Slumach and Timbuktu at Coles in Seven Oaks

On Saturday December 12, between 1:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon, Brian and Rick Antonson will be on hand at Coles in Seven Oaks Shopping Centre in Abbotsford for a signing of their best seller Slumach's Gold, in Search of a Legend and Rick's fabulous To Timbuktu for a Haircut.

Bullshit or Fact?? Have you heard of this?

Mr. Bill Payne of Ontario sent the following e-mail:

I just checked out your web site, very interesting. I was just in BC on assignment fighting some of the wildfires around the Garibaldi Park/Pitt Lake area when I was told of this legend by a local helicopter pilot. I spent about 10 days with this pilot and we flew a few of the drainages that flow into Pitt Lake, very beautiful, rugged and impressive. My pilot was very familiar with the area as he mentioned that a few years ago he had been hired by an American to investigate the area in search for the illusive mine. It seems that the wealthy american had spent a great deal of time investigating all of the publishings, stories, etc... that pertained to this story. They spent about 4 weeks in the area searching all of the topographical features that he figured were clues and hints imbedded in some of the older stories he had dug up.After the 4 weeks he was empty handed but felt he was close to the secret mine.

The pilot I was with also made mention of a mini excavator that was slung into the area many years ago by a helicopter. The man in charge was also searching for the mine. My pilot did mention that they had found mounds of earth that they believed had been the work of the excavator.

Bullshit or Fact?? Have you heard of this?

The pilot was probably Paul Copeland of Blackcomb Aviation (see image)

In 1977, N.L (Bill Barlee) published a facsimile of a transcript of part of the “Jackson” letter. (click image to see the full page).

I've tried to find out where the original "authenticated oldest" copy of the “Jackson letter” from which this transcript was made would be today. An unexpected answer came from the transcript of a recorded telephone conversation between Barlee and Daryl Friesen quoted as follows in Friesen's Spindle Quest

-- Well the reason I am calling you is because you were the first person to ever publish a story which contained the Jackson letter. I was kind of wondering where you got it from.
-- Volcanic Brown gave it to my father.
-- Really, the old prospector who died on Stave Glacier?
-- That’s right, my father showed it to me when I was 20 and I made a copy.
-- Where is the letter now?
-- My father sold it to a collector, some rich American I believe.

That is a surprising answer from a collector of everything to do with the past. I am inclined to read in this that there never was a “Jackson letter” attributed to Volcanic Brown in the Barlee household or that an anonymous "rich American" to buy that letter ever existed.

Spindle Quest

Daryl Friesen's well-known e-book Seekers of Gold was recently recasted under the title Spindle Quest. This new incarnation focuses on the adventures of Friesen and his daredevil friends, chasing for Lost Creek gold. Some interesting new material has been added.

As the authors of Lost Creek Mine (Rob Nicholson) and Forbidden Treasures (Mike Boileau) did before him, Friesen agreed to make Spindle Quest available in its entirety on the slumach Web site.

Click here to find the digital versions of these three interesting books.

Mr. Cooke's letter

A few months ago an octogenarian friend gave me a copy of two pages of a letter. One page is shown here (click to enlarge). I understand from my friend that a Mr. Cooke in Kimberley placed ads in the newspapers looking for people interested in Pitt Lake's Lost Creek Mine and apparently sold these pages to interested parties.

Daryl Friesen has another version with practically the same text but with a few more map details on it. Click here to have a look.

I wonder if anyone can tell more about Mr. Cooke and this letter.

Website Award

At the annual conference of the British Columbia Historical Society in Nelson (May 14-16) Greg Nesteroff presented a Website Award to Fred Braches's standin, Brenda Smith. Photo by Alistair Fraser

Lost Mine of Pitt Lake Society meets at Katzie

On this sunny day Cyril Pierre and his relatives and friends at Katzie hosted fellow members of the legendary Lost Mine of Pitt Lake Society. A great feast was offered with freshly caught salmon and bannock as main dishes. A warm thank you goes to all our hosts and the expert cooks!

It was a great day to renew our friendship and continue our discussions that started in January. We learned about efforts made in the Katzie community to commemorate Slumach freed from the legends that obscure his real self. A monument is planned at Katzie for this much maligned man and research is done how otherwise to right the wrongs done to this victim of the early colonial laws and legal system.

The photograph shows us in front of the Swan-e-set Longhouse. Klick on the image for an enlargement. Click here for more photos.