\n\"Soon after the occupation of Acadie by the French, coal was\ndiscovered in this region. Before the middle of the 17th century\nit was being shipped from Grand Lake to Boston by water. This\nexport trade in coal was the first to be developed on the entire\nEastern Coast of North America.\"\nAs early as 1639 the \"Massachusetts Colonial Record\" reported\nthe export of coal to New England. Governor John Winthrop of\nMassachusetts recorded that in 1643 Charles La Tour engaged\nvessels in Boston to attack his rival, Charnisay, then blockading\nwhat is now Saint John harbour. It appears that the defender was\nforced to give way to the challenger with the loss of a fur-laden\npinnace. He then sailed up through the Jemseg to the north side\nof Grand Lake where the vessel's holds were stoked with coal for\nBoston.\nThis antedates the references of that Franciscan friar, Father\nLouis Hennepin, who in 1679 made the first observations of coal\nin the United States near what is now Ottawa, Illinois.\nDuring the building of the fortress at Louisburg in 1720, coal\nwas mined on the north side of Cow Bay (Port Morien) to supply\nthe workmen in such quantities that a substantial pit was formed,\n NOVA   SCOTIA\nwhich can still be seen near the site of the famed old fort. But it\nwas looked upon merely as a convenience and not as a potential\nsource of wealth.\nIn 1758, when the British captured Louisburg, one of those\neras of stubborn official apathy toward mining set in. Early British\nsettlers in Nova Scotia were in dire need of coal, as protection\nagainst the long, cold winters, and many of the pioneers saw the\ncommercial possibilities of the coal deposits, with the result that\nthe British Government was approached to grant concessions. But\nfor no apparent reason, all such requests were refused. When\nappeals were pressed, the only answer was to send troops to force\nthe regulations against making use of nature's generous gift. The\nbitter experience of those pioneers to have to devote so much time\nand energy to cutting fuel in the forest, when right at their doors\nlay vast quantities of much more desirable coal, gnawed deep into\nthe loyal hearts of these colonists. In 1766, however, three Halifax merchants were privileged to supply three thousand caldrons\nof coal for the settlement, by paying four hundred pounds sterling\ntoll.   The coal came from Sydney, then called Spanish River.\nCape Breton, where the greatest manifestations of coal appeared,\nwas made a separate province in 1784, and Lieutenant-Governor\nDesbarres then granted limited concessions, and systematic mining started on the northwest shore of Sydney harbour, with the\ncoal selling at eleven shillings and sixpence a ton. But so stringent\nwere the restrictions and heavy the imposts, that coal production\nwas an unprofitable enterprise. As a perquisite of office, Governor\nDesbarres' successor collected for himself three shillings and sixpence a ton from Thomas Huxley, until it was abolished by the\nSecretary of State in 1792.\nThis condition continued until 1825, and doubtless would have\ncontinued longer had not Frederick, the Duke of York, bought\nmore jewels for his favorites and himself than he could afford.\nAs his creditors became more insistent and more bold in demanding a settlement of their accounts, Frederick approached his\n I\nMINE-FIN DERS\nbrother, King George the Fourth, and laid bare his troubles.\nReady to aid his importunate brother, George the Fourth leased\non August 26,1826, the minerals of the new land to Frederick, for\nsixty years, in order to settle his jewellers' accounts. Frederick\nwasted no time in paying his debt and again establishing his credit.\nWithin two weeks he had sub-leased his mining rights to a group\nof men, including creditors John Bridge, Edmund Waller Rundle,\nThomas Brigge and John Rawley, of the London firm of goldsmiths, Rundle, Bridge & Rundle, who formed the General Mining Association, which was to play such an important role in the\nmining history of the Province. Having complete rights to any\nminerals whatsoever, the Association first planned to develop copper, the presence of which had been described by Champlain. It\ndid not take long, however, for the engineers of the company to\nbecome convinced that the mineral with the most immediate\npossibilities was coal. With the payment of a royalty of six\nthousand pounds sterling annually, mining started, and by 1828\nsurface operations in the Sydney and Pictou fields were yielding\ntwenty-one thousand tons annually.\nThe first shaft to be sunk in Nova Scotia was on the Sydney\nmain coal seam in 1830. Old records of the General Mining\nAssociation show that between its formation and 1864, \u00a3300,000\nwas spent on opening up these mines. That progress was made\nis shown in the fact that from twenty-one thousand tons in 1828,\nproduction jumped to two hundred and ninety-four thousand tons\nin 1858.\nThe monopoly enjoyed by this association, however, formed\nan unhealthy situation, and it was inevitable that it should eventually be broken. It irked the settlers and colonists, now conscious\nof their own entity as a province, to have such a personal possession as mineral deposits entirely under the thumb of one company.\nSo active became the hostility to the status quo that in 1857 the\nGeneral Mining Association surrendered its claim to most of the\nmineral wealth of the province and control fell into the hands of\n NOVA   SCOTIA\nthe Nova Scotia legislature. The General Mining Association,\nhowever, was not to pass out of existence, for it was given concession in three limited areas to be selected by itself. It is a\ntribute to the engineers of the company that the areas chosen are\nstill the most profitable coal fields in the province and comprise the\nproperties now owned by Acadia Coal Co. at Albion mines,\nDominion Coal Co., Springhill mine, and the Nova Scotia Steel\n& Coal Co. at Sydney.\nWith the lifting of the grip of the General Mining Association,\na host of independent companies sprang up, and coal production\nreceived a striking stimulus. A further impetus to production was\ngiven in 1880, when the Nova Scotia Steel Co. was formed; thus\nproviding the first large scale home market for coal. The\nDominion Coal Co. was formed in 1890, and Nova Scotia's\nsteadily climbing coal production was boosted still higher.\nThe manufacture of iron and steel has always been associated\nwith coal production, and in 1900 the Dominion Iron & Steel Co.\nwas formed, providing a vast home market for Nova Scotia coal,\ntreating iron ore from the rich iron deposits in Newfoundland,\nowned by the company. In that year the production of coal in the\nprovince soared to three million tons. The maximum production\nwas reached in 1913 with 7,203,913 tons.\nGold is Found\nStupidity, cupidity, thievery, resourcefulness and sheer honest\neffort are the paradoxical ingredients of the history of gold mining\nin Nova Scotia. During the period between 1862 and 1934,\nofficial reports show nine hundred and seventy-seven thousand\nounces,\u2014about twenty million dollars worth reported to the Government, with the peak production reached at the close of the last\ncentury. How much was not reported, with pilfering rampant, is\nan interesting but untold story.\nThe name of the first man to actually discover gold in the\nprovince is lost in a welter of legend and casual historic references\nmj\n 1\nMINE-FINDERS\nwhich date back to Samuel de Champlain. The discovery of gold\nis so inextricably mixed up with that of other minerals that the\ndate will always remain unknown.\nAbout 1849, W. Crook, a young Lawrencetown farmer,\nbrought some gold-bearing quartz to his father, who examined it\nand then remonstrated with his son for wasting his time playing\nwith rocks. \"Throw that rubbish awa'; drop this nonsense and\nget on with your work,\" the youthful prospector was told. Not so\nmany years later, gold was found in large quantities near the\nCrook's farm.\nAnother reference avers that in the early thirties laborers\nworking on road construction at Isaac Harbor and Sherbrooke\nnoticed the bright yellow metal in the stone. They joked about\nits being gold and whittled it with their knives. But as later\ndevelopment indicated, the metal really was gold.\nIt was the California gold rush in 1849 that indirectly brought\nabout the first organised search for gold in Nova Scotia. When\nJohn Campbell left Scotland and his friends behind to seek his\nfortune, leisure hours hung heavily, and in order to while away\nthe time and dream of his far-away sweetheart, he was prone to\nwalk the sandy shores of Halifax harbor. He planned joining the\nCalifornia gold rush in 1849, but that only broadened the gap\nbetween him and his sweetheart, so with characteristic resourcefulness he decided to launch his own little gold rush in his adopted\nprovince and so set out to find what possibilities were in store.\nWith the aid of a battered wash basin as a gold pan, he found\ngold in small quantities at several points along the east shore, and\nin 1857 succeeded in panning it from the sands of Fort Lawrence.\nWith him was R. G. Fraser, who acted as assayer. But Campbell,\nlike so many early miners, was hampered by the Government that\nshould have backed him. He had such faith in the gold possibilities of the area that he sought a license to prospect and mine\nthe sands of Sable Island, but the Government insisted on such\nstringent terms that he abandoned the idea.\n22\n NOVA   SCOTIA\nMoose, rather than gold, was the objective of the next party\nwhich made gold mining history in Nova Scotia. Lieutenant\nL'Estrange, in September, 1858, set out on a moose hunt on the\nTangier River. He was accompanied by Gilbert Elliott, of\nH.M.S. \"Indus\". Acting as guides to the two naval officers were\nthree Indians, Noel Louis, alias Plowich, Joe Paul and Frank Cope.\nFree showing of gold was noticed by this party in the area now\nknown as Mooseland.\nWhen this party returned and reported their discovery they\nmet with the same cynical apathy which had always greeted reports\nof gold discoveries in the province. One member of the party,\u2014\nJoe Paul, the Indian, failed to be affected by this attitude, however, and persuaded John S. Pulsiver, a farmer of Musquodoboit,\nto return to the Mooseland area in 1860. On the last Friday in\nMay the two found quartz-carrying gold. They hastened back to\nHalifax to report their discovery and on their way found other\nevidences of gold, one of which led to the find made by Peter\nMason in October, I860, at the head of the Tangier Harbor.\nPulsiver was destined to meet with the same lack of enthusiasm\nwhich had balked his predecessors. However, news of his find circulated fast, and the rush of people into the area in 1861 forced\nthe hand of the Government.\nThis was not the first mining venture of John Pulsiver. In\n1850, ten years before, he had formed a gold mining syndicate.\nWith him in this venture were a Captain McLeod, Edward Taylor,\nW. H. Hurry and John Taylor. This syndicate seems to have\nbased its faith chiefly on the fact that laurels, similar to those\ngrowing over the goldfields of California, grew in certain areas\nin Nova Scotia. Operations could not have been very encouraging, because in 1854 the company was dissolved \"by mutual consent.\" One of the reasons given for this company's unhappy fate\nwas that they ran out of food \"because the Indians ate so much.\"\nTypical of the incredulity which swayed Government circles\nwas the attitude of Honorable Joseph Howe, Provincial Secretary\n23\n3\n MINE-FINDERS\nat the rime, who examined the area and in all sincerity convinced\nhimself that gold did not exist in sufficient quantities to make\nmining profitable. With the interests of the people at heart he\ntold them that \"there was not enough gold to make a lady's\nthimble.\" He admonished them,\u2014\"go home and mend your old\nshoes\"!\nBut King Canute's task of sweeping back the seas was a sinecure in comparison to trying to stem a gold rush, and people\nflocked into the bush, gold bent. In 1861 such important mining\ndistricts as Sherbrooke, Lawrencetown, Wine Harbor, Oldham,\nWaverley and many others were discovered. The stampede was\na wild one and many persons bought land which they had never\nseen, on the flimsy promise of gold possibilities.\nThe goldfields of Nova Scotia occupy almost one-half the\nprovince, lying along the Atlantic Coast and extending full length\nof the peninsula from Canso to Yarmouth. The extreme length\nis some two hundred and seventy-five miles and the width varies\nfrom ten miles at the eastern end to forty miles from Tangier to\nStewiacke, and seventy miles at the western end. In all, it occupied some ten thousand square miles.\nIn 1861 the first mine was opened in Mooseland by John\nMcKenzie and associates, Norell, Veitch, Taylor, Holdsworth,\nOkes, Verge and Dickie.\nInevitably, the slump was as acute as the enthusiasm. When\nthe spring came and the melting snows failed to expose the rich\nrocks, a depression set in which reached its peak in the fall of 1862.\nBitterly, Pulsiver wrote that the Government had compelled him,\nthe discoverer of the area, to pay a twenty dollar fee \"like any\nother man\"!\nBut the depression was a blessing for mining as a whole. The\nwild enthusiasm of 1861 was checked. Individual attempts at\nmining were abandoned and operators on adjoining properties\nunited their forces. Better results from this saner method were\nobtained, so that by 1867 and 1868, excitement had again been\n NOVA   SCOTIA\nrevived. English and United States capital poured into the country and in 1867 production had reached 27,583 ounces. This was\nan era of \"big business\" and callous speculation.\nAgain the reaction was felt; again a depression set in and production suffered. By 1874 gold production in Nova Scotia fell to\n9,141 ounces. This time it took fifteen years for the industry to\nrecover from the cloud under which it had fallen. Pilfering and\nwholesale theft had accompanied the boom of 1867. Such amazing proportions did this thieving reach that a law was passed,\nmaking it a criminal offense for any pedlar to be caught within\nthree miles of a gold mine with gold in his possession.\nThe story is told that Nova Scotia gold mining introduced the\nfirst taste of socialism into industry, for the miners considered it\none of the perquisites of the job to pilfer choice pieces of free\ngold. But if they were \"high graders\" they were also good miners\nand the record they made in recovering the gold by amalgamation\nconfirms the fcict that they were also good metallurgists, for\ndespite the primitive methods, attempts to glean a profit from the\nold rock and tailings dumps have proven futile.\nIt was during this rush that the first stamp mill in all Canada\nwas erected at Waverley. By 1869 there were seventy-three companies in the field whose total production was $9,240,000, or about\nthirty thousand dollars each. In that year some fifty-five mills\nwere in operation, of the five and ten stamp variety.\nThe story of gold mining in Nova Scotia from 1875 is one of\nsudden growth and retrogression, waxing and waning. Throughout it all, however, the trend to a saner basis is visible. The use\nof dynamite, applied in the seventies, boosted production considerably and the industry was quick to adopt more modern mining\nmethods.\nOne of the greatest periods in the industry's history was from\n1896 to 1903, when production reached over twenty-five thousand\nounces per annum.\n MINE-FINDERS\n CHAPTER III\nIron Smelting Begins\nTHE foundation of Canada's metallurgical industry was laid\nnear Three Rivers, Quebec, in 1660, under the administration of the great French statesman, Jean Colbert, who ordered\nJean Talon, Intendant of New France, to search for iron and\nestablish furnaces to smelt it. The far-seeing Colbert knew full\nwell the value of iron to the hardy pioneers, not only so essential\nfor their cannon balls, but for their pressing necessity of the many\nimplements employed in the opening up of a new country. Jacques\nCartier had already conceived the idea that there might be iron\nnear the St. Lawrence, for in 1541, on his third voyage to Canada,\nhe reported how at Fort Cape Rouge, near the present site of\nThree Rivers, he had been told of an iron mine.\nTo Champlain goes the credit of recognising the present site\nof Three Rivers, Quebec, as a strategic point, and in 1603 he\nrecommended that a fort be established on the site. Following\nthe pleadings of an Algonquin chieftain, Capitanal, who visited\nChamplain in Quebec, he ordered one of his lieutenants, Sieur de\n MINE-FINDERS\nLaviolette, to construct a fort, in order that fur trading might be\nconducted, and offer protection from the marauding Iroquois.\nIn a famed document, the \"Cataloque des Tre Passez,\" a\nregister of the early religious authorities of deaths and burials,\nrecords on July 4, 1634, Laviolette's arrival.\nFollowing the construction of the fort, it became a fur-trading\ncentre and the many paths beaten to the settlement led to the discovery of the nearby bog iron deposits on the St. Maurice River,\nwhich prompted M. de la Potardiere, French iron operator, coming from France in 1667 and reporting favorably on the deposits.\nAlthough it had been the\ncommand of Colbert to search\nfor ore and establish furnaces,\nTalon did not dare to involve\nKing Louis in further expenses\nand it was not until five years\nafter the discovery in 1672\nthat Frontenac, the energetic\nGovernor of New France,\nvisited the mines a few miles\nfrom the fort and reported\nfully to Louis the Fourteenth\nof the importance to the\ncolonists of the nearby supply of iron. But the amorous Louis\nwas more concerned with his own pleasure. Also, the merchant\nprinces of France did not relish the idea of seeing their profitable\nforeign trade disturbed by the industry of colonists; so it was not\nuntil 1733, by order of Louis the Fifteenth, that the ore deposits\nwere opened by Poulin de Francheville and the place named \"Le\nVillage des Forges\", overlooking the St. Maurice River, seven miles\nnorthwest of Three Rivers. Four years later, on August 20, 1737,\nthe first iron ore was smelted by Cugnet & Cie, better known as\n\"Compagnie des Forges\". The new settlement was an important A\nsocial centre and the big stone house of the manager, overlooking * -\n QUEBEC\nthe St. Maurice, was a favorite rendezvous for celebrities visiting\nthe area.\nOre for the industry was dredged out of the nearby Lac de la\nTorque which, for more than two hundred years, supplied most\nof the bog iron ore that was smelted and cast into stoves, kettles,\nutensils and ship's fittings, as well as cannon balls, so essential for\nthe defense of the French forts.\nBut the first furnace had little success and in 1740 operations\nsuspended, with the charter reverting to the French Government\nat Three Rivers. Thus, the first blast furnace on the North\nAmerican continent became a failure until three years later in\n1743, when Louis the Fifteenth ordered that the operations be\nconsolidated and worked on account of, and in his name as King.\nBut Louis Fifteenth's domain in New France was cut short a few\nyears later when in 1759 General Wolfe wrested Canada from the\nFrench and with it the iron forges of St. Maurice.\nWhen in 1775 the American troops under Benedict Arnold\nseized Three Rivers, he, with militant persuasion, forced the management of \"The Forges\" to supply the necessary cannon balls, that\nhe might bombard the Citadel at Quebec.\nBut British politicians were still indifferent to the natural\nresources of Canada, and it remained for Shelburne, in 1762, to\narise to its defense in the British House of Commons, where he\nlisted among Canada's resources the iron forges of St. Maurice.\nIn the hands of British interests, this pioneer iron furnace continued to operate until 1883, and was truly the forerunner of\nCanada's metallurgical industry.\n MINE-FINDERS\nChaudiere Gold\nTo Quebec belongs the prestige of Canada's premier gold discovery when a woman, in 1823, found specks of yellow metal near\nthe mouth of the Touffe des Pins,\u2014later named the Gilbert River,\na tributary of the Chaudiere. It was of passing interest, however,\nfor gold was so foreign to these thrifty and contented pioneers\nthat it is doubtful if they ever had seen the metal except as the\nshiny ornaments of the parish church. But the discovery created\nno interest, and it was not until 1834 when Clothilde Gilbert,\nwatering her horse near the same spot in the stream, spied a\n\"yellow stone,\"as she thought, in the river, and was curious enough\nto carry it home, but her father, Leger Gilbert, ignorant of its\nvalue, sold it for forty dollars. This, too, would doubtless have\ngone unrecorded but for a reference in Silliman's Journal, by\nGeneral Baddeley, in 1835, then a lieutenant in the engineers'\ncorps. It was of scientific interest only to the soldier, and his\nearly reference did not excite commercial interest. Thus, Canada's\nfirst recorded gold discovery in the midst of one of the earliest\nsettlements,\u2014the Eastern townships of Quebec, went practically\nunheralded.\nWhen Sir William Logan established the nucleus of the Geological Survey in 1843, one of the first areas to be examined was\nthe Eastern townships, and his report of 1847-48 contains a long\ndescription of the geological formations which he records as\nresembling regions in other countries where gold has been discovered. \"The quantity of the gold in the valley of the Chaudiere\nRiver is such as would be remunerative to skilled labor and should\nencourage the outlay of capital,\" commented Logan. On September 18, 1846, M. Delury obtained a patent from the Crown,\ngiving him the exclusive right to forever work the gravel beds\nwithin the limits of his seigniory of Rigaud-Vaudreuil, for gold.\nThe Chaudiere Mining Co. was then formed and when miners\nwithout licenses started panning gold, bailiffs drove them off.\nPlacer mining became an established industry in 1847, and\n QUEBEC\nbetween 1863 and 1885, the period of greatest activity, some two\nmillion dollars in gold is accredited to the gravels of the Chaudiere\nRiver, but more particularly to its tributaries, Des Mules, the Gilbert, De Loup and Famine. Old records show that in 1851 the\nCanada Gold Mining Co., operating in the seigniory Aubert de\nl'lsle, on the Riviere de Loup, garnered twenty-one hundred and\nseven pennyweights of gold from the stream near its junction with\nthe Chaudiere.\nAbout thirty miles southeast of Sherbrooke, gold was found on\nthe Little Ditton River in 1863 by Archie Annis, an Indian,\ncredited with attending Dartmouth College, where doubtless his\nacademic training found expression in the commercial possibilities\nof his find. The next we learn is that the Honorable John Henry\nPope was led to the Indian's discovery and that he acquired the\nproperty and worked it until 1889, with a recovery estimated at\nfive hundred thousand dollars, gleaned from the river bed, one\nhundred feet in width by twenty-two hundred feet in length.\nCanada's Oldest Mine\n\"Good mines die hard and new ones are born of heavy burden\", finds true expression in the Eastern townships of Quebec,\ncentered about Sherbrooke, where Canada's oldest mining enterprise, the Eustis copper mine, two years older than the Dominion\nitself, continues to withstand economic adversities, while following its profitable ore shoot through the deepest shaft in Canada.\nWhen the Dominion, and the Eustis mine were young, the\nEastern townships was one of the leading copper producing centres of the Continent and is credited with a production, to 1934,\nof approximately thirty thousand tons of copper.\nWhile new finds throughout the Dominion have greately overshadowed this premier copper producer, its record of continuous\nproduction remains unshaken.\nSir William E. Logan, whose trails are crossed so many times\nin subsequent mineral discoveries, made reference to the Eastern\ntownships in his geological report for 1847-48.    He made an\ng\n 1\nMINE-FINDERS\nexamination of copper prospects at Carbuncle Mountain at Bromp-\nton Lake, where he reported, \"the quantity appears to be too\ninsignificant in every case to be worthy of future notice with the\nexception of three, where the lode occurring in veins, bearing the\ncharacter of regular lodes, seems to be sufficient in amount to\njustify the risk of small crop trials; notwithstanding that the\npromise of a profitable result cannot be asserted to be very encouraging.\"\nThe report of 1847-48 mentions the opening of a quarry on\nthe fifty-first lot of the twenty-first range of Upton, where a copper-\nbearing lode was uncovered. He commented that\u2014\"its irregularities appear too great to render the ore being profitably mined,\nunless as an adjunct to the quarrying of the rock.\"\nBy 1848, the Megantic Mining Co. had been formed, at the\ninstigation of Dr. James Douglas, to work showings in Inverness,\nHalifax and New Ireland townships. That these early abortive\nmining activities were in inexperienced hands is told by Dr.\nDouglas who, in 1850, reports a shareholder of the enterprise as\nseriously calculating how best to dispose of the enormous potential\nfortune, and how he patriotically settled the question by deciding\nto use it to liquidate the British national debt; all methodically\ncalculated in the flickering light of a tallow candle, perched on the\nedge of an open powder keg. Fortunately, the hoped-for riches\nwere bestowed before the shortening candle reached the powder,\nbut the optimistic shareholder had his hopes blasted, not by powder, but by the small, uncommercial vein!\nWith the discovery of the Harvey Hill mine in Leeds township\nin 1853, copper mining in the Eastern townships got its second\nimpetus, resulting in John A. Phillips, metallurgical expert of the\nEnglish mining engineering firm of John Taylor & Sons, coming\nout to report on the property.\nThrough the activities of Dr. Douglas in 1856, the Quebec &\nSt. Francis Mining Co. was organised to work the property, while\ntwo years later it was reorganised as the \"English & Canadian\n[ -1L.\n QUEBEC\nMining Co.\", to undertake more elaborate operations with English\ncapital.\nBy this time, a copper mining boom was in full swing with\ndozens of companies organised and with but little work done.\nLogan lists sixty-seven localities where traces of copper ore was\nknown which, as he says, \"serves to show the wide distribution of\nthe metal.\"\nOut of the many prospects emerged the celebrated Acton copper mine, on the thirty-second lot of the third range of Acton\nwhich, until the discovery of the Eustis, was the largest and richest\non the Continent.\nBut here again the owner of the property knew so little of its\nworth, or had so little faith, that he was ready to transfer it to\nLouis Sleeper of Quebec who, in 1858, commenced work on a\n\"tribute\" basis, whereby he retained two-thirds of all the ore mined\nduring a period of three years, an agreement highly profitable to\nSleeper.\nWith the riches of the Action mine unfolded, the placid pastoral scene was converted to one of seething activity, with the rural\nelement forsaking the fields to sort, pick and wash the high-grade\ncopper ore. By 1861 the Acton open cut yielded a thousand tons\nof copper from its rich ore, some of it containing thirty per cent,\nof the metal.\nThe first smelter for the new copper camp was erected at\nLennoxville in the fall of 1863 by an American syndicate, to treat\nthe ore from the Ascot mine, as well as to conduct a general customs business. But both the mine and the smelter were shortlived and operations were suspended in the following year.\nWith the Gvil War in the United Sctes creating a high price\nfor copper, a further stimulus was given to the search for the metal\nand in 1865 G. H. Pierce, a mining engineer long interested in both\nrailways and mines in the district, lent his technical knowledge to\nthe search, which resulted in finding what is now known as the\nEustis mine.\n33\n MINE-FINDERS\nTen miles below Sherbrooke, in the valley of the Massiwippi\nRiver, copper ore float was traced up the hillside for a thousand\nfeet above the river where, on the farm of George Capel, the\nsource of the rich float was found.\nThe property became known as the Lower Canada mine, and\nquickly shipments were made to the United States to be smelted,\nwhere the copper was urgently required for the Union armies.\nIn 1866, with the Civil War over, General Adams of the Union\nAxmy took over the Lower Canada mine and worked it for five\nyears as the Hartford mine, building a small smelter and shipping\nthe matte to New Jersey for refining. General Adams disposed of\nthe property to the Glasgow Mining Co. in 1872 and it remained\ninactive until acquired in 1879 by the Orford Copper & Sulphur\nCo., managed by R. G. Leckie.\nAfter the Sudbury copper-nickel deposits were discovered in\n1883, it was at the primitive Orford smelter that the nickel-bearing\nore was first tested, and following these tests, W. E. C. Eustis of\nBoston became interested in the Orford company, and he and his\nheirs have managed the operations ever since.-\nThe ore from the Eustis mine carries a high pyrite content that\nhas figured largely in its profitable operation as a mineral source\nfrom which sulphuric acid is produced. In 1888 a differential concentrator was built at the Eustis property, and the copper as well\nas the pyrite was shipped to the United States.\nSimultaneously with the Orford operation, the Nichols Copper\nCo. was operating the adjacent Capelton mine, discovered in 1863,\nand when this closed in 1907 the two companies merged their\ninterests to form the Consolidated Copper & Sulphur Co., whose\nEustis mine, from discovery in 1865 to 1934, had produced approximately twenty million dollars in copper and pyrite.\nGold of Northwestern Quebec\nAbout forty miles east of the present Kirkland Lake camp, and\nfive years before its discovery in 1911, two prospectors, Alphonse\nOlier and Auguste Renault, made the pioneer gold discovery in\n34\n QUEBEC\nnorthwestern Quebec at Lake Fortune, just ten miles east of the\ninterprovincial boundary. This discovery may be credited with\nattracting the first influx of prospectors into northwestern Quebec,\nthe climax of which was the staking of what is now the Noranda\nmine, in 1920. The misnamed Lake Fortune gold discovery proved\none of misfortune, for although equipped with a twenty stamp\nmill in 1911, it never reached profitable production, and the company sponsoring the enterprise went bankrupt. Early in 1934 the\nLake Fortune Mining Co.\u2014organised in 1921, acquiring the\nproperty from the sheriff in that year\u2014started an aggressive programme of development.\nThe second property in northwestern Quebec to be equipped\nwith a mill was the Martin claims, staked in 1912 by prospector\nLa Palm. Sporadic development in inexperienced hands finally\nresulted in a ten stamp mill being installed in 1918. Handicapped\nby the lack of technical direction, but endowed with the blessing\nand management of the parish priest, the little mill started, with\nan occasional loan from church funds to finance the pay-roll.\nThe hopeless layout, however, precluded success, and before operations really got under way debt forced the company into liquidation, and it was not until 1934 that decisive effort was made to\nrelaunch this early discovery.\nThe story of the discovery of Noranda Mines, Canada's third\nranking gold producer and second largest copper producer, has its\ninitial setting in the Grand Union Hotel in New Liskeard, Ontario,\nkept by John Boucher, brother-in-law of Edmund H. Home. Here,\nthe little Tremoy Lake syndicate was formed, with local residents\nsupplying the money to grubstake the further exploration of what\nHome called his \"hunch\".\nFrom this humble beginning the way was paved for the launching of a $15,000,000 enterprise and the establishing of the twin\ntowns of Noranda and Rouyn, with production starting late in\n1927. In its brief operating history, Noranda has proven up the\nlargest body of gold-copper bearing ore in the Dominion, contain-\n35\n MINE-FINDERS\nI\ning more gold than is indicated by any other mine in Canada.\nRarely are mines stumbled upon and mined from the grass\nroots, and Noranda was no exception. It was not until eighteen\nyears after its discovery that it came into production. Its discoverer, Edmund H. Home,\u2014a tall, quiet, reticent pioneer, hailed\nfrom Nova Scotia. He was one of the few prospectors to reap\nthe fruits of his efforts, for he now enjoys the quiet solitude of his\nprize stock farm back in the land of his birth.\nHome had long been in northern Ontario; had prospected in\nthe Kirkland Lake area, being one of the pioneers of that camp,\nbut pushed on to the Rouyn\ndistrict in Quebec, sixty miles\nfarther east, to probe the same\nmineralised belt. Already the\nLake Fortune property had\nbeen equipped with a twenty\nstamp mill, and there were\nrumors of the discovery of gold\na few miles east of the present\nNoranda Mines which started\nsomewhat of a rush into the\narea in the summer of 1911.\nAmong them was C. A. Foster,\npioneer Cobalt mining man.\nHome expected to prospect\nnear Foster's party, but instead met them coming out, reporting that\nthe rumor was unfounded. Instead of proceeding eastward, Home\nfollowed up the Kenogevis River, exaniining the rock formation\nas he went. Near Turnback Lake, a molybdenite prospect was\nunder development, but this did not interest him, as he was looking\nfor gold, so turning back down the river he branched off into\nRouthier Lake, then through Rouyn Lake, on to Osisko Lake,\nwhose west shores form the eastern extremity of the present\nNoranda Mines. Here, he noticed a sudden change in the rock\nformation and while he made no gold finds, he reluctantly left\n36\n QUEBEC\nwith a persisting desire to further prospect the area. But it was\nin 1914 before the opportunity was presented to return. Again he\nfound considerable mineralisation and a profound change in the\nrock characteristics, together with much fracturing, all favorable\nto ore deposition, but he could not get a \"color\" in his gold pan.\nAnother delay,\u20141917\u2014before an opportunity again arose for\nvisiting this area, which hounded him more as a \"hunch\" than\nanything else; he felt that something was there. At this time he\ndiscovered a large body of mineralised rhyolite on the south side\nof the hill, near what is now known as the old Number 2 shaft.\nBut low values caused disappointment.\nUp to this time he had been financing himself with his shoestring capital, realising that if he found anything it would require\nconsiderable work,\u2014more than he had funds to undertake, and\nthat he could not possibly interest anyone in purchasing a find\nwithout some sort of a showing. It was in 1920 that the Tremoy\nLake syndicate was formed in the Grand Union Hotel, with a\ndozen New Liskeard residents putting up twenty-five dollars a\nunit to finance the expedition. This time Home took in E. J. Miller\nas a partner and determined to stake some ground and do some\nwork. Fate decreed that the ground which he staked on this trip\nshould prove to contain the principal ore bodies of the Noranda's\nwealth to date. In 1921 he again returned, this time to explore the\nsite of his finds in 1917 and do further staking, adjacent to his\nstakings in 1920. The outlook brightened, and in March, 1922,\nhe made a winter trip across snow and the frozen lakes to protect\nhis discovery by staking additional claims. With his little party\nhe blasted a trench eighty-five feet in length, obtaining an average\nvalue of about four dollars per ton in gold, and in the centre section\nvery much higher values.\nThe party worked on, and early summer brought the pest of\nthe north country,\u2014the black flies,\u2014and with them almost obliteration for the courageous prospectors. Building a smudge to keep\nthem off while they had lunch, they returned to their work, but the\n37\n\u00a7\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nsmudge spread and started a bush fire. With luck, the little party\nescaped. The fire proved a blessing to the extent that it exposed\nwhat was known later as the \"A\" ore body, discovered by Home\nwhen driving his pick into the soft sulphides.\nIn the summer of 1920, Charles Pointon, a young mining engineer, and party, at the suggestion of N. B. Davis, who had been\nlooking over the area in 1910, camped on what is now the Noranda\nmine, and trenched some of its exposed sulphides. Even when\nHome and Miller arrived and staked adjacent claims, the thought\napparently never occurred to the party to stake next to Home,\nalthough they had little else to do. They left camp and their\ntrenches on Noranda and their chance of fortunes for themselves.\nTimes were looking better for Home and his discovery and in\n1922 the M. J. O'Brien interests looked over the find. J. W. Morrison, Haileybury engineer, sampled the property and gave Home\nhis first encouragement, saying that if this property did not make\ngood the prospector might as well quit. Morrison interested an\nAmerican mining company in the property, but when the engineer\nreached Haileybury and found that it was a hundred miles through\nthe bush he refused to even make an inspection, saying it was too\ninaccessible. Then the Thompson-Chadbourne Syndicate, New\nYork mining men, became interested. They were impressed with\nwhat they found and purchased the property for three hundred\nand twenty thousand dollars, plus one hundred and twenty-five\nthousand shares in the present company. Home and Miller\nreceived two-fifths interest as stakers and the balance went to the\nSyndicate members,\u2014one of the most profitable syndicates ever\norganised in the annals of Canadian mining. Home and Miller\nretained their Noranda interest and number among the few prospectors in Canada to possess great wealth, Home enjoying his\nshare on his fine farm in his native Nova Scotia, while Miller sticks\nto his quiet life in New Liskeard.\nFrom 1922 the story of the development of Noranda as a producing mine is one of speedy and aggressive development, building\n QUEBEC\na forty-four mile railway and the construction of a big mining\nplant, smelter and townsite. The success of the Noranda was the\nspark that set aflame the developments of the northwestern section\nof Quebec, and the producers that have since come into existence\nand the widespread development that has been inaugurated over\nvast areas of the northwestern section of the province can be attributed directly to the perseverance and the outstanding discovery\nof Home.\nSiscoe Gold Mine\nNorthwestern Quebec's first profitable gold mine, \u2014 Siscoe,\nlocated on Siscoe Island astride\nthe boundary of Varson and\nDubuisson townships, seventy-\nfive miles east of the Ontario-\nQuebec boundary and one\nhundred miles east of Kirkland\nLake, first came into real prominence when production started\nin January, 1929- An initial\ndividend was paid on March\n31, 1932\u2014the first from any\nQuebec    lode   gold   mining\nThe story of the finding of Siscoe dates back to 1910, when\na young Polish emigrant, Stanley Siscoe, came to Cobalt to join an\nuncle working at the Kerr Lake mine. Quickly picking up the \u2022\nlanguage, he acted as interpreter and chief advisor for a group of\nhis fellow countrymen. Reports of gold discoveries in northwestern Quebec whetted their appetites to participate, and accordingly\nyoung Siscoe organised a syndicate, financed by his friends. Little\nwas heard of the gold on Siscoe Island until after the close of the\nWorld War. When aliens were questioned as to their nationality,\nand conscription was introduced, a small party of Polish miners\nfound a haven on Siscoe Island, far from the eyes of the authorities.\n39\ny\n MINE-FINDERS\nThey did not idle their time away, but instead put it to good use in\nprospecting, and good use it was, for they staked and did the early\ndevelopment on what is now the Siscoe Mine. In 1920, when the\nSiscoe Gold Mines was formed and an aggressive development\nprogramme was started, 42,813 shares each was compensation for\nthe financiers of the little syndicate.\nSiscoe met an untimely end in March, 1935, when his areoplane\nwas forced down in a remote lake east of the mine that bears his\nname, and was frozen to death while seeking a settlement and\nAsbestos Mining Starts\nAsbestos, while a modern mineral development, can trace its\nuse back to ancient Rome, and had Marco Polo,\u2014that adventurous\nexplorer of the thirteenth century, when travelling in the Ural\nMountains,\u2014turned his attention to the development of the fibrous\nmineral shown him, called \"amianthus\", the Thetford mines area,\nsixty miles south of Quebec City, might not have gained world\nprominence as a leading source of supply of asbestos.\nIt was Sir William E. Logan who first reported the presence of\nasbestos in the Eastern townships. When a silky-fibred asbestos\nspecimen was displayed at a London Exposition in 1862, which\nhad been discovered near the village of St. Joseph in the Des\nPlantes River area, a chapter in the mineral development of Canada\nwas opened that, until recent years, made Quebec accountable for\napproximately eighty per cent, of the world's asbestos production,\nnow challenged by the Ural Mountain deposits.\nTo a French-Canadian named Fecteau is given credit for the\ndiscovery of asbestos in the serpentine hills of Thetford and\nColeraine townships. When the railway was built through the\narea in 1877, Robert Ward made similar discoveries where the\nroad-bed had cut the deposits, which resulted in pits being opened,\nand mining started in 1878. By 1885, seven quarries were in operation, including those of the King brothers and Johnson company,\nwhose names are perpetuated in leading operations after a half-\ncentury of activity.\n QUEBEC\n MINE-FINDERS\n ariHii    \\t iiiirnr'ni\nCHAPTER IV\nCobalfs Silver Ushers in New Era\nWHO can guess what Canada would be like to-day,\u2014what\nEurope would be like to-day, if the French Voyageur,\nSieur Chevalier de Troyes had realised the mineral potentialities\nof the Cobalt area of Ontario in 1686 ? Or if, instead of showing\nhim the puny little deposit of lead-silver,\u2014afterwards known as\nthe Wright mine, on the east shore of Lake Temiskaming,\u2014the\nIndians had shown this gallant French officer the extraordinarily\nrich silver a mile off the narrows of the lake on the opposite shore?\nHad de Troyes been as enthusiastic for development as he was for\nousting the English, and pressed his investigations farther, in\nwhat vastly different channels might the course of history run!\nWhat would have been the effects of a major gold or silver discovery on the French authorities at that time? Such a find would\nhave undoubtedly given such an impetus to exploitation that the\nFrench military strength would have been brought to the point\nwhere only a tremendous campaign on the part of the British would\nhave wrested Canada from the grasp of wealth-loving Louis\nFourteenth.\n MINE-FINDERS\nAnd what would have been the effect on Europe ? Drained of\nthe enormous military strength which would have been needed to\nguard this valuable storehouse, France's position might have been\nso weakened that history there would have had to be rewritten.\nDe Troyes, early in 1686 headed a party comprising Jesuit\nFather Silvie, Chaplain; Sieur de St. Helene, lieutenant; and Sieur\nd'Hyberville, second lieutenant, with one hundred soldiers. This\nlittle party laboriously travelled up the Ottawa River, through Lake\nTemiskaming to Moose Factory on James Bay, to attack the English settlement there.\nAll evidence, including the writings of Father Silvie, indicates\nthat de Troyes camped very close to the silver mines when, on May\n19, 1686, they \"had business with the Old and New Company,\"\npossibly on the very ground which two hundred years later was to\ntremble with the thunder of many wheels, as wealth, far beyond\nthe imagination of Chevalier, was wrested from its depth. It is\none of the profound enigmas of history that although this storehouse of silver lay almost directly on the main water route to\nHudson Bay, and although explorers of the period were seeking\nparticularly gold and silver, it was not until two hundred years\nlater that, accidentally, the full extent of the deposits were realised\nby the world.\nDe Troyes and his adventurous little band came upon an Indian\nencampment on the present site of Mattawa, at the confluence of\nthe Ottawa and Mattawa rivers.\nThat de Troyes had heard of a \"mine\" in this district is evidenced by the entry of May 22,1686, in \"The Relation and Journal\nof a Journey into The North\". De Troyes writes as follows: \"It\nrained part of the day; this did not stop us from going, after the\ncelebration of Mass, followed by three canoes, to visit a mine six\nleagues from the camp.\"\nThe entry on May 23rd is as follows: \"After Mass, we walked\nin search of the mine. The man, Coignac, guided us. We met\nin our search an Indian camp in which the people the previous day\n ONTARIO\nhad killed a big moose. This gave me an opportunity to camp\nclose to them, and in order that Coignac would find the mine\neasier. He looked for it uselessly the balance of the day; during\nthis time the two lieutenants left the house to join me with all our\nstaff, but a big storm separated them   .    .    .\"\nThe final reference to the \"mine\" was on May 24, 1686: \"A\nvery heavy wind all day accompanied by rain, but Coignac had\nrenewed his memory and assured us that he recognised himself\nand that the mine was very close. I got in a canoe with him.\nI paddled in bow and he steered, and did not quit our search,\nalthough the weather was very bad, to go to the place where Coignac thought the mine was. We found it; indeed this mine is\nsituated to the east and west on the border of the lake, west of the\nrock in form of half circle that had fifty feet on the edge of the\nwater, ten feet high from level of the water, and one hundred feet\ndeep, having no earth on it, and losing itself under a mountain\ncovered with rock. We extracted a few pieces with difficulty and\nreturned to camp.\"\nSketchy, and tantalizingly incomplete as these references are,\nthey are sufficient to show that the \"mine\" did not impress this\npractical soldier. Eager as he was to gain his objective,\u2014the\nEnglish settlement on Hudson Bay,\u2014and beset as he was with\nhardships, dangers and black flies (it was in May), the devout\nwarrior must have chafed at the delay in seeking such an intangible thing as a mine. It would have probably gone hard with\nCoignac if, after three days delay, he had not been able to \"recognise himself\" and locate the galena deposit, which was later to\nbe known as the Wright mine.\nLake Terniskaming, if not named by Sieur Chevalier de Troyes,\nwas first recorded by him in his diary and spelled \"Temiska-\nmingue\", Indian equivalent of \"at a place of the deep dry water\".\n\"The rock in the form of a half circle\" received scant mention\nfor the next one hundred and sixty-five years, but it was a secret\nsource of lead for bullets to the Indians and few traders who knew\n MINE-FINDERS\nits whereabouts. Bellins' map, published in 1744, shows \"Ance a\nla Mine\" (Bay of the Mine) the silver-bearing lead deposit on the\neast shore of Lake Temiskaming. It was not until about 1850 that\nthe sharp calks on the boots of E. D. Wright, an Ottawa timber\nowner, cut into the soft lead-bearing ore, that the mine was rediscovered. Taking samples to Ottawa, they lay on his desk for\ntwenty years before it occurred to him to have them assayed; then\nto arouse great interest. Accompanied by E. C Eustis, Boston\nhead of the Orford Copper Co., owning a copper property in the\nEastern townships of Quebec, J. M. Courier and Wright re-located\nthe find and sank a shaft twelve feet deep and shipped out some\nten tons of ore, only to have his crude ore barge smashed on the\nrapids at Deux Rivers.\nAnother lull came in the exploitation of this pioneer find until\n1885, when George Goodwin and G. T. Brophey financed the\nsinking of the shaft a further fifty feet and installed a five-ton\nstamp mill, only to see the plant burned before lead was produced.\nFive years later Robert Chapin optioned the property for $125,000\nand being president of the Ingersoll Rock Drill Co., installed the\nfirst air compressor in the country and constructed a fifty-ton mill.\nHe sank the shaft to two hundred and fifty feet and started work\nin earnest. Financial troubles caused the abandoning of this project and the property reverted to Wright who in 1895 sold it to the\nPetroleum Oil Trust of London, England, which ran the mill,\nshipping concentrates to Swansea, Wales. Operated a few years,\nthe property fell into decay, and it is fitting that the chief sponsors\nof the Hollinger mine, pioneer Cobalt mine owners and pioneer\nbackers of the Porcupine camp, should later purchase and still own\nOntario's pioneer mine. While not commercially a success, it vindicated Sieur Chevalier de Troyes' lack of enthusiasm, but proved\nto be a stepping-stone in the ultimate development of Northern\nOntario into the Dominion's richest mineral belt. In sharp contrast to the artistocratic and devout de Troyes, the next link in the\nhistory of mining in the Temiskaming area is provided by a murder.\n ONTARIO\nAn Indian was brought before Colin Rankin, Hudson's Bay Co.\nfactor and unofficial governor of Fort Temiskaming in 1878. The\nIndian was accused of the murder of the Chief of the Night-\nhawk Lake Indians, convicted, and thrown into the crude jail at\nMattawa. The jailer at Mattawa, then a lumbering centre, was a\nman named McMeekin. In accordance with his duties, he searched\nthe prisoner and removed two gold nuggets, one the size of a\nmarble. The 1878 version of the third degree failed to pry from\nthe stoical Indian the secret of his gold, and he guarded his secret\nuntil the day of his death in jail. Unsmiling and morose, he would\nonly reply to questioners \"Shoniah\"\u2014gold in his tongue.\nWhether the slaying of the Indian chieftain had anything to do\nwith that secret is not known, but so precious was it to the Indian\nmind that, although the murderer of the Nighthawk chief must\nhave known how great a price the paleface placed on the glittering\nrock, he made no attempt to buy his freedom in exchange for\ndivulging the source of his two nuggets.\nIn 1874 Pat Manion came near to cleaving from nature her\nlong-guarded secret. Lumbering operations were in full swing on\nthe Montreal River at this time. Manion, a hewer for one of the\noutfits, showed his foreman, Alex. Judge, a piece of glistening\nmetal exposed by an uprooted tree. Both men thought it was lead.\nDecades afterwards, on the spot where Manion found the metal,\narose the Wetlauffer silver mine, twenty miles south of Cobalt.\nWhat Manion had discovered was undoubtedly a piece of native\nsilver, although it was not recognised as such at the time. In\n1890, Edward Haycock, a civil engineer of Ottawa, reported to\nthe Royal Commission that he had explored the country around\nCross Lake, near Lake Timagami, and had seen a great deal of\nmineralisation. He reported taking up six claims on the outlet of\nLake Timagami, which empties into the Montreal River, and\nreported finding galena carrying up to sixty-four ounces of silver\nper ton. He said, \"the country is full of minerals, but what they\nwant is a practical man to explore them.\"   In 1894 Russell Cryder-\n If\nI\nMINE-FINDERS\t\nman, then a budding prospector and son of a veteran prospector,\nvisited the Bear Island post of the Hudson's Bay Co. in Lake\nTimagami and brought out specimens of silver that had been\nfound in the district. The first actual silver discovery at the vastly\nrich Cobalt deposits is not recorded, but amid the legends which\nhave grown up about this famous old camp the name of C. C. Farr,\none time factor for the Hudson's Bay Co. at Fort Temiskaming\nand later member of Parliament, stands out tangible and clear.\nFarr's contribution to the discovery was incidental with his enthusiasm for the north country as an agricultural district.\nSir William Logan had recognised the rocks of the Temiskaming area as containing minerals, and desultory attempts at prospecting had been made in the district.\nFarr never found his pot of gold, but the vast clay belt to the\nnorth made a deep impression on him as a potential agricultural\narea. As he wandered along the shores of the lake he visualised\nthe railway which would one day skirt that shore, serving the band\nof thriving little farms which he pictured on the clay belt, north\nof Lake Temiskaming.\nFor twenty years Farr nursed his dream, doing all in his power\nto win recognition for the potentialities of the district. On one\noccasion he took Charles McDougall, a timber contractor for J. R.\nBooth, Ottawa lumber magnate, to a vantage point five miles south\nof Haileybury. near Long Lake. The object of the trip was to show\nMcDougall a particularly fine stand of white pine. Standing on\nthe high rock, with the many-toned greens of the bush pierced\nonly by a little lake stretched out before them, Farr again gave\nvoice to his dream, and enthusiastically pictured for his companion\nthe railway that would some day be built, but practical lumber man\nMcDougall only laughed.\nBut time, miracle worker extraordinary, had wonders far\nbeyond the imagination of even forward-looking Farr, for the\nvantage point from which the two men viewed the stand of pine\nwas later to become known as one of Canada's richest producers\n ONTARIO\nof the white metal, silver. They were standing on the claims\nstaked in 1904 by W. G. Trethewey, discoverer of the famed\nConiagas mine.\nFarr's efforts were not in vain. His dreams were crystallised\nin 1901 when the Ontario Government decided to build the\nTemiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway to serve this area.\nThe construction of the railway northward past Long Lake\n(later Cobalt Lake) in 1904, was the immediate forerunner to\nthe opening of Cobalt's silver riches, just as the railway had played\nthe stellar role in the Sudbury nickel discovery twenty years before.