Editorially speaking…
Not so much an editorial as an introduction to this week’s Chronicle:
A century has passed since the ‘Silver Slocan’ of southwestern British Columbia yielded millions of dollars in silver—billions by today’s measure. The fabulous Enterprise, Standard, Slocan Star, Rambler-Cariboo, Last Chance, Whitewater, Mountain Chief—and so many more productive mines—all have been relegated to the province’s colourful history.
That boulder in the photo is almost solid silver-bearing galena. When they used to refer to the Silver or Silvery Slocan, they weren’t kidding. —BC Archives
Some, such as the Standard, Enterprise and the Alpha, were so rich in silver-bearing ore that visitors were literally blinded by the glittering seams.
So great was the silver boom that, at its peak, the country around New Denver boasted a population of 12,000 men directly involved in mining operations alone, not to mention those citizens of other occupations. Today, the beautiful country around Slocan Lake, its famous mines long since closed down, is an agriculture, residential and tourist region, proudly touted by its locals as being one of the prettiest corners of the province.
But Slocan’s past, rich in silver mining lore, isn’t forgotten, particularly by those familiar with its tales of lost wealth—at least one of which is not only fully documented, but which has been found then lost again!
Treasure buffs were reminded of lost Slocan bullion in 1971 when an American adventure magazine published a letter from one of its readers: “While vacationing in the Canadian Rockies this summer, I heard the story of a real treasure—$1 million reward that is being offered.
“As our tour was driving along the Thompson River, just before its confluence with the Fraser, the bus driver explained that many years ago three railroad cars were derailed and plunged into the river canyon. They were loaded with gold bullion and were heavily insured.
“In order to present a claim, the railroad company must give the insurance company the plates bearing the serial numbers of the lost cars. But the river here is swift and deep, and nobody has yet recovered the plates. Anyone who recovers them can turn them into the railroad company for $1 million."
As the editors replied, Mr. Mucha's tale was “a real treasure story, all right," but suggested that he fully research the affair before attempting to dive in the dangerous river rapids. This is sound advice on several levels, not the least of which is, as the Chronicles files suggest, the bus driver’s entertaining tale of lost gold bars is somewhat inaccurate.
First, if our surmise is correct, the lost treasure isn’t in the form of gold bullion, but silver. Secondly, the mishap occurred not in the Thompson River but Slocan Lake, some 200 miles to the southeast!
Coincidentally, it had been reported a month earlier that an attempt was to be made by a Vancouver firm to salvage silver bullion lost in Slocan Lake when a boxcar slipped from a barge. Alex Semeniuk, a 52-year-old mining executive, was quoted in the Canadian Financial Journal as saying that he and several partners who called themselves ‘Wilde Ventures," were preparing to dive on the boxcar.
He said that his firm had pinpointed its location, and that a previous salvage operation of years before had succeeded in recovering 60 bars from the hulk’s valuable cargo. But the attempt had been ended by hazardous conditions and the search abandoned.
Supposedly some 20 fathoms down, the boxcar, which was very deep in silt, was thought to contain another 50 silver bars. Incredibly, the wreck had been located by man noted for his ability with a divining rod, underwater photographs having confirmed the diviner’s ‘X’.
And that was that, there being having no further report on Mr. Semaniuk’s search for sunken treasure at Slocan, other than that he’d gone so far as to buy a barge to serve as a platform for salvage operations.
Mr. Semaniuk said that he’d become intrigued by the story so many years before; a factor shared by most of those familiar with the story, as Slocan Lake’s lost silver bullion had been there for quite some time. But, despite other salvage attempts, including that which succeeded in recovering half of the boxcar’s cargo, it remains unfinished.
Almost three-quarters of a century earlier, the Slocan silver boom had been in full swing, the CPR, through its sternwheel steamships and rail barge system, ferrying the silver ore from mine head to rail head at Slocan City. Here, romantic paddlewheelers such as the SS Slocan shunted back and forth with their unwieldy charges. This system seems to have worked well enough until the winter of 1903, when a boxcar belonging to the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. was lost during a storm.
Which is where this week’s Chronicle begins…