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EPISODE 220 YUKON DIARY 6 THE BIG TOOTH


EPISODE 220    YUKON DIARY  STORY  6   THE BIG TOOTH

alan skeoch
Jan. 2021


This  is  Jack Acheson.  Every summer he came to Dublin Gulch, YUKON,  and found treasures of various kinds.  He gave me one of his treasures…perhaps
because we both wore similar work clothes.


This is a hairy  Mammoth, related to elephants distantly.  Once upon a time 10,000 years ago they 
wandered across  the Yukon after crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia.   Once  here some of them
met North America’s Mastodons who look similar.   Both of these creatures were common residents
of  North America until  killed by human predators.  They had  big teeth.  Huge tusks.  Jack finds
them every year in Dublin Gulch, at least he did in the 1960’s.

“How would you like this … a gift”, said Jack  Acheson as he leaned against his Cat D6 in Dublin Gulch.
“What is it?”
And he handed me a rock about the size of large can of fruit salad…no, bigger than that.
“Take a guess”
“ A big chunk  of galena…sort of shiny…raw  silver and lead…heavy.”
“Wrong.”
“Certainly not gold.”
“Look at the layers…clue to what it is.”
“Hard…looks like a stone layer cake… sidewise…many layers.”
“Wrong again.”
“Where  did you get it?”
“Found it right here in Dublin Gulch…found a bunch of them
and other weird stuff…more every year it seems.”
“I Give up. What is it”
“The tooth of a Hairy Mammoth…a molar tooth”
“It is incredible…huge tooth.”



“We find lots of Mammoth teeth…tusks,..bones…right here in Dublin Gulch.”
“I noticed those long curved things leaning against your cabin…”
“Those are the tusks.”
“What do you do with them?”
“Government people from Whitehorse come and get them.”
“How old are they?”
“10,000 to 12, 000 years old…ancient”
“There were mammoths  here in the Yukon?”
“Lots of them I think…herds…whatever term is applied to a bunch of mammoths.”
“Complete skeletons?”
“No…we find piles  of bones…sometimes single tusks…sometimes 
just a tooth like this one I’m giving you.”
“How  come the bones are all mixed up….spread around.”
“Water … flood … there once was a big glacial river here in the McQueen Valley.”
“Ice?”
“Yes, glacial ice swept down this valley as well…ripped the hills apart.  You had
lunch  up on Keno Hill I hear…you sat on the edge of  a hanging valley
where the ice  had ripped a great slab of rock…cleaved it.”
“Possible the carcasses of those Mammoths got ground up and the hard
parts  like teeth and tusks were piled in the sediment.”
“And you are giving this tooth to me?”
“You are more interested than many.”
“Are you sure this is a Mammoth tooth and not a  Mastodon  tooth?”
“Absolutely.  Teeth are the easiest way to tell the difference.  This mammoth
is  like a layer cake.   A  mastodon tooth on the other hand  looks like our
teeth…solid with bumps for grinding.   Both kinds  of teeth were for grinding
but mastodons ground up bigger branches while the mammoths were more
ground feeders.  The guys from Whitehorse told me that.”



“Thanks  Jack…wonderful thing to have….”
“Mammoth would have to lose this  tooth somehow.  Mammoths only had two sets
fo teeth. Once they were worn down the mammoths starved to death.”
“Same could  happen to us if there’re no dentists around.”

That is how I got a treasure from the Yukon.  My very own Mammoth tooth.
Gave it a special place in my rucksack  when the Yukon job was over.  A year
later, in the fall of 1963, I  was hired  as a history teacher at Parkdale Collegiate
Institute, west end of Toronto.  The tooth was a great teaching tool in that
first year of teaching.   Not long.  Sometime in the following year I went
to get my mammoth tooth and it was gone.

Some student stole my mammoth tooth!  Or maybe it was one of my
fellow staff members.  Or maybe  one of the caretakers thought it
was  garbage.   Most likely a kid.  I should have put the tooth in a
safe place.

Now here is a question for you to think about.  WHAT WAS JACK ACHESON
DOING  IN  THE YUKON IN 1962?  The answer may be
obvious for most of you.   The next Episode 221 will provide an
interesting answer… even if you guessed correctly.