\nSo the railway brought the silver rush that made Cobalt and its\nadjacent camps one of the richest silver producing areas in the\nworld, with a record of producing 425,000,000 ounces of silver\nfrom some thirty mines which disbursed over $100,000,000 in dividends. The production height of the camp was reached in 1911\nand gradually waned until in 1934 only one mill was operating.\nTo measure the Cobalt silver camp in terms of its production, stupendous as it was, is not to do it justice, for it was the cradle of\nOntario's precious metal development, which produced the hardy\nnorthern race of prospectors and mining men whose subsequent\nmineral discoveries and metallurgical achievements were to attract\nworld-wide attention.\nCobalt may be truly said to have laid the foundations for mining fortunes that were to finance the development of Ontario's\nvast unprobed hinterlands in which interest had lapsed with the\nunfortunate gold mining rush into the Thunder Bay and Lake-of-\nthe Woods areas at the turn of the century.\nIn 1902 the Ontario Government appointed Dr. Willet G.\nMiller its first Provincial Geologist, and no history of Cobalt would\nbe complete without credit being given to this former Queen's\nUniversity professor for the inseparable part he played and his\nearly recognition of the importance of the discovery and the invaluable advice he gave to the early prospectors. To those who would\nseek to discredit Dr. Miller and fellow scientists, who said he was\ni\n I\nMINE-FIN DERS\nunsympathetic with its possibilities, his statement in an article in\nthe Engineering and Mining Journal, dated December 10, 1903,\nshould be sufficient, when he remarked,\u2014\"the ore is undoubtedly\nvery rich, containing values in nickel, cobalt, silver and arsenic and\na comparatively small vein could be worked at a handsome profit\".\nCharacteristic of many important mineral finds, the Cobalt silver discovery had many claimants. The oft-told tale of Fred\nLaRose, the French-Canadian blacksmith working for McMartin\nbrothers, railway contractors, throwing a hammer at a fox and\ndislodging a piece of rich ore, while a colorful story, finds little\nfoundation in facts. The joint application, dated August 14,\n1903, of James H. McKinley and Ernest J. Darragh, described as\nlumbermen and prospectors, but then working as sub-contractors\non the railway for McMartin brothers, leaves little room for doubt\nas to who first recorded the discovery of silver at Cobalt, which\nstarted this famous camp to commercial development. Their find\nof white metal along the muddy shore of the south end of Cobalt\nLake was later to become known as the Swamp vein of the\nMcKinley-Darragh-Savage mines.\nOn the application, August 7 was given as the date of the discovery, but the lack of an affidavit showing the discovery of the\nmineral held up the application until October 6. It is interesting\nto note that the affidavit said the rock ascertained by assays contained a \"goodly percentage of free or native silver\".\nThe location was described as \"six hundred feet southeasterly\nfrom the ninth mile, south from New Liskeard, on the railway\nWhile McKinley and Darragh were completing the formality\nof their application, Fred La Rose, who signed himself as Fred\n\"Rose\" and who occupied his spare time by poking about the rocks,\nmade an application dated September 29, 1903. The affidavit\nstated that on September 15 he had discovered \"copper\" thirteen\nhundred feet from Long Lake opposite mileage one hundred and\nthirteen of the railway, about one mile north of the McKinley-\n[JSSL\n ONTARIO\ni discovery. A blast in a nearby rock-cut on the right-of-\nway for the railway later exposed a pinkish mineral which was\nreally niccolite (kupfer-nickel), the same mineral that led the\nearly Saxon miners to so name it \"Old Nick\" because it plagued\nthe miners.\nA controversy arose when Neal A. King, a fire ranger, filed an\napplication on October 8, stating that he had made a discovery\non May 16 in the area included in La Rose's two claims.\nLate in August, 1903, King showed a sample from his discovery to H. S. Southworth, a young engineering student at the\nUniversity of Toronto, who spent his summers fire-ranging and\nwas then employed on a survey party camped at Sandy Portage in\nthe Gillies timber limit, a few miles south.\nSouthworth's father, Thomas Southworth, was then director\nof Colonisation and Forestry in the Crown Lands Department at\nToronto, and his indefatigable efforts in the colonisation of the\nclay lands north of Lake Temiskaming had been the prime object\nof the building of the railway.\nIn that year Dr. Miller and Southworth were in Haileybury\nattending a meeting held in the interest of colonising the area, and\nyoung Southworth took the opportunity of showing Dr. Miller the\nsample which King had given him and which, while cobalt bloom,\nwas not representative. Instead of the characteristic pink color, it\nwas a greenish tint. Dr. Miller, other things occupying his mind,\npaid little attention to it, except to say that he did not recognise it.\nOn returning to Toronto, however, closer study quickly revealed\nto the man of science that it was actually cobalt bloom. South-\nworth senior forthwith telegraphed to his son to have King stake\nhis find. By this time, King had returned to the camp at Swanson\nCut, ten miles north of New Liskeard. Here, Southworth found\nhim and showed him the telegram. But King had already staked\nfour claims. Together King and Southworth went to Thomas\nArmstrong, Crown Lands agent at New Liskeard, and made application for the claims, forgetting to enclose the ten dollars required\n51\nJjf\n MINE-FIN DERS\nby law as fee. When his application and that of La Rose reached\nthe Government offices the same day, complications set in, for\nboth had taken their sample from the same surface showing. La\nRose had staked the two claims to the west of his find, while King\nhad staked four claims to the east, but had slightly overlapped\nthose of La Rose. This was the beginning of a legal entaglement\nthat took years to settle, when King's claims became the nucleus\nof the mining activities of the famous M. J. O'Brien interests,\nwhose Cobalt mill was the sole surviving operation in the famous\nsilver camp at the end of 1934.\nOften, Thomas Southworth and his neighbor, J. B. O'Brian,\nToronto solicitor, chatted together of the north country, and\nO'Brian casually mentioned that he had a client in Ottawa who\nhad five hundred thousand dollars to put in a worthy mining prospect. Southworth casually mentioned King's sample of cobalt\nbloom to neighbor O'Brian, who promptly communicated with his\nclient, M. J. O'Brien, Ottawa lumber magnate, who lost no time\nin contacting with King, giving him five thousand dollars for\nhis four claims.\nBut officials of the various Government departments refused\nto make the momentous decision between the applications of King\nand La Rose, and appointed a Royal Commission comprising\nAubrey White, Archibald Blue and George Blackstock, K.C. The\ndecision of the Commission expressed the wisdom of a Solomon,\nLa Rose being allowed to retain his claims, while King's four\nclaims were allowed to tie on to La Rose's east boundary. But as\nthis excluded the site of King's original discovery it meant that to\nretain his claims, a discovery would have to be registered, according to the Mining Act at that time. This formality was soon met,\nfor Surveyor Galbraith, in establishing the claim lines, pausing to\nrelax, sat down and was pricked by a jagged edge of native silver.\nThen, in 1904, came a change in the Provincial Government.\nThe Conservatives replacing the Ross Government, were unsuccessfully petitioned to grant a fiat on behalf of the La Rose\n52\nUSgfc\n ONTARIO\ninterests. Instead, the Government repudiated the findings of the\nRoyal Commission and entered suit against the O'Brien interests.\nBut the case never got to the High Courts; always a government\nremand was granted. Three years of this brought a compromise\nfrom O'Brien that he would give the Government a twenty-five\nper cent royalty on the silver production. Only one car-load of\nhigh-grade ore had been shipped from the property up to this time.\nBy 1908 it became evident that by O'Brien building a mill to treat\nthe low-grade ore, greater profit would accrue to both the Government and the owners, and accordingly the royalty was reduced to\nfifteen per cent of the net profits.\nLa Rose, upon making his find, hurriedly gathered some of the\nore in his hands, and ran with it to his boss, Duncan McMartin,\nwho later recalled vividly what took place:\n\"I say, boss, I've got something good here. Come with me.\nYou give me a good show.\" To which the square shooting McMartin replied, \"Pull a gun on me if I don't\".\nHotels have long been the clearing houses for news in areas\nwhere newspapers are rare, and in short order word of the La Rose\nfind reached the Matabanick Hotel in Haileybury, which at that\ntime was presided over by Arthur Ferland, a brother-in-law of\nNoah Tinimins. Haileybury was five miles away from the strike,\nbut the size of the discovery lost nothing in its short transmission.\nFerland was interested, and procuring some of the samples, he\nsent them to Dr. Willet Miller, with particulars of the discovery.\nIt happened that Dr. Miller was visiting in eastern Ontario\nwhen the samples arrived in Toronto, but on receiving word of the\nfind, relayed from his office, he lost no time in boarding a train\nfor Northern Ontario. To reach the present site of Cobalt in 1903\nit was necessary to take the Canadian Pacific Railway to Mattawa,\nand from there to take a branch line to the foot of Lake Temiskaming.  The rest of the trip was made by boat to Haileybury.\nDr. Miller related that, while changing trains at Mattawa, he\nnoticed David Dunlap, then a struggling young lawyer there, with\n ;\nMINE-FINDERS\t\nwhom he was well acquainted, standing on the platform. The\ntwo friends chatted for an instant, but being on Government business, Dr. Miller made no mention of the reason for his visit.\nArthur Ferland was waiting at the foot of Lake Temiskaming\nto meet Dr. Miller and together they went to Ferland's hotel in\nHaileybury.\nThe following morning, with the tang of November in the air,\nthe two men set out for the five mile trek through the bush to the\nLa Rose find on the shore of Long Lake, later Cobalt Lake. They\nfound La Rose in his blacksmith shop, but he would do nothing\nwithout his bosses, the McMartin brothers, so together the little\nparty examined the silver showings.\nDr. Miller was impressed. His geological knowledge told him\nthat here at his feet lay what might easily be the nucleus for a\nmajor Ontario industry. His knowledge of men told him that if it\ngot into the hands of unscrupulous financiers it might be a development which would bring in its wake more misery and human misfortune than could ever be repaid.\nSo it was at his suggestion that the Timmins brothers and\nDavid Dunlap were called into the picture. He had known all\nthree men for many years as honest and enterprising. Dunlap,\nfond of bush life and finding law work slack, was only too eager\nto follow up the intriguing whisper of a new discovery.\nThe Timmins brothers, Noah and Henry, with railway contractors, John and Duncan McMartin, completed the quintuple\nsyndicate which started the development of the Cobalt camp.\nNo venture in Canadian history better exemplifies the courage,\nromance and rich reward than does this pioneer syndicate. Its\nstart with an initial cash commitment of $3,500 for a quarter\ninterest and an option on another quarter for $25,000, in itself was\na big undertaking. The Mattawa-born Timmins brothers, strug-\nling storekeepers there, keenly interested in mining, were hard-up\nwhen this opportunity came. David Dunlap got his cut in the\nsyndicate for performing the necessary legal details, while the\nUHL\n ONTARIO\nMcMartins came into the syndicate through the one-half interest\ngiven them by La Rose.\nThis group later disposed of the La Rose mine to Montreal\ninterests and before mining was suspended in 1930 it had a record\nthat it produced 26,255,559 ounces of silver and paid $7,805,410\nin dividends.\nThe profits from this syndicate provided the funds for acquiring the Hollinger mine, financed by the same group in 1909, which\nearned the immense fortunes for the intrepid syndicate quintuple.\nConiagas Claims Jumped\nThe most productive single forty acre claim in the famous\nCamp\u2014the Coniagas mine\u2014has a story behind it.\nThe name Coniagas is made up of the chemical symbols for the\nprincipal metals found there: Co. for cobalt, Ni. for nickel, Ag.\nfor silver, and As. for arsenic. The incorporated company, Coniagas Mines Ltd., produced over 32,500,000 ounces of silver, and\npaid $11,640,000 in dividends up to 1924. In addition there is\nthe initial production from operations under a partnership, and\nfinally the production gleaned by the lessees after milling was suspended in 1924.\nThe original staker of the Coniagas property, W. G. Trethe-\nwey, was a veteran prospector at the time of his greatest strike.\nOf Cornish ancestry, mining was his heritage, but he had taken\ntime off to negotiate a deal with the Hudson's Bay Co. Factor at\nwhat was later Edmonton, for the townsite that became Alberta's\ncapital.\nAbout this time, word penetrated to the west about the Cobalt\nsilver strike. A miner at heart, Trethewey hastened east, where he\nvisited his friend, Milton Hersey, whose enthusiasm for the new\nfind spurred Trethewey on to Cobalt, arriving one May morning in\n1904. Two days later he walked over the ridge from where blacksmith La Rose had made his strike the fall before, made a discovery and hastened down the hill to where Dr. Miller and his\nassistant Cyril Knight were camped.   Excitedly he requested that\nJul\n MINE-FINDERS\ni\nit\nthey witaess the discovery. But the calm Dr. Miller was not to be\ndisturbed that evening, but agreed to complete the legal requirement the next morning.\nFearful lest the budding community receive some ill suited\nname, Dr. Miller erected a sign-post bearing \"Cobalt\", a name that\nwas accepted by the railway authorities and proved very fitting, for\nthe camp proved not only a rich silver producer but one of the\nworld's leading sources of cobalt. This metal takes its name from\nthe Latin \"Cobalus\",\u2014the name of a spirit which the superstitious\nminers of old believed destroyed their labors.\nThe mining laws in those days stipulated that a prospector had\nto make an actual discovery and have two witnesses to a discovery\nbefore staking was validated. So that when Trethewey walked\nover the hill and staked claims J.B. 6 and 7 right under the nose of\nlocal prospectors and immediately next to the now famed La Rose\nfind, it was big news and travelled fast.\nNevertheless, it was a surprised and chagrined Trethewey who\nawoke the next morning to find the stake bearing the name of a\nrival group near his \"Discovery\" on claim J.B. 6. More surprised,\nand more chagrined was he when he found that the date on this\nrival stake was of the previous autumn which, if authentic, would\nlose him the property.\nKnowing that he was faced with defending his rights against\nclaim-jumpers, he sought counsel of Dr. Miller. The Provincial\nGeologist tried to soothe the indignant prospector, telling him that\nhe would see that he didn't lose his property, but Trethewey would\nnot be convinced that his strike was safe, and insisted on defending\nhis rights in a legal battle. He was without funds and immediately\nannounced: \"I will give a half interest in J.B. 6 to the man who\nwill financially back me in a legal action.\"\nIn the area at this time was Alex. Longwell, a young mining\nengineer, graduate of Queen's University, who had lately arrived\nas a scout for Colonel R. W. Leonard. Colonel Leonard had\ngraduated from Royal Military College in civil engineering and\n56\n ~f\nONTARIO\nthroughout his life took a keen interest in the mineral development\nof the Province. \"If you insist that you need financial and legal\nsupport,\" Dr. Miller told Trethewey, \"You had better go and see\nAlex. Longwell, and I can promise you a square deal.\"\nTrethewey, distracted, sought out Longwell and retold his\ntroubles. Longwell in turn presented the proposition to his\nemployer, Colonel Leonard. Cautious lest he be branded a claim-\njumper, Colonel Leonard satisfied himself that an injustice had\nbeen done and agreed to accept Trethewey's proposal.\nWhether or not these preparations for a legal battle put fear\ninto the usurpers will never be known. The fact remains that\nwhen the case was called in court nobody appeared to defend it.\nThe old spruce log, which purported to bear a date previous to\nthose used by Trethewey, was exhibited, however, and offered\nstaunch evidence for him, as a woodsman who had been engaged\nin cutting timber on the property recognised in the old weather-\nbeaten log one of his skid logs used during the previous winter\nafter the purported discovery date. Thus it was a great day for\nTrethewey, for his intangible foes and their knavish tricks were\ncompletely confounded.\nAs it turned out later, it was a great day for Colonel Leonard\nand his young scout Longwell, for by the agreement with Colonel\nLeonard he was to get one-quarter interest in any deal he brought\nto his boss. Fate decreed that the J.B. 6 was the richer of\nTrethewey's two claims.\nConiagas Mines was responsible for a number of fortunes\nbeing made. Imbued with the strictest code of honor, Trethewey\ngave one-eighth interest in his property to his assayer friend,\nMilton Hersey, who had encouraged him to go on to Cobalt.\nTrethewey also gave his brother one-eighth interest, which he later\nsold for one hundred thousand dollars, then considered a fabulous\nprice for an eighth interest in one claim. Purchasers of this interest\nwere the Leonard-Longwell-Hersey trio who, with Trethewey,\njoined forces to develop the property.\n MINE-FINDERS\nHowever, their troubles were not quite over. All the ready\ncash the quartet could lay their hands on was four thousand\ndollars. With this capital, exploration started late in 1904. Two\ncarloads of high grade ore were gouged out of the rich surface\nshowings and sent to a New Jersey smelter, but before a cheque\nfor these initial shipments had been received, the four thousand\ndollars was gone, and the four men were in dire straits.\nThe manager of the local Canadian Bank of Commerce at the\ntime was S. H. Logan, later general manager, who obligingly came\nto the rescue, promising to tide them over until the smelter settlement arrived. Thus, after trials and tribulations, and on a four\nthousand dollar cash outlay, was launched the famed Coniagas\nMine.\nKeeley\u2014South Lorrain's First Mine\nThe widening circle of silver finds centered about Cobalt Lake\nsent prospectors scurrying for favorable ground, and the resultant\ndiscovery of the Keeley mine in South Lorrain provides another\nepic in Ontario's silver mining history. Here fate decreed that had\nwork not stopped fifty feet short of what proved a rich goal, the\nfinancially entangled Farmers' Bank might have been saved from\nbankruptcy, for too late high grade ore was struck that turned the\naffairs of the mine into an outstanding success which produced\nover twelve million ounces of silver and paid $2,240,000 in\ndividends.\nThe story of the finding of the Keeley mine surrounds three\nsons of Ontario, well-known prospectors,\u2014Robert J. Jowsey, J. M.\nWood and Charles Keeley. Jowsey, who had been executing\ntransport contracts, had witnessed the fever of excitement\noccasioned by the silver discoveries at Cobalt, turned prospector.\nThis marks the introduction of one of the most successful prospecting careers in the annals of Canadian mining. Jowsey had long\nsuppressed his desire to prospect, a desire aroused in his youth\nwhen living near Ottawa, by the sight of a piece of silver owned\nby neighbor William Purcell.    Purcell had had a logging camp\n ONTARIO\nnear two small lakes a couple of miles northwest of the juncture\nof the Montreal River with Lake Temiskaming. Working for\nhim in 1878 was Pat Manion, father of the Honorable Robert J.\nManion, who became Federal Minister of Railways. A tree which\nManion had felled had crashed into a dead pine, baring rich silver\nore, but he was not looking for silver. That was the first year in\nwhich saws were used instead of the axe to square felled timber and\n.Manion's saw dipped into the exposed ore and scarred its silvery\nsurface.\nJowsey now determined to locate the site of Manion's find was\nready to start when a chance meeting in a Haileybury Hotel\nacquainted him with Wood and Keeley, prospectors who had independently made plans to prospect in South Lorrain, twenty miles\nsouth of Cobalt. It was arranged that they would prospect together. Jowsey in ignorant bliss and with nothing to guide him\nbut his memory of Manion's rich sample and a long lost sketch of\nthe spot where it was found, set about in July 1907 to guide his\nnew-found associates to the site.\nUpon arriving in the area they found much of the ground\nstaked including claims bearing licenses issued to none other than\nRobert J. Manion, also seeking the site of his father's discovery.\nA lucky break and they learned where Purcell's camp had been but\ntheir hopes were soon blasted for the ground was staked. Time\nadjudicates all affairs, so when the stakers failed to do the necessary assessment work these claims fell open in September. The\nundaunted trio then restaked them, including claim H. R. 19 which\nproved the site of the discovery later, but not the site of Manion's\nfind, for next year Jowsey identified the sought for site as the\nWettlaufer claims, for sure enough there was the partly sawn\ntimber where Manion's saw had cut the silvery surface exposed\nby the uprooted tree.\nBut the constant association of a trio of humanity of different\ntemperaments engenders discord, and Keeley proved no exception.\ni\n MINE-FINDERS\nWood's thick lenses but slightly improved his eyesight and\nbecause of Keeley's attitude he prospected alone, close to camp.\nEarly in September, 1907, while Jowsey and Keeley were away\nat Haileybury replenishing their supplies, Wood found smaltite\nfloat\u2014an ore of silver,\u2014back of the camp. When his partners\nreturned that evening, they dug furiously seven feet through the\noverburden, and by three o'clock the next day had exposed a vein\nin their trench. But the sample of smaltite did not appear to carry\nsilver, and only on the following Sunday, after its resting on the\nwindow sill of their cabin and drying out, were the fine hairs of\nsilver disclosed. Even then they were not sure of its value, Keeley\ndaiming that the hairs were the roots of goldenrod, which flourished in the district, and when the assayer reported that it ran\neleven thousand ounces in silver per ton, commented that it was the\n\"finest job of salting he had ever seen\".  Wood was not dismayed.\nWith knowledge of legal entanglements and claim-jumping\nprevalent, the trio avoided all suspicion of their find by not going\nnear their discovery, but instead set about to stake, have their\nclaims surveyed and put them in incontestable order. By next\nspring they were able to show all comers their discovery, and\nbidders were not lacking. J. B. Phillips undertook to introduce\ncapital. When the immaculately attired Dr. Beatty Nesbitt, president of the Farmers' Bank, with frock coat, silk hat and gold-\nheaded cane arrived at Haileybury the populace was set agog when\nhe first called on the local priest. Some high potentate, they\nthought, as they assembled to do him homage. Then came a\nsumptuous entertainment for the party and his offer to purchase a\nspan of steeds to rush him twenty miles to the site of the silver\ndiscovery. Money apparently was no obstacle. It was all Phillips\nhad represented, and the bank president nonchalantly handed over\na cheque for a thousand dollars, an initial commitment on a three\nhundred thousand dollar cash payment to the prospectors.\n. The potential wealth was awe-inspiring to the prospectors, and\nJowsey speedily deposited the cheque, giving his partners Wood\n60\n ONTARIO\nand Keeley their third. Wood headed for the old homestead,\nKeeley celebrated with his old friend, John Barleycorn. Jowsey's\nsober reflection on his new-found affluence was quickly disturbed\nwhen Dr. Beatty Nesbitt's and J. B. Phillips' unpaid bills for\nentertainment and the team found the creditors clamoring after\nhim. But the height of his anxiety came two days later when the\nbank manager informed him that Dr. Beatty Nesbitt's rubber\ncheque had bounced back, N.S.F. The trio, with agreements calling for three hundred thousand dollars in cash, were not only\nfinancially distressed but inextricably involved, and only when\nJowsey was able to borrow a dollar and a half to send Wood a\ntelegram explaining their plight and get a marked cheque from\nthe Farmer's\" Bank, was the financial situation relieved.\nOn Good Friday morning, 1908, the trio, this rime with a\nmarked cheque for travelling expenses, met W. R. Travers, general\nmanager of the Farmers' Bank, and consummated Dr. Beatty\nNesbitt's deal forming Keeley Mines Ltd. Making loans on the\nmining company's bonds, later defaulted, put the bank in control\nof the mine.\nIn 1910, when the Farmers' Bank closed its doors, the liquidators found themselves in possession of the Keeley mine, unprofitable to date and a veritable white elephant as far as a liquid asset\nwas concerned.\nDr. J. Mcintosh Bell, renowned mining engineer and geologist,\nacting for the Associated Gold Mines of Western Australia Ltd.,\nan English company, purchased the mine in 1913 from the liquidators for a hundred thousand dollars, amid the censorious mur-\nmurings of his fellow engineers.\nThen came years of indifferent success in developing a mine,\nand only when the stakers of the Keeley mine sold its new owner\ntheir Beaver Lake claim was the fortune of the company to turn.\nThe irony of justice decreed that for fifty thousand dollars the\nprospectors parted with the Beaver Lake claims,\u2014the real bonanza.\n61\n MINE-FINDERS\nOn August 1, 1919, a final payment to the bank gave the English group control and proved the old mining adage to \"always\ntake out another round\".\nExtending the face of the drift in the Beaver Lake claim fifty\nfeet the high grade Wood vein was encountered, which made the\nKeeley the richest producer in the South Lorrain camp, and while\nthe goddess of luck smiled on the Keeley Silver Mines Ltd., the\nill-fated Farmers' Bank, which might have been saved from bankruptcy, shared no part of it.\nOntario Iron\nWhen the American War of Independence forced those hardy\npeople who came to be known as the United Empire Loyalists into\nthe hitherto untrod areas of Upper Canada, mining was little\nthought of, but the wants of the little struggling bands of pioneers\nmade the need for iron urgent.\nWhile St. Maurice iron furnaces were firmly established, Loyalists settling in Ontario knew none of the luxuries that iron provided in Lower Canada.\nThis need brought about Ontario's first mining industry, and\nwhile it served a great need and deserves a high place in its early\nhistory, it never became large, nor returned the money spent in an\neffort to launch it as a basic enterprise.\nThe first attempt at smelting Ontario iron ore was in 1800 on\nthe Gananoque River, in Leeds county, later known as \"Furnace\nFalls\",\u2014now the village of Lindhurst. Here, Ephriam Jones,\nDaniel Sherwood, Samuel Barlow and Wallace Sutherland operated a furnace for two years.\nWith the little Empire Loyalist settlement on Lake Erie\ndemanding utensils of iron, John Mason, an Englishman, started\nOntario's second iron furnace, smelting bog iron, found in 1815\nby Noah Fairchild in the township of Charlotteville, Norfolk\ncounty, where Potter's Creek enters Lake Erie. The creek furnished the power for the primitive furnace, and Mason struggled\nhard to establish the infant industry.   The lack of experienced\n ONTARIO\nhelp was a serious factor and he petitioned the Government to pay\nthe passage of five or six families from England, skilled in iron\nsmelting. He also endeavored to obtain half a dozen disabled\ncannon in order that he might recast them into the much needed\nutensils. But Mason died before the project became successful and\nin 1820 the primitive plant was purchased by Joseph Van Norman,\nwho formed a partnership with Hiram Capron and George Tilson.\nWith the expenditure of some eight thousand dollars, using charcoal for fuel, Ontario's iron industry was successfully launched\nand the site named Normandale.\nThe little plant averaged about three tons daily for nine months\nin the year, treating ore from a bog iron deposit two miles away.\nThe pig iron made by the furnace was of good grade and found a\nready market locally when cast into pots, sugar kettles and potash\ncauldrons, and later in the manufacture of the Van Norman stove,\na popular and efficient appliance which was used extensively in\nhouses, stores and bar-rooms. The industry thrived until 1847,\nwhen the depleted bog iron deposits forced a shut-down.\nThere was little currency among these pioneer settlers and due\nbills for iron served as money, and at one time it was recorded that\nthe furnace company had thirty thousand dollars outstanding.\nTo Van Norman also goes the credit for first using hot air\ndrawn from the furnace stack as an air blast under the charge, an\nimportant step in the progress of iron smelting. With the Norfolk company deposits depleted and with a modest fortune from\nhis operation, Van Norman turned his attention to the iron ores of\nHastings county, which he purchased in 1847 for twenty-one\nthousand dollars. But smelting iron ore in this district was not\nnew, for since 1820 the iron furnaces at Marmora had been treating, sporadically, iron ore from the Blairton mine on Crow Lake,\nPeterborough county. The initial effort was unsuccessful and the\nproperty passed to the Honourable Peter McGill of Montreal, the\nprincipal creditor.\nIn 1828, McGill petitioned the Government unsuccessfully for\n63\n MINE-FINDERS\na fifty thousand dollar loan to re-launch the industry. In 1831 an\ninvestigation was made as to the feasibility of the Government's\npurchasing it and transferring the penitentiary from Kingston to\nMarmora, in order that prison labor might be utilised, but the\nGovernment did not consider it favorably.\nAlthough Hastings county's first blast furnace was unsuccessful, Uriah Seymour, who owned furnaces in Wollcott, N.Y., purchased the Seymour mine and built a blast furnace at Madoc in\n1837. With the pig iron made, Seymour cast it into stoves and\nkettles, but after eight years operations were suspended.\nWhen Van Norman depleted his Norfolk bog iron deposits,\nhe purchased the Crow Lake iron mines and moved the plant to\nMarmora, at a big expenditure, and utilising charcoal for fuel, he\nstarted smelting in 1848. The investment was a sad disappointment, for after the iron was produced, it was necessary to transport\nit thirty-two miles over a rocky road to Belleville, which caused\nserious breakdowns to the wagons and pulled the shoes from the\nhorses. To lessen transportation costs, a new route was established by building a nine mile road to Healey's Falls on the Trent\nRiver, where a steamer carried the pig iron to Rice Lake; thence\ntwelve miles overland to Cobourg. But just when Van Norman's\nlatest troubles were almost over, foreign pig iron started coming\ndown the St. Lawrence into Lake Ontario ports, selling at below\nhis cost, with the result that the fortune he made in Norfolk\ncounty was lost in Hastings.\nFollowing Van Norman's failure in Hastings county, an English company, after spending three hundred thousand dollars to\nre-launch the iron industry, ran it only forty days. Another unsuccessful attempt to smelt the ore in Hastings county was made in\n1865, using petroleum as fuel.\nA final chapter to the smelting of Eastern Ontario's iron ore\nwas written in 1882 when Parry and Wood, Americans, erected a\nblast furnace at Kinmont, on the Burnt River in Haliburton county.\nThe plant was never completed, although some fifty thousand\n ONTARIO\ndollars was invested and a railway was started from Kinmont\nthrough Irondale toward Ottawa, but like the smelter, it never saw\ncompletion and found a terminus at Bancroft.\nVan Norman, stripped of his wealth, returned to the site of his\nfirst iron smelting operations at Normandale, in Norfolk county.\nAt that time the Great Western Railway was being constructed and\ncar wheels were in demand. In the meantime, new bog iron\ndeposits had been located in Houghton township, and with a\nsigned contract for all the charcoal iron he could purchase at forty-\nfive dollars a ton, Van Norman found capital to resume operations.\nBuilding a new furnace, smelting started in the fall of 1854, and\nwith his first shipment of four hundred tons in the spring of 1855\ncame more grief, for the foundries said that the treads of the iron\nwheels would not chill and toughen; therefore Van Norman was\nforced to sacrifice his iron at twenty-two dollars a ton. With the\nCrimean War boosting production costs, operations were abandoned.\nThe next chapter in the development of Ontario iron was\noccasioned by the Atikokan mine, worked simultaneously with the\nHelen mine. The discovery of the Atikokan mine was made one\nhundred and thirty miles west of Port Arthur in 1882 by Jim\nShogonosh, an Indian trapper. No development was started until\n1900, and when the blast furnaces at Port Arthur started in 1907,\nthe mine continued to be worked until 1913.\nCopper Mining\nCopper rather than gold attracted the attention of the practical-\nminded aborigines, and archeologists aver that Isle Royal, fifteen\nmiles off the Canadian shore of Thunder Bay in Lake Superior\nsupported a civilisation centuries ago, far superior to any Indian\ncivilisation known. The telltale pits of prehistoric copper mining\nat McCargo's Cove in the southwesterly end of the Island has been\nattributed by various archeologists to Aztecs, Mound-builders,\nNorsemen or possibly Indians. These pits, discovered in 1872,\ngive evidence of extensive copper mining in the remote past by\n65\n  ONTARIO\npeople not easily identified. The large number of stone hammers\nstill in evidence confirm the magnitude of the operations. That\nthey were a people of high degree of civilisation is evidenced not\nonly by the circular pits five to thirty feet deep in the rock but by\n\"cities\", for near the mouth of the Silby River, emptying into the\nSiskowit Bay, are pits twenty-five feet square; others thirty feet by\nsixty feet, all lined with boulders that once supported a roof, while\nsurrounding these abodes are embankments that may have been\nbuilt to exclude flood waters or provide a defense against hostile\ninvaders. Further evidence of the intelligence of these early\nminers were the drains provided for these abodes, while wooden\nshovels have been found deep in the debris, as well as tools of\nnative copper and copper arrows.\nThat this civilisation existed previous to the sixteenth century,\nor the coming of the white man, is told by the rings of decaying\nstumps in the pits. Whether pestilence or savage invaders interrupted the early copper mining is an untold chapter.\nLike the early miners of the Old World, the mining method\nemployed was to build fires against the rock faces and then dash\non cold water to fracture the rock. The shattered rock was then\nbroken with the stone hammers, the source of which was on the\nCanadian shore, fifteen miles away. These hammers weighed from\nten to thirty pounds and were fashioned from natural pebbles of\n' hard rock, rudely fitted with helves, withed or thonged to them.\nThe first recorded reference to copper along the north shore of\nLake Superior is found in the records of the Jesuit missionaries of\n1636. This was before they had visited Lake Superior, and the\ninformation doubtless came from the Indians of the area. The\nrecordings of Boucher in 1640 leave no doubt that it was Michi-\npicoten Island to which he referred when he said \"there are in this\nregion mines of copper, tin, antimony and lead; there is a beautiful\nmine of copper, and one ingot weighed eight hundred pounds,\nfrom which the Indians had cut off pieces\". In 1653, Francesco\nBressani, Italian friar, wrote, \"there is copper ore which is very\n67\n MINE-FINDERS\npure and which has no need of passing through the fire, but it is\nin places far distant and hard to reach. We have seen it in the\nhands of the barbarians.\"\nAlexander Henry, an Englishman engaged in trading with the\nIndians, who passed the winter of 1767 at Michipicoten Island,\nalso made reference to the Mamainse Point copper. Indians told\nof their grandfathers coming there for pure copper from which to\nmake beads, arrows, knives and ornaments. The first Roman\nCatholic church in the area boasted of copper ornaments made\nfrom the native copper from Mamainse Point.\n\u25a0 Alexander Henry, in company with the Duke of Gloucester and\nother prominent Englishmen, formed a company in 1770 to work\nthe deposit. Encouragement for the enterprise was expressed by\nCaptain Carver, who hazarded the prediction that \"in future time\nan advantageous trade in copper will spring up\". His idea of the\ndeveloping of the property was that the ore should be conveyed in\ncanoes through the falls at Sault Ste. Marie and thence in large\nvessels to the falls of Niagara. After portaging the ore around the\nmighty falls, it could then be easily transported to Quebec for\nsmelting. Certainly the problems of transportation offered no\ninsurmountable barriers to the enthusiasm of the stalwart Captain.\nHenry's plan found execution in the building of a forty-ton sloop,\nsix miles above Sault Ste. Marie, while mining first started on the\nsouth shore of the Ontonagon River, with a shaft carried to a depth\nof thirty feet on a four-inch vein of copper. No semblance of\nsuccess attended this early effort, and it was soon abandoned.\nThe next effort was at Point Aux Mines, or Mica Bay. Here it\nappears that Ontario's first mining fatality occurred, when a drift\nin the ground caved in, killing some of the miners and sealing the\nfate of this operation.\nDavid Thompson, the explorer, visited Mamainse Point in\n1798, but little is heard of the showing until 1845. Sir William\nLogan first visited the area in 1846, with his assistant, Alexander\nMurray.   In that year the Montreal Mining Co. was organised to\n ONTARIO\nexplore for minerals along the north shore of Lake Superior. In\nall, thirty-one applications were received by the Government for\nmining locations, the first being Honorable John Prince who, on\nJuly 1, 1845, applied for Spar Island in Lake Superior. Two\nparties numbering in all eighty men left Montreal on May 2,1846.\nAlready the Bruce mine, forty miles east of Sault Ste. Marie and\ndiscovered in 1844 by an employee of the Hudson Bay Indian\nDepartment, was attracting attention, while in 1846 the Wallace\nmine, also on the north channel at the mouth of the Whitefish\nRiver, was discovered. The Bruce mine was not named for the\nScottish patriot, as some aver, but after the Earl of Elgin,\nGovernor-General of Canada.\nThe following year\u20141847\u2014the Montreal Mining Co. purchased the Bruce mines for forty thousand pounds (Halifax currency), and after expenditure of large sums on development,\nworked it until 1850. Extravagant management and an epidemic\nof cholera contributed to an unsuccessful operation, but subsequent\noperations until 1876 produced copper ore valued at $3,300,000.\nThe credit for paying the first dividend in the annals of Canadian\nmining goes to the Montreal Mining Co., which made a small disbursement in 1853 from the alleged profits of the enterprise, but\nnot until all other efforts to sell the mine had failed.\nThe placing of the property in the dividend class attracted the\nCanada West Mining Co. to purchase the Wellington lease, forming part of the Bruce mines holdings.\nIn 1854 Sampson Vivian, a Cornish miner, leased the Wellington mine, or the west part of the Bruce mine, for one-twentieth\nroyalty, as well as the entire Bruce mines lease, held by the Montreal Mining Co.\nFour years later, on September 12, 1868, the sagacious John\nTaylor, Jr., of London, and later head of the famous firm of mining\nengineers, endeavored to put the Bruce mines on a profitable basis.\nFinding the operating and transportation costs high, he advised the\n69\ny\n MINE-FINDERS\nconstruction of a smelter on the site, but this did not stem the tide\nof losses, and the property was shut down in 1876.\nThe Wallace mine, a mile west of the Whitefish River and\nlater owned by the Upper Canada Mining Co., was opened in 1846\nel|| ] and was only important as being the site of the first discovery of\nn nickel in Ontario, which drew comment from geologist Alexander\nY Murray.\nThe Quebec Mining Co., organised about the same time as the\nMontreal Mining Co., acquired property on Michipicoten Island;\nalso at Point Aux Mines (Mica Bay), some sixty miles up the\nnorth shore of Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie. Here the first\nrecorded trouble with Indians took place. The Indians were dissatisfied, and considered that their rights had received scant consideration, for up to that time no treaty had been signed; accordingly they took over the mine, driving out the whites. This was\nin 1849, and such action speedily brought the conclusion of a\ntreaty and the end of the trouble.\nSir William Logan, in 1846, on his first cruise around the north\nshore of Lake Superior, reported the presence of galena on Granite\nIsland in Black Bay, adjacent to Thunder Bay. As early as 1846\ncopper ore in small quantities had been mined on Spar Island,\ntwenty-four miles south of Port Arthur. In May, 1865, Peter and\nDonald McKellar reported the discovery of lead three miles west\nof Black Bay at a point known as the North Shore Lead Hills, later\nknown as the Enterprise mine. Small shipments of ore were made\nto the United States, but it never demonstrated economic import-\nance.\nThe history of mining in the Michipicoten area of Ontario is\none of mixed metals, with public interest shifting as the pendulum\nof time swings to and fro. Early, the Jesuit missionaries and\ntraders were familiar with copper ore on Michipicoten Island, and\nthe Hudson's Bay Co. trading post at Michipicoten was a rendezvous for prospectors and explorers. The first work of any consequence on Michipicoten Island was conducted by H. Fletcher in\n70\nm\n ONTARIO\n1860-61 for New York interests. Several shallow shafts were\nsunk and a small mill erected which, after producing a few barrels\nof copper, became financially entangled and saw the machinery\nseized for non-payment of debts. While it was copper that first\nattracted attention, an iron ore deposit on Gros Cap, Michipicoten\nHarbor, came in for exploration about 1865, when a sixty-four\nfoot shaft was sunk and an unsuccessful attempt was made at\nprofitable mining.\nThe discovery of gold in the area dates from that hot summer\nday in 1897 when the Indian Will Teddy and his wife made camp\non the south shore of Wa Wa Lake. Teddy was lounging in camp\nwhile his wife went to the lake to obtain water to prepare the meal.\nAs she bent over the water's edge she saw glistening yellow specks\nin the quartz along the shore. Calling her husband they broke off\na few pieces which they showed to the local merchant. Not until\nJack McKay of Sudbury had promised a thousand dollars would the\nIndian part with his secret.\nNow rich, in terms of Indian value, Teddy left for Ottawa to\nvisit the \"Big Chief\" (the Indian Commissioner) leaving his\nsquaw behind to shift for herself. Flush of funds and regaling\nhimself in a cut away coat he had many new found friends in\nOttawa until stripped of his wealth. Sobered, he now went to\nsee the Commissioner who after admonishing him sent him home\npoorer but wiser. Becoming as enthusiastic a prospector as he\nwas a trapper he continued to probe the rocks, always hoping, but\nalways failing to again make his fortune.   He died in 1931.\nUnimportant as this discovery proved to be, it started a rush\ninto the area the following year. But the placer gold fields of the\nKlondyke were also commanding public attention, and an unscrupulous prospector sought to capitalise this rush and heralded\nMichipicoten as another Klondyke, showing samples of gold purporting to have been panned from nearby Manitowick Lake. Excitement ran high when the vial of gold nuggets was shown the\nnewcomers, but a confession was finally wrung from the tricky\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nprospector's partner. The gold had come from a quartz vein on\nWa Wa Lake.\nThe first property to get into production was the Grace mine of\nthe Clergues' sponsored Algoma Commercial Co., which started in\nJuly, 1900, but closed three years later. F. H. Clergues, a Sault\nSte. Marie resident, was a central figure in the Michipicoten area\nat that time, and was prone to immortalise the lady members of his\nfamily by naming his mining properties after them. Thus it was\nthat the Frances, Grace and the Helen gold mines in the same area\nreceived their names.\nWith the early rush to the Michipicoten gold find came an\nassayer who was very popular with the prospectors. Always obliging, he never failed to find commercial gold values in the samples\nbrought to him for assay. At last, suspicious of such consistent\nresults, they chipped off a bit of the grindstone found at the old\nHudson's Bay Co. post. When the popular assayer again found a\nvalue of twenty dollars in gold per ton, it proved his undoing, and\nthe prospectors forthwith ran him out of camp.\nBut the gold discoveries were only a flash across a hopeful horizon and interest waned as quickly as it had started and now the\nMariposa, Kitchigami, Sunrise and Manxman are but memories of\nunsuccessful attempts at gold mining that were once the pride of\nthis old camp, and with the turn of the century interest reverted to\niron with the discovery of the Helen iron mine, twelve miles from\nMichipicoten Harbor, staked by Benjamin Boyer and Alois Goetz\nin August, 1897, on the shores of what was named Boyer Lake.\nRecords show that Boyer and Goetz got thirty-five thousand dollars\nfor the claims. When Clergues acquired these and the adjacent\nclaims in 1899, the Helen, Canada's largest and most profitable\niron mine, took its title from the puny gold showing of the same\nname, in order that it might be fittingly perpetuated.\nClergues' next move was to build a railway,\u2014-the Algoma\nCentral,\u2014twelve miles from Michipicoten Harbor to the iron mine.\nThe property was worked by Clergues' Lake Superior Power Co.,\nUfiL\n ONTARIO\nwhich made its first shipment of ore on May 15, 1900, to Midland.\nThat year, some fifty thousand tons were shipped and until operations ceased in 1918 the property produced 2,823,369 tons of brown\niron ore.\nThe Magpie iron mine, fifteen miles north of the Helen, came\ninto production in 1913 and until 1921 shipped 1,250,000 tons of\nore.\nSimultaneously with the development of the Helen mine, the\nblast furnaces and steel mills at Sault Ste. Marie evolved under\nClergues' sponsorship. But after the World War the nearly\ndepleted Helen mine was not able to meet the keen competition,\nand when the Magpie closed in 1921 \"finis\" was written to commercial iron mining in Canada. The pendulum of interest now\nswung again to gold with the Cooper, Minto and Jubilee properties\nrising to haunt the early gold mining efforts at the turn of the\ncentury.\nCommercial production from Michipicoten may be said to have\nstarted in 1931 when the Parkhill and Minto mines started operations with fifty-ton mills. With rising gold prices in 1934, the\nGrace, too, got another test, while the Consolidated Mining &\nSmelting Co. probed Thaddy, the Indian's first find on the shore of\nWa Wa Lake, which first started the rush nearly forty years before.\nNickel is Discovered\nThe oyster-shaped basin, approximately thirty-six miles in\nlength and sixteen miles in width, known as the Sudbury Nickel\nRange and centered two hundred and fifty miles northwest of\nToronto, contains the world's largest known reserves of nickel ore,\nincluding the Frood mine, Canada's greatest copper producer as\nwell as one of the world's leading sources of platinum, appraised\nas the world's most valuable known mineral deposit. The incongruity of this vast storehouse of mineral wealth is that fifty years\nago, the first deposit discovered, including a tract of three hundred\nand ten acres, was purchased for one dollar per acre. The value of\nthe production in matte form 'for the past half century from this\njj\n MINE-FINDERS\nbasin is greater than that of any mining camp in the Dominion and\nis estimated at $550,000,000, from which dividends totalling\n$150,000,000 have been paid.\nBut the story of the discovery of nickel is more than the story\nof a lucky blast by railway contractors to cut out right of way for\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883: it is the story of a reactionary element in copper ore that defied successful treatment. With\nthe solving of the metallurgy and the successful production of\nnickel, the indefatigable pioneers faced lack of demand which\nbrought years of research to expand its market. To-day its use is\ncommonplace, and an ever-broadening market is being found in\nevery phase of industrial and domestic life. Indeed, its presence\nseems to impart to all iron products that quality which adds resistance to the elements,\u2014life and beauty to make the world products\nof iron just that much better.\nThe saga of the Heaven-sent blade of the mythological swordsmen of Asia has a scientific background, and the keen edge of the\nbright swords was truly heaven-sent, as the genesis was without\ndoubt the nickel-iron meteorites that, on occasion, poured from the\nheavens, only to be smelted and forged into keen blades.\nThe very name, \"nickel\", traces its origin back to the eighteenth\ncentury mines of Saxony. These early miners also found a reactionary element when they tried to smelt copper ores and produced\nonly a worthless alloy. Disgusted, the superstitious Saxon miners\ncalled the ore \"kupfer-nickel\" (copper nickel), so called after\n\"Old Nick\", the very devil himself and his mischievous gnomes\nwho were charged with plaguing the miners and bewitching the\nore. But what the German miners and scientists scorned as \"Old\nNick\", the Chinese for centuries had been exploiting commercially\nwith a ready market in Western Europe and Great Britain under\nthe name of \"paktong\", a shiny white metal containing copper,\nzinc and nickel, that later had its market challenged by \"German\nSilver\" when scientists found that the secret of the Chinese\nmetallurgist was none other than nickel. It was not until 1851 that\n  ONTARIO\nCronstedt, the German scientist, isolated nickel and gave it its\nname. Until the discovery of the rich Sudbury deposits and\nknowledge that they contained nickel, together with the discovery\nof a method to separate this nickel, there was no commercial source\nof supply. Therefore the discovery of commercial nickel dates\nfrom that August day in 1883, when the seed was germinated in a\nnew age,\u2014the age of nickel.\nBut long before the Canadian Pacific Railway was conceived,\nback in the summer of 1848, Sir William E. Logan and his assistant,\nAlexander Murray, made note of the presence of nickel. On the\nwesterly end of the north channel of Lake Huron, he made casual\nreference to finding ore containing nickel among other metals (an\ninsignificant ore showing, boasting shallow pits). This ore came\nfrom what was later known as the Wallace mine, which had been\nexplored by someone. Probably because of the casual nature of\nthe find and without the opportunity of making a complete examination, Murray made only a brief reference to it.\nThe first chronicled notice of unusual mineralisation in the\nSudbury Basin was in 1856 following an exploration party headed\nby Alexander Murray. A. P. Salter, a surveyor of the party,\nreported that his compass was deflected by the presence of a large\nbody of magnetic trap rock, containing disseminated sulphides at a\npoint that has been established as being about two hundred yards\nwest of the Creighton mine, one of the now famous mines of the\narea. The yellowed geological survey records were forgotten, and\nno further attention was paid to the area until the spring of 1883,\nwhen the Canadian Pacific Railway was pushing westward to the\nPacific Coast. Sir William Van Home,\u2014then vice-president and\ngeneral manager of the railway, had shunted his private car,\n\"Saskatchewan\", to the end of steel and was out inspecting the\nconstruction. Inside the car was his young slip of a secretary,\nThomas Tait. A balmy spring afternoon and his work completed,\nthe secretary walked ahead of the track along the grade and when\npassing through the rock cut its glistening formation caught his\n MINE-FINDERS\neye. Pocketing a couple of pieces, they adorned the window sill\nof the coach until the porter brought them to Sir William's Montreal office, asking for information as to their disposal. The secretary placed them on his desk. Months passed and the rocks drew\nno comment until S. J. Ritchie, as president of the Central Ontario\nRailway, was paying one of his frequent visits to Sir William. The\nsamples caught his eye and looked interesting to him and he asked\nyoung Tait if he might take them away and have them assayed.\nNothing was heard of the samples but they must have assayed\nwell, for the next news of Ritchie was that he had acquired the\nclaims from whence they came. When two carloads of ore were\nshipped to the Orford Copper Co., from where the railway had\ncut through what later proved to be the main ore deposit of the\nMurray mine near Sudbury, a new mining industry was launched\nthat was to assume a premier position in the Dominion. Sir William Van Home's secretary, too, years later, won recognition from\nhis sovereign, and now as Sir Thomas Tait, is still keenly interested\nin Canada's mineral developments.