Volcanic Brown's letters 28 May 1924

N.L. (Bill) Barlee's article "The Lost Mine of Pitt Lake," that first appeared in Canada West Magazine , winter 1970, includes what Barlee claimed is a "verbatim reprint" of a copy of the original Jackson letter. Barlee suggested that the copy was enclosed "in one of the letters [more than one?] from Brown which was dated May 28, 1924" and by that virtue "This is the only dated [by a 1924 postmark] and authenticated [by the fact that it came from Brown]copy in existence." Unfortunately Barlee choose to transcribe the "original copy" of the "Jackson letter" rather than showing a facsimile that could have added to his claim of authenticity.

Also in this article Barlee did include a facsimile fragment of one of Brown letters dated May 28, 1924, (shown above-click for enlargement) and added that "both the letters and the signature are bona fide." Why did Barlee not give us the entire content of the letter(s)? Judging by the fragment it would have enriched our knowledge of "Volcanic" Brown's exploits in the Pitt Lake area about which we know next to nothing. If he was not at liberty to reproduce the content in full, he did not say so. Nor do we know where Barlee found these letters or to whom they were addressed.

I would be very suprised if these Volcanic Brown letters ever existed

Note: Transcribing has perils. In his version of the "Jackson letter" Barlee writes 'Frisco Examr.,’ putting quotation marks on both sides of the newspapers name. C.V. Tench -- the first to refer to the paper writes 'Frisco Examr. using one quotation to mark the missing word "San" in San Fransisco.