Bill Dunn and  I did  not see any mammoths when we cooked  our lunch  beside a cliff that hung over this valley.  We did not even know
those huge creatures once wandered around here…did not know until i met Jack Acheson.   And got my mammoth tooth.  Not sure
who has  that tooth now.

alan skeoch
January 2021

POST SCRIPT:  MAMMOTHS AND  MASTODONS


The analysis of a mastodon tooth explains further how climate changes in Africa provoked the divergence of humans, chimps and gorillas. Loxodonta=African elephant; Elephas=Asian elephant; Mammuthus=mammoth; Mammut=mastodon

   The analysis of a mastodon tooth explains further how climate changes in Africa provoked the divergence of humans, chimps and gorillas. Loxodonta=African elephant; Elephas=Asian elephant; Mammuthus=mammoth; Mammut=mastodon

Humans and elephants evolved in the same African dry savanna. That’s why elephant fossils offer a clue on the type of environment in which our ancestors lived. An analysis of DNA painstakingly retrieved from an ancient mastodon tooth has further pushed back the time when mammoths split off from elephants. It appears that the mammoths and Asian elephants split about 5.8 to 7.7 million years ago when humans and apes could have shared a common ancestor.

It appears that environmental changes at the time caused a massive period of speciation (species formation) in Africa. “Until recently, scientists believed that humans and chimps last shared a common ancestor about 5 million years ago. But fossil studies and genetic discoveries in recent years have pushed this date back by at least 1 million years.” said Paul Matheus at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, US.

Now, Matheus team employs a mastodon tooth recovered in Alaska to revise the evolutionary history of mammoths and elephants, previously believed to have diverged from each other about 5 million years ago. Mastodons are elephant related animals, with elephant-like build, but with straighter tusks, longer body, longer head, shorter limbs and more primitive teeth. Fossil data showed that mastodons split from elephants about 24 million to 28 million years ago.

The Alaskan mastodon tooth was estimated to be 50,000 to 130,000 years old. The mastodon DNA was extracted from 30 grams of ground tooth. They sequenced the whole mitochondrial DNA of the mastodon, about 16,000 pairs of nucleotid pairs. They were compared with similar DNA sequences from African elephants, Asian elephants and mammoths (mammoths were just hairy species of elephants).

As the fossils showed mastodons split off from elephants about 26 million years ago, the researchers could calculate the rhythm of mutation accumulations in time, called the evolutionary clock. 


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EPISODE 219 WE NEED TO RELAX…HERE – YOU CAN SNUGGLE UNDER A BLANKET OF SNOW (forget about Trump for a moment)

EPISODE 219    WE NEED  TO RELAX…HERE YOU CAN  SNUGGLE UNDER A  BLANKET OF SNOW


alan skeoch
jan. 7, 2021

What  a day that was yesterday…the US Capital  stormed  and  ransacked  by a mob that had
been  incited to violence by the President of the United States.  If this happened in a  fiction
novel  it would  be hard to believe.  But the act was not fiction.  Trump did it.  Does he know
what he is doing?  Has he gone mad?  Hopefully his hand will be kept away from the nuclear codes.

We  need to relax.  So  here are the wonders of  wintertime…no purpose…no story…just
something nice.   We need it…the therapy of snowflakes…cool, refreshing, beautiful.

alan



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Fwd: EPISODE 217 THE YUKON JOB PART 5 MINING TIMELINE TO HELP SORT OUT EVENTS



Begin forwarded message:


From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: EPISODE 216 THE YUKON JOB PART 5 MINING TIMELINE TO HELP SORT OUT EVENTS
Date: January 3, 2021 at 10:40:14 AM EST
To: Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>, Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>, John Wardle <john.t.wardle@gmail.com>



WHEN WORKING IN THE YUKON

  I NEVER KNEW HOW IMPORTANT MAYO LANDING WAS…MORE IMPORTANT THAN
THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE.  TONS AND TONS OF SILVER WERE SHIPPED OUT
OF MAYO LANDING.  ONE OFTHE GREAT SILVER MINERAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD.   
BUT IT IS A  CONFUSING  REGION BECAUSE THERE
WERE SO  MANY MINES AND THE ORIGINAL  MINES HAD THEIR NAMES  CHANGED EACH
TIME A NEW MINING COMPANY TOOK OVER.

A FEW OF YOU WILL FIND THESE FACT INTERESTING.  MORE OF  YOU, I SUSPECT, WOULD
RATHER I RELATE THE  STORIES OF ACHISON AND HIS SLAB OF GOLD HE CARRIED AS
A KNUCKLE DUSTER IN CASE  SOMEONE TRIED TO ROLL HIM OR, BETTER STILL, THE STORIES
OF  THE HOOKERS THAT TOOK OVER KENO CITY OR MAYBE YOU JUST LIKE MY DAILY DIARY.
THERE  IS  STILL MUCH TO SAY .