\nIn August, 1883, a few months after Sir Thomas Tait had\nrucked up the samples that were to attract the eye of promoter\nRitchie, Thomas Flanagan, a blacksmith on the railway construction gang, was attracted by the copper sulphide showing in the\nrock cut, and is commonly referred to as the discoverer of the\ndeposit owing to the reticence of the young secretary.\nIn 1883, John Laughrin, of Mattawa, Ontario, a railway tie\ncontractor, afterwards a member of the Provincial Parliament for\nNipissing, was attracted by \"red mud\" on the wagon road near the\nspot found by blacksmith Flanagan. It was not, however, until\nFebruary 25, 1884, that Thomas Murray and his brother William,\nresidents of Pembroke, together with John Loughran, made application for patents to this three hundred and ten acre plot in McKim\ntownship, at the statutory price of a dollar an acre. While the\nname of Murray is oft and erroneously revered as the discoverer\nof nickel in Canada, had it not been for \"expert\" advice d\n76\nS&S\n 1\nONTARIO\n3l few months earlier by Drs. Girdwood and Selwyn, the honor\nmight have gone to Dr. Howey, a pioneer of the little community\nof Sudbury, then on the fringe of the vast Canadian frontier.\nBecause another Sudbury pioneer, later dignified as Judge Mc-\nNaughton, became lost in the dense woods west of the village one\nday, a search was instituted by his friends in the little community.\nIn the search party was Dr. Howey, who located McNaughton,\ncomplacently resting on an eminence that marked an outcrop of\nwhat was later the Murray mine. Dr. Howey had a natural flair\nfor science, and the curious geological formation attracted his\nattention. As he had done many times before, he knocked off a\ngenerous sample and brought it back to add to his mineral collection. The mineralisation had appealed to him as a possible copper\nore, but when he showed it to\nDrs. Girdwood and Selwyn, -\nthe former a Canadian Pacific\nmedical man and somewhat of\na mineralogist himself, (Dr.\nSelwyn was later an official of\nthe Geological Survey of Canada), Dr. Howey's hopes\nwere shattered as the men of\nscience pronounced the specimen largely pyrrhotite and\nvalueless. The only metal\nthat might be present was an\nelement known as nickel,\nwhich past experience had\ntaught was generally present, but not of commercial importance.\nThey agreed, however, that while there was evidence of copper, it,\ntoo, was not of commercial importance. On such outstanding advice Dr. Howey confined his research to his profession and missed\na place in the hall of fame as the discoverer of commercial nickel\nin Canada.\n u\n MlNE-FINDERS\nBetween 1884 and 1890 most of the important mines of the\nSudbury nickel range were discovered, including the famous Frood\nmine,\u2014the largest and richest of them all,\u2014the importance of\nwhich was not recognised until deep development was undertaken\nin 1925. Its real discoverer was William Nelson, a trapper, but\nthe date of his discovery is not recorded. Nelson told Thomas\nFrood, a timber cruiser for the Crown Lands Department, that he\nhad indications of mineral in a creek on the north side of McKim\ntownship. Subsequently, Frood, together with James Cockburn, a\nprospector, explored the site, and on May 18, 1884, staked the\ndeposit. A disagreement arose between the two, to be finally\nsettled by Cockburn taking lot six, and Frood lot seven, on both of\nwhich a vein of pyrites had been found. It is not recorded, and it\nis doubtful if Nelson received any consideration whatsoever for his\ndiscovery, while Frood died amid squalid surroundings on the\nnorth shore of Lake Huron, a few miles from his find,\u2014the world's\nrichest known mineral deposit, which benefited him little, principally because its importance was not known at the time of his\ndeath.\nThe Creighton mine, which proved to be the reason for the\ndancing compass needle of surveyor Salter, was rediscovered in\n1886 by Henry Range, a veteran prospector operating alone. He\nwas forestalled, however, by J. H. Metcalfe and W. B. McAllister\nmaking application for the tract on July 10, 1885, but the application did not show that a discovery had been made.\nNotwithstanding the ore exposure made by the main line of the\nCanadian Pacific Railway in 1883, it was not until two years later\nthat Samuel J. Ritchie, the shrewd American promoter and resident\nof Akron, Ohio, grasped the copper possibilities of the find. He\nset about to replenish his luckless exploitations of the North Hastings iron deposits by the construction of the Central Ontario Railway from Trenton, his first and a false start in Ontario mining.\nRitchie had interested Cleveland capitalists in his railway promotion and was looking to North Hastings iron deposits as a\n ONTARIO\nfor his scheme when the Sudbury finds came to his attention.\nHastening to the spot, he purchased some ten thousand acres and\nvisualised an extension of his railway from the Coehill iron deposits\nto North Bay and on to Sudbury, carrying its copper ores to a central\nsmelting plant at the other terminus at Trenton, a lake port offering\nwater transportation facilities down the St. Lawrence and to points\non the Atlantic Coast. On January 5, 1886, he formed the first\nSudbury company\u2014Canadian Copper Co.,\u2014and became its president. He found a purchaser for his copper ore in the Orford\nCopper Co. at Bayonne, New Jersey, headed by Colonel R. M.\nThompson, who had started the company to smelt copper ore from\nthe Eustis mine in Quebec.\nThe first shipment to the Orford smelter in 1886 produced a\npale looking copper that was not acceptable to the trade. This\nproved another setback, for Robert R. Hedley, assayer for the\ncompany, found that the ore contained two and one-half per cent,\nof the reactionary metal,\u2014nickel, then selling for a dollar a pound.\nRitchie quickly perceived the potential tonnage of nickel many\ntimes more than the world's total consumption. The heaven-sent\nblades of the ancient warriors flashed in his mind and he visited\nthe Smithsonian Institute to view the heaven-sent \"meteorites of\nnickel and iron. By chance he here met John Gangee, an Englishman who had experimented with nickel-iron castings in connection\nwith the handling of ammonia gas in his artificial refrigeration\nplant on a ship which he had equipped for the special treatment of\nyellow fever patients.\nGangee's experiment with the expensive nickel as an alloy to\niron prompted Ritchie to write the famous German gun-maker,\nKrupp, suggesting a similar alloy for ordnances and armaments.\nKrupp scorned the idea that there was sufficient nickel in the world\nto warrant even experimentation. To Ritchie, with his huge potential tonnage of two and one-half per cent nickel ore, he foresaw\nno shortage. Krupp's smiling contempt for Ritchie's suggestion\nwas misplaced, for the French were already experimenting with\n79\nm\n MINE-FINDERS\nnickel steel and in May, 1889, that famous paper by James Reilly,\nmanager of the Glasgow Steel Works, on \"alloys of nickel and\nsteel\" before the Iron and Steel Institute in Edinburgh led to the\nwholesale investigation of nickel steel plate and later to its adoption for armaments, which provided then an almost unlimited\nmarket for nickel. But there was no nickel of commercial importance. The United States Government turned to Thompson and\nhis Orford Copper Co., giving him a year to begin his delivery. At\nthe end of this period he made a shipment of nickel oxide that no\nsteel plant would to-day accept and realised that the product must\nbe better, or a big potential market was lost. Here follow the first\nfruits of success in solving the metallurgy of the \"devil's plague\",\nnickel.\nColonel Thompson struck a number of the cones that had been\ndumped from his smelting pots, one of which surprisingly broke\naway in a perfect division,\nwith a top of copper matte\nhaving a bright bottom, almost pure nickel sulphide.\nWhat had caused this unusual\nseparation ? Research was\nstarted to identify the chemical that had been employed,\nand a test of the ore was made\nwith every chemical about the\nplant. Here again was disappointment; then finally came\nanother favorable result, a perfect division in the broken cone. In\nthat test, nitre cake, a by-product of nitric acid, had been used, and\nwith this discovery was found the Orford process, used to-day in\nthe primary separation of the copper-nickel matte that laid the\nfoundation for tonnage production and the ever-rising demand for\nnickel. From that date on, the history of the nickel industry and its\ndevelopment has been one of expansion and development by varied\n ONTARIO\ninterests, which evolved into two main companies,\u2014International\nNickel Co. and the Mond Nickel Co. These two were merged in\n1928 under a benevolent monopoly known as the International\nNickel Co. of Canada, producers of ninety per cent, of the world's\nnickel.\nNew laurels were added to the science of mineralogy when, in\nOctober, 1888, Francis L. Sperry discovered that the nickel-bearing\nores from the Sudbury mines contained an arsenide of platinum\nand his name is honored by the mineral being henceforth known\nas \"sperrylite\".\nAnother romance of nickel centres about the Canadian-born\nand renowned inventor, Thomas A. Edison, who made a visit to\nthe Sudbury area in 1906 to explore the hills of the Sudbury nickel\nrange as a profitable source of supply for his newly developed\nstorage battery, which employed nickel instead of the conventional\nlead. He had seen an exhibit of nickel ore and products at the\nPan-American Exposition, and was determined to have his own\nsource of nickel supply.\nWith an early forerunner of geophysical prospecting instruments, he started his Sudbury search for nickel ore. In Falcon-\nbridge township his magnetometer gave the desired \"kick\", performing not unlike the compass of the first chronicler, surveyor\nA. P. Salter. Edison started a shaft through the overburden, but\nat a depth of eighty feet quicksand, twenty feet above what later\nwas determined the ore body, thwarted his efforts, and the Sudbury\ndistrict saw no more of the famous inventor. However, the work\ndone kept his claim in good standing until 1915, when on a memorable dark night, a lawyer-prospector, W. E. Smith of Sudbury,\nquietly slipped out to the Edison claim and on the stroke of twelve\nstarted driving his stake. The Edison staking had lapsed. Copartner of Smith was the E. J. Longyear Co. of Minneapolis, who\ndiamond-drilled the property in the war years of 1916 and 1917\nand proved up commercial ore bodies. Next entered another\nMinneapolis resident, F. W. Bennett, the Iron King, who pur-\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nchased eighty per cent of the Longyear Co. interest and turned it\nover in 1928 to the interests who formed the present Falconbridge\nNickel Mines, brought into production in February, 1930, and\ndividends three years later.\nThe foundation of the Falconbridge Nickel Mine was not alone\ndue to Edison's unfound ore deposit, for while it was possible to\nmine and smelt ore, it lacked a refinery to complete the cycle of\ntreatment. To this end the company acquired the electrolytic\nnickel refinery at Kristiansand, Norway, which years before had\nplayed an important role in the production of commercially pure\nnickel.\nThe electrolytic refining process, which to-day accounts for the\ngreater part of the commercial nickel produced, was developed by\nV. Hybinette, a young Swedish chemist who had emigrated to this\nContinent and found employment with the Marcus Daly interests\nin Montana,\u2014later coming to Canada to work for the Canadian\nCopper Co. at Sudbury. Up to this time the only nickel refinery\nin the British Empire was that owned by the Mond Nickel Co. at\nClydach, Wales, utilising the Carbonal process developed by Dr.\nMond. Hybinette, by what amounted to reversing the electrolytic\nprocess in the refining of copper, adapted it to nickel, and thus\nwas developed the electrolytic refining process. Then came a bitter\nquarrel between the company and Hybinette, which resulted in his\ngoing to Norway and establishing a nickel refinery at Kristiansand,\nto refine the nickel ores mined nearby. But the World War was\non and Norwegian nickel found its way to the enemy.\nDr. F. S. Pearson meanwhile had organised the British American Nickel Corporation, in which the British Government was\nlargely interested through the guaranteeing of the bonds. Feeling\nthe need of a refinery, the Kristiansand officials were interested in\nthe purchase of a block of Nickel Corporation's stock and contracted for a definite tonnage of nickel matte from Canada. During the late war years the young enterprise fared well until\nPearson lost his life with the sinking of the Lusitania.   Here,\n82\n ONTARIO\nJames Dunn, former resident of Bathurst, N.B., acquired control\nof the enterprise and became its president. The shares of the\nBritish American Nickel Corporation, after wide market gyrations, sank to low levels and nearly ruined the Central Norgen\nBank at Oslo, Norway. Then came negotiations that appeased the\nNorwegian investors. James Dunn stepped out as president but\nsuffered no loss of prestige, as he was later created a baronet.\nThunder Bay Silver\nWhile copper was known to the Indians and the very early\nexplorers along the north shore of Lake Superior, the presence of\nsilver seems to have escaped notice. On the United States side of\nLake Superior, about fourteen miles above Sault Ste. Marie, Nor-\nburg, a Russian, early in the nineteenth century, found a piece of\nfloat that he thought to be lead, but what proved to be about sixty\nper cent silver. This is thought to have come from the Canadian\nside, as a French-Canadian named Secord, in 1824, cut a white\nmetal with his axe while timbering in Thunder Bay. This white\nmetal was later identified as silver, and Secord undertook to pilot\na prospecting party, headed by Alexander Cameron, to the area.\nAfter a month of futile effort to find the vein, Secord was branded\nan an imposter. So serious a reflection on his character caused the\nsincere if unsuccessful prospector to commit suicide by hanging\nhimself. There seems little doubt in the light of subsequent discoveries in the area that Secord actually found silver, and his\ninability to relocate it robbed him of the credit of the first discovery\nin the area and his life as well.\nThe discovery of silver by Peter McKellar in the autumn of\n1866, on what was later known as the Thunder Bay mine, once\nmore attracted interest in prospecting for silver in the area and in\n1868, Thomas Macfarlane, geologist for the Montreal Mining Co.,\nheaded a party to explore the Thunder Cape leases of the company.\nOn an island\u2014later named Silver Islet\u2014a few miles off the shore\nfrom the present city of Port Arthur, a discovery of silver was made\nwhich developed into Canada's first profitable silver mine, which\n83\nj|\n MINE-FINDERS\nhad a production of 3,089,157 ounces of the white metal, valued\nat $3,250,000, from which dividends of $360,000 were paid before\nclosing down in 1884. While the tiny island proved the most\nimportant silver discovery in the area, it was also important in\nattracting interest in mining and led to the subsequent prospecting\nin the Lake-of-the-Woods district to the west. The discovery was\nmade when Thomas Macfarlane and Gerald Brown, his assistant,\nwere triangulating the shore of the Wood's location and sent John\nMorgan to drive a stake on the island. Morgan found a silver-\nbearing vein which he showed to Brown and Macfarlane, who lost\nno time in blasting out $1,500 worth of silver, which he sent to\nhis Montreal principals as evidence of his discovery.\nEvidently after an unsuccessful effort to win wealth from the\nminerals along Lake Superior's north shore, the Montreal Mining\nCo. either did not recognise the importance of the discovery or\nafter twenty-five years of unsuccessful prospecting were discouraged. At any rate, in 1870, the company sold all its mineral holdings and withdrew from mining. The Silver Islet then was sold\nfor $225,000, and doubtless the company was well satisfied with\nits deal, for they would not risk advancing the money required for\nits development. Captain William B. Frue took charge of the\nproperty and within one year mined sufficient silver to entirely pay\nthe Montreal Mining Co. for the property. Within three years the\nmine had paid the courageous group three hundred and sixty\nthousand dollars in dividends.\nBut good luck and good ore does not attend mining operations\ncontinuously and it was no exception at the Silver Islet, for poor\ngrade ore was encountered that not only depleted the company's\ntreasury but forced it to raise a four hundred thousand dollar\nmortgage in order that development might continue. Then again\nthe goddess of luck smiled and another rich ore shoot was struck\nthat enabled the company to pay off the mortgage, and profitable\noperations continued until 1884, when a coal barge with a winter's\nsupply of fuel for the power plant failed to reach the property.\nJ\n ONTARIO\nWith no alternative but to await the opening of shipping in the\nspring, the mine filled with water. Death, too, took its toll of\nofficials, and the curtain was rung down on mining operations, with\nworkings at a depth of eleven hundred and sixty feet. It was while\nmanager of the Silver Islet that Frue invented the Frue vanner, used\nextensively in recovering silver in many mills.\nFollowing the opening up of Silver Islet were many other less\nimportant operations in the area, notably the Beaver, Badger, West\nSilver Mountain, East Silver Mountain, Jarvis Island and the Duncan, none of which assumed profitable importance.\nThe Indians' superstition that to point out valuable minerals\nto a white man meant death in a year is well illustrated in the\ndiscovery of the silver-bearing veins on Rabbit and Silver Mountain, near Fort William. In 1882, an Indian named Tchiatang, of\nunusual intelligence, who had observed the mining activities in\nthe area, was lured to prospecting on his own account. On Rabbit\nMountain he discovered a rich silver vein, but the death superstition\nprevented him from personally pointing it out to the white man.\nHis keen intelligence, however, found a way to evade this spell of\nthe superstition and taking his son-in-law, Oliver Daunais, he led\nhim a short distance from his find and explained that if he followed\nhis directions he would find the vein for himself. Similarly he\nrevealed other discoveries in the district, which yielded large\namounts of silver to the credit of the Animikie area, which derived\nits .name from the Indian word, Outchipwai (thunder), giving the\nThunder Bay district its name.\nRabbit Mountain flourished for ten years after the discovery of\nsilver but never became really an important producer.\nOntario's First Gold Find\nThe Pre-Cambrian rocks, blanketing 1,800,000 square miles, or\ntwo-thirds of the Dominion's surface, have a capricious way of\nsecreting their golden treasures, and singularly Ontario's first\nrecorded gold discovery has never been duplicated for its unique\ngeological features.  The code to which no geologist will subscribe,\nlc\n MINE-FINDERS\nbut one that finds ready acceptance among prospectors, is the oft-\nrepeated adage that \"gold is where you find it\", which would seem\nto fit this early discovery. In the complacent, stone-strewn farming\ncommunity of Madoc township, Hastings county, Marcus H.\nPowell, an old Dutch miner, discovered free gold on the farm of\nJ. Richardson, north of the village of Eldorado, which gave Canada's premier gold-producing province its first gold rush, that\ndiffered little from the spell it casts wherever gold is found.\nOn August 15, 1866, the epic-making day in Ontario's nuning\nhistory, Powell and his partner, William Berryman, were tracing\nup a narrow seam of copper in limestone, which at a depth of\nabout fifteen feet became more or less decomposed and carried free\ngold. Six feet of trenching in this material and fifteen feet in solid\nrock suddenly broke into a limestone cave about twelve feet long,\nsix feet wide and six feet high, bristling with gold in the form of\nleaves and nuggets, some the size of butternuts. Powell had been\nprospecting the area since the spring of 1863 and for two years had\nNicholas Snider, a German copper miner, as a partner.\nThe Richardson mine, as it became known, quickly became the\nsubject of the curiosity seekers as well as the prospectors. It is\nrelated how four four-horse stage-coaches left Belleville daily,\nbringing four thousand visitors a month to the new village of\nEldorado, ill-provided to accommodate the newcomers; also how\ntwenty-six madhouses quenched the thirsts of the throng. From a\nfew log shanties in the discovery year, it grew to a mushroom\nsettlement of eighty buildings the year following, while Madoc,\nsix miles away, got its quota of the newcomers.\nH. G. Venner of the Geological Survey inspected the find and\nconfirmed its spectacular nature. Even the Cariboo gold camp in\nBritish Columbia, then in the height of its glory, heard of the new\nfind and \"Cariboo Cameron\", one of its most renowned characters,\ncame to see for himself. But the curiosity-seekers were interfering\nwith mining operations; so much so that they were denied admittance; whereupon nearly one hundred of the incredulous, headed\n ONTARIO\nby \"Cariboo Cameron\", lassoed the shaft-house and threatened to\npull it over. A hurried call to the mounted police barracks at\nMadoc (made necessary to keep order with twenty-six madhouses\nen route) brought a squad of law enforcers. Meanwhile Cameron\nand another were allowed down the mine, and they emerged, fully\nsatisfied that it was no hoax. But the discoverer was not the owner\nof the property and Richardson sold the mine to Lombard and\nHardin of Chicago for thirty-six thousand dollars, keeping twenty-\none thousand dollars for himself and allotting Powell fifteen\nthousand dollars, which the latter divided with his prospector\nfriends, giving Berryman fifteen hundred and Snyder thirty-five\nhundred dollars.\nThe mine was worked intermittently in after years, and the\nrusty remains of a stamp mill are still to be seen. There is no\nofficial record of production, but old residents agree that \"much\ngold was mined through the shallow shafts, while the miners stole\nas much as the owners received. Although the find never became\na commercial success, it gave a stimulus to prospecting in eastern\nOntario that resulted in gold mining operations in after years,\namong them the famous DeLoro, Pearce, Ledyard, Crescent,\nMarmora, Craig, Belmont and Golden Fleece,\u2014all unprofitable\nefforts, but forerunners of an industry of great economic importance\nto the Province.\nLake-of-the-Woods Gold Rush\nWhen the excitement of the gold discovery at Madoc in 1886\nhad abated, and with silver discoveries in the Port Arthur district\nassuming prominence, Peter McKellar, following up a clue from\nan Indian, made the first notable gold discovery in northwestern\nOntario near Jackfish Lake, in the winter of 1870-71.\nKnown as the Huronian mine, the first company to operate the\nproperty was the Jackfish Lake Mining Co., incorporated in 1875.\nBy 1883 a ten stamp mill was operating, but this pioneer operation,\nseventy miles from the railway, soon found that the obstacles of\ntransportation and power were too great, and suspended the next\n MINE-FINDERS\nyear. Sporadic attempts were made in later years,\u2014the last in\nMarch, 1932, when the property and plant were completely rehabilitated as the Moss mine, under the stimulus of a higher price of\ngold, but it was doomed to bankruptcy, and the close of 1934 again\nbrought suspension of operations.\nBut this early discovery was to open another unsuccessful chapter in the history of Ontario gold mining, for it was the immediate\nforerunner of the gold discovery in the Lake-of-the-Woods area,\nwith Rat Portage\u2014later Kenora\u2014the focal point of interest. In\nthe decade following 1885, the population of this trading post\njumped from a few hundred to three thousand, and so great was\nthe demand for surveyors to serve the boom area that they slept in\ntents in the bush to evade being besieged by prospectors, wasting\ntheir time. This area, with production starting in 1885, reached\nits zenith in 1899, when a dozen mines were operating. But its\nquick rise to fame as a gold producer was short-lived, and the principal operations suspended in 1903, after an unprofitable existence\nwith a total recorded production from the area of about two\nmillion dollars in gold.\nRat Portage, on the north arm of the Lake-of-the-Woods, had\nlong been a Hudson's Bay Co. trading post, but not until J. Dewe,\nin 1878, presented a sample of ore from Hay Island in Lake-of-the-\nWoods, which assayed 37.3 oz. of gold and 1.34 oz. of silver per\nton, was interest aroused.\nThe following year, Dr. Henson and William Gibbons reported\nthe discovery of gold on Boulder Island in Camp Bay Lake-of-the-\nWoods.\nIn 1881, George McVicar of Port Arthur made a discovery on\nthe shore of Big Stone Bay, twelve miles southeast of Rat Portage,\nthe same year in which Alexander Matheson acquired it, and the\nWinnipeg Consolidated Co. was formed to operate the property.\nFour years later a five stamp mill was started, only to close down\nthe next year when the unpaid miners took matters into their own\n ONTARIO\nhands and operated the property themselves, but two weeks as\nbosses of the property brought dissension and a final shut-down.\nForemost of the Lake-of-the-Woods producers that was to stir\nthe gold-conscious and bring financial ruin to many prominent\ncitizens was the discovery, in 1887, of Sultana Island, where the\nKeewatin Lumber Co. held timber rights. Here again, indirectly,\nthe Canadian Pacific Railway Co. adds another laurel to its part in\nthe development of Canadian mining, for the discovery was made\non the west side of the Island, just across the channel from the\nrock quarry on Quarry Island, supplying stone for the railway\nbridge piers.\nThe Lake-of-the-Woods may be properly credited with two\nmining booms, the first following the discovery of the Sultana,\nwhich waned, only to be revived a decade later, with a pinnacle\nreached in 1899-\nIn 1888, the Sultana claims were patented by H. J. Buhner, Jr.,\nJ. H. Henesy, C. A. Moore and S. S. Scovill. The earliest record of\nshipments from the Sultana mine was in 1891, when seventy-five\ntons of ore were treated by the Canadian Milling & Reduction Co.\nof Rat Portage. In all, one million dollars is credited as recovered\nby its forty-stamp mill, under the direction of J. F. Caldwell, who\ntried in vain to launch it on a profitable basis before suspending in\n1906.\nIntroducing a new phase of claim-staking came J. Burley Smith,\nphosphate mine operator from Buckingham, Quebec, who formed\nthe Burley Mining Co. and set up a drill on the ice adjoining the\nSultana vein. Up to this time, staking water lots adjoining a producing mine was a new departure, as there was no site from which\nto work. Drilling from the ice was quick to bring results, and the\nfirst core presented showed an amazing ore intersection.\nThe Burley mine with its rich drill core quickly found finances,\nand when the ice went out a caisson was sunk to bed-rock and\nunderground development started. But when the gold-bearing\nvein was not encountered, operations were suspended.   The rich\n MINE-FINDERS\ncore had come, not from the drilling below the ice, but from a drill\ncore substituted from a stringer on Quarry Island.\nIn a final effort to give the Burley mine a chance, shareholders\nappointed Bob Flaherty, father of Robert Flaherty the famous\nmotion-picture photographer, to operate the mine, but the ore was\nnot there, and J. Burley Smith's water lot venture was abandoned.\nJ. Burley Smith also figured in the famous but unsuccessful\nYum Yum mine.\nSimultaneously with the Yum Yum, Smith promoted the Keewatin Reduction Works, to treat the ore. After Smith's regime the\nReduction Works was entrusted to those youthful engineers, Harry\nand George Guess, the former in after years to have his ability\nrecognised a vice-president of the American Smelting & Refining\nCo., one of the largest operations of its kind on the Continent,\nwhile his brother is now Professor George Guess of the University\nof Toronto.\nFamous among the Lake-of-the-Woods producers was the\nRegina mine, discovered in 1894 and named after Queen Victoria.\nMore famous yet was its manager, General Sir Henry Clement\nWilkinson, a retired English army officer who came out to represent\nEnglish capital sponsoring the mine, and who was not to lose any\nof his accustomed comforts on the new frontier. His palatial\nbungalow at the mine was supplemented by an equally elegant\nboathouse, both fitted with oriental rugs, grand pianos and other\nhome-making luxuries which could be fitted to the new scene of\nactivities. Nor was his new environment to lose its military\naspect, for before every shift the men were put on parade. Again,\non going off shift they were drawn up to attention for dismissal.\nAmid it all he maintained devout religious duties including the\nsuperintending of the Sunday school. Ere the mine hit a profitable\nstride his untimely death sealed its fate.\nAnother producer in the heyday of the famous, if unprofitable\ncamp, was the Mikado, discovered in 1893, with which Colonel\nHarold Machim, Rat Portage solicitor, was long associated. Others\n90\nWjL\n ONTARIO\nwere Sirdar, Cornucopia, Tycoon and the Bullion mine, where the\nHonorable Robert Rogers and Sir Richard Cartwright suffered\nheavy financial losses. Even mills vanished as if by magic and the\ncomplete plant of the Argyle mine, which boasted of a winter road\nto the railway, was not to be found one spring when the owners\nrevisted their property. Surreptitiously, it reappeared on a British\nColumbia site.\nWith the discovery of gold on the United States side of the\nRainy Lake area, Mines Centre, Ontario, became a new focal point\nof interest in 1893, with the Golden Star mine credited with a\nproduction valued at $161,000, figuring in a famous \"salting\"\ncase, and the payment of unearned dividends to attract unsuspecting investors.\nAt the height of the activity in 1899, such properties as the\nTip Top, Foley and Olive assumed prominence but never reached\na profitable stage. In all, the camp was credited with a gold production valued at $250,000 before suspending in 1900. The Lake\nManitou area, east of the Lake-of-the-Woods and discovered in\n1895, saw the short-lived Lawrentian property equipped with a\ntwenty stamp mill in 1903.\nThe immediate forerunner of the discovery of gold in the\nPorcupine area came when the Crystal mine, about a mile from the\nnortheast corner of Lake Wanapitei, forty miles northeast of Sudbury, was brought into production with a ten stamp mill on May 5,\n1897. An Indian chief named Pasqcian had made the discovery,\nbut with an one hundred and eighty foot shaft and only a horse-\ndrawn whim hoisting a barrel skip, the venture was doomed to\nfailure after a year's earnest if misguided effort. The builder of\nthe mill was Joseph Errington and it started him on an active life\nin mining which first carried him to the International Nickel Co.\nand later to see his star ascend when his Little Long Lac gold mine\ncame into profitable production in 1934.\nWith gold mining at low ebb in Ontario at the turn of the\ncentury, the faith and far-sightedness of Sir William Mulock,\ni|y \u25a0\u25a0\n MINE-FINDERS\nwhen advising an old North York neighbour as to a vocation for\nher son, confirms his wisdom apart from that he dispenses from his\nseat as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario.\n\"Dear Madam:\n. . . I do not know what your son's ambition may\nbe, but it would be well for him to consider the opportunities that are offered to the young man by the conditions in Canada and to shape his educational course so as\nto be able to take advantage of these opportunities . . .\nCanada appears to be rich in mineral resources and\nupon the eve of great mineral development. It would,\ntherefore, seem to me that the present is an occasion\nwhen young men of ability and ambition might, with\nadvantage, study these sciences that would be especially\nvaluable in connection with the mineral wealth of the\ncountry, namely: chemistry, mineralogy, geology, and I\ntherefore offer this suggestion for your son's consideration   .    .    .\nYours sincerely,\n\"William Mulock,\"\nOttawa, Postmaster-General.\"\nApril 13, 1899-\nThe Discovery of Porcupine\n\"There is no gold of importance in Canada\", the sincere, misguided man of science at the dawn of the century told his little\nclass of ambitious students seeking knowledge of the rocks in an\nOntario University. \"The veins are small and of no economic\nimportance whatever\", the wise old professor instilled into the\nbudding mining engineers, as if to thwart a misspent life in their\nchosen profession. Based on the experience in Ontario gold mining up to that time, the statement might have been essentially\ncorrect, but how fast the scene changes is told by the discovery of\nthe Porcupine camp in 1909, which not only has proven to be\nOntario's first profitable gold camp, but also the greatest producer\n92\n ONTARIO\nin the Dominion, with a record of 17,585,366 ounces of gold,\nvalued at $375,297,038, and dividends totalling $111,974,764 to\nthe end of 1934 from its five major mines. More than that, it has\nrekindled the urge to prospect and truly may be said to have furnished the incentive that gives to Canada the proud position which\nit holds among the gold producing countries of the world.\nFortune's twisted smile behind the story of the discovery of\nPorcupine brings to light many characters that might have won\nfame if the goddess of luck had seen fit to smile on them.\nBefore the turn of the present century, surveyors were dispatched to the district to survey the meridian and base lines.\nFollowing the Boer War, many of its veterans were given claims\nfor their services to the country,\u2014claims which then were far in\nthe hinterland. On one of these survey parties in 1896, headed by\nAlex. Niven, surveying a meridian line, was E. M. Burwash, a\nbudding geologist fresh from the University of Toronto. To his\ncredit as an observer and one of the great hoard of pioneers that\ngo before, Burwash recorded in official reports that he found gold\non several occasions in Shaw township, which is just south of the\nHollinger mine.\nWhen Niven ran the base line, the southerly boundary of\nWhitney and Tisdale townships in the Porcupine area, in 1899,\nW. A. Parks was attached to his party to observe the rock features.\nHere again a technical man recorded his findings in unmistakable\nlanguage that went unheeded, for in his subsequent report he said\nthat \"gold seems to be well distributed over the region; in fact it\nmay be said to occur in nearly all the Huronian belts, but generally\nin extremely small quantities. The richest specimen was obtained\nnear the Pigeon Rapids on the Mattagami River and I regard the\nregion south as giving promise of reward to the prospector. The\nsouth arm of the Mattagami Lake and the river above show traces\nof gold, and a prospector might prove successful in that region.\"\nActually Dr. Parks (as he became in after years head of the\nDepartment of Geology at the University of Toronto) traversed\n p\nMINE-FINDERS\nthe very heart of what was later to become the rich Porcupine camp. .\nEither the prospectors were not impressed, or the comment of the\nlearned professor had cast its spell on the venturesome public.\nThe surveyors had shown Nighthawk Lake on their maps of\nthe area and this lake for decades had been on the canoe route\nthrough Porcupine Lake westward to the Mattagami River. Following this trail of the Indians, and known to them as the \"White\nRock\" country, the early fur traders and Government engineers had\ncrossed and recrossed virtually the heart of the camp, unsuspecting\ntheir proximity to the millions in hidden wealth below the grass\nroots. William K. McNeil, later as Provincial assayer, determining the fate of hundreds of prospectors' samples and with them\ntheir hopes, whimsically recalls a summer day in 1903 when he, in\ncompany with William Donahue, paused to relax on a high spot\nwhich, years later, was known as the Hollinger dome. Even then\nthere were evidences of work by some prospector; and so fickle\nfortune frowned on another technical man to bestow her riches on\none of nature's own. Four\nyears later Reuben D'Aigle\nstaked but did not record,\nthereby letting the Hollinger\nriches slip through his fingers.\nThe unwritten diary of the\neccentric Harry A. Preston\navows that the story of Porcupine starts on May 12, 1909,\nwhen he arrived with the Wilson party at Porcupine Lake,\nbut a year before A. G. Hunter, impressed by the casual\nreferences to gold, sent prospectors Bruce, Lamonte and\nBurns to pry into the secrets of this unexplored area, staking the\nHunter property on the east side of Porcupine Lake.   Gold Island\n94\n ONTARIO\nin Nighthawk Lake was also staked in September, 1907, by Messrs.\nSterling and Gibson, merchants of Matheson.\nThat year, John S. Wilson, resident of Massey, Ontario, with\nthe prospecting urge in his veins, though stricken with typhoid\nfever, enthused his physician, Dr. T. N. Jamison, to back him in a\ngrubstake. The following year, 1908, he made ready to start, but\nthe grubstake was not received. Early in 1909 he wrote to his\nold friend, W. S. Edwards of Chicago, pleading for a grubstake.\nHis answer was that a cheque for one thousand dollars from Dr.\nJamison and himself was in the mail. Accordingly a prospecting\nparty was organised. Weeks of waiting followed but no cheque\nappeared. Informed of the fact, Edwards sent a duplicate, but\nbefore its arrival the precious funds intended to finance the expedition were found lying in the snow at the blacksmith shop at Driftwood,\u2014later Monteith, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario\nRailway supply base. The cheque-bearing letter had blown off the\nnail on the blacksmith door there that served as a post-office. The\nprospecting party, organised early in April, 1909, acting on a tip\nfrom Tom Fox, an Indian, took supplies to a cache on the shore of\nFrederickhouse Lake by dog-team. In May, after the break-up, the\nparty including Wilson, Harry A. Preston, John Campbell, Cliff\nCampbell, George Burns and Phil Macklenburg, started out with\ncanoes from Nellie Lake station, then the end of steel for the\nTemiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, to penetrate the\nheart of Porcupine, with Frederickhouse Lake as a supply base.\nAfter arriving at Dead Man's Point, Porcupine Lake, on May 12,\nthe story leading up to the discovery of the Dome Mines (the first\ncommercial producer and responsible for the big rush into the\narea) finds two narrators,\u2014Preston and Wilson. Preston avows\nthat he urged Wilson to prospect west and southwest, along the\nshores of the lakes toward Mattagami River, without avail. Instead,\nWilson prospected in Whitney township, with indifferent success,\nleaving the party early in July to meet grubstaker Edwards at the\nrailway and bring him back to camp.   Wilson returned to camp\n MINE-FINDERS\nalone with instructions from Edwards to do assessment work. Then\ncame a murmur of a silver strike near Wilson's home town, Massey.\nWith the ingrained instinct of all true prospectors, Wilson pulled\nup camp in Porcupine and headed toward Massey, leaving only\nPreston behind, who wanted to prospect the lake shores. In Tis-\ndale township, after the Wilson party left, he discovered a showing\nof quartz and sulphides. By this time, George Bannerman and\nTom Geddes had a camp on the north side of Porcupine Lake.\nGeddes was familiar with the area, having been in the year before.\nPreston camped with Bannerman, but prospected alone. To Bannerman goes the lasting credit of making the first spectacular discovery of gold in Whitney township in August, 1909, on what\nbecame known as the Scottish-Ontario property, now the Canusa.\nWhile several thousand dollars in gold was then taken from the\nrich surface trenches, a quarter of a century has not seen it advance\nbeyond the test mill stage.\nBut the end of Wilson's rainbow was not at Massey, and three\nweeks later found him back in Porcupine with his intrepid crew\nwhich Preston rejoined, with Gilbert Rhealt, a blacksmith, replacing Cliff Campbell. Prospecting what was known as the Mammoth vein in Whitney township, Wilson's party then turned their\nattention to the quartz and sulphide showing reported by Preston\nin Tisdale township.\nWith the news of Bannerman's discovery, a swarm of prospectors crowded out the Wilson party from staking near him. Centering attention on Preston's showing, a twenty-one foot vein was\nuncovered, which was promptly named the Ida Maud, and once\nagainst the fair sex enters into the romance of mining. Interesting,\nbut without particular merit, the Ida Maud came near being abandoned, as no free gold was in evidence. Leaving the camp to\ncommunicate with his principals, Wilson took with him a grab\nsample from the Ida Maud vein and had it assayed. It ran .36\nounces of gold per ton and provided support to waning interest in\nthe find.   As Wilson returned to camp at dusk on the evening of\n ONTARIO\nAugust 24, he exercised the oft-neglected miner's axiom, \"always\ntake out another round\" by placing a pot-shot at an unexplored\nspot in the vein. But even the fading light could not conceal the\nveritable jewellry box that was spread before his eyes in the\ncrumbled rock. Calling his comrades, they feverishly staked on\ninto the fading day. This discovery of dome-shaped quartz was\nlater to be the famed \"glory hole\" operations of the Dome mines.\nBut the discovery presented a perplexing problem. To whom\ndid it belong? The agreement with grubstakers Edwards and\nJamison called for the staking of fifteen claims, after which the\nprospectors could stake a like number in which the grubstaker\nwould hold a twenty-five per cent interest. But the fifteen licenses\nhad already been used up in the more or less nondescript claims\nstaked in previous weeks. Calling his party together, Wilson\nexplained the delicate ethical problem confronting them. Would\nthey keep it for themselves or turn it over to the grubstakers who\nhad financed their summer's work in a vain effort to find a mine?\nWilson, walking out of the tent, said: \"I will let you decide for\nyourselves; call me when you have your answer\". The tent flap\nhad scarcely closed the aperture when five lusty voices rang out,\n\"We'll keep it for ourselves\"!\nBut the prospectors had no funds to record or develop their\nfind, and difference of opinion prevailed as to negotiations, which\nwere finally cemented into unanimity by Jack Campbell's taking\nthe affidavit of the prospectors on a deal. A one-quarter interest\nwas retained by the grubstakers, according to the original agreement; a further one-quarter was given the grubstakers in consideration of financing the necessary recording and assessment work. The\nsix prospectors, including Wilson, each received one thousand dollars for a three-eighths' interest in discovery claim No. 12868,\ntogether with a one-half interest in three other claims staked, while\nWilson had an over riding ten per cent interest in all the claims.\nThe reactionary Preston, whose theory to \"prospect the lake shores\"\nlead to the discovery, refused his comrades majority decision, and\n MINE-FINDERS\nonly when his stipend was increased by a bottle of Scotch whiskey\nwas he appeased. As if to guard the spectacular treasure, with\ncocked rifle he perched himself as a sentry atop the find as if to\nforestall any high-graders.\nNews travels fast by the moccasin telegraph, and Bert Hotch-\nkiss, a neighborly prospector, maddened by the golden spectacle,\nfeverishly staked the adjoining West Dome claims. Like a forest\nfire the news spread; so fast indeed that grubstaker Edwards in\nChicago, reading his morning newspaper, learned of the discovery\nbefore Wilson could bring the glad tidings. Scurrying to Porcupine to cast eyes on the rich discovery, Edwards nearly lost his life\nin a swamped canoe,\u2014later, spraining his ankle in the mad rush to\nthe site. After feasting his eyes, Edwards telegraphed his partner,\nDr. T. N. Jamison, \"Have discovered the golden pole beyond description. Answer Matheson Wednesday: Haileybury Thursday.\nProtect cheques six thousand Massey.\"\nNext to figure in the financing of the Dome was the McCor-\nmicks of New York, but they dropped their option. Then a group\nassociated with the International Nickel Co. became financially\ninterested and set Robert C. Stanley, then a budding engineer for\nthe corporation but later its president, to make a report. It was on\nhis recommendation that the group exercised their option and\nDome Mines came into existence. After twenty-five years, and\ngoing stronger than ever, its record of production to 1934 (fourth\ngreatest in Canada) stands at 3,085,000 ounces, from which\n$21,557,847 in dividends has been paid.\nJohn Hays Hammond, Sr., the famous New York mining engineer, was an early visitor to the Dome discovery; indeed it attracted\ngeologists and engineers of world fame. Some were skeptical\nthat the ore would continue to depth and a Canadian engineer did\nnot hide his misgivings and remarked, \"It looks to me as if the\nwhole mine was right here on the top of the ground\". Preston,\nwho overheard the remark and considered himself responsible for\nthe discovery, excitedly aired his views.   Hammond, placing his\n ONTARIO\nhand on Preston's shoulder, calmed his hysteria by saying \"the\nbirds never brought all this gold here\".\nWhen the great bush fire swept the Porcupine area in July 1911\nand took its heavy toll of life, it bared the \"Golden Stairway\",\nsome fifty yards from the quartz dome, which was one of the\nrichest gold showings ever found in Ontario. A specimen of this\nrich discovery now rests in the Ontario Parliament Buildings.\nWith the news of the Dome discovery reaching the outside\nworld, prospectors from every corner of the Continent headed for\nPorcupine. In the vast vanguard, to a fortunate few it spelled\nfame, if not fortune; to others it spelled hardship and blasted\nhopes.\nAmong these early arrivals were Alex. Gillies, Benny Hollinger, Bill Davidson, Sandy Mclntyre, John Miller, Bill Smith and\nJoe Vipond. However, fate has her own peculiar way of bestowing reward on intrepid pioneers, and although Porcupine proved to\nbe Canada's largest gold-producing camp, not one of the discoverers of its riches participated in any substantial way, although it\nmade millions for those who came after.\nThe finding of the Hollinger mine was no exception. Reuben\nD'Aigle, a native of Chipman, New Brunswick, with pioneer\nFrench blood in his veins, as a youth of nineteen, answered the call\nof the Yukon and for eight years he was under its spell; but when\nhe returned his poke was full of gold. With the prospecting urge\nstill with him, he consulted the geological maps and picked on the\nPorcupine as a likely field of endeavor and brushed up on his\nmineralogy by attending the short courses given by Queen's University. In May, 1907, he left the Canadian Pacific Railway at\nMetagama and with a half-breed Indian companion, Billie Moore,\npaddled up the Spanish River; then portaged into the head waters\nof the Mattagami and drifted down to the Hudson Bay post at\nFort Mattagami, where he stopped for four days and availed himself of such camp equipment as had been left by a survey party.\nTwenty miles farther down the river they portaged to the \"White\n99\n ?'1II\nMINE-FINDERS\nRock\" country and the lakes east of the river. Making camp he\nstarted to prospect along Nivens' base line, the south boundary of\ntownships Whitney and Tisdale; then north along the Nivens'\nmeridian line cut through the bush. More intensive prospecting\nrevealed a quartz dome. He was impressed, and staked seven\nclaims. Being a Sourdough, he used his gold pan freely, but could\nnot get a tell-tale color. However, he took a sample and then\nturned west to prospect around Kamiskotia Lake but found no\ngold; thereupon returning to Toronto. The Tisdale township\nsample ran $3.80 in gold per ton, while the one from Kamiskotia\nran $1.30. This was a disappointment, for he well knew that\n$3.80 was not commercial. Notwithstanding the unfavorable history of gold mining in Ontario to date, early next spring he\nequipped himself to do some intensive prospecting. Dipping down\ninto his own poke of gold, he replenished his supplies, bought\nsledges, mattocks, drill-steel dynamite, an anvil and a forge; even\nto sixty pounds of smithy-coal for the forge. Now well equipped,\nhe employed Bob Mustard, a former lumber-jack and experienced\nprospector who had worked around Cobalt and Gowganda, to aid\nhim. With five half-breeds, the party of seven, in July, 1908,\nreturned to his Tisdale township discovery. The portage from the\nMattagami River to the site of his find with the anvil on his back\nwas experience D'Aigle was never to forget. A short distance\nsouth of the big quartz outcrop he laboriously sank his test pit. But\nno free gold was in evidence. The season's slavish work with no\ntangible results cooled his enthusiasm. As Mustard had told him\ntime and again, the country was full of barren bull quartz outcrops; he could show him miles of it. Now silver,\u2014there was a\nplenty. Was not the Gowganda area, a few miles to the south,\ngiving evidence of another Cobalt? Silver was all the prospectors\ntalked of after the Larder Lake fiasco. Why bother with gold?\nNow, there is a limit to human endurance, and with no encouragement of free gold, he reluctantly left his anvil and forge beside his\nshallow pit, and with it fame and fortune as the discoverer of the\nHollinger mine.\n[\/\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0TfStL.\n ONTARIO\nLike a Will-o'-the-Wisp, for twenty-five years he has been\nseeking the rainbow, from Porcupine he headed to Sudbury, then\neastward along the north channel, following up whispers of silver\nand gold, then on to the old Bruce mines. Retracing his steps he\nwent into northwestern Quebec, Chibaugamau, then on eastward,\nand now in the wilds of Ungava he has made his latest strike, which\nhe predicts as greater than the Hollinger, Kirkland Lake and\nNoranda combined!\nThirty-seven years of rigorous life as a prospector over\nuncharted lakes and back-breaking portages is weighing heavily\non an indomitable spirit,\u2014the spirit of the pioneers whose ceaseless search makes fortunes for others but seldom for themselves.\nThe Hollinger mine, first in all Canada in point of production,\ntonnage mined and dividends paid, had its ownership decided in\n1909 by the toss of a coin when the prospecting partners, Benny\nHollinger and Alex. Gillies appealed to the goddess of chance to\ndetermine their lot. Both were experienced prospectors, although\nHollinger was still in his teens. They had prospected together for\ntwo seasons, and with all his experience Gillies modestly admitted\nthat Hollinger was as good as he was, and he considered himself\nas better than the average. But prospecting is hard work, and the\nresults of their efforts had brought little reward, so they had\ndecided to quit. Then came the news of the Dome find, and it was\nplanned to have just one more trip together. They had the necessary outfit but no funds. Tramping the streets of Haileybury, each\nsought out a separate grubstaker. Hollinger got Jack McMahon\nto put up forty-five dollars, while Jack Miller dipped into his\npocket and gave a one hundred dollar bill to Gillies; thus, while\nworking together they were working for different grubstakers,\nwhich prompted the tossing of a coin later on.\nIt was October 3,1909, when Hollinger and Gillies arrived and\nmade camp at Porcupine Lake. Taking two days' grub, they followed an old Indian trail leading along Pearl Lake toward the\nMattagami River, a trail that had been followed by hundreds of\n MINE-FINDERS\ntrappers, explorers and survey parties for many years. At Pearl\nLake they made temporary camp. They met Bill Davidson nearby\nwho, in answer as to where he was going, replied in non-committal language so characteristic of mining men on the trail, that he\nwas going to look over the country to the south. It was the truth,\nfor he was on his way to stake what is now part of the Vipond\nproperty.\nWith the country surveyed and many veteran claims allotted,\nmuch of the country was taken up, but following down one of the\nsurvey lines to where it struck Pearl Lake (then known as Jarvis\nLake) Hollinger and Gillies came upon a vein and sampled it,\nalthough no free gold was in evidence. Lacking a.mortar, they\nburned the samples in the camp fire; then hammered them up with\nan axe. Panning the crushed sample, Gillies got a tell-tale color\nof gold two inches long. On the morning of October 8, they\nstaked their first claim, a fraction south of what became known as\nthe Schumacher mine. As they followed west from Pearl Lake,\nstaking as they went, they came upon an abandoned pit, some four\nfeet deep which, with the rusty remains of an old forge and anvil,\ntold a vivid tale of the unknown prospector who had gone before.\nNot until the second day of their staking,\u2014October 9, did either\nsee free gold; this first glimpse came when staking the northeast\nquarter of the south half of lot ten, concession two. Gillies was\nbusily cutting a corner post when Hollinger pierced the air with a\nyell that he had found gold, and by way of affectionate expression\nthrew his hat at Gillies. Clawing at the moss, Hollinger shouted\n\"there's gold here! lots of it\". Free gold seemed to be everywhere,\n\u2014everywhere except in the pit that was attributed to some luckless\nprospector who had been in the area years before. One bit of disturbed moss might have caused the history of Hollinger to be\nrewritten, had this pioneer only had the favor of Lady Luck. Even\nthe bottom of the pit yielded fifty-two dollars per ton, when\nchannel sampled by Gillies.   How could it have been missed ?\nJubilant over their good luck, it was agreed that Hollinger was\n 1\nONTARIO\nto go to Pearl Lake camp and prepare supper, while Gillies continued staking. But when Gillies arrived for supper, there was no\nHollinger and no supper. Was he lost? Had he met with an\naccident, or had the excitement of the day's discoveries overtaxed\nhis already weak heart? Momentarily expecting Hollinger's\narrival, Gillies prepared supper,\u2014waited,\u2014then ate alone. Making a fire to guide him back to camp, Gillies set out in the dark to\nfind his partner, calling as he went. Until midnight the search went\non, and with the passing of time the more anxious he became.\nDespairing of finding him in the darkness he returned at midnight\nto resume the search at daybreak. A quarter of a mile from camp\nhe came upon Hollinger, who had been lost all night in the bush,\nbut none the worse for his experience; he had taken the wrong\nsurvey line to camp. Between them, Hollinger and Gillies staked\ntwelve adjoining claims, as well as one for Barney McEnaney,\ntheir old partner crippled with sciatica and unable to come,\nwhich later became the Porcupine Crown property. Now the\npartners were confronted with the division of their stakings, as\nthey were grubstaked by two parties. It was decided that a toss\nof a coin would determine the owners. Hollinger won the toss,\nand took the first staked, or the east group of six claims; Gillies\nhad Hobson's choice. With staking completed, the next move was\nto go out and record them. On their way they met Sandy Mclntyre,\nHans Buttner and Jack Miller, coming in, to whom they were\npleased to relate their luck. At Haileybury they met Alphonse\nPare, a young McGill mining student and a nephew of Noah\nTimmins who acted as mining scout for the Timmins interests and\nwas impressed by their story. Hastening to Porcupine to inspect\nHollinger's find, Pare took only a look and did not even bother to\nsample the find, but instead advised his principals to purchase it at\nany price. Gillies stayed in Haileybury to await the return of his\ngrubstaker, Miller, who had been staking the Miller-Middleton\nclaims.\nMeanwhile McMahon, Hollinger's grubstaker, had hedged his\n MINE-FINDERS\ngrubstake, by selling one-half interest for fifty-five dollars, and\ndoubtless felt quite satisfied with a ten dollar profit and a half\ninterest left; satisfied until the news broke of Hollinger's find.\nAgain fortune smiled upon the Timmins-McMartin-Dunlap\nsyndicate as it had in their silver venture at Cobalt, for they secured\nHollinger's original six claims for three hundred and thirty thousand dollars, of which thirty thousand dollars was cash, with thirty\nthousand dollars a month for ten months,\u2014a stiff deal when it is\nconsidered that at that time all gold mining had been a failure in\nOntario. Poor results at one time nearly caused the option to be\ndropped, but clinging to hope they kept on.\nWhile Hollinger's claims were receiving aggressive development in the hands of the Timmins interests, the adjoining claims\nwere being examined by the O'Brien interests of Ottawa, already\nactive in the Cobalt silver camp. The O'Briens were singularly\nsuccessful in after years in securing profitable mining properties,\nand it was not their judgment that proved poor in the Porcupine,\nfor the option called for a big payment within thirty days,\u2014a stiff\ndeal,\u2014and the O'Briens decided to drill immediately. The young\nengineer taking the cores out to the railway, seeking to lighten his\nload, made an eye assay and then threw away the schist when he\nsaw no free gold but retained the quartz sections, thinking it was\nthe only part that might carry values. Too late, it was found that\nthe schist carried the values. Years later a stope broke into the\nO'Brien drill hole: the stope assayed fifty-two dollars per ton, over\na width of fifteen feet. In relieving his load the engineer threw\naway O'Brien's chance to obtain what is now a part of the Hollinger\nmine. The Timmins group and the O'Briens had been neighbors\nin Cobalt, and there had long been bad blood between the two, so\nwhen O'Briens dropped the option the Timmins group were quick\nto acquire it.\nThe Hollinger Gold Mines was incorporated in June, 1910, and\nseveral adjoining claims, including the Miller-Middleton, were\ntaken over.   When the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines was\n =1\nONTARIO\nincorporated in 1916, several companies were merged, including\nthe Acme, Gillies' original staking. The answer as to the success\nof the enterprise, as well as the profit accruing to the original syndicate, is best indicated by the production, which to the end of\n1934 totalled 9,620,000 ounces of gold, while dividends totalled\n$72,990,400, the greatest of any gold mine in the Dominion. An\ninteresting side light on the company is that the Timmins-McMar-\ntin-Dunlap syndicate members at last reports still held their original interest in the enterprise, which has been the basis of five huge\nfortunes. The Timmins brothers, Noah and Henry, could not\nmake a profit in their little country store at Mattawa, and their\nfellow townsman, David Dunlap, had a scant living from his legal\nprofession, while the McMartin brothers found their railway contract no bonanza. Those who would call their success \"luck\" have\nnever read Kipling's classic comment that \"he took the chances\nthey wouldn't, and now they're calling it luck\".\nNo story of the early discoveries in the Porcupine field would\nbe complete without including Sandy Mclntyre, discoverer of the\nnucleus of the famous Mclntyre-Porcupine mines, second ranking\nPorcupine gold producer and to-day regarded as the finest equipped\ngold mining property on the\" Continent, if not in the world.\nSandy Mclntyre was a Scottish moulder by trade, christened\nAlexander Oliphant. The discovery of the Mclntyre mine is indirectly attributable to Sandy's wife in Glasgow, reputed to be quite\nas temperamental as himself. It all happened in 1905, over the\nproverbial pay-envelope, while he was working in the north of\nEngland. Faithfully, Sandy sent his earnings home to Glasgow\nevery Saturday, but for some unexplained reason they failed to\narrive on schedule this particular Monday, when wife Rose wrote\nhim in no uncertain terms what she thought of him, doubtless conscious of his weakness for the little brown jug! The missing pay\nenvelope arrived safely by succeeding mail, but not before a fiery\nletter had been dispatched to Sandy. Firmly deciding to end being\ninnocently accused in the future, he packed his scant belongings\n105\nJg)\n MINE-FLNDERS\t\nand booked passage for Canada as \"Sandy Mclntyre\", where he\njoined the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway construction\ngang. Prospecting got into his bones, and as a lone wolf he prospected in many camps. Larder Lake area was then attracting attention and he was numbered among the rush of prospectors to that\narea. Then came the rush to the Swastika area, and in 1906 he\nsquatted at what is now Bourkes, on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, temporarily lending the name of \"Scotty\nSprings\" to the site. Years later he was the first to find free gold\non the Teck-Hughes property.\nSandy was in the Gowganda silver area when he heard of the\nrush to Porcupine, and the murmur of gold was all that was\nrequired to decide his movements. Teaming up with Hans Buttner\nin Haileybury, he headed for Porcupine, and on the way in from\nthe railway at Nellie Lake they met Benny Hollinger and Alex.\nGillies coming out to register their claims. Hollinger and Gillies,\njubilant with their success, were glad to tell Sandy where they had\nstaked. By this time the rush was on in full swing, much staking\nhaving already been done, particularly around the Dome find.\nNot to be outdone, Buttner staked two claims in this area; then\ntogether they pressed on,\u2014Sandy bent on getting as close to the\nstakings of Hollinger and Gillies as possible, for they had found\ngold! Pitching their tent on the shore of Pearl Lake, Sandy and\nButtner, with the generous assistance of their neighbors, proceeded\nto stake four claims on the north of Hollinger's. Sandy's first night\non the shores of Pearl Lake nearly cost him his life, for as he slept\nhis tent caught fire and had it not been for Buttner the series of\ntragedies which had hounded him since his hasty decision to leave\nfor Canada might have ended.\nButtner soon parted with his interest in the claims to Charles\nGifford for ten thousand dollars in cash, and left for his native\nHolland for a long-deferred visit. Sandy hung on to his interest,\nand while doing sporadic prospecting came upon a ledge of quartz\nunder an overhanging cedar. Pulling it away, the first rich gold\n ONTARIO\nshowing on the Mclntyre claims were found,\u2014later determined as\nbeing the continuation of the Hollinger vein. The following\nsummer of 1910, Sandy sold a quarter of his interest to Weldy\nYoung for three hundred dollars; the same day he got rid of a\none-eighth interest to Jim Hughes (later of the Teck-Hughes\nfame), for twenty-five dollars. One half interest was purchased\nby A. J. Young for five thousand dollars cash, and an option for an\nadditional sixty thousand dollars. Just how much Sandy actually\nreceived altogether is not known,\u2014not more than eight thousand\ndollars, for he was tricked out of the sixty thousand dollar option.\nThe only visible evidence of Sandy's wealth was that after the sale\nof these claims he supported a fine team of black horses. Later,\nhe took a trip to his native Scotland, but whether he visited his\nwife Rose and his two sons,\u2014then keeping a little store to support\nthemselves,\u2014was never known. He returned to Canada, however, to later enlist in the World War with the Machine Gun\nCorps, and his pals say that had he been more amenable to discipline he would have received a D.C.M. for his fearlessness at\nthe front. At sixty-five he is a scraggy, disillusioned shadow of a\nonce powerful man. While his find made millions for others, he\nis without the pittance required for existence, except for the\nbenevolence of sympathetic friends.\nThe trials and tribulations that hounded the staker of the\nMclntyre area were visited upon the company formed to operate\nthe property in 1911. As fate decreed, the original stakings of\nSandy Mclntyre proved relatively unimportant, and the famous\nproducer owes its success to the wisdom of steadily acquiring adjacent property. It is the only gold mine in Ontario that has been\ncontinuously under the direction of the engineer that originally\nopened it up. No one knows better the vicissitudes that accompany\nthe making of a mine inadequately financed than its only manager,\nR. J. Ennis. The financial problems of this famous producer after\ntwenty-five years and a record of production of nearly seventy\nmillion dollars in gold makes it seem incredible that its early\n MINE-FINDERS\nhistory could have been so precarious. The author well remembers\nwhen shipments of machinery and supplies to the company were\nmade only C.O.D. and can well credit the astuteness of manager\nEnnis being underground during the business day, when creditors\nwere most anxious to question him regarding payment of long\noverdue accounts. The incident, too, of how the first gold brick\npoured was rushed, still hot, over to the bank to meet the payroll,\nis well authenticated; how the doctor for the company obligingly\ntook shares in the company in settlement of his account is another\nepic in the vicissitudes of this company's early history.\nOne of the early stakers around Pearl Lake was W. H. Smith.\nHe told of meeting an old prospector at Nellie Lake on the\nTemiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, the jumping-off\npoint to the new area. Accosted by the old fellow, Smith was\nasked where he was going and evasively replied \"west\". \"I know\",\nsaid the old prospector, \"you are going into Porcupine and I can\ntell you it's no use. I've been there for months and it's no good.\"\nWhen Benny Hollinger and Alex. Gillies came out to the railway\nafter staking the famous Hollinger and showed the old fellow the\nspectacular samples, he \"hopped\" the first freight and was seen no\nmore in those parts.\nThe honor of supporting the first cabin in the Porcupine area\ngoes to George Bannerman, whose claims were taken over by the\nEnglish interests of Bewick-Moreing, and became known as the\nScottish-Ontario property. The first mill in the camp was a two\nstamp Tremain affair, installed in 1910 on the Hollinger property.\nThe infant camp, which was destined to be the greatest in the\nDominion, had its first setback in July, 1911, when the bush fire\nswept over the whole area, taking everything in its path including\nthe lives of seventy-one pioneers. Starting afresh, the camp was\nquick to recover the great blow it had received, and the town of\nTimmins, adjacent to the Hollinger mine, now a modern city of\ntwenty-five thousand inhabitants, stands as a northern metropolis\namid a new industrial centre.\n ONTARIO\nGold Found at Kirkland Lake\nKirkland Lake, currently Canada's largest gold producing\ncamp, with a record of 18,008,276 ounces, valued at $375,297,038\nand paying dividends of $111,974,764 to the end of 1934, is second\nonly to the Porcupine camp in total output. Although sixty-five\nmiles southeast of the Porcupine camp and only six miles east of\nthe Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, Kirkland Lake\ndid not stir the world with its potentialities until 1911. Like Topsy\nof Uncle Tom's Cabin fame, it \"just grew\", for its discovery was\ndirectly attributable to the prospectors from the Cobalt silver camp,\nfifty miles south, and the Porcupine gold camp closing in on the\nbroad search that had been started.\nFive years before W. H. Wright made his strike of free gold\non what is now the Wright Hargreaves Mines, the Larder Lake\narea, ten miles east of Kirkland Lake, had seen much prospecting\nand staking. This is not surprising, as it was on the natural water\nroute, and as canoes afforded the only mode of transportation the\narea adjacent to the water routes came under scrutiny first. The\nDr. Reddick property at Larder Lake with staked in 1906 and so\ngreat was the rush that followed that by 1908 Larder City was a\nthriving settlement, only to vanish as the scene of prospecting\nactivities shifted to Swastika on the newly built Temiskaming and\nNorthern Ontario Railway. Among the prospects in the Larder\nLake area only the Argonaut mine reached a short-lived production. Coincident with the rush into Larder Lake area was the rush\ninto Boston township in 1906, when the whole of the township\nwas staked. That year the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario\nRailway had reached this point on its way northward. What the\nwater route was to the Larder Lake area the railway was to Boston\ntownship, which like Larder Lake never boasted a profitable producer. Thus Larder Lake and the Boston area were stepping\nstones to larger discoveries. In 1910, free gold was discovered\nadjacent to the railway at the present site of Swastika. Here, in\n1911, the Swastika Mining Co. started the first gold mill in\n P\n it\nMINE-FINDERS\nOntario's new north, followed closely by the mill at the nearby\nLucky Cross property, but successful operations ceased in 1913-\nAt nearby Sesekinika Lake, in 1913, Ontario's only arrastre mill\nwas giving a primitive test to yet another find.\nEarly in 1911, Swastika had become a thriving settlement of\nprospectors. Its name was given by the Swastika Mining Co.,\nwhich was named by Jim Dusty, its chief sponsor. With his\ndaughter, one day in 19-10, Dusty was gazing into a Toronto\njewelery shop window when his daughter's eye was attracted by a\ngold brooch in the form of a swastika. Whether the father purchased the brooch for her is not recorded, but then and there a\nname was found for the mine, and later a railway point famous\nwherever gold mining comes under discussion.\nWith Swastika a hustling mining camp, it furnished good reasons for prospecting eastward, rapidly closing the gap towards\nLarder Lake. It is a tribute to those early prospectors that they\nfollowed what is known to-day as the main geological structure of\nthe camp. By July, 1911, the vanguard had reached out eastward\nand staked up to what is now the Wright Hargreaves Mines.\nEven while the Larder Lake rush was commending the prospectors' attention, the Burrows brothers had invaded the Kirkland\nLake area late in 1906 and had staked what is known as the\nToburn Gold Mines to-day. They had done little or no \"work but\nhad managed to secure extensions from the recorder that kept the\nclaims in good standing. (Kirkland Lake was named in honor of\nMiss Winnie Kirkland, a secretary in the Survey's branch of the\nProvincial Government.)\nIn July, 1911, enters W. H. Wright and his brother-in-law Ed.\nHargreaves. At Matheson, Wright learned that staking had taken\nplace up to what is now Wright Hargreaves Mines. On the third\nday after pitching their tent,\u2014July 29, 1911,\u2014Wright drove the\nfirst stake. While many shared in the development that led up to\nthe discovery of this famous camp, it was the Wright find that pro-\n i\nOntario\nvided the spark that touched off the development which makes this\ncamp Canada's largest gold producer.\nFrom the humble calling of a butcher in an English village in\nLincolnshire, W. H. Wright had tasted adventure by serving in\nIndia and Egypt with the Hussars; also through the South African\nwar, returning to the colors again in the World War. In 1907\nthe urge came to visit cousins in Canada. One who had also served\nin the South African War was rewarded by the Canadian Government with a veteran's claim in the Porcupine district. Needing\nmoney, the obliging cousin, W. H. Wright came to the rescue and\ntook the claim as security, letting it drop years later when taxes\nseemed greater than its value. While this proved an unprofitable\ntransaction, it was a stepping stone to greater wealth, for after an\nexamination, and the Porcupine fire of 1911, Wright and Hargreaves headed for Swastika and the latest gold rush. That they\nwere novices at prospecting is certain. The team,\u2014Wright the\nsilent, serious little man and Hargreaves the loquacious front-man,\nhad seen considerable mining\nactivity in Cobalt, where their\nclosest contact with mining\nhad been painting the mill of\nThe Mining Corporation of\nCanada, after receiving patient instruction in their new\ntrade.\nArriving at Swastika from\nPorcupine, the pair started out\nby canoe for Kirkland Lake.\nOverland the distance was\nabout six miles, but by the\ncanoe route, up Murdoch\nCreek and through Amikou-\ngami Lake, the distance was about thirty miles. Making camp\non the first open ground encountered, they started prospecting\n Jj\n MINE-FINDERS\nand on the third evening, about seven o'clock of the fading\nsummer day, Wright found free gold, and four claims were staked\nby the pair. While they shared equally in the find, it is a tribute\nto Wright that by retaining a quarter interest in that pioneer discovery he became the second wealthiest prospector in the Dominion.\nHargreaves sold one-half his interest to Weldy Young, receiving\nsix thousand dollars,\u2014his only share in the famous mine. The Cart-\nwright brothers took an option on five-eighths interest from Young\nand after opening up a rich surface ore shoot they dropped the\nOption when their lumbering interests had financial reverses. Young\nthen sold George Symmes of Buffalo a three-eighths interest, and he\nsold out to E. S. Miller and Albert Wende of Buffalo. Young\nthen sold three-sixteenths interest to Oliver Cabana, while his\nremaining three-sixteenth interest quickly vanished. Wright,\nretaining one quarter share, became a multi-millionaire, while Hargreaves and Young lost their chance to financial independence.\nBut even the strike of Wright did not stir the interest that\nmight be expected, and it was not until that history-making night\nof January 28, 1912, when the Tough brothers and Harry Oakes\nstaked what is now the Toburn Gold Mines, that Kirkland Lake\ncame into real prominence.\nThe brothers Tough,\u2014George, Tom, Rob and Jack, had hailed\nfrom eastern Ontario, where their father, Thomas D. was a prospector-farmer who indulged in many scouting and prospecting\nexpeditions in eastern Ontario. Early inspired with the lure of\nprospecting, the Tough brothers had come to Swastika where they\nhad secured a contract for cutting the roadway from Swastika eastward to Larder Lake. Already, however, they had staked their\nfirst claims in the Kirkland Lake area on what is known as the\nWood-Kirkland property in Lebel township.\nHarry Oakes, a broad-shouldered, far-seeing, practical New\nEngland Yankee, had left Bowdoin College at Brunswick, Maine,\nin 1896, after a brief academic career, to turn prospector. He\nmade the rounds of what were then the world's leading gold\n ONTARIO\nfields,\u2014Cripple Creek, Colorado, Death Valley, California; Australia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Mexico and The Yukon,\narriving in Boston township in June, 1911, with less than twenty\ndollars in his pocket. A story without confirmation is that, lacking\na ticket, he was put off the train at Swastika. He prospected in the\narea where he boasted four havens of rest,\u2014one a tent, the others\nsacks tied together to form lean-to shelters. But he did not overlook the investigation of the standing of claims in the area, as his\nexperience told him that the district looked good. On the evening\nof January 27, 1912, he met the Tough brothers in Doige's store\nin Swastika. Tom Tough said that he would like to stake some\nclaims near the Wright find and Harry Oakes, lacking the pittance\nrequired for recording any claims, contributed to the discussion by\nstating that he knew of some claims that would fall open for\nrestaking, and was prepared to share with a partner who had the\ncash required for recording them. How soon would these claims\nfall open, was the question. Pulling out his watch, Oakes said,\n\"in about four hours\", having regard for the fact that staking\ndated from midnight. The partnership was formed and it was\ndecided to restake at daybreak, which meant that the party must\nleave shortly after midnight to reach the destination. At the\nappointed hour the Toughs called for Harry Oakes, but he was\ndeep in the arms of Morpheus and was only aroused with some\ndifficulty. Had he been allowed to sleep, the history of Kirkland\nLake might have been different. With six to eight inches of freshly-\nfallen snow and a temperature of fifty-two below (Oakes wearing\nfive pairs of trousers), the little party set out on the seven-mile\ntrek, reaching their objective before daylight. With the aid of a\ncrudely made lantern, known as a \"bug\", Oakes guided them to the\nclaims staked by the Burrows brothers five years previously but\nnow open for restaking because they had not been kept in good\nstanding, although the trenches confirmed the fact that work had\nbeen done. Feverishly, the party, by lantern light, restaked the\nfive Burrows claims, and they were none too soon for while they\n MINE-FINDERS\nenjoyed their belated breakfast of frozen grub and hot tea, W. H.\nWright appeared on the scene. He, too, had learned at Matheson\nthat the Burrows claims would be open for restaking, and realising\nthat time was an essential factor he boarded a freight train for\nSwastika, only to arrive a few hours behind the Tough-Oakes party.\nThwarted, he staked the adjoining property (Sylvanite). This\nwas the first meeting of Oakes and Wright, and the beginning of a\nfriendship that has proven mutually pleasant and profitable.\nThere were six other Burrows claims in Lebel township which\nwere more highly regarded than the five staked. The Oakes and\nthe Toughs started out to restake these but in crossing the ice on\nGull Lake Oakes broke through and got a ducking that presented\na problem in drying his clothes in the sub-zero temperature. But\nthe recording of all these claims required funds which the intrepid\ngroup did not possess, and Wright, flush from his deal on his own\nproperty, came to the rescue. Emptying their pockets, the Toughs\nfound that they had sufficient funds to record the first group of\nclaims, so agreed to give Wright one-quarter interest in the six\nclaims in Lebel township. These, however, never demonstrated\nimportance. The restaked Burrows claims became known as the\nTough-Oakes claims, now belonging to Toburn Gold Mines. The\nthird day after establishing the camp, George Tough set about\nprospecting their claims, and within three-quarters of an hour\nuncovered a rich quartz vein showing free gold. The problem\nnow was to get capital for development. C. A. Foster of Haileybury, pioneer of the Cobalt silver camp, agreed to finance the\nTough-Oakes claims for one-third interest. In England, Foster\nmade a deal for the sale of two-thirds interest in the Tough-Oakes\nproperty to the Kirkland Lake Proprietary Mines for one million\ndollars\u2014a deal that led to a bitter lawsuit when Oakes failed to\nobtain what he considered his just quota.\nMeanwhile Oakes and his new friend, Wright, staked water\nlots along the south shore of Kirkland Lake. Wright staked the\nwesterly adjoining one, but staked with such liberal dimensions\n ONTARIO\nthat he lost the excess to a syndicate comprising Shirley Cragg,\nW. H. and F. M. Connell and Arthur Cockeram, who restaked the\nfractional claim. Oakes then formed Lake Shore Mines and set\nabout to consolidate sufficient property to protect and make a mine,\nif results were favourable. Wright received two hundred thousand\nLake Shore shares for his claim. Meanwhile the claim staked by\nGeorge Tough to the south of Wright's claim was acquired by\nthe Cragg-Connell-Cockeram syndicate for seven thousand dollars.\nThis claim, together with the fraction, was later sold to Lake Shore\nMines, the syndicate receiving fifty thousand Lake Shore shares\nand thirty thousand dollars in cash,\u2014at that time, considered an\nexorbitant price for such a small parcel of land, largely under\nwater. The truth of its value came with subsequent mining development when the fraction produced more gold than any like acreage of the company.\nHow profitable a small, original participation in a great mine\ncan be is well told in Lake Shore, for Cragg's two-fifth interest in\nthe syndicate secured an allotment of twenty thousand Lake Shore\nshares, which at last report he still held,\u2014worth over a million\ndollars at current market prices.\nThe struggle to finance Lake Shore Mines with the stock selling\nas low as fifteen cents per share and wary newspapers refusing to\ncarry his advertisements, is an epic of Canadian mining finance.\nHad the Tough-Oakes property been sold in England, according to\nOakes' understanding, the financing of Lake Shore Mines might\nnever have been shared by the public, as Oakes would have\nhad ample funds of his own. As it was, some $360,000 was raised\nby the sale of stock, which brought the property into production,\nand Oakes stands alone in the annals of Canadian mining as being\nthe only prospector to stake a property, finance it and bring it\nthrough to the dividend stage. For his sagacity he ranks as one of\nthe wealthiest men in Canada, while Lake Shore, since production\nstarted in 1918, has produced eighty million dollars in gold, and\npaid thirty-five million dollars in dividends to the end of 1934.\n MINE-FINDERS\n ONTARIO\nThe first gold ore shipped from the Tough Oakes claims, and\nthe first from Kirkland Lake camp was after the freeze-up in the\nwinter of 1912-13. Two tons of ore was bagged and taken over\nthe trail to Swastika by Walter Little and his team, whence it was\nshipped to a New Jersey smelter, realising $700 per ton, the forerunner of many bullion shipments which make the two mile long\nKirkland Lake camp the second greatest producer of gold in the\nDominion.\nMatachewan Reincarnated\nWith Porcupine and Kirkland Lake thriving camps, prospectors\nspeedily combed the surrounding areas for favorable host rocks for\ngold. Sixty miles southeast of Porcupine at Fort Matachewan on\nLake Matachewan, Steve Lafricaine, Indian Civil War pensioner\nand former Factor at the abandoned Hudson's Bay Co. post, occupied himself probing the rocks, and found gold, but not until Jake\nDavidson made a discovery in 1916 in Cairo township, a few miles\nsouthwest of the post, did the area attract attention. The next\nyear Sam Orisse made a discovery adjacent to Davidson's; then\nJim Nelson staked the spectacular showing, which he named the\nThesaurus.\nQuick to command attenton, the area received favorable reports\nby experienced engineers, but the Great War years made capital\nhesitant. Then in 1924, Weldy Young interested the English\nPorcupine Goldfields Corporation, which started work on Davidson's claim. But typical of practically all English capital in Canadian gold mining, work was abandoned, and Matachewan became\njust another area that raised the hopes of mining men, only to\nblast them before making conclusive tests. Keeping a lonely vigil\nat a land-mark on the Montreal River, with a hospital latch-string\nout, J. B. Moyneur for twenty years never gave up hope that\nMatachewan would some day reinstate itself.\nLittle attention was paid to the whole Matachewan area until\nSeptember, 1930, when Bert Ashley made his rich discovery on the\nborder of Argyle and Bannockburn townships.    Ashley was a pilot\njiii\n MINE-FINDERS\nin the World War and a mining graduate. His find became the\nproperty of the Mining Corporation of Canada, for whom Horace\nStrong, his grubstaker, was working, and, as the Ashley Gold\nMines, came into production in September 1932 with a hundred\nton mill, the first gold plant in the area. Then gold soared to\nnew price levels and the old stakings of Davidson and Otisse\nassumed new importance. Following careful examination by\nHollinger Consolidated Gold Mines, Davidson's property was\nbrought into production in September 1934, and its eight hundred\nton mill treating ore mined with steam shovels from the big open\npit promises to add new laurels to Canadian gold mining for low\ncost production. Meanwhile Otisse's claims came into production\nin November 1934, with a hundred ton mill.\nThus the Matachewan camp got its belated chance to join with\nits quota of gold in transforming the bush into a thriving\ncommunity.\nPatricia's Gold\nThe Patricia district, that vast northwest hinterland of Ontario,\nembracing an area greater than the British Isles, came into prominence with the gold discoveries of the Howey brothers, Ray and\nLome and George McNeeley in 1925. For years its network of\nlakes had been the canoe route of the Indians and the trappers, but\nit was never scanned for its mineral potentialities. However, the\nHowey find was not the first gold to be found in this great area,\nfor the first recorded discovery was marred by a tragedy that overshadowed the importance of the gold find. In 1897, R. J. Gilbert,\nheading a party of adventurous Englishmen and Irishmen, camped\nat Red Lake and panned gold from the decomposed rocks, staking\nthree claims. Bringing the news of their good fortune and samples\nof ore for assay out to civilisation, Gilbert's heavy revolver slipped\nfrom its holster and as he bent over to pick it up and place it in\nthe canoe, the hammer of the gun struck the rock and Gilbert's\npowerful form crumpled dead at his companions' feet. Like the\nfaithful black aides of Dr. Livingstone in Africa, and under the\n  MINE-FINDERS\nsame trying summer heat, they trudged the body out, that it might\nbe buried in his native land. But the clue to the gold was forgotten.\nDr. Willet G. Miller, Provincial Geologist, caused a report to\nbe made in 1912, which guardedly stated that Patricia's Keewatin\nrocks should furnish deposits of gold, iron and other ores, such as\nare found in the rocks of this age in the other districts of Northern\nOntario.\nOne of the first to follow this lead was Norman Davis, a young\nmining graduate of Queen's University. With an Indian, he was\nscouting about Red Lake in 1912 and took a number of samples\nfrom near the present site of the Howey mine, but when the\nIndians swamped the canoe, losing the samples and supplies, they\nwere forced to walk for two days through the bush to the nearest\ncamp, their entire sustenance being half a loaf of bread which\nfloated to the top when the canoe swamped. Had the samples\nbeen saved it is possible that the history of Red Lake would have\nhad to be rewritten.\nIt was not until 1922 that sporadic prospecting in the Red Lake\narea again brought reports of gold and silver in small veins, not\nconsidered of economic importance. Keen to follow up the faintest\nclue of mineral wealth, the Ontario Department of Mines sent a\ngeological party into the area in the summer of 1924, under the\ndirection of Dr. E. L. Bruce, Professor of Geology at Queen's\nUniversity. His published report and maps were not long ignored\nand early in the summer of 1925 Lome Howey and his brother-in-\nlaw, George McNeeley, prospectors from Haileybury and grubstaked by a dozen fellow-citizens, accompanied Ray Howey and\nW. F. Morgan, working for the Mclntyre-Porcupine Mines.\nTogether, the quartette left steel at what is now Hudson, on the\nCanadian National Railway, and spent the summer in the Red Lake\ndistrict. Until late July an unfruitful summer was spent and not\nuntil they were working their way homeward, prospecting the\nshores of the lake, was any real encouragement experienced.   Ray\n ONTARIO\nand Morgan had preceded the other party and were camped in\nwhat is now Howey Bay of Red Lake. Lome came across from the\nopposite shore to join his brother, and tracing up a small stringer\nfrom the water's edge they found a forty-foot sheer zone a few\nhundred feet back from the shore. Working some distance apart,\nthey started prospecting. Soon Ray heard the blows of an axe and\nrushed over to his brother. The excitement at sight of the free\ngold in the veins caused them to literally weep for joy as they\nfaced each other.\n\"Looks like we got it!\" exclaimed Lome.\n\"Ain't that what we came for?\" said the stoical Ray. \"Now\ncome see what I've got!\"\nBoth had made finds almost simultaneously; Ray and his partner Morgan struck a line half-way between the finds and staked .\nthe nine west claims for Mclntyre-Porcupine Mines, while Lome\nand McNeeley staked the claims to the east. Shovels were borrowed at the Hudson's Bay post a few miles down the Lake, and\nwhen they reached civilisation in September, 1925, they recorded\nthe first commercial gold discovery in the Patricia district.\nBut good news travels fast, and even the frosty air of early\nfall did not chill the fever heat excitement as a throng of prospectors started over the one hundred and twenty miles of lake and\nmuskeg from the railway. But a gold mine so remote from transportation was a new experience to Ontario prospectors. Who\nwould be interested ? Back in Haileybury the stakers were telling\ntheir story to Robert Cockeram, a veteran prospector. \"Why,\nJack Hammell is the man for you to see\", said he. Cockeram\nreached Hammell on the long distance telephone and introduced\nLome Howey, who told his story to Hammell and insisted that\nHammell finance and protect their find.\n\"What do you want for the property?\" asked Hammell.\n. \"Write your own ticket\", said Lome.\nHammell agreed to have a look, and taking Alex. Gillies and\nCooney Wood, they sped to the find as fast as they could before\n MINE-FINDERS\nthe freeze-up. Gillies voted it the best-looking showing that he\nhad seen in three years scouting for the Mclntyre. Hammell suppressed his enthusiasm while acquiring the claims to the east, and\nHowey's present townsite.\nThe rush was now on in full swing. The trip back to the railway was an arduous one. Making camp one night on the shore\nof Packwash Lake, a near fatality occurred when a storm toppled\na dead cottonwood on George McNeely, pushing him into the\ncamp fire. By miraculous escape, only his hands were blistered.\nRisking the swamping of their canoes, the party pushed on, as\nMcNeely said \"it is better to be drowned than be killed by falling\ntrees!\"\nThe deal was made, with Hammell agreeing to spend fifty\nthousand dollars on development. He then formed the Howey\nGold Mine Syndicate, capitalised with five thousand units, half to\nHammell and half to the stakers,\u2014units that afterwards sold for\nseven hundred dollars each and were exchanged for four hundred\nshares per unit when the Howey Gold Mines were incorporated in\n1926.\nBut winter was fast\nap-\nproaching and it was necessary to get supplies into the\nproperty before the freeze-up.\nRight here was conceived the\nidea of using the aeroplane\nfor mining work. Had not the\nOntario Forestry Department\nan aeroplane patrol base at the\nrailway? Why not press its\naeroplanes into service? The\nGovernment was ready to cooperate, and Hammell rushed\nin his supplies and started\nlooking for big capital for\ndevelopment.   A New York engineer looked the property over,\n ONTARIO\nbut his vision was short and his courage weak, so Hammell made a\ndeal with Dome Mines, who optioned seventy-five per cent, interest in the property for five hundred thousand dollars and started\na drilling programme.\nThus the first use of aeroplanes in mining development became\na reality and found an enthusiastic sponsor in Hammell.\nWhile the prospectors slowly mushed their way over ice and\nsnow on a ten days' journey to the new district, Hammell's aeroplane hummed overhead, covering the distance in one and one-\nhalf hours. From this development evolved the world's first aerial\nprospecting company, The Northern Aerial Minerals Exploration\nLimited, organised by Hammell and equipped with a fleet of\nspecially designed aeroplanes piloted by crack, war-time fliers\nwhich before disbanding had flown prospectors over two million\nmiles of Canada's northland.\nBut Dome Mines dropped its option after its first fifty thousand\ndollar payment, notwithstanding the protests of D. G. H. Wright,\nits engineer.\nNothing daunted, the indomitable Hammell set about refinancing the property. But the turn-down by Dome swayed public\nopinion which a few months before had been so enthusiastic, and\nfinancing became a serious matter.\nA maturing Canadian bond investment by W. S. Cherry,\nOntario-born, Providence, R.I., merchant prince, sought reinvestment. \"Buy me a gold mine\", he instructed his Toronto solicitor,\nR. T. Birks. As a start, he put one hundred thousand dollars in\nHowey's treasury for 250,000 of its shares; Hammell put in another\neighty thousand dollars. In all, about one million five hundred\nthousand dollars was provided. But unforeseen mining problems\nbrought the company into financial straits. Money was scarce.\nA reorganisation was imminent,\u2014where were the funds to come\nfrom ? Cherry's faith in the enterprise was still unshaken and with\nonly the security of promissory notes he twice dipped into his\ncoffers to provide a further five hundred and fifty thousand dollars.\n123\n MINE-FINDERS\nThe Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario built a\npower plant, supplying cheap electricity for the enterprise, while\nHorace G. Young, Howey's first general manager, battled the handicaps of the hinterland to construct an initial five hundred ton\nmill.\nCherry's faith was not misplaced. His loan turned the tide of\nthe company's affairs and smoothed the many problems that had\nbeen visited upon the company. Under the efficient management\nof Fraser D. Reid, the property was placed on a profitable basis\nand on December 31,1932, an aeroplane rushed hot gold bricks to\nthe mint, so that the last of Cherry's loan could be discharged.\nWithin a year, an initial dividend had been declared and Howey,\none hundred and twenty miles from the railway, became Canada's\nlowest-grade gold mine and its lowest-cost producer, supporting a\nthriving modern mining community. More than that, it conclusively demonstrated that Hammell's vision of the development of\na profitable gold mine far removed from the railway offered no\ninsurmountable barriers, and Howey was therefore ah important\nfactor in expanding the realm of mining in the Patricia district.\nHammell's aeroplanes hummed over Patricia in 1929, placing\nprospectors in favorable areas which greatly speeded prospecting\nand broadened the search. One of these prospectors was John\nMacfarlane, who found and staked the Pickle Crow gold mine\nwhich came into production with a hundred and twenty-five ton\nmill early in 1935, thereby vindicating the five year aerial prospecting by Hammell's company. Adjoining this discovery the Central\nPatricia gold mine became the first producer when its mill started\nin May, 1934.\nLittle Long Lac\nDuring the World War when Tony Oklend, Lithuanian trapper and woodsman, found a haven in Ontario's hinterland, inquiring recruiters, rather than gold, were uppermost in his mind.\nCrossing and re-crossing the trails of explorers, prospectors and\ngeologists, Lady Luck guided him to wealth and fame when the\n ONTARIO\nLittle Long Lac Gold Mines, seventy-five miles west of Lake\nNipigon on the Port Arthur branch of the Canadian National Railway started production in November, 1934, ushering in Ontario's\nlatest gold-producing area.\nShortly after the turn of the century, Little Long Lac's iron formations commanded attention, and the United States Steel Corporation numbered among the stakers. Ontario's bitter experience\nin gold mining up to that time had dulled interest in the search for\nthe yellow metal. Even the report of Dr. A. P. Coleman, Emeritus\nProfessor of Geology who visited the area in 1909, failed to awake\ninterest. Dr. A. G. Burrows, in 1916, mentions securing gold\nvalues from the shores of the west arm of Little Long Lac. In\n1917, T. L. Tanton, of the Geological Survey of Canada, called\nattention to the gold showings, while in 1921, P. E. Hopkins, then\na geologist for the Ontario Department of Mines, visited the area\nand further confirmed its importance. But the sign-posts of the\nmen of science went unheeded, and interest lapsed until June,\n1931, when William (Hardrock) Smith staked a discovery on a\npoint on the west side of the south arm of Little Long Lac, the\npresent site of the Hardrock Gold Mines. This discovery rekindled\ninterest and brought a rush of prospectors, the area being literally\nblanketed, including the site of the Little Long Lac gold mine. But\nno work was done and the claims lapsed. In September, 1931,\nTom Johnson, a veteran of many camps, arrived and took up the\ntrail. He made and staked several discoveries before the end of\nJune, 1932, when on meeting Tony Oklend he confided that he\nplanned doing more prospecting around the west arm of Little\nLong Lac, and asked Oklend to accompany him. Oklend's cabin\non Magnet Creek (draining into the west arm of Little Long Lac)\nhad been his abode for many winters, and the Hudson's Bay Co.\nrecords show that he had traded seven hundred dollars in gold\nduring the World War years at its Long Lac post, chiselled out of\na boulder which he had found south of the main narrows of Little\nLong Lac.\nJkJ\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nTogether, Johnson and Oklend crossed the west arm; then\nthrough the narrows, into the main part of the Lake, where Oklend\npointed out several small veins with which he was acquainted, as\nthey headed toward Boulder Lake. Finding nothing there, they\ndecided to return and thoroughly prospect the west arm of Little\nLong Lac, where they made camp on a large island, west of the\npresent site of Little Long Lac Gold Mines.\nOn July 5, Johnson suggested to Oklend that they thoroughly\nprospect the main narrows section of the Lake. On their way\nthey passed a point on the south shore where Johnson noticed\nquartz stringers carrying a dark mineral which he thought might\nbe bismuthenite, likely to carry high gold values. Here, Oklend\nspoke of a sheer zone some distance to the southwest which he had\nknown for years, and suggested investigating it. Just before\nreaching it, however, Johnson's keen eye perceived pieces of quartz\nin the lake, close to the shore, but Oklend maintained that was not\nthe place which he had in mind.\nAt this point, as in so many gold discoveries, the narrators differ\nin their versions, but it is certain that Johnson's keen observation\nand knowledge of minerals were directly responsible for the discovery. Vaulting out of the canoe into the shallow water, he\nbroke off a piece of quartz which showed free gold. In less than\nan hour they had collected many spectacular samples, some of it\nvery rich, whereupon, that day, July 5, 1932, they staked the\ndiscovery claim, (No. T. B. 10560) and by rare coincidence the\nreport of Dr. Coleman, in 1909, almost precisely describes this\nlocation, as the following will testify: \"The first suggestion of\niron formation is found on the south side of the west end of the\nLake, in a location where low cliffs of Keewatin rocks rise west of\na marshy bay; a few thin seams of banded gray and black material\nare evidently very low grade samples of usual iron formation. They\nare associated with green schist and irregular masses of coarse\narkose, all squeezed and drawn out and torn asunder. There are\nalso many small seams of white quartz in sheer zones.\"\n ONTARIO\nP. E. Hopkins, whom Johnson had interested in his earlier\ndiscoveries in the area, was advised of the latest find, and three\nsamples were sent to him. He showed them to S. J. Fitzgerald\nand Joseph Errington, of the Sudbury Diamond Drilling Co., who\ntelegraphed A. A. Barton, engineer scout of the company, to report\non the discovery. An option was signed by Johnson- and Oklend,\ndated August 1, 1932, in favor of Hopkins.\nA letter dated August 3, from Hopkins to Oklend advised\nthat he was leaving for the west, but had arranged for Errington\nto inspect and deal for the property if he was impressed. On\nAugust 8, Errington, sitting on a log at the discovery, wrote out\na memorandum agreeing that the Sudbury Diamond Drilling Co.\nof which he was president, would make an initial cash payment of\ntwo thousand dollars to the prospectors not later than August 13,\nwith the stakers to receive a ten per cent, interest in a company to\nbe formed.\nSo emerged Ontario's latest mining camp!\n MINE-FINDERS\n fl\nCHAPTER V\nMANITOBA\nMANITOBA, although traversed by the early Canadian\nexplorers and Hudson's Bay Co. employees seeking to\nestablish fur trading posts, did not assume real importance as a\ncommercial producer of minerals until late in 1930 with the commencement of production from the Flin Flon mine by the Hudson\nBay Mining & Smelting Co. True, sporadic attempts had been\nmade to mine gold, but with indifferent success, and it was not\nuntil the San Antonio Gold Mine paid its first dividend in 1934\nthat a profitable stride was struck. To the end of 1934 its total\ngold production was valued at $11,771,010, principally from the\nFlin Flon mine, which also places the Province as the second ranking zinc producer and the third largest copper producer in the\nDominion.\nIn 1881 gold was discovered on Black Island, in Lake Winnipeg, just off the mouth of Wanipigou, or Hole River, and on the\nmainland, on the south side of the Wanipigou, near its mouth, in\n1895. These early discoveries failed to stir interest in gold mining,\nalthough in 1908 a few claims were staked on the Wanipigou\nRiver, but no work was done.   Credit for the gold find that gained\njy\n MINE-FINDERS\nprominence for Manitoba goes to Major A. E. Pelletier. How his\ntwo sweethearts and a patron saint figured in the narriing of three\nof Manitoba's early gold mining ventures is a romantic phase of\nhis discoveries. In May, 1911, Major Pelletier, French-Canadian\nBoer War veteran, resigned as inspector of the Royal Canadian\nMounted Police to answer the call of gold. His many trips in the\nservice had taken him to the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Northern Manitoba and Alberta, which roused the indefinable urge to\nprospect. Late in 1910 he started prospecting around Norway\nHouse and checking up the early finds on Black Island. January,\n1911, found him in company with Jack Spence, his Indian partner,\nat Big Rice Lake. All was snow, and a discouraging season for\nprospecting. The area appealed to him and in May, 1911, he\nreturned with Duncan Twoheart, another Indian, and camped near\nthe site occupied the previous January. Pitching their tent, they\nmade a fire, which spelled the end of the trail, for two hours later\nthe fire had thawed the snow and revealed free gold in the rocks.\nMajor Pelletier was nineteen when the Boer War broke out and\nleft the Kingston barracks to serve as Lieutenant in \"F\" company,\nfirst battalion R.CR.'s. From the close of the War until 1910, his\nduties as inspector of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police kept\nhim from his Quebec sweethearts, and when he made his strike on\nthe shores of Rice Lake, his first thoughts were of Gabrielle, his\nbest girl, whom he immortalised by giving his newly-staked claim\nher name. Staking another claim, he named it the Rachel, after\nhis second best girl. Being a devout Catholic, and in order that\npeace might prevail, he staked an intervening claim and named it\nthe Spanish derivation of his patron saint, San Antonio, which\ntwenty-three years later became Manitoba's first dividend-paying\nmine. San Antonio netted its finder about fifty thousand dollars\nwhen he sold it. His Rachel claim figures in the Forty-four Gold\nMines Co. property, and he still holds a large interest in the\nGabrielle Mines.\nThe first mill installed on any property in Manitoba came into\n130\n^IHftt\n MANITOBA\nexistence when Major Pelletier bought in 1912 what amounted to\nlittle short of a glorified coffee grinder, built in Montreal, to treat\nthe ore on his newly made finds. It was a single stamp mill,\nweighing less than three hundred pounds, which was transported\nby canoe to the property and was operated by hand, with himself\nand his Indian companion as the motive power.\nFrom 1917 to 1927 small mines were operated for short periods\nwith indifferent success in the province, most important of which\nwas the Rex, whose sporadic production to the end of 1927 when\nit suspended, was $211,688. In 1927 the Central Manitoba Mines\nstarted production with a fifty ton mill, which may be considered\nManitoba's first commercial gold producer. Located approximately one hundred and twenty-five miles northeast of Winnipeg,\nits claims were staked by the W. A. D. Syndicate, and while it was\nthe first important gold producer in the province it has not proven\na financial success.\nThe Discovery of Flin Flon\nAmisk, or Beaver Lake, in Saskatchewan, adjoining the Manitoba boundary, is on the main route from Winnipeg to the hunting\nand trapping country, lying to the north and west,\u2014famed for its\nmoose. As early as 1745, French fur traders had reached the\nSaskatchewan River. Samuel Hearne surveyed the fur trade possibilities of the area in 1773, and founded Cumberland House for\nthe Hudson's Bay Co. at Pine Island, sixty miles northwest of what\nis now The Pas, established immediately after by the free-trading\nFrench. A year later, Joseph Frobisher and his brother, Alexander\nHenry, wintered at Amisk Lake, while in 1794 David Thompson\nmapped its geographical features.\nBut it was fur, not minerals, that interested the pioneers, and\nit remained for a moose to inadvertently guide a prospector to\nManitoba's largest mine.\nIn 1905, when the Hudson Bay Railway was pushing northeast\nover the muskeg toward Hudson Bay, the trading post at The Pas\nreceived a fresh stimulus, and in 1908 the German prospector,\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nBiunne, staked the first claim in the area on Cranberry Lake. The\nfirst, if desultory prospecting of the area, may be credited to Canadian Townsites Ltd., which had real estate interests in The Pas and\nwhich sent out a party of prospectors comprising Hugh Vickers,\nGeorge Bancroft and W. B. Wright. In 1911, this group staked\nclaims for copper along the Hudson Bay Railway at Wintering\nLake. The first systematic prospecting in the area, however, may\nbe said to date from April, 1913, when Tom Creighton, a cautious,\nexperienced prospector and a veteran of many camps, with John\nMosher, Dan Mosher and Leo Dion, first prospected around Lac\nLa Ronge.\nLater in the summer of\n1913 some citizens of Prince\nAlbert,   Saskatchewan,   grubstaked  Creighton  and  John\nMosher, who prospected\naround   Amisk,    or    Beaver\nLake, just across the interpro-\nvincial   boundary   from   the\npresent site of Flin Flon.   In\nSeptember,   that   year,   they\nstaked    the    Prince    Albert\nclaims on the shores of Beaver\nLake,\u2014the first gold discovered in that area.\nThe first engineer to examine and sample their find was John\nAlexander Reid, native of Halifax and graduate of Queen's University, who was acting for his principal, the Canadian Mining &\nExploration Co.\nTo Creighton and his prospecting friends goes the credit for\nthe discovery, late in 1914, which culminated after many vexatious\ndelays, in Manitoba's first commercial mining enterprise, when the\nFlin Flon mine of the Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co. came\ninto production in November, 1930, as Canada's third largest\nmetallurgical enterprise.\n132\n MANITOBA\nLate in 1914, Dan Mosher, unknown to his colleagues, came\nto Toronto and approached John E. Hammell for a grubstake,\nforming the Mosher-Hammell Syndicate, to prospect around\nBeaver Lake.