OH, BY THE WAY, REMEMBER I MENTIONED DR. AHO. THE MINING MAN WHO BOUGHT US
 ‘DOUBLE OP’S’…OVERPROOF
RUM WITH COCA COLA?  GOT YOUNG PUNKS LIKE BILL DUNN, BILL SCOT AND ME  FALLING  
DOWN DRUNK. YOU MAY HAVE THOUGHT HIM TO BE A JOKER.. TURNS
OUT HE WAS BRILLIANT AND SPENT A  GOOD PART OF  HIS LIFE GATHERING YUKON STORIES
WHILE GATHERING YUKON SILVER.  YOU WILL SEE HE IS MENTIONED BELOW AND
WILL BE  THE SUBJECT OF A  SPECIAL STORY LATER ON.  I JUST MANAGED TO GET
A COPY OF HIS BOOK TODAY THANKS TO AMAZON.  REALLY IMPRESSIVE. I TOTALLY
MISJUDGED HIM.





The silver mining town of Elsa in the boom years of the 1960,s.   When the boom collapsed these company houses were suddenly vacant and shuttered.

Buildings that could be moved were sold.  When Elsa became  empty a caretaker was hired to maintain the protect the town.




EPISODE 216     THE YUKON JOB PART 5   TIMELINE TO HELP  SORT OUT EVENTS

Alan skeoch
Jan. 2, 2021




WHERE DID THE  SILVER ORE ORIGINATE?

DR.AHO, WHO WE WORKED WITH IN 1962 WROTE THAT SILVER, GOLD, AND OTHER VALUABLE MINERALS CAME FROM

THE  MOLTEN MAGMA UPON  WHICH THE EARTH’S TECTONIC  PLATES FLOAT.  CRACKS IN THE  TECTONIC PLATES
GAVE THE MOLTEN SILVER ORE  OF KENO HILL A CHANCE TO MOVE UPWARDS THEN  COOL TO FORM
VEINS OF SILVER AND OTHER PRECIOUS METALS.

“tens of millions of years ago, these rocks were arched up causing fissures which penetrated tens of miles deep, tapping a hot subcrustal crucible from which sulphur, lead, zinc, silver, gold and other elements spread upward. In the softer rocks, the fissures remained tight and discontinuous, but in the harder rocks (quartzites and greenstones), they ground against other cross fractures and branched like forked lightning. As the rocks were strained again and again, these fissures dilated repeatedly while fabulous riches continued to pour into the openings and solidify as veins containing exotic silver minerals.” 


    Dr. Aaro Ano

page5image121272033608809670014946668485612.jpg

KENO HILL SILVER DISTRICT

“The legendary Keno Hill Camp in the Yukon Territory was host to Canada’s second largest primary silver producer and one of the richest Ag-Pb-Zn vein deposits ever mined in the world. Following a small amount of hand mining between 1913 and 1917, larger scale production was almost continuous from 1919 to 1989 with over 200 million ounces of silver was produced at an average grade of 1373 grams per tonne

Keno Hill produced more wealth than the Klondike, one of the richest placer gold districts in the world, and became one of the mainstays of the Yukon economy from the 1920s to 1960s, following the end of the gold rush. Larger scale and mechanized production was virtually continuous from 1919 to 1989, with Treadwell Yukon Corp. Ltd. and United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. (UKHM) producing the majority of ore. Both companies went bankrupt due to a period of sustained low silver prices.”

Report dated March 26, 2017, by Alexco

Below  is a timeline that explains what has happened on Keno Hill and
related  mines.   We were there
in 1962, the boom years of the 1960’s’ when mining companies hoped to find new silver veins
using geophysical technology. (in our case the Turam system developed in Sweden.)
We were  ‘field men’ and were never told if we were a success or a failure.  Results
of our surveys were  secret usually.  Simplly put… I was just a’field man’ gathering geophysical

data for professionals at Huntec in Toronto to interpret.  