\nHammell, a native of Beeton, Ontario, had found expression\nfor his dynamic personality in many mining camps where be\nbecame a colorful figure, ever ready to assume responsibility and\ncarry to conclusion those jobs which offered seemingly impossible\nobstacles. His loquacious, genial personality won for him an\nenviable reputation among the mining fraternity. Financial associates of Hammell in the syndicate were Alex. Fasken, Toronto\nsolicitor, financier and niining executive, Frank Currie, hotel keeper,\nand Hugh Ryan. Each had a one-eighth interest in the syndicate,\nbut Hammell acquired Ryan's interest later. The other half\ninterest in the syndicate was shared by Tom Creighton, Dan\nMosher, John Mosher, Leon Dion, Isadore Dion and Dan Milligan.\nIf prospecting had not been profitable, trapping had, and while\ncamped at the outlet of Phantom Lake, near the present site of Flin\nFlon, Tom Creighton, late in 1914, found the answer to his\ndepleted larder of fresh meat when a moose crossed his trap lines\nand guided him to a protruding mineralised dyke and fame as the\ndiscoverer of the Flin Flon mine. Midway between the site of the\nfirst two shafts on the property, a hump denuded of snow exposed\nchalcopyrite in the schist. Making a mental note, he resolved to\nlook it over carefully later. Early in the spring of 1915 he returned\nto the spot and found pieces of ore projecting through the ice at\nthe shore, which brought the firm resolve to investigate it in his\ncharacteristic, thorough manner, when the spring break-up\noccurred.\nWhen Dan Mosher came back to Beaver Lake from Toronto,\nbringing supplies for a season's prospecting by the party, and an\nagreement with the Mosher-Hammell Syndicate, the plans of\nCreighton and his friends to finance their own grubstake had to\nbe reconsidered.  Dan Mosher, in good faith, had gone so far with\n133\n MINE-FINDERS\nhis plans that it left no alternative but that the others join the\nsyndicate.\nAfter the spring break-up, Creighton and John Mosher went\nin to size up Creighton's discovery of the winter before. Convinced that it was a large ore body, containing copper, zinc, gold\nand silver, they staked six claims, the extent of their licenses, and\nhurried back to the syndicate base at Beaver Lake to get the rest\nof the party and their licenses, in order that more claims might be\nstaked.\nHis pal on many of the hinterland trails, Mrs. Hammell accompanied her husband to Beaver Lake to visit the prospecting party.\nWhile the prospecting sextet were away doing further staking, the\nHammells went up to the other end of Beaver Lake to do some\nfishing. Meeting the prospectors later, Hammell went in to inspect\nthe discovery. So impressed was he that he asked the group \"how\nmuch money would satisfy each of you for the rest of your lives?\"\nJohn Mosher replied \"Jack, get us one hundred thousand dollars\napiece and Rockefeller can have the rest\". \"I'll get it for you\",\nsaid Hammell, and he made good years later when the Mining\nCorporation of Canada Ltd. purchased control\u2014for all excepting\nDan Milligan and Isadore Dion, who later accepted a twenty-five\nthousand dollar offer each on the theory that \"a bird in the hand\nis worth two in the bush\".\nThe first geologist to inspect the new find was Dr. E. L. Bruce\nof Queen's University who, late in the fall of 1915, rushed in just\nbefore the long winter clamped down and made the first technical\nreport.\nAs if a sympathetic genii had conspired to aid them, a name\nfor the discovery was already at hand. Months before, the party\nhad picked up the remnants of a paper-backed novel on a portage\non the Churchill River, where some pioneer had lightened his load:\n\"The Sunless City\" was the title, and the leading character was\nFlinotin Flonneroy, contracted by the prospectors to \"Flin Flon\".\nIt told of a subterranean domain where gold was so plentiful that\n^_\n MANITOBA\nit was literally a base metal,\u2014truly the Mecca sought by all prospectors. The coincidence of stumbling upon such a fanciful tale\nby the prospectors seems almost incredible; more so because the\nconcluding pages of the novel had been torn off and its finders\nwere not to know the hole through which Flin Flon reached the\nearth's surface, but by strange coincidence there was a conical-\nshaped hole ten feet in diameter and several feet deep adjacent to\nwhere the number one Flin Flon shaft was sunk. At the bottom of\nthis hole Creighton got some rich pannings, due to the concentration from the surrounding leeched ore. Here, the prospectors\nfacetiously remarked that\n\"old Flin Flon must have\nshaken his gold-dust laden\nwhiskers when he emerged\nfrom the Sunless City\".\nHere, a perfect name for\ntheir discovery,\u2014Flin Flon!\nWith characteristic Hammell enthusiasm, he set about\nhis first big job of \"cracking\nopen\" Canada's hinterland.\nTo New York he went late in\n1915 to see a dozen financial\ninterests, among them Hay-\nden, Stone & Co. They were\ninterested, but when they suggested sending an engineer, Hammell\nsaid \"there is no time for that; the spring break-up will be upon us\nshortly and I must have action right away\". \"You can have a three-\nquarter interest in the property for three million dollars, providing\nyou spend fifty thousand at once for diamond drilling.\" Stone appreciated Hammell's frank statement of the merits of the property\nand laughingly said \"I will play ball with you, Hammell\". With\nthe option papers signed, Charles Stone telegraphed Daniel C.\nJackling, the famous copper operator living in San Francisco and\ninvited him to share in the venture. Jackling's conservatism was\n135\n MINE-FINDERS\nmanifested in his thousand word protest that Stone should go so\nfar without first securing an engineer's report, and did not conceal\nhis feelings that it looked like a \"come on\" game. However, concluding his telegram he said \"I'll bite and you can cut me in for a\none-tenth interest\", knowing that Stone was not easily convinced.\nHammell rushed to The Pas and started the big push to beat\nthe spring break-up. Enlisting all the teams and help available,\ntwo diamond drills and tons of supplies were transported to the\nproperty. Jackling sent in two young engineers, Raymond Brooks\nand Orin Peterson, to take charge of the drilling. With this initial\nexploration completed, came a three-word wire from Brooks to\nJackling,\u2014\"Hammell underestimates property\".\nBut while the copper looked interesting they saw no value in\nthe zinc, while the complex ore involved metallurgical problems.\nThe war, too, had a distracting effect, and the option was dropped\nafter spending fifty thousand dollars and doing seven thousand\nfive hundred feet of diamond drilling. Next year, David Fasken\nand associates bought out Dan Milligan and Isadore Dion and\ntook an option on the balance of interest. For doing eighteen\nthousand feet of diamond drilling, Fasken secured a seven per cent,\ninterest. But the complex ore was a stickler, and again work\nstopped. In 1920, with the property again back on his hands, but\nricher with information from the drill cores, Hammell went to\nthe Mining Corporation of Canada. Experienced and aggressive,\nit was interested, if Colonel William Boyce Thompson, millionaire\nNew Yorker, would also come into the deal. Hammell saw him,\nand in twenty minutes Thompson was convinced of the merits of\nthe property and took an option on a three-quarter interest, while\nthe Mining Corporation took the other quarter.\nNot dismayed by previous disappointments, knowing well that\nit is ore which counts in the final analysis and that such problems\nas metallurgical difficulties are not insurmountable, work was\nresumed. Another big freighting job from The Pas, eighty-seven\nmiles to the Flin Flon, confronted them.\n136\n MANITOBA\nAfter sinking two shafts and spending four hundred thousand\ndollars on the property, the option was dropped, with no interest\nretained. Next year, 1921, the Mining Corporation made a bid\nand purchased the property outright,\u2014that is, the sixty-eight per\ncent, which was controlled by Hammell and prospectors Creighton, Leon Dion, John and Dan Mosher,\u2014the other thirty-two per\ncent, being owned by Alex and David Fasken. For this sixty-eight\nper cent. Mining Corporation paid, including interest, some six\nhundred thousand dollars, of which about four hundred thousand\ndollars went to the four prospectors who stuck with Hammell.\nBut it was a big project to launch; to make a success, power\nwould have to be supplied, railways built, as well as the mining\nand milling plants, smelter and refinery. Indefatigably the Mining Corporation, particularly its president, J. P. Watson, and its\nchief engineer, Scott Turner, later Director of Mines for the\nUnited States Government, worked to corelate the essential phases\nof the enterprise, if it was eventually to be brought into production.\nThen in 1925, the Harry Payne Whitney group of New York\nCity optioned Mining Corporation's interests. Here, R. E. Phelan,\npresent general manager of the enterprise, entered the scene to\nfurther examine the property. He found previous development\nhad indicated a very large, massive, complex copper-zinc-gold ore\nbody, which involved the solving of a metallurgical problem, if it\nwas to be made commercial. The Whitney interests had a subsidiary called the Complex Ore Recoveries Co. investigating metallurgical problems. On August 26,1926, it was decided to venture\nfurther money and tackle the metallurgical problems on a practical scale.\nHere another romance of the Flin Flon began,\u2014a romance that\nturned the tide of affairs for the mine, as in March, 1927, a two\nhundred ton test mill was completed and the practical problems\napproached. That year, science triumphed over the complex ore\nand late in 1927 the Whitney interests exercised their option and\nformed the present Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co.   The\n MINE-FINDERS\nMining Corporation disposed of fifty-three per cent, of its interest\nfor cash and took shares for the other fifteen per cent. The Fasken\nthirty-two per cent, interest was bought out for cash, but they\nmade no profit on their venture. In all, $17,500,000 was raised\nby the sale of shares; then came a $5,000,000 bond issue,\u2014\n$22,500,000 in all.\nThe programme of equipping the property called first for an\neighty-seven mile railway which a sympathetic government built\nnorth from The Pas. Then came a Hydro-Electric plant on the\nChurchill River, while at Flin Flon mills a smelter and refinery, as\nwell as a townsite, were built, which resulted in an initial production being started late in 1930. It is now the British Empire's most\nnortherly metallurgical works, located in the coldest area on the\nmainland of Canada where the rainfall is less than that of the\nArizona Desert, but it now supports the town of Flin Flon, the\nthird largest municipality in Manitoba. All told, about $27,500,000\nwas spent in prospecting and bringing the enterprise to the\npresent state of productiveness.\nManitoba's First Copper Mine\nManitoba's first commercial production of copper dates back\nto 1917, when the high grade copper ore was mined from the surface outcrop of the Mandy mine, which takes its name from the\nwife of Fred Jackson, a central figure in the discovery of the\nproperty.\nFollowing the discovery of the Flin Flon mine in 1915, Jackson,\na sub-contractor on the Hudson Bay Railway, learned from George\nReynolds of a nearby copper discovery he had made a few miles\nsouth of the Flin Flon. Jackson's credit was not acceptable to the\ncompany, so Richard Hazelwood, superintendent for the McArthur\nConstruction Co., railway contractors, provided the necessary grubstake, which a careless accountant charged to Jackson rather than\nHazelwood,\u2014a slip which cost Hazelwood a share of the Mandy\nmine.   Backed by the grubstake, Jackson and Reynolds staked the\n MANITOBA\nproperty and did so in Jackson's name, another costly error for the\nthird member of the group.\nWhen J. E. Spurr, a geologist and mining scout for the Tono-\npah Mining Co. of Philadelphia, learned of the discovery, he\nhastened to conclude an agreement with Jackson for the purchase\nof the property which was singularly unique. It called for turning\nover the claims in consideration of fifteen per cent of the net\nprofits. In making the deal, Jackson ignored his partner Reynolds,\nthe real discoverer of the property, and grubstaker Hazelwood,\nbeing able to show by the book-keeping error that the grubstake\nhad been purchased by him. Hazelwood swallowed his loss and\ndid not contest his interest, but Reynolds entered suit and obtained\none-half interest in Jackson's deal. But the agreement called for\nfifteen per cent of the net profits,\u2014a controversial amount, and\nonly when Jackson made an intolerable nuisance of himself did\nthe Tonopah Co. give him ten thousand dollars for his interest.\nFrom 1917 to 1920 about five thousand tons of high grade\ncopper ore, valued at about two million dollars was mined from\nthe rich ore shoot outcropping on the surface. This was transported over bush roads, barges and railway, some fifteen hundred\nmiles to the smelter at Trail, B.C.\nWith the pressing necessity for copper for war munitions\neliminated, the rich Mandy ore shoot, as if cognisant of the fact,\npinched out, and all efforts to find an extension were in vain.\nSherritt Gordon\nWith the news of the Beaver Lake gold discoveries, Indians\nin the district were quick to take up the cue of prospecting and in\n1914 Phillip Sherlett, a Cree Indian, staked and recorded the copper-bearing gossan, but did not do the assessment work on what\nwas later the nucleus of the Sherritt Gordon mine, seventy-five\nmiles north of The Pas, brought into production in 1931 with an\neighteen hundred ton mill. But a steady decline in copper prices\nforced a suspension the following year, before its potentialities\ncould be tested.\n139\n_J\u00a3J\n MINE-FINDERS\nIn 1922, trappers Carl Sherritt and Dick Madole invaded the\nhunting grounds of the Cree in the vicinity of his discovery, and\nwhen the shiftless palefaces put out poison bait instead of traps,\nto decoy wolves, the Indians had revenge by informing the authorities of the trapping infraction. But the Indian, serene in his ignorance that his staked claims must be recorded, left a loop-hole for\nsweet revenge on the part of the white man, and in 1922 Sherritt\nand Madole restaked and recorded the claims. Sherritt was of\nCanadian parentage but had migrated from Minnesota, and his\nbusiness acumen was on a par with his clean-cut physique and\ngood character. He recognised, however, the necessity of having\nsomeone look after his affairs and appointed James Young of The\nPas with full power of attorney to negotiate the sale of the claims.\nYoung approached J. P. Gordon and associates, who purchased the\nproperty under a quarter of a million dollar option, with five\nthousand dollars down. The Gordon interests optioned it to\nE. P. Earl and associates, who had the claims drilled; then dropped\nthe option.\nThis was followed by options of the Victoria Syndicate and\nlater by the International Nickel Co., both of which dropped the\noptions. With the property back in the hands of the Gordon\ninterests, R. J. Jowsey, veteran mining man, had been watching\ndevelopments and appraising the possibilities, and was quick to\ntake up the option. Three hours before his option expired he\ninterested the Lindsley interests, and the Sherritt Gordon Mines\nwas incorporated in 1927.\nThe deal provided for assuming the quarter of a million dollar\nobligation to stakers Sherritt and Madole, plus one hundred thousand dollars for the Gordon interests, plus six hundred thousand\nshares in the company. But the new-found wealth for Madole\nwas not to last long, for he was already in debt to his partner\nSherritt. In all, he received about twenty thousand dollars. By\nirony of fate he was to be the first inmate of the new jail at Cold\nLake, when the townsite was established and the property developed.\n MANITOBA\nFor Sherritt it spelled independence, and after putting affairs\non a sound financial basis he purchased an aeroplane and qualified\nas a pilot, in order that he might enjoy quick and comfortable\ntransportation over his previous long and arduous journeys. But\nwhen demonstrating his prowess as a pilot, a lapse of caution and\nan unfastened safety belt caused him to be catapulted from his\naeroplane to death.\nThe Bingo Fiasco\nMining camps at some stage of their existence generally experience some scandal when an unscrupulous promoter in the\nname of mining seeks to practise his nefarious tactics.\nWhen Bingo Gold Mines' management and financial affairs\ncame under Joseph Myers, a chapter in Manitoba's mining history\nbegan that has not been duplicated in the Dominion for ainning\npromotion and \"salting\", which culminated in a prosecution that\nwill long be remembered by the mining fraternity. The principal\nsufferers from the fiasco were English sponsors and it served to\ndeter wary capital from this source, and consequently the English\nhave played a small part in the development of mining in Canada\nsince that time. The Bingo affair would have had a more adverse\neffect on Manitoba rriining had not the Central Manitoba field,\nthen creating interest, deflected public attention.\nMyers, a New Zealander, came to Winnipeg in 1911, where\nhis suave, friendly nature, charming personality and manners, won\nhim ready acceptance into the best social circles. He possessed\na remarkable foresight, an histrionic ability and profound knowledge of human nature, which he employed with great tact to\nfurther his underlying mephistophelean nature and doubtless\nwould have gone far had he applied his keen brain and astuteness\nin legitimate lines of endeavor.\nWhen he landed in Winnipeg his livelihood became a subject\nof speculation to all but those who were aware of his adroitness\nwith cards. About this time, gold finds in Manitoba offered an\nopportunity for his knavery.   At least three attempts marked his\njjML1\n MINE-FINDERS\nmining activity before 1920, when he became the central figure\nin the Bingo fiasco.\nThe Bingo claims had been staked by Mike Hackett in 1914 on\nHerb Lake (Wekusko Lake) one hundred miles northeast of The\nPas, where in April that year he and Richard Woozy had made\nthe original discovery in the area on what became known as the\nKiski-Wekusko claims. Three-quarters of a mile northeast of\nBingo, the Rex mine was later to be equipped with a mill and\nbecome Manitoba's first, if short-lived, real commercial producer,\nbut now under deferred exploration, is again being equipped to\nenter the ranks of the producers. Early, the Rex property attracted\nMyers' attention, but in this promotional effort he failed to interest\ncapital.\nThe Bingo mines, with a shaft down fifty feet, was acquired by\nMyers for ten thousand dollars, acting for a group of Winnipeg\nfriends in his syndicate. The first show of cunning came when\nMyers sought to collect twenty thousand dollars for the Bingo\nclaims, which he represented as the purchase price. Myers then\nstarted his promotional activity among Winnipeg friends, to raise\nfunds to deepen the shaft to one hundred and seveny-eight feet,\nand to explore the foot wide surface vein. This was done in 1920\nby Donald J. Kennedy, later to have his ability rewarded by playing an important role in making the San Antonio, Manitoba's first\ndividend-paying gold mine.\nWhile the shaft was being deepened, Myers returned to his\nnative New Zealand and in the meantime some four or five\nhundred tons of ore from the Bingo was tested in the adjoining\nRex gold mine mill, with a recovery of about one dollar per ton.\nThings looked bad for the Bingo and the treasury was depleted\nof cash. On Myers' return from New Zealand in 1921, the sensational history of the Bingo may be said to have begun. At this\nthis he got a member of the Department of Geology at the\nUniversity of Manitoba to make a report which gave high assays,\ncontrary to the actual mill test.   Armed with this report, Myers\n MANITOBA\nreorganised the company as The Bingo Gold Mines Ltd. in 1922\nand headed for England, where he raised \u00a350,000.\nIn the winter of 1922-23, once more aggressive work started\nat the Bingo and the shaft was deepened to four hundred feet,\nwith some six hundred feet of lateral work done on each of the\nfour levels. This work was carefully sampled by Kennedy and\nplaced in sample bags supplied by Myers, to be sent out for\nassaying. The remarkable part of the assaying of this batch of\nsamples was that there were few blank assays and none over one\nhundred dollars. The consistent results gave an average of $24.31\nover drift width for the four levels. Here let it be said that\nKennedy's mining experience taught him that there was something suspicious about such consistent results, but the suave, prepossessing manner of Myers submerged any public suspicion.\nNow it was time to talk of a mill, and when an American\nfirm had its engineer take samples, he found some high, some\nlow, and began to ask questions about the probable grade of ore,\nwhich Myers did not satisfactorily answer. While the mill was\ndesigned by the American engineers construction did not get\nbeyond the superstructure.\nAt this juncture, John Alexander Reid, who had earned for\nhimself a lasting reputation as a mining engineer and geologist\nwith the O'Brien interests, was employed by Myers as consulting\nengineer. His thorough, cautious and careful mining examinations had won him the nick-name of \"turn 'em down John\" from\nthe loyal mining fraternity. Reid's first move to satisfy himself\non the merits of the mine was to resample it thoroughly. That\nhe was suspicious of the wily Myers is told by his putting in\n\"jokers\"\u2014barren rock\u2014in a number of the sample bags, known\nonly to himself. Now, let them \"salt\" his samples if they would\nand could, under his watchful eye! However, Reid's sampling,\nwhen assayed, averaged only $1.69 per ton in gold for all the drifts,\nas compared with the previous result of $24.31. As a further\ncheck, John A. Dresser, well-known Montreal engineer resampled\nL43\n MINE^FINDERS\nthe property, confirming Reid's results, for his average was $1.20.\nMyers still held his head high and went off to England in\nDecember, 1924, enjoying the full confidence of the many friends\nwhom he had duped. H. R. Drummond-Hay, Winnipeg lawyer\nand former friend and later a victim of Myers', became convinced\nof his rascalities and instigated proceedings which resulted in his\narrest in England and being brought back to Winnipeg to stand\ntrial.\nThis trial will long be remembered in the minds of mining\nmen, who were associated with the affair. The Crown had built\nup what seemed an iron-bound case against Myers from which he\ncould not possibly escape. Evidence had been obtained that he\nhad acquired all the sample bags and that they were in his possession until he disembarked from the Hudson Bay Railway train\nthat served the mining area. Evidence was also obtained that the\nbullion recovered from the test of the Bingo ore at the Rex mill,\u2014\nsome five hundred dollars, had remained in Myers' possession. A\nplumber, it was learned, had filed bullion to dust,\u2014gold dust\nsimilar to that used to \"dust\" the insides of the sample bags.\nThere was evidence to bear out the belief that whoever had\n\"dusted\" the bags had meticulously weighed out the exact amount\nof gold-dust that had been placed in each bag, knowing just how\nmuch dust would be required to properly \"salt\" the channel assays\nthat the bags were to contain. Some bags were actually found\nto have the gold filings still clinging to them. Then there was\nthe evidence of the two outstanding engineers, Dresser and Reid,\nwhose sampling disclosed the fraud and led to the Crown's laying\na charge.\nIn acquiring the evidence against Myers, the reason for his\nreticence regarding his past life was explained, for at the turn of\nthe century he had served three years in a New Zealand jail for\nfraud.\nThe first legal set-back came when a hearing before Hugh John\nMacdonald dismissed Myers because the Crown did not try to\n MANITOBA\nprove him a director of the company. Still thirsting for justice,\nthe Crown had Myers reindicted, and in April, 1926, he was tried\nbefore Justice Curran. But the Crown was refused the opportunity\nto present the evidence it had amassed against Myers and the\nlearned Judge dismissed him with the consolation that \"he left\nthe Court without a stain on his character\".\nThat Myers was clever was conceded, for many of his shareholders still retained implicit faith in him and after his acquittal\nthey rallied to his effort to build a test mill at the Bingo mine, but\na small test run of hand picked ore yielded less than ten dollars\nper ton, not nearly commercial grade under the circumstances.\nMyers' agony of discredit was cut short soon after for on October\n12,1926, he died in Winnipeg at the age of fifty-six,\u2014an occasion\nthat prompted an eminent group of Winnipeg mining men to\ntoast his safe passage to Hades!\nThe Bingo mine remains a mute monument, not only to Winnipeg, but to English investors, as one of the most sensational\nfrauds ever perpetrated on Canadian mining.\nGod's Lake Gold\nFor two hundred years Hudson's Bay Co. agents, trappers and\nexplorers came up the Hayes River from York Factory on the\nHudson Bay and through the chain of lakes, including Knee Lake,\nto reach Norway House, the long established trading-post at the\nnorth end of Lake Winnipeg. This route was the first leg of the\nfifteen hundred mile waterway across the plains of western Canada\nto the fur-trading post of what is now Edmonton. York boats,\nladen with supplies going in and furs coming out, required the\nentire season to make the round trip.\nBut these adventurers were looking to the fur trade, and in\ntheir zeal to extend this trade did not tarry to prospect the mineral\nwealth that lay along this, Manitoba's early transportation route.\nThe explorer, Franklin, mentioned his compass having been\ndeflected by iron deposits in the Oxford Lake area. Near the\nturn of the last century, fur-trader Hyre staked a showing of iron\n MINE-FINDERS\nsulphides on Hyre Island in Oxford Lake. When a prospecting\nparty head by Harold Paull and financed by an English syndicate,\ninvaded the Knee Lake area in 1917, intensive prospecting started\nthat culminated in a gold discovery by Robert Jowsey in 1932,\nwhich brought the area into nation-wide prominence as a gold\nproducer, with aeroplanes and tractor trains plying the route of\nthe vanished York boats. Paull is the true pioneer of northeastern\nManitoba's mining activity. From 1917 on, he traversed the\nOxford Lake, Knee Lake and God's Lake area, and on March 20,\n1918, he staked and panned gold near the West end of Knee Lake,\nthe first recorded discovery in northeastern Manitoba. This brought\nDr. Louis Bruce, then of the Geological Survey of Canada, the\nfollowing year, which paved the way for the Government's instigating a geological survey of the area, starting in 1925, under\nthe direction of Dr. J. F. Wright.\nIn 1922 Paull and his partner Nels Mattson also made the\npioneer copper-gold find on Oxford Lake.\nWhen Dr. Wright set about the systematic mapping of the\narea, he observed the favorable host rocks on Elk Island in God's\nLake. Like most men of science his mission was to aid others.\nIn April, 1932, he told a group of mining men attending the\nannual convention of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, of his observations in God's Lake. One man,\u2014Robert\nJowsey, a veteran prospector with a long and successful record in\nmining, gave ear to the man of science and in June, 1932, took\nto the trail. Chartering an aeroplane from Winnipeg, and with\nDr. Wright's reports and maps as a guide, and one-eyed Archie\nMacDonald as a helper, they alighted at Knife Lake on July 9-\nOn the morning of July 13, 1932, they started paddling toward\nElk Island where Dr. Wright had indicated desirable prospecting\nground. Making camp, Jowsey started to pan the samples he\ntook from a nearby island (Jowsey Island), while MacDonald\ncooked the supper. The first panning showed some galena, the\nsecond a long tail of gold.   So excited were they that supper was\n MANITOBA\nforgotten, and lest they be discovered they paddled over to the\nisland where six claims were staked that evening. A sleepless\nnight found them again staking at daybreak. Nor was their\nanxiety to protect their property unwarranted, for in a few days\nseveral prospectors flew in to see what had taken Jowsey north.\nAmong them was Robert Brown, a pioneer prospector from The\nPas who staked the Akers claims,\u2014the site of the mining operations of God's Lake Gold Mines, formed by Jowsey to develop\nhis discovery.\nIn less than three years this\noriginal find has opened up a\nnew area which boasts a one\nhundred and fifty ton mill, as\nwell as a hydro-electric plant,\nand another new frontier community for Manitoba.\nStirred by the success of the\nGod's Lake Gold Mines, prospectors combed the favorable\nrock structures for gold\nshowings. Among them was\nBrown and Paull. In July,\n1934, they entered Knee Lake\nwhere seventeen years before\nPaull had staked claims. Brown and his partner kept to the east\nshore, while Paull and his partner kept to the west. On the site\nof the present Knee Lake Gold Mines developments Brown staked\na claim on August 2, where he got a low but encouraging assay.\nReturning to the site of his find a couple of years later, he found\nthat prospectors Oliver Johnson and Russell Mcintosh, of the\nCyril Knight Prospecting Co., had made a rich discovery on his\nboundary line, where the exposure was extremely small. Paull\nthen staked adjoining claims, and thus another camp came into\nexistence in Manitoba.\n147\n_M\n MINE-FINDERS\n BRITISH COLUMBIA\nHAD Juan de Fuca, the Greek pilot sailing at the command of\nthe Spanish Viceroy of Mexico in 1592 and the first white\nman to sail up the famous Straits to the shores of British Columbia,\nbeen able to acquire the lust for gold as easily as he did his Spanish\nname, the mineral riches of British Columbia might have attracted\na conquest by the Spanish, rather than by fur-trading Englishmen,\n\u2014her destiny determined by another race. Not that Juan de Fuca,\n(nee Apostolos Valerianos) was blinded to minerals when he, in\nhis small caravel and pinnace, viewed the new land, for he recorded\nthat \"in divers places it was fruitful and rich of gold, silver, pearl\nand other things, like Nova Spania\".\nOn his return to Acapulco, Nova Spania, after twenty days in\nthe inlet, he also reported that \"the new land was peopled by\nsavage natives, clad in beast-skins\".\nWhen in 1774 Juan Perez, one of the most experienced Pacific\nCoast pilots of Ducareli, Viceroy of Nova Spania, sailed northward to the Queen Charlotte Islands in the \"Santiago\", there is\nlittle doubt that he had a lingering knowledge of the mineral\nobservations of the intrepid Juan de Fuca.\nAgain in 1779, Arteaga and Quadra, also sailing for the\n149\n MINt-FINDERS\nSpanish throne, made extensive notes on Vancouver Island and\nmainland.\nBy 1790, the Spaniards had established a garrison at Nootka,\nin charge of Juan San Francisco Elisa, to which came the Spaniards\nGaliano and Valdez on May 15,\u2014less than a month after Vancouver had entered the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the port that\nwas to bear his name.\nAgain the Spaniards Galiano and Valdez, with a keen eye to\nminerals, record that the Nootka Indians \"possessed copper bracelets which they had engraved with very good design\".\nWith these brief tantalising references to the mineral wealth\nof Canada's Pacific Coast, it remained for the fur trade, monopolised by the Hudson's Bay Co., to blot out any organised effort to\ntake stock of its mineral possibilities, such as had been undertaken\nby Sir William E. Logan for the new Government of Upper and\nLower Canada.\nThe history of the settlement of British Columbia, even to its\nvery name, is inseparably associated with the development of the\nmineral wealth of the Province, which was to reach prominence\nfar outranking the other Provinces in the young Dominion,\u2014a\nfactor which the covetous eyes of the new Government had not\noverlooked as the Fraser River and Cariboo poured forth its millions in gold.\nFraser River Gold Diggings\nA squaw's secret unearthed prompted Governor Richard\nBlanchard stationed at Fort Victoria, Vancouver Island, to write\nEarl Grey in London in August 1850 that he had seen some very\nrich gold specimens found by old Susan, the squaw of Chief\nOr-wat of the Haida Indians, at Gold Harbor Beach on the west\ncoast of Queen Charlotte Islands. The saga is that Chief Or-wat\nnoticed the earthen floor of the tepee disturbed, and investigating,\nfound a nugget of gold weighing about four or five ounces, which\nhe traded at Fort Simpson for dazzling trinkets he had so long\nadmired.\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nThe first evidence of gold in British Columbia stirred some\nexcitement at the Hudson's Bay Co.'s post, and in July, 1851,\n\"Una\", one of the Company's boats, was despatched from Fort\nSimpson to the site of the find, together with eight miners, with\ntraders McNeil and Work in charge. This first expedition netted\nsome sixty ounces in gold, principally acquired by trading with\nthe Indians. The following October the \"Una\" visited Mitchell\nHarbor on the west coast of Moresby Island. Here a vein six and\na half inches in width and running eighty feet parallel to the coast\nwas found which yielded gold, but further prospecting was unsuccessful and it was branded as a rich freak of nature.\nWhen the Indians on the mainland near the south of the\nSkeena and Nass Rivers learned that the trip of the \"Una\" to the\nQueen Charlotte Islands was in search of the yellow metal, they\ntoo sought to interest the Whites at Fort Simpson. On April 8,\n1852, \"The Fort Simpson Journal\" recorded that that day a chief\nfrom the Skeena River area brought two large pieces of quartz\ncontaining gold, and a few small pieces of gold. On being pressed\nrecording its origin, the aborigine replied that it would take seven\ndays to go and return to where the gold was found. No time\nwas lost and on May 5, Chief Factor John Work together with\nPierre LaGrace and four Indians, started by canoe for the Skeena\nRiver, up which the gold was supposed to be found. This expedition ended in disappointment and the following September\nanother Indian Chief reported gold in this area. Again Chief\nFactor Work set out, but this also ended in failure. These reported\nfinds brought on March 26, 1853, the first mining proclamation\non the Canadian Pacific Coast from Governor James Douglas of\nthe Crown Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands, who was Chief\nFactor of the Fludson's Bay Co. and in 1851 succeeded Governor\nBlanchard at Victoria.\nWith the report of gold being found on Queen Charlotte\nIslands came advice in 1852 from the Hudson's Bay Co.'s post at\nKamloops that small amounts of gold had been taken in trade\nfrom the Indians in that section, but its source was not learned.\n MINE-PTNDERS\nOne fact is undisputed and that it that the Indians long had\nhad knowledge of gold, but had not valued it or sought to exploit\nit commercially. Who first found gold on the west coast which\nstarted the stampede to the lower Fraser River and first put Canada\non the map as an important gold producer will never be known.\nAngus McDonald, Hudson's Bay Co.'s clerk at Fort Colville,\nWash., forty miles south of Trail, B.C., reported to Fort Vancouver in 1855 that one of his employees had amused himself by\nwashing out a pan of gravel containing gold from near the fort.\nThis was confirmed by Governor Douglas. Writing from Victoria on April 16, 1856, he reported to the Colonial Secretary that\nAngus McDonald had found gold near Fort Colville in 1855. In\nthe same year, Indians from the Thompson River visiting a woman\nof their tribe who had married a Frenchman living at Walla\nWalla, Washington, on the Columbia River, advised that gold like\nthat found at Fort Colville was also to be found in their country.\nGovernor Douglas reported to London on July 22, 1856, that\nvery fine specimens of gold had been discovered in one of the tributary streams to the Fraser River, a considerable distance from\nthe coast, and again, that two hundred and twenty ounces of gold\nhad been brought to Fort Victoria from near Fort Colville. The\nimportance of the finds around Fort Colville was slow at first to\nbe accepted, but in 1857 a small party of half-breeds and Canadians are reported to have washed gold at Nicoamen, and to have\nprospected the bars of the Thompson River in the summer of\n1857, meeting with considerable encouragement near the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers, near the present town of\nLytton.\nOn July 15,1857, Governor Douglas again reported to London\nthat gold had been found north of the forty-ninth parallel, on the\nright bank of the Columbia River. He did not accept the statements of some parties that the deposits were exceedingly rich and\nof others that it would not repay the labor of working. He felt\nsure, however, and wrote that gold had never been found in so\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nmany places, but the richness of these placer deposits must remain\nundetermined until more extensive researches were made. Ultimately about one-half of the gold produced by the Province was\nfrom placer deposits. (Placer is a California corruption of the\nMexican word \"plasar\" meaning \"a gravelly place where gold is\nfound\".)\nThe Indians now took up the search for gold and sought to\nmonopolise mining by attacks on the prospectors whom they\nregarded as forcing an entrance into their country. They also\nclaimed that the shoals of salmon which annually ascended the\nrivers and were their principal food, would be driven off and prevented from making their annual migrations to the sea.\nIn July, 1857, Douglas reported that \"the Indian tribes of the\nThompson River had lately taken the high-handed, though probably not unwise course of expelling the gold diggers, chiefly\nAmericans, who had forced their way into the country\".\nOn December 29, 1857, Douglas wrote that the Indians had\ntasted the sweets of gold mining and were directing their attention\nto it.\nThe Hudson's Bay Co. records show that in 1857, between\nOctober 6 and December 31, some three hundred ounces of gold\nhad been mined from the vicinity of Lytton.\nIn 1857 an official party from San Francisco waited on Governor Douglas to confirm the report of the gold finds. They learned\nfrom his edict that the gold-bearing regions belonged to the Crown\nof Great Britain and all persons were forbidden to search for gold\nuntil authorised by Her Majesty's Colonial Government. This\nonly whetted the interests of the San Francisco delegation, and on\ntheir return the news spread like wildfire. \"The Golden Aurora\nBorealis\" was the description given by the writers of the day. Had\nnot Governor Douglas said in January 1858, \"there is reason to\nsuppose that the gold region is extensive and I entertain the sanguine hope that future researches will develop stores of wealth\u2014\nperhaps equal to the goldfields of California, the geological for-\n.\n MINE-FINDERS\nmation being similar in character to the structure of the mountains\nof Sierra Nevada\" ?\nThe news of the gold recoveries of the Fraser and Columbia\nRivers soon reached the ears of the vast horde of prospectors in\nCalifornia, which had attracted untold thousands, following the\ninitial find at Sutter's Mill in 1849. The whole country was in a\nferment. Early in 1858 the migration northward to British\nColumbia started. Thousands came by boat up the coast to Vancouver and on up the Fraser, while many came up from Washington by way of the Columbia and Okanagan Rivers.\nThe gold recovered from the Fraser River below Lytton that\nwas reported to the Government in 1858, was valued at $705,000\nwhile the following year it had mounted to $1,615,072. By I860\nthe tributaries of the River farther north accounted for considerable production, and in 1861 the Cariboo came in, which swelled\nthe gold output to a peak of $3,913,563 in 1863.\nOn April 20, 1858, the steamer \"Commodore\" left San Francisco with the first party of four hundred and fifty adventurers,\nwhile in May, June and July of that year it is estimated that twenty-\nthree thousand gold-seekers left San Francisco by boat and about\neight thousand over land. The worm-eaten wharves of San Francisco trembled with the hordes of prospectors, and all manner of\nwater craft were put into service. The flow of immigration was\ntremendous. In one day alone, one thousand seven hundred and\nninety-two left San Francisco. Vessels bound to Puget Sound for\nlumber were deserted as the crews joined the gold rush. Employees\nof the sawmills did likewise. From all along the coast the migration started while inland settlers left their farms; even Europe\nand Australia joined in the rush.\nThose who took the overland route from the Northern States\nfound the Indians most hostile and in self-preservation were\nobliged to travel in large caravans. A gold-train of wagons from\nPortland crossed the Columbia River at Okanagan. They had\nto swim the oxen with the wagons, freight and canoes lashed\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\ntogether. On reaching the journey's end the oxen were sold for\nmeat and the hides tanned for leather.\nOne of the overland parties from California, organised by\nDavid McLaughlan, comprised three hundred and fifty horses and\nmules, and some one hundred and sixty armed men. They were\nwarned of the hostile attitude of the Indians along the route and\ntherefore organised on a military basis. The Okanagans and Walla\nWalla tribes were particularly hostile and as the party pressed on,\none of the members lagging behind was seized by the Indians and\nkilled. Two or three days after crossing the Columbia River near\nthe boundary on the east side of the Okanagan, a force of Indians\nwas encountered on each side of the road, behind crude fortifications. As there was no turning back, the fight was unavoidable\nand lasted until after nightful. Grass fires were set by the Indians\nwhile the prospectors set counter fires. A check-up in the morning\nfound three Californians dead and seven wounded, but the Indians\nhad abandoned their stronghold and the party continued on their\nway, to again be challenged by a hundred mounted warriors who\nwere bent on separating the party from the horses. A parley\nresulted and they again proceeded, unmolested, but the thieving\nsavages, coveting the horses, followed to within a short distance\nof the gold diggings.\nThe Indians, jealous of their rights as to the first settlers, soon\nclashed with the arrogant miners, who claimed that the only good\nIndians were dead ones! As soon as the miners ascended the\nFraser River Canyon they were pounced upon and were forced to\nflee for their lives. Some unable to escape were killed, scalped and\ntossed into the turbulent Fraser. Summoning Colonel Hawkins\nand fifteen of his men,\u2014Royal Engineers from the Boundary\nSurvey,\u2014together with twenty marines, the troops set out for the\nseat of trouble, but peace prevailed before their arrival.\nThe placer gold operations on the Fraser at Fort Langley,\ntwenty-five miles up from the mouth, were the lowest diggings\non that river.   Between this point and Fort Hope, a distance of\nwi\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nseventy miles, were numerous productive operations, while between\nFort Hope and Fort Yale, a further thirteen miles up the river,\nactive and extensive operations were under way, the best known\nof which was Hillsbar, the first, largest and most productive bar\non the Fraser, and the one that continued to be worked the longest.\nNorth from Fort Yale to the confluence of the Thompson and\nFraser Rivers,\u2014then known as the \"Forks\" but named later\n\"Lytton\" in honor of the Colonial Secretary,\u2014were numerous\noperations, and by the end of 1858 the gold diggings had extended\nrapidly up-stream.\nThe Fraser River remained the sole transportation outlet, but\nsteamers could not pass beyond Fort Hope, the head of navigation,\none hundred miles up from the mouth of the river. Beyond Fort\nHope, river navigation in any form was treacherous, and half way\nbetween Fort Hope and Lytton, Hellsgate, with its dashing white\nwater in the narrow gorge formed a bottle neck that defied navigation. To provide an alternative route through the impassable\nFraser Canyon, five hundred miners volunteered to establish the\nHarrison-Lillooet trail which left the Fraser River at the Harrison\nRiver and followed up Harrison Lake, then by overland trail\naround Birkenhead portages, through Anderson and Seaton Lakes\nand on into the Fraser again, at the present site of Lillooet.\nIn midsummer, 1858, the miners at Yale, realising the necessity for law enforcement, held a miners' meeting, legislating\nagainst the sale of liquor without license, and the sale of firearms\nto the Indians, as the latter had been continually harassing the\nminers, and blood had already been shed.\nIn November, 1858, one hundred and fifty men, non-commissioned officers under Colonel Moody of the Royal Engineers,\nlanded at the gold diggings. Their purpose was to aid in providing order, but they were later destined to fill a much nobler\npurpose by constructing the famous Cariboo Trail.\nThe process of establishing their own court of law had precedent in the California gold diggings, where the governing bodies\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nhad divided into opposing factions, the \"Vigilance Committee\"\nand the \"Law and Order Party\". While the miners had been\norganising themselves into a form of government, Governor\nDouglas had appointed Richard Hicks as revenue officer at Yale,\nwith George Perpier as Chief Justice, stationed at Hillsbar, a few\nmiles down the river.\nDuring the next two years the Fraser River and its tributary,\none hundred and fifty miles beyond Fort George where it makes\nits acute angle turn southeast to find its head water near Mount\nRobson, was being prospected. In October, 1859, Governor\nDouglas wrote the Duke of Newcastle that miners were making\nfrom twenty to twenty-five shillings per day on bars one hundred\nand fifty miles beyond Fort George. One reason for the rapid\nexploration of the upper waters of the Fraser was that in the lower\nreaches of the stream deep water prevented working the bars until\nthe water had fallen, with the result that thousands who had\nrushed to the new diggings found disappointment and were forced\nto return or press on northward where the water was lower. The\nsearch in the upper reaches of the Fraser was duplicated in the\nThompson.\nSupplies which were largely under the control of the Hudson's\nBay Co. wete unreasonably high. This also forced the miners to\npush on and to stake away from the denser settlements. Flour\nsold at six dollars a barrel at Fort Hope, while sugar brought fifty\ncents per pound. Beans worth one and a half cents in Victoria\nsold at one dollar per pound. Bacon sold at two dollars a pound\n(when there was any) and boots were twenty-five dollars per pair.\nBut if prices of commodities were high, gold diggings were\nequally profitable, and Governor Douglas wrote on July 10, 1858,\nthat men working at Hillsbar averaged anywhere from two dollars\nand fifty cents to twenty-five dollars per day; adding, however,\nthat anything under six dollars per day was not considered wages\nby the California miners.\nThe intensity of operations gradually shifted up the Fraser,\n .   MINE-FINDERS\nand whereas the section between Fort Hope and Fort Yale had\nbeen the centre of activities in 1858, by 1859 they had moved to\nbetween Lytton and Lillooet, with the gold hoard gradually fanning out over vast areas. This further complicated the transportation problem by removing the miners from the base of supplies.\nOver ten thousand miners were estimated to be in the area, of\nwhich three thousand were between Yale and Hope, while two\nthousand were stationed in the proximity of Yale, and another\nthousand were working claims between Alexandria and Fort\nGeorge.\nThe treasurer of the Hudson's Bay Co. acted as banker, receiving such gold as miners wished to deposit for safety, giving each\none a receipt for his sealed pouch. When the miner wanted gold\nhe produced his receipt, was handed the pouch, took such of its\ncontents as he might require and replaced the seal. There was\nno counting or weighing, and Treasurer Finlayson referred with\npride to the fact in after years that not one instance of complaint\nor loss was reported.\nIt has been charged that Governor Douglas in dual capacity\nof Governor of Vancouver Island and Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Co. sought to keep the gold finds quiet and was unsympathetic toward prospecting that would result in a stampede into\nBritish Columbia and thus alter the position of the Hudson's Bay\nCo. which was primarily interested in the trading of supplies for\nfurs at its posts; settlement of the community would bring other\ntraders and disrupt this lucrative business. Whatever thought\nwas uppermost in the Governor's mind, it cannot be denied that\nhe always spoke in optimistic terms about the gold possibilities,\nbut was stern in administrating law and in collecting the taxes,\neven exceeding his authority. However, he was successful in\nmaintaining a status of law and order such as was unknown in\nthe California goldfields from whence so many had migrated.\nIn the first instance, those who would enter the new gold\ndiggings of the Fraser River were restricted to the use of steam-\n ship accommodations provided by the Hudson's Bay Co. under\nGovernor Douglas' edict. Later, on the payment of a royalty,\nAmerican steamers were permitted on the Fraser, but these steamers could carry only Hudson's Bay Co. goods. Furthermore, they\nshould carry no passengers except those who had taken out a gold\nmining license from the Government at Victoria. Any American\ncompany carrying passengers also had to pay a tax of two dollars\nper head for each person carried into the Fraser River. To defy\nthis edict was to lay the offender liable to forfeiture of his vessel.\nIn July, 1858, when Governor Douglas' drastic regulations\nreached the Colonial Secretary, Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, he\nreplied in no uncertain terms and disallowed the Governor's\nproclamation of May 8.\nWhile Douglas was intent on setting up a strong, legitimate\nform of government among the miners of the Fraser River, it\nwas hardly to be expected that after his long connection with the\nfur-trading monopoly he would divorce himself from its influences.\nIt was not too tamely that he submitted to the instructions from\nthe Colonial office.\nPrevious to 1858 the whole of the Province had been preserved\nfor the Hudson's Bay Co., providing a rich hunting-ground for\nthe Indians and half-breeds who traded their hunts to the company.\nExclusive control by the Hudson's Bay Co. over the territory\nwest of the Great Lakes to the Pacific had been the subject of an\ninvestigation in 1857 by a select committee of the British House\nof Commons, headed by the Right Honorable Henry Labouchere,\nthen Secretary of State for the Colony. He recommended the\ntermination of the Royal Grant of 1849 to end in 1859. This\nRoyal Grant had provided sovereign rights over Vancouver Island\nfor the Hudson's Bay Co. by establishing a settlement for the\nresident colonists. This had brought much dissatisfaction and\nJames Cooper, a settler at Metchosen, Vancouver Island, gave evidence in 1857, stating that the population of the Island had\ndeclined, and attributed it to the maladministration of the company.\n MINE-FINDERS\nThe sentiment grew that the company did not want to colonise,\nand foreigners were not encouraged. The better land was held\nby the company, which they sold at five dollars per acre, while\nequally good land in the United States territory sold for one dollar\nand twenty-five cents.\nGovernor Richard Blanchard, who had been sent out from\nLondon in 1849 under the terms of the Royal Charter, retired\ntwo years later, bitterly complaining of the treatment accorded\nby the Hudson's Bay Co., appearing as a witness in 1857 in the\ninvestigation.\nJames Douglas, who had been Chief Factor for the Hudson's\nBay Co. at Fort Victoria and who had administered the affairs of\nthe company for both Vancouver Island and mainland of British\nColumbia, was appointed successor to Governor Blanchard and\ntherefore ruled in the dual capacity of chief company agent and\nchief official of the Government. He has been properly described\nas a man who has done much for British Columbia, but by nature\nor training was far from being a democrat. His broad shoulders\nand erect chin, proclaimed him as a strong man, ready to meet\nany emergency and deal with a strong hand when occasion provided. Under the Royal Grant he had no real authority as a\nGovernment official, nor was there occasion to exercise this\nauthority at the time of his appointment. From the administration of the quiet village of Fort Victoria, numbering some eight\nhundred souls, to handling the rush to the Fraser River gold diggings, called for speedy and stern administration.\nIn December, 1857, Governor Douglas issued a proclamation,\nclosing the new goldfields except on certain conditions: \"All persons who shall take any lands within the said districts, any gold,\nmetal or ore containing gold, without being duly authorised on\nthat behalf by Her Majesty's Colonial Government, will be prosecuted both criminally and civilly as the law allows.\"\nHe also imposed a license fee of ten shillings per month to be\npaid in advance, (later raised to twenty-one shillings per month)\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nin a determined effort to keep the goldfields under rigid control.\nThe Colonial Secretary had replied to Angus McDonald on August\n4, 1856, when he suggested a gold tax, by advising against the\nimposition of any tax, but leaving it to Douglas' discretion to\ndetermine the best means of preserving order in the event of any\nconsiderable increase in the population of the new gold district\nby miners.\nGovernor Douglas was never popular with the settlers of the\nnew gold colony and while New Westminster was the capital, he\ncontinued to live in Victoria where he was given to considerable\npomp, being followed by a guard in uniform, which did not set\nwell with the democracy of the new gold colony.\nWhile it was evident that Governor Douglas overstepped his\nauthority in dealing with the gold rush on the mainland, it was\nequally evident that some form of government must be established\nimmediately to deal with the situation. Accordingly, on August\n2, 1858, British Columbia was established as a separate colony.\nThe boundaries were established as the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of\nGeorgia on the west, the Rocky Mountains on the east, the American border on the south and the Nass River on the north.\nQueen Victoria took an active interest in the establishment\nof the new Colony and was herself responsible for its name. In\na letter, dated July 24, 1858, to her Colonial Secretary, Her\nMajesty frowned on the various names suggested for the new\nColony and herself suggested \"British Columbia\", stating that the\nmaps she had consulted showed \"Columbia\" and that she wished\nto identify it with the British settlements.\nWith the act creating the new Colony of British Columbia and\nappointing James Douglas as Governor, he shed his dual role of\nGovernor of Vancouver Island and Chief Factor of the Hudson's\nBay Co. and revoked all connection with his old company.\nAt New Fort Langley, on November 19, 1858, following a\nreception salute of eighteen guns, and in the presence of several\nhundred persons, Governor James Douglas  (later Sir James)\njbJ\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nclimbed the wet, steep banks of the Fraser River and amid a pouring rain was solemnly proclaimed Governor and commenced the\nceremony of setting up the Government, appointing Judge Begbie\n(afterwards Sir Matthew Bailie Begbie) first Judge of the Colony.\nLater, a site farther down the river was selected and named\nNew Westminster as the capital.\nJudge Begbie, known as \"Hanging\" Judge Begbie, for his\nfearlessness and impartial severe justice,was not appointed in time\nto try the first murder, for some weeks previous, one William King\nwas tried before three commissioners which Governer Douglas\nhad taken upon himself to appoint in establishing a court. The\nprisoner was convicted of manslaughter, but he escaped, and thus\nBritish Columbia's first criminal evaded paying his debt to society.\nOne of the early cases to come before Judge Begbie was that\nof the \"Ned\" McGowan war. McGowan, born in Pennsylvania,\nwas a printer by trade and described as a self-possessed, resourceful, crafty, unscrupulous politician, who was later captain of the\npolice and a member of the United States Legislature. He\nassaulted and stabbed an editor, but escaped punishment, to be\nafterwards charged with robbery, and fled to arrive among the\nmotley horde of Forty-Niners in the California gold rush. There\nhe arose to political power and became the companion of the\nunderworld, where he was later charged with murder but escaped\npunishment, to finally turn up on the gold bars of the Fraser River.\nMcGowan soon ran foul of the law in the new settlement at\nYale. The \"Ned\" McGowan\" war, as it was called, was a battle\nbetween the opposing communities of the \"Law and Order Party\"\nand the \"Vigilance Committee\", precipitated when McGowan\nbroke open the jail at Fort Yale and released a prisoner from Hillsbar. It so wrought up the community and the respective Justices\nof the Peace of the two communities that it virtually developed\ninto a legal problem as to the rights of the law enforcers. When\nthings became too hot, McGowan, as previously, fled from view\nand thus the chief disturbing element in the gold diggings was\nremoved.\n162\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nCariboo Gold\nThe gold rush of 1858 into the Fraser River was but a stepping\nstone to another world-famous discovery two years later,\u2014the\nCariboo, in I860, where Canada's second chapter of gold mining\nhistory was written. With thousands of prospectors pouring into\nthe Fraser River valley and the disappointment that was bound\nto come to many found fertile territory by expanding and spreading out into the upper reaches of the Fraser and its tributaries. In\n1859 the advance guard from\nthe Fraser River diggings had\nreached Quesnel, present terminus of the Pacific and Great\nEastern Railway, and still\njumping-off place for the\nCariboo, sixty miles east.\nCariboo is properly delimited as that gold producing\narea centered about Barker-\nville. In 1861,\u2014the first year\nof the Cariboo rush, two\nmillion dollars was reported\nas recovered from Williams\nand Lightning Creek by some\nfifteen hundred miners, while at Barkerville, in the centre of the\nold Cariboo field, a cairn was erected .which carries the following\ninscription:\n\"Cariboo Goldfields, Barkerville\"\n\"The centre of the old Cariboo, whose goldfields, discovered\nin 1861, have added over forty million to the wealth of the world.\n\"Here was the terminus of the great wagon-road from Yale,\ncompleted in 1865.\n\"The story of the Cariboo gold mines and the Cariboo road is\nthe epic of British Columbia.\"\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nThere seems little doubt that the Cariboo got its name from the\nherds of reindeer that once roamed the area, which finds its\nderivation in \"Carib\", after the native tribes of Central America,\nand so named by the Spaniards because of their savage nature,\ncombined with the French word \"boeuf\".\nOn April 14, 1860, E. H. Sanders, assistant gold commissioner\nat Fort Yale, reported to his superiors that he feared a rush into\nthe far-away regions to the north would depopulate the Yale\ndistrict.\nThe first gold discovery in what was later popularly known as\nthe Cariboo Creek, was credited to \"Doc\" Keithley, George\nWeaver and his partner McDonald in I860. While there seems\nto be little doubt that \"Doc\" Keithley and his party were the\nimmediate pioneers, owing to their discoveries on Keithley Creek,\ntwenty miles south of the present town of Barkerville, Governor\nDouglas in a despatch dated September 16, 1861, gives credit for\nthe discovery to one, Dounet, whom he describes as a fine, athletic\nyoung man\u2014a native of Cape Breton\u2014of French and Scottish\nancestry, and combining in his personal appearance and character\nthe courage, activity and remarkable power of both races.\nIt is recorded that in 1859 Cariboo Lake, twenty-five miles\nsouth of Barkerville, had been reached; also that \"Dud\" Moreland\ndiscovered Horsefly River in that year. Although Keithley Creek\nwas later to assume prominence as a gold producer and supply\ncentre, \"Doc\" Keithley and his party pressed on northward late\nin the fall of I860 and came upon what was later named Antler\nCreek, where rich discoveries were made. The second day brought\ndisappointment, for during the night a foot of snow had fallen.\nThus, with supplies essential, the party returned to Keithley\nCreek, but the discovery leaked out and in midwinter a stampede\nover deep snow occurred; early in 1861 prospectors were flocking\ninto Antler Creek from all directions. Among the newcomers\nwere Edward Stout, William Dietz, a Prussian, and Michael Burns.\nStriking out from Antler Creek, Dietz followed a stream having\n164\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nits source on the nearby Bald Mountain. This, in 1861, was the\nwhite man's first view of Williams Creek, richest of all Cariboo\ncreeks and one of the world's most famous placer areas. Dietz\nreturned to bring his partners, Rose and McDonald, to share his\nfind. To Dietz the party gave the privilege of staking the first\nclaim, and selecting a spot on what is called the canyon, about\ntwo miles above Barkerville where he found some gold, he selected\nhis claim. The selection proved poor, for although he had found\ngold the canyon proved to be exceedingly lean, while over the\nhill was the true bed of the ancient stream with its rich gravels.\nDietz was known as \"Dutch Bill\" and when the party gave\nhim the honor of naming the Creek he proposed \"Billy Creek\",\nbut his partners suggested the more dignified name of Williams\nCreek\".\nGovernor Douglas, writing on October 24, 1861, gives credit\nto one, Thomas Brown, an American citizen, as having the honor\nof first staking a claim on Williams Creek. This is explained by\nthe poor results first obtained by Dietz in the canyon, or the upper\nreaches of the creek.\nThe news of the strike sped fast and soon all the creeks in the\narea, including Lightning, Lowhee and Grouse Creeks were\nswarming with miners. While the first finds on Williams Creek\nlooked good and pay dirt lay close to the surface, (generally eight\nto twelve feet) the results proved disappointing, and for a time\nit became known as \"Humbug\" Creek. It was not until midsummer, 1861, on the Abbott and Jordon claim, adjoining the\noriginal staking of Thomas Brown, that the rich find was made\nwhich made Williams Creek famous. The gold that had been\nrecovered there up to that time had been above a hard blue clay,\nwhich the miners considered bedrock. The Abbott and Jordon\ndiscovery started a second rush to Williams Creek. It is recorded\nthat within forty-eight hours of the strike, fifty ounces of gold had\nbeen recovered. The entire stream was blanketed, each miner\nstaking his claim one hundred feet square.   Bedrock lay from fifty\n165\n_ -'\n MINE-FINDERS\nto sixty feet deep, which meant sinking shafts to the pay gravels\nand tunnelling along the bottom.\nJudge Begbie, writing on September 25, 1861, gives a clue to\nthe richness of the early finds by reporting the recovery of as\nmuch as three hundred and seventy ounces in a day from one claim.\n\"On many claims the gold is a perfect nuisance, as the miners\nhave to carry it from their cabins to their claims every morning,\nwatch it while they are at work and carry it back again into their\ncabins at night.\" The following year, 1862, William Barker took\nup a claim on the present site of Barkerville, from which grew a\ncommunity that took his name and became, at that time, the\nlargest town in Canada west of Ontario.\nLightning Creek, second ranking producer in the Cariboo area,\nwas discovered in July, 1861, by Ned Campbell, where Butcher\nBench, one of the richest diggings, discovered in December, 1863,\nwas so named by its discoverer, Joe Gilmour, because the first gold\nwas actually dug out with a butcher knife.\nBut with the discovery of the Cariboo, transportation difficulties were introduced that called for speedy remedy if supplies\nadequate for the new camp were to be moved. To the pioneers\nthe journey along the precipitous canyon of the Fraser River\nthrough the tangled woodland and across the mosquito-infested\nswamps to the new diggings was attended with great danger to\nman and beast alike. The fly-bitten pack horses stampeded, and a\nluckless adventurer captured by the Indians and stripped of attire,\ndied within eighteen hours of exposure to the insects. To the\nRoyal Engineers under Colonel Moody fell the task of improving\nthe route, and the famous Cariboo Road, completed in 1865,\nalleviated the transportation difficulties. In the early days the\nmortality of the pack-horses was so high along the narrow, treacherous route, that the sure-footed camel was introduced. Years\nlater, when hydraulicking was employed, the bones of a \"prehistoric animal\" were washed up and the puzzle was only solved\nwhen old-timers recalled the early and short-lived use of camels,\n166\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\n1\nfor it was soon discovered that the pack-horses' antipathy for the\nhumped beast of burden made the venture impracticable. Then\nthe trail was widened to accommodate the long bull teams which,\nafter dragging supplies over the improved trail from Yale, found\ntheir journey's end in the shambles at Barkerville.\nLowhee was one of the richest Creeks of the Cariboo, one\npiece of ground four hundred feet by twelve feet wide producing\nover three thousand ounces of gold in one day, while the Cornish\nclaim yielded four ounces of gold to the pan. The Sage-Miller\nclaims produced from eighty to one hundred ounces of gold per\nday, while the Jordon-Abbott\nclaim yielded a like amount.\nThe story of the discovery\nof Lowhee Creek by Richard\nWilloughby in 1862 is an epic\nin the early days of the Cariboo. Leaving California early\nin I860 he headed a party for\nBritish Columbia which numbered close to eight hundred\nmen and two thousand horses.\nBeset by Indians, the party\nfaced annihilation, but finally\nreached the Fraser. Willoughby worked Emory Bar,\nmaking some twenty thousand dollars. In 1861, he lost most\nof his money on a worthless claim nearby. Subsequently he prospected many of the streams to the north, arriving in the Cariboo\nin 1862 amid a horde of thirty-five thousand newcomers. Making\nhis camp on Lowhee Creek, as he named it later (after one of the\nsecret societies at Yale, B.C.), he set to work and was the first\ndiscoverer of pay dirt. The news of his find leaked out in making\nsettlement for his supplies as he tendered some of his new-found\ngold.   Now, all the gold found in the various streams had its\n MINE -FINDERS y\t\nown characteristics. The trained eye is quick to discern the difference. The supply vendor challenged him as to where he got\nit and he lied, \"on Williams Creek\". That is not Williams Creek\ngold\" said the vendor, and quickly the news spread that a new\nstrike had been made somewhere. Waiting until midnight Wil-\nloughby started back to his find, and although dark he was closely\nwatched; he had not gone far before he realised that he was\nbeing followed by literally hundreds. He tramped on; then\nturning to his followers he asked if all who had started had\narrived. When told that some lagged behind he said \"we'll wait\nuntil they show up\". When the last man put in his appearance\nhe dramatically removed his hat and pointed to the spot where\nthey stood, saying \"Men, this is where I found the gold\". Staking\nwent on the remainder of the moonlight night; so confused were\nthe claims that it took a specially appointed committee to untangle\nthe rush of the night's staking efforts.\nWilloughby and his partners each realised seventy thousand\ndollars from the discovery, afterwards selling out at a large figure.\nHe then bought a mule pack-train, paying four hundred dollars\na head, a saloon and saw-mill. It was also reported that he gave\nfinancial backing to F. J. Barnard, the founder of the B. C. Express\nCo., and was given to help almost all who required financial assistance. This, together with his pack-train having been caught in\na snowstorm on Bald Mountain and lost, made him again practically penniless the following year. Through the next long\nwinter he amused himself by whittling out a violin from a maple\ntree, and being an expert musician he entertained on many occasions in the Cariboo.\nWhen the Big Bend area near Revelstoke created a stir in\n1865 he was among the newcomers. Two years later found him\nat Chilliwack, operating a little ranch with success. But 1869\nfound him back again in his beloved Cariboo: then on to the\nCassiar gold rush where he made another stake of twelve thousand\ndollars on McDame Creek.   In 1876 he spent the winter in Wran-\n168\nfePPk\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\ngell, and the following spring went on to Sitka. In 1877 he was\nat St. Michaels on his way up the Yukon River where he panned\ngold and was one of the early discoverers of the Nome goldfields.\nHe lived his remaining years in Alaska, leaving a fortune of two\nhundred thousand dollars when he died in 1904.\nRichard Willougbby has been described as one of the characteristic pioneers of the gold rashes,\u2014a fine type of man, adventurous, brave and generous, industrious and self-reliant,\u2014the real\npioneer type, the backbone of this country.\nThe Cariboo was still a focal point of interest in the seventies\nand when Lord Dufferin, then Governor-General, expressed a\ndesire to visit the famous\ncamp, a specially constructed\ncoach for the arduous trip was\nprovided. Thirty years later\nthe famous coach was to haul\nanother precious cargo in the\nform of a $350,000 brick of\ngold, representing a season's\nclean-up from John B. Hob-\nson's Bullion Mine. Perched\nhigh on the driver's seat,\npuffing vigorously at his long,\nblack cigar, he made an inviting scene had brigandry then\nbeen rife, but $350,000 in gold\nis nearly three-quarters of a ton,\u2014not an easy package for a highwayman to make away with; so the famous -coach delivered its\nprize parcel safely in Vancouver.\nThe Bullion mine, east of Williams Lake, was at its zenith\nat the turn of the last century, and two million dollars in gold is\ncredited from its workings ere the claims were jumped, which\nentailed fifteen years of legal strife that was only settled against\nthe claim-jumpers by the Privy Council.\n169\n MINE-FINDERS\n\"Twelve-foot\" Davis, a Cariboo pioneer, won his sobriquet\nby having staked the only fractional claim reported. It happened\nin measuring off the claim held by David Grier & Co. that it was\noverstaked by twelve feet; whereupon Davis, by the light of the\nlantern, staked the fraction for himself. The claim yielded some\nten thousand dollars and he sold it for four thousand dollars.\nOne of the old-time placer miners of Williams Creek in the\nCariboo, and who had faith in the quartz lode was. \"Tinker\"\nBrown, owner of the Tinker claim, one of the richest on Williams\nCreek in 1862. Tinker's chief claim to fame was that he could get\nrid of gold faster than his rich placer claim could produce. One\nof his partners at that time was Henry Beatty, father of Sir Edward\nBeatty, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and it may\ntruly be said that it was Cariboo gold that was the financial foundation of his business venture in the Great Northwestern Transportation Co. at Sarnia, Ontario, and of the education of Sir Edward.\nFollowing the early miners to the Cariboo came the Chinamen, who could exist on smaller yields from their pans as the\nrich diggings waned. Then followed the dredges, turning over\nand winning gold from those gravels which were not profitable to\nthe individual effort. In after years hydraulicking too gleaned the\ngold remaining in the gravels, until the gold recovered from the\nold placer beds is but a small fraction of the production from the\nlode gold mines of the Province.\nTinker's early faith in the quartz lode was not confirmed in\nhis time, but developments of recent date served to justify his\nenthusiasm. In 1876 a four stamp mill was erected at Richfield\nto treat ore from Bonanza ledge. In 1888 the Government erected\na mill at Barkerville, two miles away, but without commercial\nsuccess, and it was not until 1933 that the Cariboo gained prominence as a lode gold camp when Fred M. Wells' long faith was\nrewarded with the starting of the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining\nCo.'s one hundred ton mill. Wells was a pioneer of many British\nColumbia mining camps, arriving in the Province with the entry\n IT\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\t\nof the Canadian Pacific Railway.   A shrewd prospector with a\nkeen sense of minerals and geology gained from a half century\nof practical experience, he defied derision, to win success and fame\nin reestablishing the Cariboo as a lode gold camp.\nStikeen River\nThe early rush to the Cariboo quickly carried prospecting\nfarther north, and on September 16,1861, Governor Douglas calls\nattention to the reported discovery of gold on the Stikeen River.\nIn 1862, following authenticated discoveries by Coquette, a separate colony\u2014Stikeen Territories\u2014was formed, with the Governor\nof British Columbia as joint administrator. But the Stikeen was\nno Cariboo in importance as a gold producer, and the Stikeen\nTerritories reverted, and again became part of British Columbia\nin July, 1863.\nConsidering its inaccessibility, northern British Columbia, adjacent to the Yukon, was quickly prospected, following up the trail\nof gold. In 1861, Peace River diggings yielded a thousand ounces\nof gold to Edward Carey and W. Cust.\nOmineca came into the limelight when Cariboo diggings\nstarted to pale, and \"Twelve-foot\" Davis of Cariboo fame headed\na party comprising Humphreys, Gaylord and Evans, who made a\ndiscovery on Arctic Creek, which was but a stepping stone to the\ndiscoveries of Michael Burns and Vital La Forge, during the\nwinter of 1858-69, when they wintered on the head waters of the\nOmineca.\nThe shattered love affair of George Gillies, one of the pioneers\nwho won fortune here, is. marked by a crude gravestone where he\nmet the mail coming into Manson Creek. With his poke of gold\nhe was on his way out when he was given the deathblow message\nthat his sweetheart to whom he was homeward bound had married\nanother.   Despondent, he shot himself.\nJack McCulloch, a Scottish traveller, reported the first gold on\nthe Liard River, while Henry Thibert, a French-Canadian, made\ndiscoveries in the Dease Lake area.   Thibert had left the Red\nJD\n MINE-FINDERS \t\nRiver country in 1869 on a hunting and prospecting expedition\nto the West and met McCulloch, where they passed the winter of\n1871 near the abandoned fort of Halkett, on the Liard River.\nWhile on a trip to Dease Lake early in 1872 to secure a supply of\nfish, they learned of the mining along the bars of the Stikeen and\ndecided to do further prospecting.   In 1873, while returning to\nhis old haunts, McCulloch fell through the ice on the Stikeen\nand although rescued, died of exposure.   Thibert was then chosen\nleader of the party and proceeded to Dease Lake where boats were\nbuilt with which to return to McCulloch's workings.   But roving\nprospectors stole their boats, so Thibert's party turned attention\nto prospecting locally and were rewarded with a discovery on a\ncreek\u2014later named Thibert's Creek\u2014an important gold producer.\nBy 1874 the rush of prospectors, now numbering two thousand,\nbuilt the town of Laketon at the mouth of the Dease Creek.\nImportant, but no bonariza, the best year was 1875, when $830,000\nwas reported, bringing the total production to about five million\ndollars. \u201e . ,\nStiver Discovered\nWhen Hope was head of navigation for the miners rushing to\nthe gold diggings of the Fraser River in 1858, placer silver was\nfound, which led to the development of a vein on the bank of the\nFraser, near Hope. As a result of this early discovery, British\nColumbia's first silver mine, the Eureka, five thousand feet above\nthe river bed, was discovered in 1871, in the Cascade Mountain\nrange, six miles south of the town. The next reference to the early\ndiscovery of silver comes from Cherry Creek in the Okanagan\ndistrict, where float of great richness was found, but its source was\nnever learned.\nBack in 1910, when Dr. Charles Camsell, later Deputy Minister of Mines for Canada, was an active member of the Geological\nSurvey, it fell to his lot to report on Steamboat Mountain, near\nHope, B.C. But whether his reconnaissance survey was a suggestion to an unscrupulous promoter is not revealed. At any rate, a\nfew months later, during the winter of 1910-11, from a tunnel\n 1\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\t\nstarted in the Steamboat Mountain, came news of fabulous wealth\nuncovered. In a few months three thousand ambitious gold seekers rushed to the area, and Dr. Camsell was despatched to retrace\nhis steps and make a full report. To the man of science it was\nquickly revealed that the throng of gold seekers had been duped\nby a \"salting\" job, for no ore was in evidence. Taking no chances\nwith the enthusiastic community, he wrote a report of his findings\nand handed it to the local press a few moments before the train\ncarrying him to far fields left town. The local paper published the\ntruth of his findings and the boom burst as quickly as it had formed.\nCoal Discovered\nTo neither the native Indians nor colonists goes the\ncredit for the first mention of\ncoal in British Columbia, but to\nHenry Alexander the explorer\nwho, in 1811, makes reference\nto veins of coal on the mainland; in 1845 Father De Smet\nmentions the presence of coal\nin the Kootenays, which did\nnot find commercial exploitation until the construction of\nthe Crow's Nest Pass Railway\nin the nineties.\nTo a Nanaimo Indian, digging clams on the beach at the\npresent site of Nanaimo, in 1852, goes the honor of discovering\nVancouver Island's vast coal resources. Unfamiliar with the black\nrock, he cast a piece into the fire, only to see it consumed, whereupon he took a sample to Joseph McKay, Hudson's Bay Co. Factor\nat Victoria. Seventeen years before, in 1835, Hudson's Bay Co.'s\nrecords show that coal had been found in the vicinity of Fort\nRupert and that Indians had brought the samples to Dr. W. F.\nTolmie, then stationed at Fort McLoughlin, on Millbank Sound.\n I\nMINE-FINDERS\n1\nUnder the direction of Hudson's Bay Co. officials, a party of\nminers supplied the limited fuel wants of the community until the\nNanaimo discovery, when Governor James Douglas sent a party\nin August, 1852, to explore the find. He then wrote the Colonial\nSecretary in London on August 27, that \"Indians, friendly-disposed\nand lacking war-like traits, had made a discovery that he rejoiced\nto say had proven not unfounded, and that three beds were outcropping\".\nGood progress was made by the employees' of the Hudson's\nBay Co. and a shaft was sunk which brought the comment on\nMay 20, 1853, from Governor Douglas that \"progress had been\nrapid and satisfactory, with the coal measuring from six to seven\nfeet in thickness on a safe and commodious harbour from which\nit could be shipped at trifling cost\". That year, reference was\nmade to the export of coal to California, where it found ready\nacceptance, and was not inferior to the best qualties of English\ncoal.\nGovernor Douglas named the price of forty-one shillings eight\npence per ton to the inhabitants in Victoria, while Her Majesty's\nships paid twenty-five shillings.\nWhen Dr. G. M. Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada\nled a party to explore and map the Rocky Mountains south from\nthe Kicking Horse Pass in 1883, coal was found in the Crow's\nNest Pass which has proven to be one of the largest coal-producing\nareas in the Rocky Mountain area. Attached to Dr. Dawson's\nparty was a delicate youth, Arts graduate of the University of\nToronto,\u2014J. B. Tyrrell, then seeking health rather than the fame\nwhich came in after years when his explorations and observations\nmade him a renowned figure in scientific circles, and brought\nrecognition from his Alma Mater, and its highest honorary degree.\nAs the party was camped for lunch one day early in July, 1883,\nnear the present site of Fernie, B.C., Tyrrell's keen eyes saw a\npiece of coal which he took to his chief, Dr. Dawson, and this\nbecame the first chronicled coal discovery of this famed camp.\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nWith the Fernie coal discovery as an inspiration, a few weeks later\nbefore completing a busy season he journeyed up Pincher Creek,\nwest of McLeod, Alberta, to visit an old Ottawa friend ranching\nin that area. The rancher listened with interest to his story of the\ndiscovery of coal, wishing that he too might be blessed with fuel\nto warm the long winter evenings. \"Do you think you could find\nany coal for me?\" he asked young Tyrrell. \"Well, we can try\"\nTyrrell replied, and a half-mile from the ranch-house he started\nto follow up the creek, finding bits of coal as he went. Shortly\nno more pieces were to be seen in the creek bed and he took this\nto indicate that the coal must be close at hand. Picking in the\ncreek bank he exposed a seam that ultimately opened up into the\nproductive deposits that are still being mined.\nThe following year he was again probing the secrets of the\nRocky Mountain foothills area, but this time he was in charge of\nthe party. Coming from Edmonton with his team and buckboards\nhe inspected the coal seams outcropping along the Red Deer\nRiver, and on June 9,1884, his diary records the discovery of huge\nbones which he recognised as those of a dinosaur. This was the\nfirst discovery in Canada, and the area proved a fertile hunting-\nground that has yielded a prolific supply of dinosaur skeletons in\nafter years. Three days later, on June 12, while passing the\npresent site of Drumheller, he first observed and recorded the thick\ncoal seams outcropping there that ushered in another important\ncoal producing area.\nTidewater Mines\n\"We are searching for the truth\", wrote Dr. Robert Brown,\nwhen setting out as commander of an expedition to probe the\nuncharted wilderness of Vancouver Island for gold in 1864. \"We\nwill do our best, but I neither promise to discover prairies nor\nmines, nor yet a Goshen\u2014a land flowing with milk and honey\u2014\nbut I will try. If the land is worth anything, the sooner it is known\nthe better\u2014if not, make the best of what you have.\"\nThe expedition was made possible by public-spirited residents\n MINE-FINDERS\nH\nof Victoria, aided by the Government contributing one-half to the\ndefraying of the expenses of the expedition. Had not Chief\nOr-Wat of the Haida Indians brought gold to the Hudson's Bay\nCo. post at Fort Simpson in 1850, which he averred came from the\nwest coast of Queen Charlotte Islands? Then obviously there\nmust be mines, if not a land flowing with milk and honey!\nDr. Brown appointed Lieutenant Peter Leech, (in later years\ncity engineer for Victoria) to proceed to the head waters of the\nSooke River, where on July 14, 1864, he first washed gold from\nthe bars of the river. The discovery is marked as being ten miles\nup from the sea at a junction of a stream later named the Leech\nRiver, in honor of the engineer.\nWhen the Victoria \"Colonist\" gave publicity to the find there\nwas a stampede to the area, particularly from Nanaimo, where\nDr. Brown's own party sought to join the rush. The Sooke mines\ngave expression to a Victoria punster, who in answer to \"why\nVictoria resembled a female foundling\" remarked that it was\n\"forsooke!\" So great was the rush that the Government built a\nroad from the mouth of the Sooke River to the site of the diggings, while Kennedy Flat, a mushroom town of tents and log\nhouses named after His Excellency Governor Kennedy, was to\nquickly arise to accommodate the horde of prospectors, presided\nover by Richard Golledge, gold commissioner.\nSome idea of how the craze swept the area is told by the figures\nin December, 1864, when $2,690 had been collected as license fees\nfrom the twelve hundred miners, eager to work the benches, with\na revenue to be further swelled from thirty licensed liquor dispensaries.\nBetween 1864-66 reports indicate that production was about\ntwo hundred thousand dollars which spread among two hundred\nminers spelled quickly waning enthusiasm. As practical rewards,\nLieutenant Peter Leech received two hundred dollars for his part\nin the expedition, while Dr. Brown received four hundred dollars.\nAlthough copper had been found in possession of the Indians\njHiL\nJ\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nby the very earliest explorers, it was not until 1864, near the Sooke\nRiver, that a determined but unsuccessful effort was made to find\nthe source of float carrying native copper.\nThe following year, copper pyrites, assaying thirty per cent\ncopper, was discovered at the entance to Howe Sound, and an\nunsuccessful attempt was made to work it.\nThe presence of copper at many points near tidewater has been\ndiscovered, as the copper-encrusted submarine cables confirm.\nThe discovery of the Britannia mines, British Columbia's\nlargest producer of copper, located twenty-eight miles north of\nVancouver on Howe Sound, was made in 1898.\nAlthough copper had been reported found on Howe Sound as\nearly as 1865, the Crofton and Ladysmith smelter built in 1902\nand the copper properties on Texada Island had attracted attention, it was not until 1898 that Oliver Furry, a trapper, staked the\nnucleus of what is now the Britannia mine on Howe Sound, owned\nby the Britannia Mining & Smelting Co. It was a Vancouver\nstorekeeper named Clerk who suggested that Furry keep a weather\neye for mineral showings in his trapping expeditions. Leo Bos-\ncowitz, a fur dealer in Victoria, purchased the original stakings\nfor ten thousand dollars. In 1899, Joe Adams, a mining promoter\ndirected the attention of the property to Howard Walters of\nLibby, Montana, who formed a syndicate comprising ten men and\npurchased a seven-tenths interest in the property from Boscowitz\nfor thirty-five thousand dollars. Each of the ten members of the\nsyndicate put up $1,250 in cash and received in return ten units\nvalued at $125 each. Additional funds were required when it\nwas realised that the operation was one of magnitude and the\nsyndicate made a further allotment of ten units each at the same\nprice.\nBut the importance of the property was not realised by eminent\nengineers in New York, who examined the property in 1900 and\nturned it down when one million dollars was asked. Then came\nthe first real technical direction of the mine when George Robin-\n MINE-FINDERS\nson of Butte, Montana, backed by Henry Stearn, New York\nbanker, secured controlling interest in the syndicate at fifteen\nhundred dollars per unit, as well as a three-tenths interest held by\nLeo Boscowitz, at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. The\nBritannia Copper Syndicate Ltd. was then formed and a systematic\ndevelopment programme undertaken, with an aerial tramway two\nand one-half miles long to carry the ore to the beach and tidewater\non Howe Sound. First shipments of the ore went to the Lady-\nsmith and Crofton smelters on the east coast of Vancouver Island,\njust opposite Howe Sound, Britannia later purchasing the Crofton\nsmelter.\nIn 1908, control passed into the hands of Grant B. Schley and\nassociates, New York bankers, who formed the present company\nof Britannia Mining &, Smelting Co.\nA concentrator was built on the beach to reduce the cost of\nshipping the raw ore to the smelter, but with the concentrator\ncame metallurgical problems. George Robinson experienced great\ndifficulties when he tried water concentration, for the sulphide ore\ndid not lend itself to that process. This was long before the days\nof oil flotation that has come into such general practice throughout\nthe world. Schley stayed with the undertaking and continued to\nback the enterprise. Success may be said to have first come in\n1912, but another set-back came in 1920 when torrential rains\nswelled Britannia Creek and swept over the little mining settlement on the beach with a great loss of life. Reconstruction started\nat once, but the following year fire swept the mill. In 1923 a five\nthousand ton mill was constructed to replace the one lost by fire\nand in 1930 the company hit its peak production with an output\nof twenty-one thousand tons of copper.\nFred. Bradley, an engineer of Alaska Juneau fame, designed\nthe new Britannia mill. When C. G. McLachlan was an ambitious graduate, fresh from the University of British Columbia, he\nwent to Britannia and there occupied his spare time from his\nmenial job about the plant, trying unofficially to improve the flow\n*WSu\n m\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\nsheet as laid out by the eminent Bradley. Backed by the courage\ngiven by his research, he blandly approached the general manager\nand suggested changes which were nearly equivalent in those days\nto altering the laws of the Medes and the Persians. He was rather\nbluntly received, being instructed to work out his experiments in\npractice and see the result. The matter was dismissed from the\ngeneral manager's mind, but in the meantime serious minded\nMcLachlan took his boss literally and started to work. The surprise came when a few weeks later he again approached his chief\nand told of his success.   \"Success with what?\"   \"Why the\nimproved flow sheet\", said the astonished McLachlan.\nThe general manager now listened attentively and he gave\nserious thought to the young graduate's development, then telegraphed New York: \"Better send along an expert,\u2014think we have\nan improvement in the flow sheet\".\nAnd improvement it was, which was adapted, and this was the\nstart up the ladder of success for C. G. McLachlan, who later presided over the huge mill at Noranda, Canada's famed copper producer.\nGold\u2014not copper\u2014was what first attracted prospectors to the\nPortland Canal area, and many of the Yukon pioneers travelling\nby way of the Portland Canal stopped in the area to prospect.\nThe Hidden Creek mine, acquired by the Granby Consolidated\nMining, Smelting & Power Co., big operators of the Boundary\ncountry, is the second largest copper producer on the Pacific Coast.\nThe deposit outcropped 8,500 feet above sea level on a mountain\nenclosed by two branches of Hidden Creek, about a mile north of\nGranby Bay (formerly Goose Bay on the west side of Observatory\nInlet.\nIn 1896, Lieutenant Mosier of the United States Navy made\nthe first discovery in the area, known as the Blue Bell, but did no\nwork, and it was restaked in 1899 by John Flewin of Port Simpson.\nThe Hidden Creek deposit was first worked under the direction\nof M. K. Rogers for the Hidden Creek Copper Co., but it was\n MINE-FIN DERS\nacquired in 1901 by the Granby interests, which have operated it\ncontinuously since.\nWhen the Surf Inlet Mine on Princess Royal Island came into\nproduction in 1917, it proved to be the most profitable of British\nColumbia's tidewater gold mines which, before suspending in\n1926, paid one and a half millions of dollars in dividends.\nThe history of this property brings to light that veteran prospector, Fred M. Wells, whose trail during the past fifty years has\nled to most of the successful gold mining camps in British\nColumbia.\nThe operation of the Surf Inlet property came to a sudden halt\nin 1926 when the boat carrying the concentrate from the property\nto the Tacoma smelter came under the watchful eye of the United\nStates revenue cutters. At that time, rum running was rampant\nbetween Canadian boundaries and the dry United States, but\nwhether any of the boat crew were guilty of augmenting their\nincome by concealing liquor under the concentrates was never\nproven. However, the dramatic suddenness of the suspension of\ntransportation gave cause for dosing the mine.\nThe Similkameen Area\nPerusing the reports of Governor Douglas to the Colonial\nSecretary leaves no doubt that notwithstanding his long connection\nwith the Hudson's Bay Co. which sought to discourage settlers\nwho interfered with its lucrative fur trade, he was genuinely\nenthusiastic regarding British Columbia's gold mining potentialities. On November 21, 1859, he commented on how the greater\npart of the Similkameen Valley was favorable to prospecting, and\nbranded adverse comment as a silly outcry of the idler. On June\n5,1860, he held a meeting of prospectors to stimulate the exploration of the Similkameen Valley for gold, and offered \u00a314 to every\nman who reported profitable diggings. No time was lost, and\nthe following month several prospectors claimed their reward.\nAlready prospectors had used the Similkameen River as a\nwater route to reach the Fraser River diggings and Whipshaw\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nCreek witnessed great activity until with the richer Cariboo discoveries the miners pressed northward.\nWhen trapper Jamison discovered in 1884 copper-bearing ore\non what is now known as Copper Mountain, twelve miles south\nof Princeton, a new impetus was given to mining in the Similkameen. The apex of the Mountain is a high point of the immediate\narea, only a mile from the river, and ten miles from Whipshaw\nCreek, but Jamison, like the placer miners, was not particularly\ninterested in copper, and failing to interest anyone else, did not\nstake the ground.\nEight years later, R. A. (\"Volcanic\") Brown, a well-known\nprospector of the area, staked the Sunset claim on Copper Mountain, which has proved to be the richest area in the whole district\nand was later the centre of the operations conducted by the Granby\nConsolidated Mining, Smelting & Power Co. Brown's activities\nstarted a blanket staking of the surrounding area. In 1900 the\nSunset Copper Co. was organised by Brown, and some sixteen\nthousand dollars spent in underground work which later was to\nbe the heart of the richest ore found in the area. While Brown's\ninitial effort in 1892 was followed by the first commercial exploitation it is interesting to note that in 1889 Emil Voigt had established a camp on Wolfe Creek, two miles east.\nIn 1905, Frederick Keffer bonded the Sunset and adjoining\nclaims to form the South Yale Copper Co. Legal difficulties\nprompted the dropping of the bond the following year, to again\nbe taken up in 1912. The British Columbia Copper Corporation\ncontinued an aggressive development programme until the outbreak of the World War when all work ceased. The high price\nof copper induced the company to resume work in 1916 and some\nfour million dollars was spent on the property and a concentrator\nbuilt at Allenby, which was not ready for production until peace\nwas declared. Metallurgical problems developed and operations\nwere again suspended until 1923, when the property was acquired\nby the Granby Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co., which had\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nbeen a large copper producer in the Greenwood camp. Indifferent\nsuccess was experienced until 1926, and profitable production continued until the end of 1930 when low cost copper prices, together\nwith.the low grade and rather refractory nature of the ore again\nforced suspension.\nThe Nickel Plate Mine\nBut the Similkameen area was also to become an important,\ngold producer when Nickel Plate mine started operations in 1904,\nproducing over eleven million dollars in gold and paying $2,640,-\n000 in dividends \u2014 the greatest exclusive gold producer and\ndividend-payer in the Dominion up to that time.\nAs early as 1877, G. M. Dawson of the Geological Survey of\nCanada, reported on the mineral occurrence on the east side of\nTwenty Mile Creek where placer miners early in the sixties found\npay gravel. The first claims were recorded in 1894 by C. Allison\nand J. Reardon, who staked three claims for the Honorable E.\nDewdney and associates. Three years later Peter Scoot staked\nthe Rolci claims and after doing assessment work located the\nPrinceton, Warhorse and King. In August of that year, Wollas-\nton and Arundel staked the Nickel Plate, Horse Fly, Sunnyside\nand Copperfield claims. Firm believers in the policy that it pays\nto advertise, they took some of their more spectacular samples to\nthe Provincial Fair, held the next year at New Westminster. The\nexhibit caught the eye of M. K. Rodgers, mining scout for Marcus\nDaly, New York mining tycoon, who had made a fortune in the\nmines of Western United States. Although it was an arduous journey by rail, stage and horseback, Rodgers lost no time in visiting\nthe Nickel Plate claims, to examine and sample the property himself. In November, 1898, he bonded the Nickel Plate and adjoining claims in the name of his chief. Daly later formed the Hedley\nGold Mining Co. and the following January started to seriously\nand thoroughly explore the potentialities of the Nickel Plate mine.\nThen an obliging government built a forty mile road, speeding\ndevelopment.   By 1900 the town of Hedley was laid out to serve\n182\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nthe new camp, named in honor of R. R. Hedley, a pioneer mining\nman and former manager of the Hall Mines smelter at Nelson.\nBy May, 1904, the mill was operating and continued profitable\noperations until 1926.\nThe Boundary Country\nFast on the heels of the discovery of gold in the Similkameen\nValley came that of Rock Creek, one hundred miles east, where\nGovernor Douglas reported the founding of a town in the early\nsixties at the junction of Rock Creek and Kettle River, complete\nwith shops and buildings intended for the supply and entertainment of miners, then numbering about five hundred.\nThe discovery of Rock Creek was attributed by Governor\nDouglas to Adam Beaur who, in October 1859 was described as a\n\"native of Canada\" because of the many prospectors from across\nthe border. The discovery was made while travelling from Colville to the Similkameen, but work did not start until May I860.\nWhile Rock Creek did assume some importance as a producer of\ngold, it also stirred activity that led to intensive exploration of the\nBoundary country with its large low-grade copper deposits. Production started in 1896, and to 1935 it had produced copper, gold\nand silver to the value of $112,463,623, of which $70,344,446\nwas from copper operations. The peak year of operations was\n1906, with the value of mineral production $8,593,469.\nWhen W. McCormack and D. Thompson discovered and\nnamed the Mother Lode deposit in June, 1891, and went to Camp\nMcKinney to record their claims, a mining boom was kindled that\ntransformed the forest into the towns of Greenwood and Phoenix\nand made them the most thriving, if wide-open towns in the\ninterior.\nThe Mother Lode discovery was quickly followed by the Knob\nHill and Ironsides, when Henry White and Matt Hutter staked\nthese claims a few miles east near the present site of Phoenix.\nGold showings also came in for attention when James Attwood\nand H. Schofield staked the Brooklyn and Stemwinder claims.\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nWithin two years the whole area had been blanketed. But the\nlow-grade copper deposits were not for miners with picks and\nshovels, but for big scale development demanding railways and\nsteam shovels, if they were to prove successful.\nMore than anyone else, the successful development rests with\nJay P. Graves, the Spokane realtor who foresaw the possibilities.\nHe first organised the Old Ironsides Mining Co. in 1895; then set\nabout to induce the Tupper Government at Ottawa to grant a\nfranchise for a railway. Two years' effort to interest eastern\ncapital resulted in the formation of the Granby Mining & Smelting\nCo. in 1897, merging his various properties, with Granby, Quebec,\nresidents furnishing a large part of the funds and giving the name\nto the corporation. This company was reorganised in 1901 when\nit extended its activities to Anyox.\nOn October 10,1899, the Columbia and Western Railway was\ncompleted to Greenwood, but not before twenty-three thousand\nacres of land per mile was given as a bonus by the Government.\nIt is now part of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Simultaneously,\nthe Great Northern Railway extended its line across the International boundary to serve the new camp. Then came the construction of a smelter at Grand Forks with the first furnace blown in\nlate in 1900. Thus an answer was given to the skeptics, that the\nlow-grade ore\u2014under two per cent, copper\u2014could be made\nprofitable. Graves' vision, backed by the practical experience of\nColonel N. E. Lindsley, Spokane engineer, and A. W. B. Hodges,\nformerly engineer for the E. H. Harriman interests, proved the\nscheme practicable, and the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting & Power Co. ultimately became the largest copper producer\nin the British Empire and paid nineteen million dollars in dividends.\nWhen Frederic Keffer came up from Mexico with Colonel\nJohn Weir in 1896 and bonded among others the Mother Lode\nclaim, another successful mining operation was launched in the\nGreenwood camp.    The locator of the Mother Lode, the first\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nclaim staked, made a good selection, for from this claim measuring six hundred feet by fifteen hundred feet, most of the four\nmillion tons treated by the British Columbia Copper Co. was\nmined.   It proved the largest individual producer in the camp.\nColonel Weir, who lost his life in the Titanic disaster, is\ndescribed as an English army officer of the highest type. In 1896\nhe caused the Boundary Mines Syndicate to be formed which was\nsucceeded two years later by the British Columbia Copper Corporation. Then came the building of a smelter at Greenwood which\nwas blown in February, 1901. Simultaneously a smelter was constructed at Boundary Falls to treat ore from other mines in the\nGreenwood camp.\nThe founding and naming of Greenwood by the English\nWoods brothers is the outgrowth of a desire to capitalise the boom.\nPurchasing a ranch in a valley below Phoenix, they built roads to\nsurrounding communities and made their townsite the centre of\ncommercial activities, with a population of ten thousand, at one\ntime.\nIn the heyday from 1900 to 1910, W. R. Williams was magistrate, and acquired the nom de plume of \"Judge\"\u2014the highest\njudge in the highest court in the highest city in Canada! (Phoenix,\nelevation 4,603 feet.)\nWith mining suspended in 1920, Phoenix became a \"ghost\ntown\", but to the lasting credit of its town fathers and their pay-\nas-you-go policy, the end came with no bonded indebtedness and\nthree thousand dollars in the town treasury. But the \"ghost town\"\nhad one firm supporter in Adolph (\"4 Paw\") Sercu, a Belgian\nwho always averred that the camp would come back, so moving\ninto the town hall he became the town's lone resident, mayor,\nchief of police and magistrate, exercising his authority on all\nvisitors. Bob Foreshaw, a Lancashire lad who arrived \"broke\"\nin Phoenix in 1896, was another who had faith that the district\nwould some day reinstate itself, and as interest waned he invested\nhis all in mineral and timber claims therebout.   \"Boys\", he was\n MINE-FINDERS\nprone to say, cognisant of the potash at Boundary Falls, gold at\nJewel Lake and marble at Number Seven Mountain,\u2014also the\nplacer gold of Rock Creek,\u2014\"a country as rich as this cannot\nremain idle very long.\" His day came when nations went off the\ngold standard and the price of gold soared. Promoters flocked to\nForeshaw and his countless holdings, that they might secure claims\nfor their promotions, and the district in 1934 experienced a revival\nof interest in mining.\nCamp McKinney\nThe most famous gold mine of Camp McKinney, ten miles\nwest of Rock Creek, was the Cariboo, which produced gold to the\nvalue of $1,105,862, and paid dividends of $590,338 before suspending in 1900, with the lowest workings at the six hundred foot\nlevel. During the short-lived operations of this property, two\ngold bricks were stolen and were supposed to be hidden nearby.\nOne man owes his life to this incident and the theory that the\ncriminal always returns to the site of the crime. When a suspect\nappeared to be looking for the hidden bricks, a challenge immediately made him reach for his gun, but the challenger fired first\nand the secret of the hidden brick is still unsolved!\nAfter thirty-five years, as a ghost of the past, a scrawled note\ncame to old Toronto officials of the company in April, 1935,\noffering to guide officials to the gold's resting-place if an equitable\nsharing of the spoils could be arranged. The liquidators took the\nproposition into consideration, but the gold has not yet been\nbrought to light.\nBlue Bell Mine of Kootenay\nClaim-jumping, ambush and murder figured in the opening of\nthe Kootenay Lake district whose silver-lead deposits were to play\nsuch an important part in opening up one of British Columbia's\nrichest mineral areas. The Indians and Hudson's Bay Co. trappers had long before found a source for their lead bullets in their\nmuzzle-loading rifles.\nRecords show that as early as 1820 they were familiar with\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nore outcropping on the east shore of Kootenay Lake, the present\nsite of the Blue Bell Mine at Riondel.\nBut it was gold, not lead, that brought prospectors to the\nKootenay area. As an incentive to prospecting following the\nFraser River rush of 1858, Governor Douglas had offered a bonus\nto the discoverer of new gold fields. On July 29, 1865, illiterate\nJoseph Ashley placed his mark to a letter written for him by\nobliging friends, claiming that in the autumn of 1864 he first discovered gold on the swift, narrow and shallow Wild Horse Creek,\nwhich flows into Kootenay River at Fort Steele. As evidence he\ntold of trading one hundred and fifty dollars in gold dust at the\nHudson's Bay Co. post for supplies. On March 14, 1864, he\nheaded a party of twenty-seven other prospectors who worked the\nfamous Creek to advantage, and in succeeding years Wild Horse\n(sometimes called Skirmish Creek) proved the most famous placer\ngold producer in the Kooteany area. This Creek has a recorded\nproduction of about $500,000 in gold, and it was an important\nfactor in attracting attention to the area.\nAmong the prospectors from this famous camp was Henry\nDoan, an American who, in 1868, in seeking new fields rediscovered the source of lead bullets of the Indians and Hudson's\nBay Co. trappers and named it the Blue Bell mine. Senator George\nHeart of California became interested in the property and an\nabortive attempt was made to smelt the ore on the site, but with\ntheir primitive equipment the project was doomed to failure.\nRobert E. Sproule, a prospector from the Boundary country,\ncame to Kootenay Lake in 1882 and restaked the Blue Bell mine.\nAn influential interest on the Kootenay Lakes were the Ains-\nworth brothers, John C. and George J., who had hailed from San\nFrancisco. They owned the Oregon Navigation Co. and operated\nthe \"Kootenai\",\u2014the second steamer to ply between Revelstoke\nand the United States boundary. Associated with the aggressive\nAinsworths and acting as their mining scout was young Thomas\nHammil who early in 1883 staked the Lulu and the Springs claims\n_J|l\n MINE-FINDERS\nopposite the Blue Bell on the west shore of Kootenay Lake. This\nfind led to the establishment of Ainsworth.