Alan Skeoch, January 2, 2021


page6image1212967040



HISTORY OF THE KENO HILL SILVER DISTRICT

  • 1898 Placer gold discovery in Duncan Creek brought prospectors from the Klondike goldfields.
  • 1902 Mayo township established.
  • 1903 Argentiferous galena discovered at Silver King and mined 1913‐1917.
  • 1918 Argentiferous galena discovered on Keno Hill.
  • 1919 Keno Hill Ltd staked claims on Keno Hill.
  • 1920 Keno City established.
  • Grades had to be more than 125 oz/t to be economic, cost of horse transport to Mayo the same as to smelters in US.
  • 1921 Treadwell Yukon Company acquired claims at Sadie Ladue on Keno Hill.
  • 1925 Treadwell established mill at Sadie Ladue. Bulldozers significantly reduced the cost of ore haulage.
  • 1927 Treadwell acquired Lucky Queen high grade mine.
  • All operations suspended in 1932 during Depression.
  • 1934 Treadwell Yukon acquired all the Keno Hill Ltd properties.
  • 1924 Elsa vein discovered on Galena Hill, re‐opening of Silver King and discovery of Hector–Calumet, and optioned by Treadwell Yukon.
  • 1935 Mill moved to Elsa and mining continued until 1941 when all work ceased and equipment was sold to US Army for construction of Alaska Highway during World War II.
  • Livingstone Wernecke had led Yukon Treadwell and produced 44 Moz silver with 80% milled at 60 oz/t and 20% hand-sorted at 340 oz/t. 60% of production came from Keno Hill.
  • 1946 Treadwell Yukon assets purchased by Keno Hill Mining Company, later named United Keno Hill Mines (UKHM), and mill began re‐operating. Power was generated from coal mine purchased in Carmacks, and transport was improved by the government building the Whitehorse – Mayo road.
  • 1951 New discoveries at Hector‐Calumet led to construction of a town and a new mill built at Elsa, with power supplied from a new hydro plant in Mayo.
  • UKHM’s success bought new companies to the district and another mill was built at Mackeno near Christal Lake.
  • 1950 Zinc recovery became economic.
  • New exploration from 1963 led to the discovery of the Husky deposit in 1970 just as the Hector‐Calumet was closing.

  • At peak in 1960’s UKHM (United Keno Hill Mines) had 600 employees, and with families, supported about 20% of the Yukon population. The operation also kept the White Pass Railway going and was responsible for the development of the Mayo airport.

  • 1972 Husky Mine commenced production.
  • 1977 Economics became uncertain due to fluctuations in silver price, open pit mining commenced unsuccessfully.
  • 1982 ‐ 1989 Small scale tribute mining continued until UKHM closed.
  • 1990 ‐ 1998 Dominion Mineral Resources and Sterling Frontier Properties acquired 32% of UKHM, conducted exploration but were unsuccessful in reopening mines; rights reverted to UKHM but environmental liabilities and site maintenance drove UKHM bankrupt. Federal government inherited assets.
  • 2006 Alexco Resource Corp purchased the UKHM property.
  • 2010 Metallic Minerals predecessor acquired Keno Hill claims.
  • 2017 Metallic Minerals added to its land position, nearly tripling its total Keno Hill Silver District holdings to 166 square kilometres.
Report March 28,2017 by Alexco


ELSA, KENO,AND CALUMET

BY  LES MCLAUGHLIN


Elsa, Keno, and Calumet are sometimes the forgotten communities in the grand scheme of Yukon history. They are, however, no less important to the history of the land. They are – or were – communities along the so-called Silver Trail.
Miners had prospected the area between Mayo and Keno City since the 1880s. Elsa was established in 1914. In 1918, large deposits of silver were discovered and large-scale mining began. In 1920, Keno Hill Limited, a subsidiary of the Yukon Gold Company of Dawson, staked six hundred silver claims on Keno Hill alone. A few years later, discoveries were made on nearby Galena Hill. At one time Keno City had five hotels. In the 1920s, the area’s silver mines were famous around the world.
By 1932, deposits on Keno Hill were thought to be depleted. However, prospects on Galena Hill looked good so the company moved the mill from Keno to Elsa during the winter of 1932-33. Elsa gained importance in 1935 when the Treadwell Yukon Company moved its mill from Wernecke to Elsa because of the discovery of the Calumet mineral deposits.
By 1938, Elsa had a school, a hockey rink, stores, churches and a community hall. The mine employed almost two hundred workers on a year-round basis. Then, with the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. Government decided it would no longer buy foreign silver. Treadwell Mines closed their Mayo District operation.
In November 1945, the Keno Hill Mining Company was formed around the old Treadwell properties, financed by the Frobisher Exploration company and Conwest Exploration Ltd.
In 1947, the Treadwell Yukon Company reorganized under the name United Keno Hill Mines Limited, and revived the mines and town of Elsa. A tram line delivered ore from Calumet to the mill in Elsa whose population grew rapidly between 1950 and the mid-’60s, in part because the Calumet workers moved to Elsa so that services could be consolidated. By 1953, United Keno Hill had become Canada’s second largest silver operation, and perhaps the fourth largest in the world.
Whitehorse was a busy place partly because of the endless truck loads of ore from the Keno Hill region to the waiting White Pass trains. However, in 1989, after years of losses and low silver prices, United Keno Hill Mines closed down its operations.
The residents of Elsa moved away and most of the houses and buildings have been dismantled. No one remains except for caretakers. But Keno City, population 20, still thrives, nestled in the mountains at the end of the Silver Trail.