\nIn those days, a relic of the placer gold mining laws required\nthat the discoverer of a claim be absent not more than seventy-two\nhours at a time during the season. Late in 1883, Sproule set out\nfor the nearest gold commissioner's office, one hundred and sixty\nmiles away, only to find on his return that Hammil had jumped his\nclaim and held it in the name of Ainsworth brothers. Hammil\nhad outwitted Sproule by bringing the gold commissioner with\nhim and consequently secured a prior register to the claim. The\nstage was now set for a legal battle and a vivid picture has been\npainted of the two warring camps as the case was tried before\nJudge Kelly in the largest of the three log cabins which served as a\ncourt-house. In order to show his unbiased interest, the Judge\nslept in one camp and ate in another, but with each showering its\nattention on him, Sproule, the commisserat, who tickled the palate\nof the Judge with molasses, onions and other appetising delicacies,\nwon the decision.\nBut the influential Ainsworth brothers and Hammil were not\nto be so easily defeated and appealed the case to the High Court\nat Victoria. Prospector Sproule with his limited finances and\nknowledge of High Courts apparently put up a poor case, removed\nfrom the jurisdiction of his sympathetic Kootenay Lake associates,\nand the Victoria High Court found in favor of Hammil. Sproule\nreturned to Kootenay a broken man, feeling that he had not received justice in the High Court, vowed vengeance and took the\nlaw in his own hands. When Hammil returned to Kootenay Lake\nin June, 1885, complacent in the findings of the Victoria court,\nSproule lay in ambush and with a bullet of lead from the Blue Bell\nmine in the rifle fired on Hammil, breaking his back. Heading\nsouth toward the International boundary, Sproule almost escaped\ncapture as he neared his native land: once again he made a trip to\nVictoria\u2014this time in shackles\u2014and once again the Victoria court\nheard his plea unsuccessfully, and he was hanged.\n 1\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\nBut the Ainsworths did not profit by their legal victory and\nlost their Blue Bell claims. Later they were acquired by Dr.\nWilliam A. Hendryx, who named the Blue Bell site the Hendryx\ncamp.\nIn 1894 the property was first equipped with a two hundred\nton concentrator, and a small lead smelter was built at Pilot Bay,\n(blown in on July 10, 1894), the first of its kind in the area. But\nthe smelter proved unsuccessful and the following year suspended\noperation while the Blue Bell property passed into the hands of\nthe Bank of Montreal in 1899. In 1905, French capital behind the\nCanadian Metal Co. bought the Blue Bell property, and after its\nmanager, Ed. Riondel, the Blue Bell site took its name. These\nFrench interests had built a retort at Frank, Alberta, and were\nseeking an ore supply for this plant, where their extensive coal\ndeposits offered an unlimited fuel supply.\nSullivan: World's Largest Lead Mine\nThe Sullivan mine at Kimberly, twenty miles northwest of\nCranbrook, takes its name from Pat Sullivan, its discoverer, to\nwhom goes the credit of finding the world's largest lead and zinc\nmine and Canada's largest silver producer. Also it holds the\ncredit of producing more metal except iron in a given year than\nany other mine in the world. Commercial production can be said\nto date from about 1922, striking a peak in 1934, with an output\nof 151,000 tons of lead and 120,000 tons of zinc.\nThe story of the discovery of the Sullivan mine Is more than\nmerely staking a mine; it is a romance in metallurgy, for it involved years of difficulty and failure in treating the complex ore.\nIts commercial success dates from 1922 when metallurgists of the\nConsolidated Mining & Smelting Co., its present owners, successfully worked out the treatment of the ore.\nThe discovery of the property dates back to early in 1892, with\nthe migration from the Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho, which\nfound many of its miners crossing the International boundary to\nthe Kootenay Lake area of British Columbia.   Among them was\nj@\n I\nMINE-FINDERS\nPat Sullivan, John Cleaver and Mike Holland. In July, Sullivan\nand Cleaver left Kootenay Lake for Fort Steele, owing to the excitement prevailing with the discovery of the North Star mines\nmade in June, 1892, by prospectors Bourgeois and Langill,\nadjacent to what is now the Sullivan mine. (Bourgeois was the\nfirst staker in the Rossland camp.) In Fort Steele they were joined\nby Ed. Smith, who was familiar with that part of the country. At\nthis point James Cronin, who had also come up from the Coeur\nd'Alene country and was prospecting around the Fort Steele area,\nencountered the group. It was agreed that Cronin should share\nany finds that the Sullivan-Cleaver-Smith trio should make, but on\nreaching the North Star area they found the ground blanketed. So\nimpressed were they with the showings of lead ore that they continued their search and across Mark Creek they prospected the\nother mountainside. Two days of prospecting and their search\nwas rewarded that July day in 1892, with the discovery of an outcrop of what is now the famous Sullivan mine, almost directly\nopposite the North Star mine on the other mountainside. The trio\nstaked a claim for each of them and one for Cronin. The latter,\nhowever, did not see these claims until the following year, 1893,\nwhich proved a big year for him. At Fort Steele Cronin met\nFather Coccola,\u2014a meeting which led him to the St. Eugene mine.\nCronin was not impressed with the claim staked for him by Sullivan and his partners and decided to abandon it and look elsewhere.\nThe Sullivan property was bonded to many mining interests\nincluding Colonel Redpath and Judge Turner of Spokane and the\nGuggenheim interests of New York, who did a great deal of preliminary work and formed the Sullivan Group Mining Co. In\n1899 the Canadian Pacific Railway built a branch line from Cran-\nbrook to Kimberley, about two miles from the Sullivan showing.\nWith the advent of transportation, systematic development was\nstarted in 1900, and it is recorded that about five thousand tons of\nlead ore, running from thirty-five to forty per cent lead and fifteen\nounces silver was shipped to the Hall Mines smelter at Nelson,\nl?0\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nand to the Canadian Smelting Works at Trail. The tonnage of\nore proven up then justified treatment near the mine and five miles\nbelow Kimberley on Mark Creek a smelter and power plant were\nbuilt at Marysville in 1902. But metallurgical problems arose and\nafter treating some seventy-five thousand tons of ore and without\nprovision for sorting the ore, the mine and smelter closed down\nlate in 1907. Debts had piled up, without money to meet them\nand the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Co. started an action and obtained\njudgment, making a seizure for an unpaid coal bill. In 1909 the\nCrow's Nest Pass Co., other creditors and the bondholders, reorganised the company under the name of the Fort Steele Mining\n& Smelting Co. The control of this company was vested in the\nFederal Mining & Smelting Co. in which the Guggenheim interests\nof New York were associated. In December, 1909, Consolidated\nSmelters, the present owners, took a lease and bond on the Federal\nMining & Smelting Co.'s interest in the Fort Steele Mining &\nSmelting Co., providing facilities for sorting the ore before treatment; also started diamond drilling and became convinced that a\nlarge tonnage of complex ore, in addition to the rich plums of high\ngrade lead ore, was present. But some economical method of\ntreatment had to be evolved. The following year, 1910, Consolidated Smelters exercised its agreement, and complete control of\nthe property passed into its hands, together with adjacent claims.\nIn 1911, the metallurgical problem of treating the complex ore\nwas attacked in earnest, and the following year a power plant was\nbuilt on Mark Creek. By 1914 the Sullivan mine was the largest\nlead producer in the Dominion, (a position it has held since that\ntime) but still the principal ore supply came from the high grade\nplums, owing to the inability to treat the huge tonnage of complex\nore. In 1915 an electrolytic zinc process was developed at the\nTrail smelter to recover the zinc, and another milestone was passed\nin the treatment of the complex Sullivan ore. In 1917 an experimental mill was built at Trail, and various methods of concentration experimented with.   In 1917, the first experimental flotation\n191\n MINE-FINDERS\nplant was put into operation. Tests were discouraging, but the\nmetallurgists persevered and in 1921 the pilot plant was increased\nto one thousand tons daily capacity, incorporating selective flotations. In 1922 the first concentrator unit was built at Kimberley,\nwhich has been gradually increased to the present daily capacity of\nsix thousand tons and now stands as a monument to metallurgical\nresearch that made possible the commercial success of the Sullivan\nmine, the world's largest lead-zinc producer.\nSt. Eugene Mine Discovered by Indian\nThe most famed mine of the Kootenay district in its day was\nthe St. Eugene, the romantic discovery of which in June, 1893,\ndeveloped into the largest\nlead-silver producer in Canada\nof its time, with a record of\nsome ten million dollars. It\nheld its premier position until\nthe Sullivan mine, discovered\nthe previous year, was made\ncommercial by subsequent\nmetallurgical developments.\nThe finding of the St. Eugene\nis the result of a friendly relation developed between\nPielle, \u2014 later known as\n\"Chickaman Peter\", a member\nof the savage Kootenai tribe of\nIndians, and Jim Cronin, the big Irish prospector who had joined\nthe migration of prospectors from across the boundry in the Coeur\nd'Alene country, and Reverend Father Coccola, pioneer missionary\nwho developed friendly relations with the Kootenais and became\nknown as the \"Napoleon of the Church\" for his missionary work\namong the Indians; not, however, before facing the murder-bent\nPielle.\nFather Coccola came from France in 1880 and had his first\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nstation at Kamloops, as missionary frontiersman for the Roman\nCatholic Church. In 1886 his field of missionary endeavor was\nmoved to Galbraith's Ferry\u2014now Fort Steele\u2014first named after\nGalbraith brothers, early settlers in the area who operated the\nferry across the Kootenay River opposite its confluence with the\nSt. Mary's River. This pioneer settlement was afterward named\nFort Steele in honor of Major Sam Steele, in charge of the Royal\nNorthwest Mounted Police there.\nIt was in 1886 that Father Coccola came to Galbraith's Ferry\nand the Kootenais were on the war-path against the encroaching\nWhites with their railway survey parties, prospectors and Mounted\nPolice.\nFather Coccola was friend to all alike, but was cognizant of an\nuprising of proportions in which the Indians of Idaho and\nMontana were to join the Kootenais. Already the Indians had\nstormed the jail and liberated savages charged with murder and\nforced the Mounted Police to withdraw, but Father Coccola stayed\non, only to be visited by Chickaman Peter, spokesman and intimi-\ndator for Chief Isadore, who demanded that the missionary must\nleave.\n\"But I have no reason to leave\", said Father Coccola.\n\"You know that we have ordered the police and survey men to\nleave the country, and they did\", boldly stated Chickaman.\n\"But I am here for your sake, and as long as you stay I will\nstay\", said Father Coccola.\n\"Then I will kill you\", replied Chickaman.\nBravely standing his ground, Father Coccola opened his robe\nand said, \"It is better to be dead than live with dogs like you, for\na dog will lick the master's hand that is kind to him, but you\u2014\nafter treating your children as I have\u2014tending them when they\nare sick, looking after their bodies and their souls,\u2014you do not\nseem to appreciate it. I would be better dead than living among\nungrateful people. Only the One above\u2014not one of you, can\ntouch me\".\n193\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nThis display of courage was too much for the wily Chickaman.\nReturning to his savage tribe, he avowed\u2014\"It is useless to resist\nthe Father; he is too strong for us; he is an old soldier and too\nhandy with the gun\", and with wild gesticulations he created the\nimpression that the Father was irresistible. \"The Whites love him\nand gods protect him; it is better that we keep quiet\".\nFrom this episode grew a strong friendship between the\ncourageous Father and his jbtimidator, as well as the balance of\nthe tribe. Peter became converted to the faith and Father Coccola\nbecame the Kootenai's banker and friend, to be trusted implicitly,\nand to be rewarded with the finest delicacies of the hunt.\nTen miles southwest of Galbraith's Ferry, the Kootenai tribe\nheld tenaciously to Joseph's Prairie, (now Cranbrook) where they\ncamped each summer, but their proximity to the White settlement\nwas not reassuring and Major Steele sent an ultimatum that they\nmust leave, and in compensation would be given an immense tract\nof land on the Kootenay River. Here again Father Coccola played\nthe role of messenger and read to Chief Isadore and his tribe the\nultimatum of Major Steele. At first defiant, the Chief said he\nwould die sooner than give in, but finally bowed to the priest, saying \"who can resist you; it will be done\".\nFather Coccola then wrote Ottawa, requesting that they build\nhim a school to teach the Indians and he promised they could then\ntake away the costly Mounted Police force. Ottawa built the\nschool six miles up the St. Mary's River, west of Fort Steele, which\nFather Coccola called St. Eugene Mission School. To the Indians\nhe said, \"I would like to build you a fine church but I cannot do\neverything\". Here he suggested that they go into the hills, prospect\nand find a rich mine the same as the Whites were doing. Had not\nthe North Star and Sullivan properties already been discovered?\nApparently the suggestion made an impression for it was not long\nuntil his old foe, now his fast friend, Chickaman, visited the Father\nand threw a piece of galena the size of a man's fist upon the floor.\n\"Look at it!   Do not say that the Indians are good for nothing!\"\n  BRITISH   COLUMBIA\n\"Where did you find it?\" questioned the Father.\n\"It is far. It is near. It is on a side hill or on a flat,\" was the\nevasive reply of the wily Indian. \"Come and look, and then I\nwill see what you are good for,\" said Chickaman.\nAbout this time an engineer on his way to inspect the North\nStar mines dropped in at Father Coccola's Mission House and\nwas shown the piece of rock; after carefully examining it, he took\na small piece for assaying. A fortnight later Father Coccola got\na letter from the mining man asking for a price on the property.\nThis whetted the priest's interest in the property and he set out for\nFort Steele to purchase a mining license. It was here that he met\nhis old friend, Jim Cronin, who was well known in that area for\nhis mining acumen.\n\"Where are you going?\" asked Cronin.\n\"To take out a mining license,\" Father Coccola replied.\nAt this Cronin laughed and remarked that the Reverend\nFather had got the gold fever and had decided to hit the trail at\nlast.\n\"Come with me when I get my license and attend to other\nbusiness and I will show you a sample of rich ore.\"\nCronin agreed to go, but the news of Father Coccola's purchasing a mining license excited the speculation in the little community\nas to his purpose.\nIt was arranged that the trio,\u2014Chickaman, Father Coccola and\nJim Cronin, should set out for the site of the Indian's find forthwith. They had not gone far when the Indian announced that\nthey were being followed, and all the cunning which he possessed\nfailed to throw the party off the track.\nRounding a turn in the trail they came upon another group.\n\"Why all the haste so early in the morning?\" asked a member\nof the party of Father Coccola, with an inquisitive twinkle in his\neye.\n\"Did you see anyone pass by?\" asked Father Coccola.\n\"No,\" said the prospector.\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nWith this, Father Coccola turned, and in a composed manner\nsaid, \"If this is the case we must push on. They have gone the\nother way and we will have to catch them before they reach\nBonner's Ferry farther south.\"\nAgain they had eluded their followers. Coming near the\npresent site of Moyie on the Moyie Lakes, Chickaman pulled up\nhis horse and pointing to the hills beyond said, \"We are about\nthere.\" Following up a dry creek to cover up their tracks, they\ntethered their horses and started to climb the steep mountainside.\nComing to a rockslide with odd pieces of float, Chickaman pointed\nout the site of his find, at which the miner and priest silently\nviewed each other in keen disappointment. But since they had\ncome so far they decided to prospect farther and within thirty\nminutes came upon a ledge higher up on the mountainside showing rich silver-lead ore which could be discerned up the mountain.\nAgain the eyes of the priest and the miner met, but this time with\nmute enthusiasm, inwardly concealed.\n\"What do you think?\" asked Cronin.\n\"You are the miner,\" said the priest, \"What do you think?\"\nThere was no doubt as to what he thought, and five claims\nwere staked, three for Cronin, one for the Indian and one for the\npriest,\u2014naming the find St. Eugene, after the Mission. Then they\nhastened back to report their luck.\nIt was not long until the whole mountainside was staked and a\nrush was on. The trio did their assessment work and had many\ninterested buyers.\nTransportation was a problem and it was not until the advent\nof the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1897 that the property was\nbonded to a Spokane group, headed by William Finch, for\ntwenty-four thousand dollars.\nWhen the payment was due it was not forthcoming. Here,\nCronin wrote, threatening to cancel the contract, as other buyers\nwere waiting. The payment came, and with it the explanation that\nthe buyers had experts making a further examination before the\n196\n 1\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\nfinal payment. Interested in the property was R. W. Neil who\nlater figured prominently in the negotiations for the famous\nPremier mine; also W. J. Wakefield. Work was started and\nFather Coccola was bought out for $12,500. He then fulfilled his\nlong wish to build a fine church at his St. Eugene Mission on the\nshores of St. Mary's River, twenty miles west of Fort Steele. For\nChickaman Peters he built a fine little cottage and furnished his\nfarm with everything needed to make comfortable living. But the\nIndian altered the interior of the house by removing the ceiling so\nas to accommodate his teepee within!\nJim Cronin stayed to manage the mine and in 1903 the adjoining Lake Shore group of claims were purchased and a new company formed, known as the St. Eugene Consolidated Mines with\nwhich the Gooderham-Blackstock interests of Toronto were\nassociated.\nIn 1907, after the incorporation of the Consolidated Mining\n& Smelting Co., the St. Eugene mine was acquired, and S. G.\nBlaylock, now vice-president and general manager of the company\n(then a young niining engineer from McGill University) was\nplaced in charge.\nChickaman still had a paternal interest in the mine and proved\nthe bane of manager Blaylock's existence by making a general\nnuisance of himself, including pressing for the occasional loan of\na few dollars. When he usurped the manager's office as a bunk\nhouse it was time for a move and more drastic action. His patience\nexhausted, Blaylock put him on the payroll as a pensioner, which\nsupplied his simple wants. He continued to draw his regular\nstipend until his death in 1926, after which the Consolidated\nMining & Smelting Co. made history by honoring an aborigine in\nerecting a cairn to his memory as the discoverer of a great mine.\nThe brass plate on the cairn reads:\n\"1846-1926, Pielle, Kootenai Indian, discoverer of the St.\nEugene Mines, Moyie, B.C., June 30, 1893. Died May 17, 1926.\nAge 80 years.\"\n197\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nSlocan is Discovered\nJust as the placer gold of Wild Horse Creek led to prospecting\non Kootenay Lake, so the town of Ainsworth became another focal\npoint for prospectors pushing northward into the mountains,\nwhich resulted in the discovery of the Slocan area, one of the most\nproductive and carefully prospected mining centres in British\nColumbia with a record of having produced to 1935 over one\nhundred and fifty thousand tons of lead, sixty-two thousand tons\nof zinc and thirty-eight million ounces of silver, together valued\nat approximately fifty-nine million dollars, with the peak year\n1916.\nUnited States capital figured largely in the development of the\narea and altogether some twenty-six properties assumed profitable\nimportance, of which the Standard mine was the largest, while the\nWhitewater mine was a continuous producer for twenty-nine years.\nFirst attention to what was later to become known as the\nSlocan district, a rectangular area two hundred and eighty thousand square miles, lying between Kootenay and Slocan Lakes, was\nin the late eighties when Jim Brennan, a prospector, brought a\nsample of silver-lead ore assaying one hundred and fifty ounces\nof silver to the ton, into Ainsworth. A rush started into the new\nsection but little success attended it, and interest waned until September 9, 1891, when Eli Carpenter and John L. Seaton, prospectors returning from an unsuccessful trip into the area, cut across\nPayne Mountain northward to the present site of Sandon in order\nto shorten their return trip to Ainsworth. Weary from the unsuccessful trip, their spirits were revived by the discovery of a vein\noutcropping on the summit of Payne Mountain, which was the\npremier development in the area that paid $1,438,000 in dividends\nto 1900.\nBut greed quickly overtook Carpenter, and intending to deceive\nSeaton and acquire his share in the find, Carpenter substituted a\nlow assay report for the rich values obtained from their Payne\nsummit staking.    The psychological effect on Seaton was as\n I\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\ndesired and he lost interest until the eavesdropping Charles Olsen,\nproprietor of the hotel at Ainsworth, overheard Carpenter conspiring with another prospector named Bielenberg, to return to\nthe Payne summit find and stake the surrounding ground. Carpenter and Bielenberg, seeking to conceal their objective, started\nsouth, journeying by the roundabout route of Nelson and Slocan\nLake. Olsen told Seaton of the plot he had overheard, and with\nSeaton as a guide, a party comprising W. N. Hennessy, J. G.\nMcGuigan, Frank Flint, and J. J. Hennessy, retraced the short cut\nfrom Ainsworth and on September 28, 1891, staked the claims\nadjacent to the Payne summit find and promptly named the property \"The Noble Five\", after the quintuple toilers of the scheming Carpenter.\nThe Slocan boom was now in full swing, but Carpenter's half\ninterest in the Payne summit find profited him little, for he sold\nout for five hundred dollars to Scott McDonald, while S. S. Bailey\npurchased Seaton's half interest. When the Payne Consolidated\nMining Co. of Montreal purchased the property, one million dollars changed hands.\nThe Rossland Boom\nWhen gold was discovered on Wild Horse Creek, near Fort\nSteele, in 1864, it gave rise to a demand for a road within the\nboundaries of Canada, in order that the gold seekers might have\negress to the new district, as the Cariboo miners enjoyed by the\nCariboo Trail. Accordingly, the Dewdney Trail was completed\nin 1865, starting at Hope on the Fraser River and winding its way\nthrough southern British Columbia to Wild Horse Creek. It took\nits name from E. Dewdney who surveyed the trail and who thirty\nyears later was Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. Although\nthis Trail gave a measure of comfort to the gold seekers, it was to\nplay a more important part, however, in opening up new mineral\ndiscoveries along its route.\nThe first mention made of gold in that section of British\nColumbia was in 1865 when Hudson's Bay Co.'s employees recov-\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nered placer gold from the Salmo River near its confluence with\nthe Pend d'Orielle. When the Ymir mine, three miles from the\npresent town of Ymir, was discovered in 1885 and named after\nthe legendary Norseman, the population of the community swelled\nto nearly a thousand, while the mine became the largest gold\nproducer in Canada in its day. The Fern mine, however, farther\nnorth on Hall Creek, was the first to be equipped with a mill.\nThen came the Canadian Pacific Railway connecting the Atlantic\nand the Pacific with the golden spike, emblematic of its completion, driven at Craigellachie on November 7, 1885. This brought\nprospectors from the east and west, and that year the Hall\nbrothers staked the Silver King mine on Toad Mountain overlooking the present site of Nelson. When the first one hundred\nton shipment was made from this mine in 1888, assaying two\nhundred and twenty ounces of silver per ton and seventeen per\ncent copper, some two hundred and fifty prospectors rushed into\nthe area, and Nelson came into existence as a hub of mining\nactivity, with the Hall Mines smelter blown in on January 14,\n1896. In this vanguard was Robert Heddle, who staked the Venus\nclaim two miles from Nelson where Canada's first ball mill was\ninstalled. This area and the adjoining Rossland camp, the first\ngreat lode mining camp in British Columbia, reached its zenith\nin 1902, while the total valuation of its production of copper, gold\nand silver to 1935 was $94,504,362.\nThe Rossland camp, by far the most important area, lies on\nthe old Dewdney Trail. Twelve miles west of where Trail Creek\nflows into the Columbia River, E. S. Topping and Frank Hanna\nhad established a roadhouse, that they too might capitalise the\nNelson rash. Near the head waters of Trail Creek a mineral outcrop beside the trail early attracted the attention of Nelson Demers\nwho stopped to prospect what he named the Tip Top claim, but\nfinding values low he pressed on to what appeared greener fields\nbeyond.\nIn 1889, Joseph Bourgeois restaked the Tip Top claim, and\n200\n 1\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\nthe following year Oliver Bourdeau recorded the discovery and\nnamed it the Lily May.\nIn July of that year, Joseph Bordeau and Joe Morris, now\nworking the Lily May, crossed the valley to Red Mountain and\nthere staked the Le Roi, Centre Star, War Eagle and Virginia\nclaims, which were duly recorded at Nelson, but inasmuch as\nthe law then prevented the prospector from staking more than\none claim on the same vein, left it open for E. S. Topping, the\nroadhouse proprietor, to fall heir to it by paying the $12.50 recording fee.   On July 28, 1890, Henry Sharon staked the Josie claim.\nA new fever of excitement broke out when Topping took\nsamples to Spokane and interested Oliver Durant and other business men of the city who formed the Spokane syndicate, acquiring fifty-three per cent interest in the Le Roi for sixteen thousand\ndollars. Under the direction of Durant, development started in\nthe winter of 1890-91, which brought on a rush of prospectors\nwho staked most of the other important claims of the area.\nIn the spring of 1891, ten tons of ore from the bottom of the\nthirty-five foot shaft of the Le Roi was sent twelve miles by mule-\nback to the confluence of Trail Creek and the Columbia River,\nwhere it was forwarded to the Butte, Montana, smelter. When\nthe smelter assays showed four ounces of gold, three ounces of\nsilver per ton and 5.21 per cent, copper, returning $846 for the ten\nton shipment, Topping's remaining interest was acquired by George\nTurner, W. W. Turner, Colonel Isaac Peyton of Spokane and\nAlexander Tarbet of Butte. But shares in the enterprise were\ncheap to this group and at the saloon of W. G. Harris in Spokane\nthey were accepted as currency. Little did Harris then realise the\nfortune these shares were to bring him.\nBy the spring of 1892, the boom had reached its zenith, with\nsixty-seven claims staked, and found Durant and Tarbet out of\nthe Spokane syndicate, and owners of the Idaho and Centre Star\nclaims spending twenty-five thousand dollars on the latter to make\nit the focal point of interest in the camp, while the Le Roi com-\n MINE-FINDERS\npany was in the midst of a stock-selling campaign. The same\nyear\u20141892\u2014saw the construction of the Columbia & Kootenay\nRailway connecting Nelson with Robson; also the construction\nof the Spokane Falls and Northern Railway, from Spokane to\nNofthport, from which point a wagon road was cut to the new\ncamp. Three years later the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway\nwas completed, affording an outlet over United States railway lines.\nIn 1891, capitalising the rush to the camp, Ross Thompson, a\nminer at the Centre Star, found an easier occupation selling town\nlots at thirty dollars each on a claim he staked on the present site\nof Rossland, naming the town \"Thompson\" after himself. By\nthe spring of 1893 a financial panic sweeping the country temporarily wrecked the fortunes of the camp and the boom waned as\nquickly as it had started. With the dropping of the War Eagle\ndevelopment, the townsite of Thompson was facetiously dubbed\n\"Ross's Land\", its sole residents being Thompson and his mistress,\nliving in a log cabin and eking out an existence from the unguarded\nsupplies of the Centre Star mine.\nThis was the scene which greeted Frank Loring, young mining\nengineer from Central City, Colorado, in March, 1893, who had\nbeen sent by Patsy Clarke of Spokane to examine the Josie mine,\nthen under option to him. At this date the scene of the rush was\nshifting to the Slocan area farther north, and young Loring was\ndubbed \"the fool who got off at Trail\". Sampling the Josie mine,\nLoring was returning to Topping's roadhouse at Trail when a fall\nbroke a snowshoe, necessitating that he crawl with his load of\nsamples over the snow for the last four miles of the journey. In\nSpokane, his Josie samples assayed consistently good values\u2014in\nfact too good\u2014and prompted Patsy Clarke to send a crew the following May to resample the ground. But the resampling gave low\nvalues, and Clarke, the suspicious Irishman, averred that the mine\nhad been \"salted\" and was ready to transfer his interest in the\nJosie mine to anyone who would reimburse him his twelve\nthousand dollar investment.\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nYoung Loring, with all the confidence that goes with youth,\nand a sampling job well done, took a thirty day option in June\nand started east to raise the money. But times were hard and\nmoney was scarce, so only when an obliging friend proffered him\nhis railway mileage book of tickets was he able to journey to\nMilwaukee to raise the necessary twelve thousand dollars from a\ndoctor friend, but not until three hours before the option expired.\nThree hours difference in time zones enabled a telegram to clinch\nthe deal and bring wealth to himself and his friend. When he\nreturned to the property, a few hours' work uncovered an ore body\nfifty feet wide where he had done his original sampling for Clarke,\nand assays confirmed the correctness of it.\nThe first car-load of ore sent to the Tacoma smelter netted\nfifty dollars a ton above all charges, in copper, gold and silver.\nThus it was that the Josie mine started the second and real boom\nat Rossland, and proved up the rich ore extension into the adjoining Le Roi, which itself later produced over twenty-five million\ndollars in gold, silver and copper.\n\"Ross's Land\" was now teeming with activity, and since the\npost-office records showed another \"Thompson\" the records were\naltered and it became \"Rossland\". Sir Charles Ross who was a\nshareholder in the Centre Star Mine was prone to accept the name\nof the new town as an honor to himself, but this was far from the\nfacts of the case.\nWith the revived interest in the Josie, the Le Roi was quick\nto resume operations. By February, 1895, the War Eagle, with a\ndisbursement of $32,500 became the first dividend-payer in the\ncamp, and within seven months had disbursed one hundred and\nthirty-two thousand dollars. The young camp was now firmly\nlaunched and Augustus Heinze of Butte formed the British\nColumbia Smelting & Refining Co., and contracted for the output\nof the Le Roi mine. Given a plant site and a bonus of a dollar\nper ton from the Dominion Government, he built his smelter at\nTrail, connecting it by a narrow gauge railway with the mines.\n MINE-FINDERS\nIn February, 1896, the first unit of the smelter was blown in,\nand the site of Topping's roadhouse became the nucleus of the\nsmelter town of Trail. With the railway facilities completed, the\nboom gathered momentum and fortunes were squandered on\nworthless claims when an orgy of promotion went unchecked.\nIn the height of the boom came Charles H. Mcintosh, ex-\ngovernor of the Northwest Territories in 1896, as representative\nof the Whittaker-Wright interests who, on June 7, 1898, formed\nthe British-American Corporation, purchasing the Le Roi mine and\nits smelter at Northport, Washington, at a reputed price of four\nmillion dollars. The vendors of the property came to realise the\nextent of their thirst at W. G. Harris' Spokane saloon when the\ndeal was completed, as Harris received $350,000 for the shares\nthat had been accepted over his bar on the frequent visits of his\nfriends. That he might at least retain part of his fortune he at\nonce gave one half to his \"wife. It was by this merger that Frank\nC. Loring obtained the first real fruits for his faith in the Josie,\nwhen the British-American paid him seven hundred thousand\ndollars.\nThe War Eagle mine was purchased by Messrs. Gooderham,\nBlackstock, Struss & Co. of Toronto, in 1898, for a reported price\nof two million dollars cash.\nFather Pat, a Church of England missionary, ministered alternate weeks to the parishioners of Rossland and Grand Forks, and\nwas immortalised as the leading character in Ralph Connor's \"Sky\nPilot\". His long jaunts prompted an admiring parishioner to\npresent him with a horse and saddle, but being a Cambridge man\nand fond of walking, he sold his steed and gave the proceeds to\nhis church,, preferring to make his rounds on foot.\nWhen Lord Aberdeen, Governor-General of Canada, paid a\nvisit to Rossland in July, 1898, he was introduced to the halcyon\ndays, with the busy camp on a crest of prosperity, but by the end\nof the century the Rossland boom had collapsed, with the shares\nof the leading companies toppling from their dizzy prices, bring-\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\ning financial ruin that was to find reverberations in eastern capital\nwhich had financed many of the undertakings. No less than\nseven suicides can be directly attributed to this mining market\ncatastrophe. It was British Columbia's and Canada's biggest lode\nmining adventure\u2014an adventure that had brought new mining\nand metallurgical methods with the introduction of machinery\non a scale heretofore incomparable with the big placer gold mining achievements, where individual miners employing hand labor,\nsuffered only individual losses when the \"poor man's\" gold pan\nfailed to give the sought-for gold.\nThe one tangible development that prospered after the Rossland mines suspended was the Heinze smelter, erected by the\nBritish Columbia Smelting & Refining Co. in 1896, for it became\nthe nucleus of the mining and metallurgical colossus, The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. when it was incorporated in\n1906.\nThe Canadian Pacific Railway early became interested in the\nmining camps of which Nelson is the focal point, primarily as a\ncarrier of ore. It had an interest in a lead smelter in 1899, and was\ninterested in the Canadian Smelting Works, which first took over\nthe Heinze smelter, and figured in the merger of several Rossland\nmines, the power company and also the St. Eugene Mining Co.\nIn 1909 Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company purchased\ncontrol of the Sullivan mine, which has been developed into the\nlargest metal producing mine in the world, exclusive of iron, and\nthe ever broadening activities of the sompany have made it the\nlargest mining and metallurgical enterprise in Canada.\nAt the turn of the century while the Rossland camp was commanding nation-wide attention, the adjacent Sheep Creek camp\nwas making its bid for fame as a gold producer. Sheep Creek\nis a tributary of the Salmo River and was being probed by prospectors where consequently the Reno mine became the most\nproductive gold mining operation in the district.\nThe first real activity in Sheep Creek may be said to have\nJ&L\n MINE-FINDERS\nstarted in 1899, when the Yellowstone property came under development. This proved unprofitable and the Mother Lode mine\nbecame the first dividend-payer. The Reno claim was staked in\n1906 by W. B. Pool and had its fate held in the balance with\nsporadic operation until a profitable stride was struck in 1932\nwhich proved an incentive to adjacent properties which in 1934\nmade the Sheep Creek the third ranking gold camp in British\nBridge River Gold\nSchum-schum,\u2014the land of plenty, the Indians called it; and\nhow near the truth they were was revealed when the Pioneer mine\nin the Bridge River area came into profitable production in 1929\nand is now the largest gold producer in the Province. Its discovery\nand development is one of the romantic episodes of British Columbia mining.\nWhen the Fraser River placer deposits came into prominence\nin 1858, the eager Argonauts quickly followed up the upper\nreaches of the river and spread out through its tributaries. As\nearly as 1859 old government reports make reference to the placer\nminers operating at the confluence of the Bridge River and the\nGun Creek, making from six dollars to fifteen dollars per day.\nGun Creek is some forty miles westerly from Lillooet, situated at\nthe juncture of the Bridge and Fraser Rivers and is one of the\noldest towns in British Columbia. In those early days when\nCanada's gold mining history was being made, it was the stopping\npoint on the great Cariboo Road that led to the Cariboo gold\ndiggings.   .\nIn 1864 an Indian gave F. Soues, later gold commissioner for\nthe area, a piece of gold-laden quartz that he claimed to have\nfound on the upper reaches of Bridge River.\nA few miles farther up the Bridge River at Southport, it is\nrecorded that gold was found in 1882 and in 1886 mention is also\nmade of placer gold found on Cadwallader Creek which flows\ninto the Bridge River, less than fifty miles from Lillooet. It is\non the banks of the Cadwallader Creek that British Columbia's\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\ntwo famous producers, Pioneer and Bralorne mines are situated.\n The forerunner of interest in lode mining in the area dates\nback to 1887 when the Bonanza Ledge was discovered. That year\ntwo placer miners were grubstaked and sent up Cayoosh Creek\nwhich empties into the Fraser just below Lillooet, where Chinese\nminers were profitably working the gravels of the stream bed.\nThese prospectors were looking for the source of the rich placers,\nand in August when returning on the south and east side of the\ncreek, they discovered a large boulder on what became known as\nthe Mary Ann claim. Being without tools they built a fire around\nthe boulder; then dashed on cold water, splitting it and disclosing\nfree gold.\nAn early miner in those parts was Arthur Noel, who figures\nprominently in the history of the Bridge River area. He had\nknocked about many of the mining camps of the United States\nand while in Montana had heard of the Bonanza operations. Here\nhe found employment in 1895, but was more interested in lode\nmining than in placer operations and one day when Joe Copeland\nthe blacksmith, an old timer in the area with native blood in his\nveins, showed Noel a piece of quartz taken from Cayoosh Creek,\nhis interest was stirred. Arrangements were made that the following Sunday afternoon the two would try to trace up the source of\nthe rich float found by Copeland. Up the high bluffs, almost\nopposite the Bonanza workings, they found in place the first lode\ngold reported in the area and staked it. In 1897 a small stamp\nmill was installed. This quickly attracted the attention of prospectors who started to prospect up the nearby streams.\nThe first staking in what is now known as the Bridge River\narea was done on July 2, 1896, by John Marshall and John R.\nWilliams on what is known as the Forty Thieves claim and now\nforms part of the Bridge River Consolidated Mines. Another\nclaim now incorporated in the Bridge River Consolidated was\nstaked on June 16, 1897, by William Haylmore, later mining\nrecorder of the Bridge River district.   He called his claim the\n MINE-FINDERS\n\"Whynot\". The amazing faith of the early pioneers of the Bridge\nRiver area is told in the story of John Grull who for twenty-five\nyears worked away at the present Bridge River Consolidated property. Grull had a real system to his daily labors. Arising regularly\neach week day morning as the alarm clock pealed the awakening\nhour, he prepared his repast and promptly on the hour declared\nhimself \"on shift\". Punctually he knocked off for lunch and again\nat the close of the day. Year in and year out his schedule was the\nsame and in that time he single-jacked some seventeen hundred\nfeet of tunnels into the mountainside and wheeled out the broken\nrock through steep narrow passageways, but failed to find his\nhoped-for reward.\nThe first claim that is part of a producing property in the\narea was the Lome, now operated by Bralorne Mines Ltd., staked\non July 4, 1897, by William Young. This was followed in quick\nsuccession by Henry Cargile staking the Little Joe claims and Matt\nCoughlan staking the Ida May claims on August 31, 1897, all\nthree now forming part of the Bralorne holdings. Mike Gaynor\nwho had staked the Countless claim which adjoins the Little Joe,\nwas lonesome, and persuaded Harry Atwell to come and prospect\nbeside him. With the aid of Gaynor swinging the axe Atwell\nstaked what was to be the nucleus of the present Pioneer Gold\nMines on September 6, 1897, and named it \"Pioneer\" after William Allen's Pioneer Hotel in Lillooet. Allen had grubstaked\nAtwell and became half owner. Allen supplied the funds for\nregistering the claims, with Atwell doing the work. The next\nwinter, however, Atwell incurred a bill of fifty dollars at Allen's\nhotel, thus literally eating himself out of his half interest, as Allen\ngot full control of the property.\nSeveral adjoining claims were staked in 1898 and 1899, but\nnot until the latter year was any real effort made to work the\nPioneer property when F. H. Kinder came along and made an\noffer to Allen to provide the property with a mill for one-half\ninterest.  This was readily agreed to, but when the \"mill\" arrived\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nby pack-horse and proved little more than a glorified coffee-\ngrinder, operated by a hand crank, purchased by Kinder in Vancouver for twelve dollars, Allen realised that he had been duped.\nBut a bargain was a bargain in the eyes of Allen, so Kinder gained\none-half interest in the property, but quickly realised the insufficiency of his \"mill\". He then set up an arrastre, an old Spanish\ntype of mill which grinds ore by dragging around heavy stones on\na circular stone base. Power for this mill was supplied by a crude\ntype water wheel. Kinder continued to sporadically operate the\nmill until 1911, eking out a living, but forsook it to attend to his\ntrap-lines farther north where two years later he met death by\nstarvation.\nIn 1911 the Pioneer Syndicate was formed, comprising\nArthur Noel, Peter and\nAndrew Ferguson, Adolphus\nWilliams and Frank Holton.\nLater, Ferguson and Williams\nbought out Noel and Holton\nand in 1915 incorporated the\nPioneer Gold Mines, consolidating a number of claims.\nThat year, a Chilian mill which\noperates by rollers or mullers\nrevolving edgewise around a\ncircular   pan,   was   installed.\nPower for this was supplied   ~~\"\"\"\"~\" ^     ~\"\nby a water wheel. By this crude equipment, about one hundred\nand thirty-five thousand dollars was recovered in 1919- The next\nyear, Mining Corporation of Canada took an option on the property, but after doing some work and being unable to get an\nextension, threw it up when the first payment became due.\nThe turning point in the profitable affairs of Pioneer came in\n1921 when A. H. Wallbridge of Vancouver, and his associates,\nJy\n MINE-FINDERS\nincluding Brigadier-General J. Duff Stuart, Dr. R. B. Boucher,\nA. E. Bull, Dr. S. J. Nicholson and Dr. A. R. Thompson, acquired\nfifty-one per cent, interest in the property and advanced forty-five\nthousand dollars for further work. But again unprofitable operations forced suspension. In 1923 David Sloan brought his extensive\nwestern mining experience to the little property and continued to\nrecover some gold. The following year it was optioned to New\nYork interests, but on the report of their consulting engineer\nwas turned down. Capital was needed badly if the little show\nwas to become a profitable mine and Mr. Sloan outlined a programme calling for sixteen thousand dollars, but the best that\ncould be done was to raise eight thousand dollars and with this\namount economically expended the Pioneer mine was given the\nimpetus that brought profitable production in 1929 on what could\nbe considered the first commercial basis, with dividends starting\nin 1931.\nThe Premier Gold Mine\nThe story of finding, mining and bringing into profitable production of the Premier mine, located adjacent to the International\nboundary, twelve miles north of Stewart on the Portland Canal\nin British Columbia, the largest gold producer in the Province,\nwith a record of producing gold bullion in excess of $37,000,000\nsince 1919, and the payment of $17,500,000 in dividends, is a\nstory of shattered hopes for the pioneers associated with the\ndevelopment of the property, and a huge fortune for the courageous group who provided adequate finances to explore its possibilities.\nThe settlement of Stewart and the discovery of the Premier\nmine is indirectly linked with the Yukon gold rush in 1898. Prospectors headed northward, and the Portland Canal became a main\nwater route. \"Pap\" Stewart, an American prospector who was\nexploring in search of placer gold, built his cabin on the present\nsite of Stewart. (It was prospector Stewart's son who interested\nMackenzie and Marin, the railway contractors, to start the ill-fated\n BRITISH   COLUMBIA\nrailroad north from Stewart, to tap a \"mountain of gold\".) Then\na Seattle promoter organised an expedition to the Portland Canal\ncountry, where he claimed placer gold would be found, surpassing\nthe richest discoveries in the Klondyke. Some sixty-five men left\nSeattle in 1898 on this expedition and disembarked at Stewart,\nonly to find that they had been tricked. This expedition became\nknown as the \"Bunco\" expedition, but it proved a blessing in\ndisguise as it attracted prospectors to the area, who learned of the\nmetalliferous character of the mountains, and the Roosevelt claims\nwere staked on the north fork of Bitter Creek in 1899. Then\ncame a real estate boom and Stewart drew hundreds of promoters.\nIn 1904 Dan Lindeborg, a Swede, staked the Big Missouri claims,\nadjacent to the Premier mine, but above the timber line; also the\nSilver Lake group of claims were staked by Messrs. Harris and\nRearick.\nA central figure in the discovery of the Premier mine was\nWilliam \"Scotty\" Dilworth, a Scottish sailor, trapper and prospector who was employed on a survey party, cutting an International boundary line between Alaska and Canada through the\nbush to Hyder, at the head of the Portland Canal. Dilworth's\njob was to penetrate this dense wood in driving the line. While\nso employed he picked up some float, and satisfied that it came\nfrom a nearby area, returned to prospect with William Bunting.\nAbout the same time, two other prospectors were in the field,\u2014\nWilliam McKenzie Logan, a blacksmith, and John D. Morrison, a\nfisherman. Here on June 10, 1910, Dilworth staked the Cascade\nnumber four and number eight claims which, with the adjoining\nSimpson claims staked on July 9, 1910, by Logan and Morrison,\nblanketed the ore zone that has given up the Premier millions in\ngold.\nThe real estate boom was at its height in Stewart and the town\nenjoyed the joint impetus of a real estate and gold boom. In the\nrush was O. B. Bush, a native of Coldwater, Ontario, who went\nto Edmonton, where he worked in the coal mines, and then on to\n211\nIT\nM)\n MINE-FINDERS\nBritish Columbia in 1907. Bush had lost one arm, but his pleasing personality and his ability as an ice skater of world prominence\nmade him a popular figure as soon as he arrived at Stewart in\nMay, 1910. Real estate first commanded his attention, but he\nquickly switched to mining, and hearing of the discovery of\nwhat is now the Premier mine, purchased it from the stakers in\nSeptember, 1910, for five thousand dollars. To also have a\nfinger in the real estate boom he acquired some lots in Prince\nRupert. Salmon Bear River Mining Co. was then formed by him\nand he tells how his first assay from the Simpson claim ran forty-\ntwo dollars in gold and six hundred and seventy-one ounces in\nsilver.\nIn the spring of 1911, Pat Daly, who had left his native\ncountry, Kildare, Ireland, in 1881, migrated to Stewart after\nknocking about in many construction and mining camps in the\nProvince. He was a big, good-natured Irishman, fond of playing\nhis tin whistle and poker. Upon landing in Stewart he met Bush\nwho employed him as foreman on a salary basis plus stock interest\nin his company, and actual development started May 4, 1911.\nTransportation was difficult. It was necessary to go to the mine\nby dog-team in winter. To provide proper transportation would\nrequire cutting an eighteen mile road through heavy mountain\ntimber. Daly and a party of four miners set to work. Bush left\nfor Vancouver to sell stock to finance the programme. About\nChristmas time, 1911, Bush advised Daly to close down, as he\ncould not sell enough stock to keep going; so it was a dull Christmas for the jovial Irish prospector, with no money to pay his men.\nNot to be deprived of their wages, the men put a lien on the\nproperty with the right to sell within thirty days. Daly refused\nto join the wage claimants. Communications to Vancouver failed\nto locate Bush. Later it developed that he had left to go skating,\nbut not before arranging money for Daly. Hard pressed, Daly\nwent to the manager of the Bank of Commerce and told his story\nof the prospects of the property, emphasising the fact that he was\n - fi\nBRITISH   COLUMBIA\nsure there was a mistake some place. The sympathetic banker\nsaid that he would take a chance. Scanning the time book, he\npaid the workmen, taking as security Daly's interest which he so\ngenerously offered to protect the interests of his boss, Bush. The\nworkmen, with a, lien on the property, were genuinely disappointed when they got their money. They had hoped to get the\nproperty. Bush was not located until the following May, 1912,\nand while the faithful foreman was worrying over paying the\nlaborers, Bush was winning medals for skating throughout Eastern\nCanada and the United States. Before leaving, however, he had\nmade out a cheque to pay off everybody. He had left it with a\nfriend to forward to Daly, but it had been mislaid. Bush was\ntruly grateful to his foreman, and in higher spirits work started\nin 1912, but closed down the following Christmas when funds\nagain became short. In 1913 the property was idle, and Bush went\ninto the chicken business in Santiago, California, in despair of\nraising funds for his mining prospects. The faithful Daly kept\nin touch with Bush, who gave his authority to make any deal that\nhe could, with a cut of ten per cent for his trouble.\nIn 1914, engineers of the Dominion Exploration Co. who were\nexamining another property in the area, looked over the property\nand recommended it to their principals.\nAnother start was made with some half dozen men, and the\nfirst real money to be spent on the property. Then the chief\nengineer arrived on his private yacht, but was not impressed, and\nas the World War had now started, operations stopped. Shortly\nafter, H. R. Plate, engineer for John Hayes Hammond, and\nColonel R. M. Thompson of New York, visited the camp for four\ndays and took an option on the property for two hundred and fifty\nthousand dollars with a cash payment of five thousand dollars\nand a bond for three years. Some sixty thousand dollars was\nspent by this group in tunnelling into what proved to be low grade\nore in the northwestern section. In 1915 the chief engineer made\nan examination and ordered the property closed again, saying\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\n\"I don't think it will ever make a mine\". At this time Daly had,\nfor the first time, sufficient money to get out of the district. He\nfirst went to Spokane and there met R. K. Neill, who was in\npartnership with M. D. Bacon, and looking for worthy mining\nprospects. Daly told his story, and his word was accepted. Within\nforty-eight hours another deal on the same terms as obtained by\nthe New Yorkers was made. In 1916, Neill made a thorough\nexamination and took some two hundred samples to Spokane for\nassay, but they were not high enough to suit his partner, Bacon.\nDaly awaiting the decision, became anxious and wired Neill at\nSpokane for his answer. Neill was absent, so Bacon answered\nthe telegram\u2014\"Don't want it. Average value nine dollars.\"\nHere another setback came, but Neill was optimistic about the\nproperty's future and while on a trip to the Kootenay district told\nW. R. Wilson, president of the Crow's Nest Pass Co. at Fernie,\nand A. B. Trites and his partner, R. W. Woods, storekeepers at\nFernie, who had a little prospecting syndicate of their own, about\nthe Premier property and its prospects. \"What do you suppose\nit would cost to prove it up?\" asked Messrs. Wilson, Trites and\nWoods. Neill assured him that twenty-five thousand dollars\nwould do a lot. A deal was made with the Wilson-Trites-Woods\nsyndicate, with Neill taking a quarter interest. The option price\nwas to be one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.\nFrom this point on, the story is one of huge success. The\ndevelopment by the syndicate proved so encouraging that the\nAmerican Smelting & Refining Co. interests of New York paid\nthem one million dollars in cash for fifty-two per cent interest.\nIn February, 1919, the present Premier Gold Mining Co. Ltd. was\nformed.   Dividends started in 1921 and have never been passed.\nThe originals got but little out of the property. \"Scotty\"\nDilworth was drowned; Logan went overseas and was killed;\nMorrison saw the mine make good while plying his trade as a\nfisherman at Prince Rupert, and Bush, apart from his share of\nthe Wilson-Trites-Woods payment, got nothing.\n  MINE-FINDERS\n\u2014I\n 1\nCHAPTER VII\nYUKON AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES\nThe Klondike Gold Rush\nThe close of the nineteenth century wrote finis to a chapter\nof Canada's history that can never be duplicated. With all its\nromance, glamour, tragedy, and sudden fortunes it is doubtful\nif any of the polyglot cast which made up the drama of the Yukon\nplacer gold rush would wish if they could to re-enact those scenes\nin which living was a bizarre parody of normal life, and in which\nhuman misery and good-fortune were distorted far beyond their\nnormal limits.\nThe stage on which this drama was played comprises roughly\nthat portion of northwestern Canada drained by the Yukon River,\nwithin the boundaries of Canada, and the first faint notes of the\nprelude were heard as far back as the beginning of the nineteenth\ncentury when the Russian-American Company, directed by Alexander Baranov enjoyed a monopoly in trading in Russian America.\nIt seems certain that native Indians were aware of the presence of\ngold but Baranov was concerned only in the furs he could trade\nfor his wares. In Canadian territory the first reference to gold\nseems to be from the Hudson's Bay Co.'s post at Fort Selkirk at\n MINE-FINDERS\t\nthe juncture of the Lewes and Pelly Rivers, where tiny specks were\nfound in 1869-\nBetween 1896 and 1907\u2014the period of greatest activity\u2014\n$122,951,000 was recovered from the placer beds of the tributaries\nof the Yukon, one of the greatest in the world, principally operated in true poor-man style, by individual effort. A clue to the\nvalue of the 1898 gold clean-up in the Yukon is furnished by the\n$2,300,000 purchased by the Canadian Bank of Commerce and\nshipped out during its first season in the area.\nWhen the phenomenal richness of Bonanza Creek, just south\nof the present site of Dawson, was discovered in 1896, it became\na new Mecca, and a horde of prospectors from the adjacent streams\nas well as from the outside, swarmed into the area and during the\nnext two years formed one of the greatest rashes known in the\nannals of gold mining. It is estimated that Eldorado Creek\nyielded twenty-five million dollars; Upper Bonanza Creek, fifteen\nand a half million dollars; Lower Bonanza Creek, eleven million\ndollars; Klondike River Flats, one million dollars; Bear Creek, one\nmillion dollars and Hunker Creek, fourteen million dollars.\nKlondike, which became synonymous with gold, is the early\nminers' corruption of the natives' \"K'londi'k\", meaning \"water\nfull of fish\".\nIn 1869, S. Whymper published in London a book entitled\n\"Travels in Alaska and on the Yukon\". In it he mentioned\nthe fact that Hudson's Bay Co. employees had encountered\nminute specks of gold in the district, and added that they were\n\"not in quantity to warrant a rush\".\nPartly because of the disparaging tone of Whymper's reference,\nand partly no doubt because of the attitude of the Hudson's Bay\nCo. to discourage any move that would cause an influx of prospectors to the detriment of their fur trading activities, this early\nclue was not followed. Definite proof that the Hudson's Bay Co.\ndid not relish opening up the country in any way which might\njeopardise their position as traders in the vast areas under their\n YUKON   AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\ncommand was provided by their attitude to the Fraser River g\nrush of 1858.\n1 the Yukon came from i\npros-\nwho, in 1872 crossed the Chilkoot\nes River where he claimed to have\nThe next reference to g<\npector named George Holt\nPass and descended the Le^\nfound coarse free gold.\nIn 1880 an exploration party of twenty entered the area but\nreturned empty-handed and discouraged. It was not until 1881\nthat the first discovery of profitable placer beds was made by a\nparty of four miners who, forty miles below Lake Laberge ascended\nthe Big Salmon River and found gold along its course. In 1882\nEdward and Eff Schieffin, together with forty-five prospectors,\nascended the Yukon River, finding gold.\nFor the next few years exploration was sporadic, and was met\nwith varying results. Gold diggings on Forty Mile Creek, a tributary of the Yukon River below Dawson had been worked for several years before the discovery of Bonanza Creek, and had become\nquite a settlement with police barracks and a full accompaniment\nof saloons. The yellow metal was also found at this time in the\nhead waters of the Yukon River, along the upper reaches of the\nLewes and Upper Pelly Rivers. Government records show gold\nvalued at one hundred thousand dollars coming from the district\nin 1885. It is reported that in 1886 miners were earning as much\nas one hundred dollars per day on the Stewart River\u2014also a tributary of the Yukon, and Dr. George Dawson, director of the Geological Survey of Canada estimated that one hundred thousand\ndollars came from this stream and one hundred and twenty thousand dollars from Forty Mile Creek during these early workings.\nBy 1887 some two hundred and fifty miners were engaged in\nworking claims in the Upper Yukon.\nThe Klondike is broadly delimited as being in area some eight\nhundred square miles in extent, bounded by the Yukon River on\nthe west, the Klondike River on the north, Flat Creek, a tributary\n MINE-FINDERS\nof the Klondike, and Dominion Creek, a tributary of Indian River,\non the east and by Indian River on the south.\nInto this area, then, came a little vanguard of prospectors,\nimpelled by the news of the Bonanza Creek strike, behind which\nis prospector Robert Henderson and George Cormack's Indian\nwife. Rarely is it possible, so ramified are the stories behind\nmineral strikes, to shower on one man all the credit for bringing\na new goldfield to the attention of the world, and a large measure\nof the credit for bringing the Klondike to public attention, given\nto Henderson, might well be bestowed on many. His life as an\nitinerant prospector comes into the Yukon picture in 1894, when\nhe crossed the Chilkoot Pass,\nand is interesting because it is\ntypical of the hardships endured by many of the pioneers.\nSecuring lumber he built himself a boat, and drifting down\nthe Lewes he headed up the\nPelly River, panning the bars\non the way, securing in all\nsome sixty dollars in gold. In\nthe fall of that year he returned\ndown the Pelly River, still\nwielding his pan, arriving at\nthe trading post operated by\nJoe Ladue at the junction of\nthe Yukon River and Sixty Mile Creek, just as winter was laying his\nheavy hand on the district. Securing a winter outfit and a sled\nfrom Ladue, Henderson went into the Indian River country south\nof Dawson.\nUp a little tributary of the Indian River which he named\nQuartz Creek he found both fortune and misfortune, for Robert\nHenderson here found the prospecting phenomenally good, and\nit was here that a falling spruce tree crushed his leg and nearly\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nended his career. In great pain, and only by a display of superhuman courage and endurance, Henderson literally crawled back\nthe fifty miles to Ladue's trading post. Here his leg was given\nrough and ready treatment and for the rest of that winter and all\nthe summer of 1895, he was laid up. By fall, although his leg was\nnot properly healed, he set out again for Quartz Creek.\nThroughout the winter of 1895-96 Henderson prospected the\narea, building fires to thaw out the overburden, that he might get\ndown to bed-rock. Despite this laborious method he panned forty-\nfour ounces of gold with which he returned to Ladue's trading\npost for further supplies, returning again in the spring of 1896\nto Quartz Creek. Much to his surprise when he arrived he found\nsixteen men engaged in prospecting in the area. They had heard\nof his find of the year previous and lost no time in following it up.\nHenderson continued his search, finding a prospect at Gold\nBottom, a tributary of what was later known as Hunker Creek.\nHe also found another creek which he christened Gold Rim, on\nwhich he staked a further claim. Results on both claims were\nencouraging, and Henderson returned to Quartz Creek to tell his\nnew neighbors of his finds.\nThey, however, preferred to continue their summer's work\nwhere they were, and Henderson returned alone to Gold Bottom.\nLate in the summer of 1896 he was forced to return to Ladue's\npost for fresh supplies. On his return he planned to prospect up\nthe Indian River, but on account of exceptionally low water he\ncontinued down the Yukon to the spot where it is joined by the\nKlondike River, now the site of Dawson. Here he encountered a\nparty,\u2014George Cormack, an Irishman, his wife, and Indian\nbrothers-in-law Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie, roving Indian\nhunters and fishermen who were living off the country. Henderson invited this party to return with him to Gold Bottom but was\ntold that the group could not leave their fish traps. So Henderson,\nseemingly destined to travel alone, turned his canoe about and\nheaded upstream for Gold Bottom.   There, to his surprise, he\nM\n MINE-FINDERS\nfound the same Indians who had recently declined to accompany\nhim.   They had taken a short cut across country.\nThe Indians half-heartedly staked some claims and prepared\nto leave. Henderson advised them to prospect on their way home\nalong what was known as Rabbit Creek where he had previously\nmade some finds. The worth of this advice was proven to them\nthe following day, when returning down Rabbit Creek Cormack's\nwife leaned over to take a drink and noticed specks of gold gleaming in the river bottom through the crystal clear water.\nBack at Gold Bottom, Henderson continued his panning undisturbed for three weeks. At the end of that time a party of visitors\narrived at his cabin. They told of the rich finds on Bonanza Creek.\nFrom their description Henderson was sure that this was Rabbit\nCreek.\nA few days later the calm of Henderson's retreat was again\nbroken by the arrival of two more visitors, Andy Hunker and Ed.\nJohnson. These two men claimed they were looking for Henderson, to tell him of rich strikes they had made at a creek which\nHunker had named after himself\u2014Hunker Creek. Again Henderson recognised one of his discoveries and told Hunker that he had\nalready prospected that creek and named it Gold Run. In the\nhappy-go-lucky mode of that day, the two rivals agreed to toss a\ncoin to see which name would prevail and Henderson, the discoverer of Gold Run, lost to Andy Hunker, and the world knows\none of the richest streams of the Yukon as Hunker Creek. But\nthis is the bitter part. Henderson had already staked a claim on\nGold Run, which he called Discovery claim. As his location called\nfor Discovery claim on Gold Run, and no such name was known at\nthe recording office, Henderson, after his long hard work was\nrobbed by fate of his rich reward.\nHenderson, ill-favored child of fortune, was still bothered by\nthe poorly-healed leg. He kept on prospecting, however, until\nlater in the winter of 1896 when the pain became so acute that he\nwas compelled to seek medical attention at Circle City, down the\n YUKON   AND   NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nYukon River in Alaska. Although under medical treatment all\nwinter he returned in the spring of 1897 to his Quartz Creek\nclaims, the one concrete result of his three years of hardships. He\nwas in no physical condition, however, to do any manual work, and\napplied to authorities for permission to extend his assessment\nwork. This was refused, and Henderson was compelled to sell his\nholdings (which later produced over $750,000 in gold) for a few\nthousand dollars. His discoveries led to great wealth for others\nbut never for himself, for he took only a small part in the developments that made Klondike famous. It seemed always his fate to\nbe favored with good luck up to the point where success seemed\nwithin his grasp, but at this point his good fortune always left\nhim. A sympathetic government in recognition of his claims for\npioneering, put him on the payroll as assistant to the Mining\nEngineer at Dawson, and granted him a stipend of two hundred\ndollars a month for life.\nAlthough adjacent streams had been worked for ten years,\nthe discovery that made Klondike famous may properly be said to\ndate from that summer day in 1896 when Cormack's wife took\nthe drink of water from Bonanza Creek. Skookum Jim, her\nbrother who shared in the find, early became entangled in financial\ntroubles which brought George Bentley into part ownership of the\nclaim. But Skookum Jim didn't like partnership, and as his\nfinancial position improved, offered to buy out Bentley. Bentley\nset his price, which only drew an \"ugh\" (no) from Skookum Jim.\nIt remained for William L. Walsh (later \"Honorable\"), afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, to draw the partners to an\namicable settlement of one hundred thousand dollars for the white\nman's interest, which proved not too high a price.\nAt the height of the boom which followed the Bonanza discovery, some thirty thousand mortgaged everything to get to the\nnew gold field. The approach to this new Eldorado was by coastal\nsteamer from Vancouver northward, approximately one thousand\nmiles to Skagway, at the head of the Lynn Canal in Alaska.   Com-\n MINE-FINDERS\nfort and sanitation were disregarded by these eager Argonauts, and\nevery steamer' in those pioneer days was loaded to the gunwales\nwith humanity.\nMiners, prospectors, saloon-keepers, dance-hall girls and camp-\nfollowers, eager to follow the \"Trail of '98\", poured from every\nboat as it docked at Skagway. Few realised the heart-breaking\nhardships which still lay between them and their objective,\u2014\nanother thousand miles away,\u2014which they pictured as a land, if\nnot flowing with milk and honey, at least paved with gold. It\nwas a survival of the fittest on their long trek to the Dawson area.\nAlthough the trail was one thousand miles long, the distance was\nonly five hundred miles as the crow flies.\nFrom Skagway this motley crowd had two routes open to them\nto reach the International boundary between Alaska and Yukon,\nfifteen miles away. Each route had its own particular dangers,\nits own quota of hazards. The Chilkoot Pass was the shorter of\nthe two routes, but entailed an ascent of about thirty-five hundred\nfeet up the mountain. At one place, eight hundred steps had been\ncut in the snow. That it was a dangerous route was evidenced by\nthe snow-slide in April 1898, which claimed sixty lives and many\npack-horses.\nThe White Pass afforded the longer and safer trail but so\ndifficult for pack-horses that it was estimated that over three\nthousand were killed by abuse and overwork on this blood-stained\nroute.\nThe treacherous passes proved to be only the starting point\nfor the more arduous part of the journey to Dawson. It is'related\nhow two Yukon-bound English prospectors, outfitted in London,\nafter a stormy strip across the Atlantic and a week's dusty ride on\nthe transcontinental train which landed them at Vancouver,\nremarked, \"Thank God the worst of the trip is over!\"\nThe long water route from Lake Bennett was replete with\nperils and white-water which claimed a countless number of the\nhardy adventurers.   One prospector, after toting his load over the\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\npass, reached the Yukon River on his raft only to have it destroyed\nby striking a sharp rock. Not to be outdone, he returned, purchased\nfresh supplies and started out again with his raft, only again to\nmeet disaster on the rocks of the Yukon. Overcome by such fate\nhe committed suicide.\nFrom the International boundary the route lay through a chain\nof lakes\u2014Bennett, Marsh, and Laberge\u2014and through the Lewes\nRiver to the junction of the Lewes and the Pelly Rivers at Selkirk.\nAt this point these two rivers form the Yukon River, whose fast\nflowing current led on to Dawson.\nThe Lake Bennett jumping-off place presented a busy spectacle.\nTruly a tented city, in 1898, it hummed with activity as thousands\nmade ready for their sojourn on the water. Crude boats and other\nwater craft defying an appellation were constructed. Until the\nfast waters of the Yukon River were reached, motive power was\nprovided principally by blanket sails. Between Lake Bennett and\nDawson City, ice-jams, rapids, and swirling chutes made death\ncommon. Fortunate indeed were those who made the trip from\nSkagway to Dawson City in safety in seven weeks.\nMost of the newcomers in 1897-98 were ill-equipped, had little\ncash, and were pathetically unfit for the rigours of a climate which\nstood at fifty degrees below zero for long stretches during the\nwinter. Terrible as was the suffering it would have been indescribably more intense had it not been for the Royal Canadian\nMounted Police under Major Steele who,- in this mad chaos represented the one link with law and order. Stationed at the border\nin 1898-99, these red coats stopped every newcomer and saw that\nhe or she had six months provisions or a thousand dollars as a\nsafeguard for existence.\nAll the ninety-eighters did not take this Skagway route however. A small minority, more anxious for their well-being than\nto reach the goldfields in a hurry, took the longer, safer route,\nwhich was by steamer, through the Bering Sea to St. Michael on\nthe Alaska coast, then up the Yukon River to Dawson, sixteen\n\u2014\n MINE-FINDERS\nhundred miles distant. During the navigable season many boats\nplied this route.\nOne terse record indicates the danger of the Skagway route.\nDuring the winter of 1898-99, a list of some four hundred names\nwas posted. It was a list of those who had left the International\nboundary, but had not shown up at Dawson. Cerebro-spinal\nmeningitis was prevalent, and took the life of many, death often\noccurring within a few hours after the first dread indications of\nthe disease.\nStill another route\u2014overland from Edmonton\u2014brought its\nquota of newcomers, but the two-year trek that often forced a diet\nof dog-meat for the scurvy-ridden survivors, was only for the\nstrongest of the trail.\nBut the hazards of the trail of '98 did not all spring from the\nrough route and the climate. While many of these pioneers were\nfrom the finest families and had the highest principles, it must be\nremembered that gold exerts its potent influence over lower\nnatures. So the Yukon rush attracted the riff-raff of not only\nCanada's western mining camps but of the entire Pacific Coast.\nHere again credit must be given the Mounted Police, and the\ncontrast was sharp between the lawlessness and banditry which\nran riot in United States territory between Skagway and the Canadian border, and the stern measures exercised on the Canadian\nside, as one \"Soapy\" Smith had good reason to know. Soapy was\na native of Belleville, Ontario, and got his start in his chosen profession of banditry from watching the travelling medicine vendors,\nwhich at that time roamed the country. His title \"Soapy\" he got in\na Colorado mining camp where he grew rich auctioning off packets\nof soap at one dollar each, loudly announcing that one in every\nso many contained a ten dollar bill. And Soapy was right: they did.\nHowever, what he neglected to state was that the packages with\nthe ten dollar bills all went to his cronies \"planted\" in the crowd!\nBut Soapy comes into the Yukon story when, at the height of\nthe stampede, he dominated the trail between Skagway and the\n YUKON   AND   NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nborder, leading a gang of ruffians, operating saloons and dance\nhalls, murdering and plundering with careless abandon. His\nharvest was rich because the horde of prospectors pouring into the\nYukon carried substantial sums of money to finance their expeditions. One rich haul that escaped Soapy was the funds for the\npioneer bank of the Yukon, the Bank of British North America\nat Dawson City. Henry Toke Munn, making his way to the\nYukon early in January, 1898, on behalf of the Whittaker-Wright\ninterests,\u2014the famous English group seeking to capitalise on the\nrush,\u2014had agreed to pilot the bank staff and the funds, amounting\nto about two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, past\nSoapy's gang. With an air of profound secrecy Munn went to a\nman owning a pack-horse outfit and known to be a pal of Soapy's,\nand arranged with him to convey the party and the funds to Lake\nBennett over the divide, some thirty miles from Skagway, on the\nfirst overland leg of the journey. Munn's feigned innocence and\nefforts at secrecy had the desired effect. The pack-horse boss\naccepted the contract and immediately tipped off his pal, Soapy\nSmith. The arrangements called for leaving Skagway at eight\nA.M.\nBut Munn had made arrangements with another, a reliable\npack-horse outfit which, several hours earlier, stole out of Skagway\nin the dead of night with the funds. On their way this party saw\na camp fire at the foot of the mountain, which proved afterwards\nto be Soapy and his ruffians, gleefully awaiting the caravan which\nthey were confident would not pass until well after sunrise, but by\nthat time the funds were safely at the Canadian border. Legend\nhas it that when Soapy found he had been duped his ravings and\ncurses reached the highest pinnacle of that high mountain area.\nHowever, he was shortly afterwards again outwitted\u2014this time\nby the staff of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. These men, in\norder to safeguard their currency from the now notorious Soapy,\nhad it transferred from impressive-looking steel boxes to the kit-\nbags carrying the clothing.-    So carelessly were these kit-bags\n MINE-FINDERS\nthrown around by their bearers that nobody suspected that they\ncontained a fortune in currency and Soapy was once more, as he\nwould put it, \"robbed\" of his spoils.\nOne of the chief concerns of Major Steele was that no Soapy\nSmith should cross over into Canadian territory. Captain Munn\nrelates that while enjoying the hospitality of Major Steele one\nnight, near the border, two shots shattered the calm of the frigid\nnight. A sergeant, dispatched to investigate, returned with an\nAmerican who claimed that his revolver had accidently discharged\nas he was cleaning it. The sergeant suspected, however, that he\nwas one of Soapy's gang, and ordered a search of his equipment\nwhich revealed marked cards, thimble ring outfit and other kit of\nthe professional gambler.\nOn being brought before Major Steele the next morning, the\nprisoner bitterly complained against the treatment meted out to an\ninnocent American citizen. He would bring all the powers of the\nUnited States Government crashing down on the heads of Major\nSteele and his \"backwoods cops\"! Major Steele let the prisoner\nwork himself into a fine frenzy on his American citizenship; then\npromised leniency. With a smile he confiscated the entire outfit\nof Soapy's henchman and ordered him to leave the Yukon. Since\nhe was such a respected American citizen, said Major Steele, he\nwould see that the twenty-two mile tramp back to United States\nsoil was done in state. Accompanied by a broadly grinning\nMountie the protesting gambler was hustled back to the summit\nand his United States.\nWhile technically Major Steele's authority might not have\nextended so far, this incident is typical of the manner in which\nlawless characters were treated in the Yukon, in contrast with the\npractically unchecked chicanery and brigandry which held sway\nin Skagway and in the mining camps of the United States from\nwhence so many of the miners came.\nAnother story of Soapy Smith shows him in a more pious light.\nA clergyman from Lake Bennett was seeking to raise funds to\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nconstruct a small church, and journeyed to Skagway to solicit aid.\nHearing of his mission, Soapy introduced himself, and with\ncharming frankness confessed that while not modelling his life on\nthe Ten Commandments he always respected those who did. To\nthe delight of the clergyman, Soapy headed the list of subscriptions with a two hundred dollar donation. Nor was that all. He\naccompanied the pious visitor around Skagway. When the two\nappeared before a prospective subscriber, Soapy with his hand\nnonchalantly in his gun pocket, prompted the subscription with\namazing alacrity.   In short order two thousand dollars was raised.\nOverjoyed, and seeing a direct answer to prayer in the success\nof his visit, the clergyman started for his mission at Lake Bennett.\nJust before reaching the Canadian border, however, he was accosted\nby a band of ruffians and robbed of his quickly raised funds. It was\nin vain that Soapy disclaimed any knowledge of the episode, for\nthe robbers were none other than Soapy's henchmen, acting under\nhis orders. A bullet from the gun of a member of the Vigilance\nCommittee in Skagway put a sudden end to Soapy's depradations\nin 1898. Lost without their leader, his gang soon scattered, and\nthe gateway to the Yukon swung the freer.\nYukon gold mining in the early days was confined almost\nentirely to the working of the gravel in the bottom of the valley.\nA popular method known as ground-sluicing and shovelling in,\ninvolved expensive preparation before the pay dirt could be\nreached. A narrow trench was dug in the muck, lengthwise of the\nclaim, and part or all of the water of the adjoining brook was\nturned into the ditch by a wing-dam. The water rapidly deepened\nthe ditch through the muck to the underlying gravel and the men\nwould pick the muck off from the sides of the ditch into running\nwater which dissolved it in part and carried it away down the\nstream. As the ditch thus widened the water was kept flowing\nagainst one side by little dams, and in this way an area from one\nhundred to two hundred feet in length and fifty feet or more in\nwidth was freed from its covering of muck, and the underlying\n\u2014\"'  ; -\n MINE-FINDERS\nsand and gravel was laid bare, to be thawed by the sun and the\nwarm winds and rains as climatic conditions permitted.\nOf the gravel so exposed the upper portion usually contained\nso little gold that it was of no value. It was, therefore, shovelled\ninto wheelbarrows and dumped to one side, work continuing until\nthe gold-bearing layer near bedrock was reached. A dam was\nthen built in the stream some distance above the area of the uncovered gravel, which was lower than the surrounding valley bottom\nor the bed of the stream. The water was conducted through a\nflume to sluice boxes, and the pay dirt was then shovelled in from\nthe bottom of the cut.\nAnother method of mining in vogue at the time, chiefly on\nclaims where the muck and underlying gold-bearing gravel was\ndeep, was conducted by sinking a shaft down through the overburden to the gravel. When it was reached, a fire was built at\nthe bottom of the shaft to thaw a layer of the gold-bearing strata.\nEach fire would thaw out the strata some twelve to eighteen inches,\nafter which it was hoisted to the surface with a bucket, and another\nfire built, and so on until the bedrock was reached when fires were\nthen built against the face of the gravel, and as it was thawed it\nwas piled in a dump on the surface. The following spring or as\nthe climatic conditions dictated, water was diverted into the sluice\nboxes and the accumulated winter's work was treated.\nThe Yukon camp at the outset was truly a \"poor man's camp\"\nand the opportunities it offered were to one and all alike. Working first with the primitive hand methods, the pioneers had the\nricher harvest. Subsequently, by the consolidation of leases and\nthe employment of dredges and hydraulic machinery, gleaning and\ntreating the gravels proved profitable where hand operations were\nnot. So rich were the gravels on Eldorado Creek and so prevalent\nwas high-grading that miners on this creek were accused of working without pay so that what they considered legitimate spoils\nmight be their reward.\nWhile the wealth from the Yukon has been taken almost\n230\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nentirely from placer operations, quartz or lode mining was\nattempted with indifferent success.\nA terse, ungarnished picture of the Dawson City which greeted\nthose arrivals in 1898 is given in the records of the Bank of Commerce which, while technically not the first in Dawson City, being\npreceded by the Bank of North America, was the first to establish\nfull banking facilities and the first to take in assayers and a melting\nfurnace, without which no pioneer bank was complete.\nDawson City, afterwards shortened to Dawson, was a blatant,\nbizarre community in those days, sprawled on the swampy shores\nof the Yukon River, where it is joined by the Klondike. In June,\n1898, the Canadian Bank of Commerce established temporary\nquarters in a small frame building sheathed in galvanized iron, and\npreviously used for storing dog feed. With the establishment of\nthe bank, currency replaced gold dust as a medium of exchange\nto a certain extent, but gold was the general medium for several\nyears. Until the bank was established, every saloon and shop, no\nmatter how humble, had its gold balances, and everybody carried\na poke of gold. In every business place was a cashier whose job\nit was to weigh out an amount of gold equal to the customer's bill.\nThe customer had no way of checking, and probably wouldn't have\nbothered to check up if he had. A hundred dollars' worth of gold\ndust seldom went farther than seventy dollars in purchases, the\nshrinkage accruing to the vendor.\nThe fantastic prices charged in those days is recorded in the\nBank history. A small lot on the main street cost forty thousand\ndollars, while the ground floor of one building, twenty-five by\nforty feet rented for ten thousand dollars for seven months, when\nit was used as a saloon. A teamster and his team got one hundred\ndollars a day. Domestics asked and received one hundred dollars\na month and board. Twenty dollars a day was the accepted wage\nfor gold dust weighers in the saloons, and fifteen dollars a day for\nlaborers.\n.Food prices prevailing in the boom days of Dawson at certain\n231\n MINE-FINDERS\nseasons, make the post-war high cost of living seem like a series\nof bargain sales. Beef was $1.25 per pound; eggs, twelve dollars\na dozen; butter, two dollars per pound; potatoes, one dollar per\npound, while an unsavory meal in a restaurant cost from three\ndollars to five dollars. Champagne was freely bought to slake\nparched coarse throats, whose owners never even blinked at paying\ntwenty dollars a pint.\nProbably the only residents who were paid, according to our\nvalues, in keeping with their labor were the dance hall girls, many\nof whom would make twenty-five dollars a night and earn it, pushing a rich, heavy booted and awkward Sourdough around the floor.\nMajor Steele, with his headquarters in Dawson, had an effective\nway in dealing with law-breakers. A thief caught red-handed\nstealing supplies and food from a cache, once got short shift as an\nexample. \"In this man's country a man's grub frequently means\nhis life\" said Major Steele, \"and I'll give you three years at hard\nlabor\", which he did, on the Government woodpile where his conspicuous multicolored suit made escape improbable. The carrying\nof guns was not permitted, and a man found with a revolver had\nmeted out to him six weeks of hard labor on the woodpile, which\ndiscouraged the practice.\nA gambling house robbery in Dawson in 1901 plundered the\noccupants of fifteen hundred dollars, but the perpetrators were\ntraced down and long sentences meted out. A few murders were\ncommitted, for the most part on distant trails, but the vigilance\nof the \"Mounties\" and their record of apprehension were stern\nreminders that lawlessness would not be tolerated.\nThe height of the Dawson boom was in the winter of 1898-99\nwhen it is estimated that thirty thousand lived in and adjacent to\nthe new gold diggings. Considering the complexity of the population and its number, the law and order prevailing was a distinct\ntribute to Major Steele and his Mounted Police. True, the saloons,\ndance halls, and gambling dens were the chief centres of amusement, but there was an orderly discipline to it all.   The saloons\n 1\nYUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nand dance halls closed at midnight on Saturday until Monday\nmorning, a welcome respite for the dancing girls. Gambling was\ntolerated, but the watchful eye of the \"Mounties\" saw that justice\nand fair play prevailed.\nAs in all boom mining camps, lucky stakers quickly parted with\ntheir riches in satisfying their appetite for pleasure, and rare was\nthe man who carried the profit of his labors and good fortune back\nto his homeland.\nWho got the gold of the Yukon, has been asked, and a chorus\nof pioneers will answer that the bulk went to the \"girls\", and\nthrough them to their men, gamblers, and over the bar, until it\nhad been widely dissipated in the outside world. Some fortunes\nmade on the diggings were retained. One of the most successful\nwas John Lind, now St. Marys, Ontario quarryman who, with his\npartners Billie Wilkinson (nephew of General Wilkinson of\nRegina Mine fame) and Skiff Mitchell, are credited with coming\nout with nearly a million dollars apiece in gold. Cormack's Indian\nwife, too, held tight to the pouch-strings and lived to enjoy the\nprofits of her find, while her brothers, Skookum Jim and Tagish\nCharlie, were equally thrifty.\nThe navigable season on the Yukon River was usually from\nabout May twentieth until early November, following which the\nlong winter months set in with their few hours of daylight and\nlong periods of isolation. Months went by with no word from\noutside. It was not until September 28, 1899, that the Government completed five hundred and twenty-six miles of telegraph\nlines from Lake Bennett to Dawson City, and thereby established\na precarious contact with the outer world,\u2014precarious because\ntrees were continually falling across and breaking the transmission\nlines.\nEven the paucity of news was capitalised. In midsummer of\n1898 when tidings from the outside world were rare to the point\nof non-existence, a Dawson resident with business acumen, paid\none hundred and fifty dollars for a comparatively old copy of \"The\n233\n MINE-FINDERS\nSeattle Post-Intelligencer\"; then hired a dance hall and charged\nfive dollars admission. To a packed house he read the latest\nnews of the United States war with Spain.\nMany stories have been told of these dance-hall girls, recruited\nfrom the honky-tonks of the southern Pacific coast, from farms\nand from other mining camps. Their vices and their virtues have\nbeen set to verse by Robert Service, Bank of Commerce manager\nat Selkirk, who became inspired by the new country and wrote his\nimmortalised \"Songs of a Sourdough\" and other verse, which so\ncharacteristically depict the romance of the early days of the\nYukon.\nThe apportioned wealth of the Yukon area made practically\nevery strike a freak of fate. Take the story of Charlie, \"Lucky\nSwede\" Anderson, who by washing gold on Forty Mile Creek had\nsaved five hundred dollars. While carousing away his savings\none night, he fell in with two sharpsters who had staked on\nEldorado. His mind befogged by liquor, Charlie parted with all\nthe gold he possessed in exchange for their claim which was many\nmiles away, and as the two sharpsters thought, utterly worthless.\nSobered and rueful, Charlie started out, penniless, for his new\nproperty, and had he possessed what the world would consider\nmore acumen, he would have realised he had been mulcted, and\nnever visited the property.\nBut Charlie had dogged persistence. The claim was his, and\nhe was going to work it. (Most of the early stakings on Eldorado\nCreek had been made by saloon-keepers from Forty Mile Creek\nwho were not primarily concerned in mining.) Even the shock of\nfinding his property devoid of any surface indications of gold did\nnot deter him. \"Ay tank ay go and prospect the tarn claim\" he\nmuttered. Driving his pick deep into the muck, Charlie started\ndigging at random. At ten feet, he was still digging, with no sign\nof reward. At eighteen feet, he struck bed rock and with it gold\nthat netted $1,250,000. However, like so many lucky miners of\nthe Yukon, Charlie and his fortune were soon parted and after a\n234\n YUKON   AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nfew years the \"Lucky Swede\" was wielding a pick again, this time\nas a laborer at the Britannia copper mine on Howe Sound.\nNo chronicle of the early days of the Yukon would be complete without reference to Alexander Macdonald,\u2014the Klondike\nKing,\u2014also known as the \"Big Moose\" or \"Big Alex.\" on account\nof his powerful physique. With characteristic courage and thrift,\nand his ancestral lineage unquestioned, he arrived from Cape\nBreton in the early days of the Yukon. Supplementing his lean\nfinances by borrowing, payable on clean-up, he quickly acquired\ninterests in the promising claims, and so fast did his fortune\nmultiply that he became the largest claim holder in the Yukon\nwith over fifty tracts in all, valued at an enormous figure. Shunning\nbig offers for his claims, this kindly, good-natured, good-living\ngiant of a man, despite the success his sound judgment gave him,\ndied with little to show for the wealth he once possessed.\nTo follow the uneven and absorbing lives of Yukon's famed\ncharacters would take volumes. Full length biographies of such\nmen as Tex Rickard, noted boxing promoter, who got his start\nin Dawson City; \"Swift Water Bill',, self-imposed pseudonym of\nWilliam Yates, and thousands of others from the Yukon would\nmake a valuable contribution to Canadian chronicles of pioneers.\nThe trail of '98 tested the mettle of many men whose names\nare famed to-day. The young Bank of Commerce assistant at\nDawson who weighed out the gold from the deer-skin pouches\nnow has a private office in the Empire's tallest building,\u2014Reginald\nA. Rumsey, assistant general manager of the Bank of Commerce.\nDr. J. B. Tyrrell, famed explorer and geologist, and his brother\nJ. W., were among those present, while Dr. A. S. Grant who built\nthe first church in Dawson, had the dual role of pastor and doctor,\nand delights to relate the tales of Mexican Pete, Diamond Tooth\nGertie, Nigger Jim, Deep Hole Joe, and the Arizona Kid, famed\ncharacters whose exploits are not recorded.\nIn estimating the mass character of the Yukon citizenry of\nthose days, it is essential to differentiate between the real pioneer\n MINE-FINDERS\nminers, or \"Sourdoughs\", and the \"Cheechakos\" or newer arrivals.\nIt was in the former class that the sterling qualities, common to all\npioneers, whether miners, explorers, colonists or political economists were to be found. While the most colorful stories have been\nwoven about the later arrivals, too much credit cannot be given to\nthe hardy forerunners, most of whom are unmentioned in histories.\nGreat Bear Lake Radium\nOne hundred and sixty years after Samuel Hearne confirmed\nthe use of native copper by the Esquimaux and Dogrib Indians,\nand gave the Copperrriine River its name, a pitchblende discovery\nby Gilbert La Bine on the shores of Great Bear Lake provided, in\n1931, the first commercial shipment.\nThe advent of aerial transportation had opened up a new era\nfor prospectors and only then did the \"land of the midnight sun\"\nget its belated exploration which revealed the greatest known\nmanifestation of radio active ore on this continent, and which may\nprove to be Canada's challenge to the foreign radium monopoly.\nLike many of Canada's frontiers it has been tramped over for\ndecades by explorers, hunters and trappers, little realising that\nthe world's most valuable element, radium, lay beneath.\nBack in July, 1771, when Hearne, the young English Hudson's\nBay clerk, succeeded on his third attempt to conquer the so-called\nbarren lands and reached the Arctic, the saga of \"a great river far\nnorth with its mountains of copper\" was exploded. Like the\nIndians who greeted Cartier at the Saguenay, the aborigines of\nthe Coppermine River have from time immemorial been using\ncrude instruments hammered from native copper, but the succeeding years have failed to reveal any abundant supply. In 1821,\nwhen Sir John Franklin and his intrepid explorers visited the area,\nthey reported the presence of native copper float at Bathurst Inlet,\nnear the Coppermine River.\nIn 1900, Dr. James Mcintosh Bell of the Geological Survey of\nCanada, went down the Mackenzie River, where at Fort Norman\nhe picked up Charles Camsell, a young graduate of the University\n236\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nof Manitoba, son of the local Hudson's Bay Factor, to act as his\nassistant. Nurtured in frontier life, Camsell's ability quickly found\nexpression in Canada's rocky hinterland and now as Dr. Charles\nCamsell he presides over the domain he knows so well as Deputy\nMinister of Mines. Together, Bell and Camsell cruised Great\nBear Lake. In July, 1900, while wind-bound for three days in an\ninlet in McTavish Arm, Bell reported on the presence of cobalt\nbloom and copper green, while an Indian told him native copper\noccurred at the northeast end of McTavish Bay. Thus he became\nthe first recorded observer of the minerals of that lake. On that\ntrip, they pressed on northwest along the shores of the lake; then\noverland to the Coppermine River. But as is often the case, the\nreports of the men of science\nwent unheeded.\nIn 1911, and again in 1912,\nGeorge M. Douglas and\nAugust Sanberg prospected\nfrom Great Bear Lake to the\nDismal Lakes, and on to the\nCoppermine River, but found\nno copper of commercial importance. In 1913, a geological\nparty under the leadership of\nDr. J. J. O'Neill, Professor of\nGeology at McGill University,\nsurveyed and mapped the\nCoppermine River area for the\nFederal Government, and like the earlier explorers, he, too, found\nsmall copper showings.\nIn 1922, Charles Sloan left the temperate clime of his native\nKentucky to trap along the Arctic Circle. On the shore of Hunter\nBay, McTavish Arm, Great Bear Lake, Sloan and his trapper-\npartner, Harrison, found boulders bearing greenish copper stain\naccompanied by copper sulphides, but not until 1929 was interest\n MINE-FINDERS\nstimulated in his discovery. That year, among the several prospectors to visit the area by aeroplane was Gilbert La Bine, pioneer\nin the Cobalt silver camp, where cobalt bloom was a familiar sight.\nHe had also broadened his knowledge of minerals by inspecting\nthe meagre pitchblende showings in Haliburton county, Ontario.\nBut the rash to find the elusive copper was as disappointing as\nbefore, and with a nine hundred mile flight separating him from\nthe end of steel at Waterways, three hundred miles north of\nEdmonton, La Bine started to wing his way homeward. Thirty\nmiles south of Hunter Bay he looked down on Echo Bay in\nMcTavish Arm. La Bine's prospecting in 1929 had taken him\nwithin six miles of Echo Bay while inspecting the big faults and\nother geological features and as a result he was trying to relocate\nit from the air. Thirty years before, geologists Bell and Camsell\nhad observed the Cobalt bloom, and Bell wrote, \"We were wind-\nbound for several days in Echo Bay . . . the variegated mineral\nstaining,\u2014red, black, pink, white and green, gave scintillating\nreflections in the deep, transparent water, and suggested a locality\nto lure the prospector.\"\nArranging with his brother Charles La Bine and Shirley Cragg,\nto follow him via the McKenzie River route and meet him at\nHunter Bay after the break-up, he assembled three-quarters of a\nton of supplies and a sectional canoe to serve his wants. On March\n28,1930, with E. C. St. Paul as a partner, La Bine took flight from\nWaterways over the snow-covered, ice-locked landscape to the\nhead waters of Camsell River which flows into McTavish Arm.\nMaking a crude sled, the pair headed northward into biting cold,\nprospecting the shore lines as they went. The arduous trek over\nthe dazzling ice was mitigated little by their steel creepers, and\nthe trudging of a three-quarter ton load recalled Sir John Franklin's tortuous journey in the area a century before. Unaccustomed\nto the glaring monotony of light as the days lengthened, St. Paul\nbecame snow-blind. So when the pair reached their goal at Echo\nBay on May 15, after a month and a half of travel, La Bine's task\nJ\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nof caring for his blinded partner and looking after camp left little\ntime for prospecting, but if the arduous trip had been non-productive, their Echo Bay goal gave quick rewards, for within an\nhour, in a lone search, La Bine found cobalt bloom and native\nsilver on a small island off a point,\u2014now known as La Bine Point,\n\u2014and with it a heavy, black mineral which he recognised as\npitchblende such as he had seen back in Ontario.\nRest, and the glad news, brought quick recovery to St. Paul,\nand on May 19, after staking two claims and reserving the rest of\ntheir staking licenses for what might come, they resolved to learn\nwhat riches lay between there and Hunter Bay, thirty miles away.\nOn May 29, at Hunter Bay, they joined the other prospecting\ngroups to await the arrival of brother Charles and Cragg, keeping secret their discovery at Echo Bay. The irksome delay in the\nopening of the navigating season was further strained by rival\nprospecting groups arriving by aeroplane. What if one of these\nshould discover their find, with only two claims staked, and they\nisolated, with the snow gone and a fragile canoe on a big lake?\nAn answer to their dilemma came when W. J. McDonough zoomed\nout of the sky, and found a ready passenger in La Bine.\nIt was now July 20, and as they neared Echo Bay their worst\nfears were realised, for camped on the point were an experienced\ngroup of mining men, with their camp fire blazing on the treasured\nfind! La Bine shielded his feelings, and the depressed spirits of\nthe rival group quickly assured them that they as yet knew nothing\nof the discovery and soon pressed on to look for greener fields,\nafter being shown the black pitchblende, while La Bine and his\npartner lost no time staking to fully protect their find.\nThe first man of science to inspect the area was Cyril Knight,\nwho wrote the first technical report, confirming to the world what\nhas become the most important radio active ore discovery on the\nContinent.\nEarly in September, the Eldorado Gold Mines officials left\ntheir Arctic find, to make preparation for an aggressive develop-\n=====  \"    \u25a0'\u25a0\u25a0\"-\n MINE-FINDERS\nment early the next year. The next season camps were built and\ntwenty tons of pitchblende with associated silver placed Great\nB^ar Lake in the ranks of the producers.\nWith the opening of navigation in midsummer, 1932, they\ntook in a small Diesel engine-driven mill. The next year, a radium\nrefinery was established at Port Hope to treat the concentrates now\nshipped out by aeroplane, challenging Belgium's radium monopoly.\nThe MacAlpine Expedition\nWhen the copper deposits of Great Bear Lake were attracting\nattention in 1929, and aeroplanes were introduced to prospect the\nbroad expanse between Great Bear Lake and Hudson's Bay, known\nas the \"Barren Lands\", Lieutenant-Colonel C D. H. MacAlpine\norganised an expedition of eight men,\u2014three pilots, two mechanicians, an engineer and Richard Pearce, guest and chronicler,\nemploying two aeroplanes to make a reconnaissance survey of the\nmineral possibilities.\nLeaving Winnipeg on August 24, 1929, the projected journey\nof nearly twenty thousand miles was started for the Arctic Circle,\nbut on September 9 the fast-waning gasoline supply forced a\nlanding near Dease Point, one hundred miles north of the Arctic\nCircle and fifty miles south of Cambridge Bay, the nearest trading\npost. Ill-equipped for such an emergency, the intrepid party survived two months incarceration, with the aid of friendly Esquimaux, ere the fifty-mile channel separating them from Cambridge\nBay froze sufficiently to sustain their weight. An anxious nation\nlearned of their survival, as a wireless flashed from Cambridge Bay\non November 3. Again aeroplanes dashed to the Arctic Circle,\nand once again proved their efficiency in spanning the Northern\nfrontiers.\nHudson Bay Minerals\nAlthough casual reference has been made to mineral deposits\nalong the shores of Hudson Bay ever since Henry Hudson gave\nhis name to the Bay that became his tomb, in 1611, no commercial\ndevelopments have been undertaken.   True, the iron deposits of\n YUKON  AND  NORTHWEST   TERRITORIES\nthe Belcher Islands in its southeast corner were known to the\nearliest explorer, but these await commercial interest. Prospectors\nfor the Nipissing Mining Co. took out eighteen hundred dollars\nworth of gold from a rich, if small, showing on Term Point in\n1928. The greatest manifestation of mineral wealth, also discovered in 1928, was when R. G. O. Johnston, prospector for the\nCyril Knight Prospecting Co. discovered a small high-grade nickel\ndeposit on the north shore of Rankin Inlet, three hundred miles\nnorth of Churchill.\n\u00a3V\u00a3\/3\nFINIS\nThree centuries after Champlain's reference to the metals of the\nNew World, Canada's production was at record levels. In gold\noutput it is second only to South Africa; in nickel it accounts for\napproximately ninety per cent of the World output; the platinum\nfound in association with nickel places Canada in a premier position\nof the world producers of this metal; the copper mines number\namong the lowest-cost operations of the world, with the output of\nthis metal ranking third. In zinc, Canada also stands third; in\nsilver it is exceeded only by the United States and Mexico, while its\nlead production ranks fourth.\nFrom an obscure position as a producer of precious and base\nmetals, seventy-five years ago, Canada's mineral production now\nchallenges that of all the field crops. To date, the mineral production of the Dominion has added six and a quarter billions of\ndollars in new wealth, eighty per cent of which has been produced\nsince the turn of the present century.\nThus, with the accumulated knowledge and experience within\nthe accepted span of three score years and ten, Canada's mineral\nwealth has risen from insignificance to a dominant world position.\n          Purchased \/ **- V*\"*5***)\nPlace of Purchase Ka^]\nPRICE\u201et^^.\nB. F. TOWNSLEY\nis a Canadian who i\ni an unique\nposition to undertake to write a\nhistory of Canadian Mining.\nFollowing a technical education, he has\nfor the past twenty-three years had a close\ncontact with Canada's mineral developments. He has frequently visited and had\nan opportunity to study mining activities\nacross Canada in the capacity of a sales\nengineer for a large corporation manufacturing mining machinery.\nIn 1929 he became Mining Editor of The\nFinancial Post. In this capacity he also\nestablished its analytical service on mines\nand edited its annual survey of mining and\nmining companies, a book that has had a\nwide annual distribution.\nResigning a year ago he has established\nhimself as a mining counsellor and is retained by leading financial organizations.\nAs Mining Editor for \"Saturday Night\"\nhis comments in \"Gold and Dross\" command wide circulation in this long established and respected financial column.\n ","@language":"en"}],"Genre":[{"@value":"Books","@language":"en"}],"Identifier":[{"@value":"TN26 .T6","@language":"en"},{"@value":"III-3522","@language":"en"}],"IsShownAt":[{"@value":"10.14288\/1.0415848","@language":"en"}],"Language":[{"@value":"English","@language":"en"}],"Notes":[{"@value":"Other copies : http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/222203621","@language":"en"}],"Provider":[{"@value":"Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library","@language":"en"}],"Publisher":[{"@value":"Toronto : [Printed by Saturday Night Press]","@language":"en"}],"Rights":[{"@value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca.","@language":"en"}],"SortDate":[{"@value":"1935-12-31 AD","@language":"en"},{"@value":"1935-12-31 AD","@language":"en"}],"Source":[{"@value":"Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. TN26 .T6","@language":"en"}],"Subject":[{"@value":"Mines and mineral resources","@language":"en"},{"@value":"Miners","@language":"en"},{"@value":"Canada","@language":"en"}],"Title":[{"@value":"Mine-Finders : the history and romance of Canadian mineral discoveries","@language":"en"}],"Type":[{"@value":"Text","@language":"en"}],"Translation":[{"@value":"","@language":"en"}],"@id":"doi:10.14288\/1.0415848"}