 

A CKRW Yukon Nugget by Les McLaughlin.

Les McLaughlin

LES MCLAUGHLIN

As storyteller, radio man, and music producer, Les proved a passionate preserver of Yukon heritage throughout his life — nowhere more evident than as the author and voice of CKRW’s “Yukon Nuggets,” from its inception until his passing in 2011.


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EPISODE 217 YUKON DIARY 6 JULY 3, 1962 TO DAWSON CITY (ON THE LEDGE)

EPISODE 217    YUKON DIARY  6   JULY 3 1962   DAWSON CITY


alan skeoch
Jan. 3, 2021




OVERVIEW

…DAWSON CITY.. Who pays the bill?
…SLEEP ON  A LEDGE…IN  POURING RAIN
…FLOOR SHOW…really on the floor
…FOXY…a lot of money had been spent by the Canadian government
…HARDWARE  STORE…with no hardware
…MYSTERY MAN ACHINSON
…ROBERT SERVICE…Mc’Cluskey’s Nell


JULY 3, 1962

NOTE:  How often has someone said to you, “Take a 3 day holiday
in Dawson City.  You guys are working too hard?.” Bet, not many.
We forgot to respond
correctly by asking “All expenses paid?”  We were rather stupid.  This was
a three day holiday at our expense.  Both of us did not have much spare
cash.  “These 3 days could cost us $100″…nearly 1/3 of my monthly income.
So we did  the trip as cheaply as we could nervously expecting Dr. Paterson
(in Toronto) to cover the $18 bus fare.  He might take the costs our of our salaries.
To be frank WE  SHOULD NOT HAVE  GONE TO DAWSON CITY.
But that is an afterthought made today Jan. 3,2021.

DAWSON CITY HERE WE COME

“What a  day this has  been…what a rare mood I’m in….”  
“You guys should take a 3 day holiday in Dawson.”
So  Bill Scott and  I drove from Peso to Mayo Landing where my U. of T. results
had arrived.    Four firsts, two seconds.  Whoopee!  Not sure I deserved that.
 Then Bill and I had  two beers
before beginning the trip to Dawson City.  The bus had only  two other passengers
from Whitehorse.  We saw two  moose on the way to Dawson City.



Dawson City is a ramshackle place with many old frame buildings slowly sinking into
the permafrost… people with
nothing much to do…slipping into slobbering oblivion with  too much alcohol in 
their bloodstream.  Just a fast opinion…could not be  true.
 

BOMBAY  PEGGY’S HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE…

Fair ladies of my lusty youth,  I fear that you are dead and gone:  Where's Gertie of the Diamond Tooth,  And where the Mare of Oregon?  What's come of Violet de Vere,  Claw-fingered Kate and Gumboot Sue?  They've crossed the Great Divide, I fear;  Remembered now by just a few.
                                                                                                                                                ROBERT SERVICE




 Bill and I wandered all over town …I got some good pictures.  Rather than eat
our pork and beans we decided to go all out andhad a buffalo meat supper. 





Then We climbed the hill behind the town, carrying  our sleeping bags.   prepared our camp on a 
narrow ledge 
where once long ago some other fellows had pitched a tent.   Then we got a warm fire
going for it was drizzling and very cold.  We will try to sleep on some spruce
boughs…but sleep seems  doubtful .  We walked back to the main street of
Dawson and had  two beers in a salloon…really dingy place.  Many First Nations
people.  We needed the beer to make us  less uneasy  about the night on the ledge.

In the bar Two older people…male and female…were making love on the
floor…no one remarked or seemed surprised… no one took much notice. Bill and I
tried to be nonchalant but gave each other a raised eyebrow message..  

(NOTE: I Seem to remember The barman rolled and tried to roll them
out the door.  That could not have been true.  I was reticent to mention
this  performance which was both comic  and tragic…but it happened)

We walked back to our sleeping bags … crawled  in …and rain came
down heavy.   Sleep?  Not a wink. .
Dawson City was losing any charm it once had  in my mind.

Expenses (chargeable?)
insect repellent   $3.19
hunting knife        4.50
Bus fare            12.00
Food (3 days)   18.00
Total         $27.69
DARE WE SUBMIT THIS?

Personal expenses
Necklace for Marjorie  $7.50
Foxy                             6.00
Rum                             9.00
Food (3 day)               3.00
Beer                           3.00
Cards                        2.00
Total                $30.50

July 6,1962

“What’s that?” “Something crackling!”  I was suddenly awakened at 6 a.m. to discover
two Big dogs…right in camp with us.  Silent.  Staring.  Were they hungry?   My sleeping bag  was soaking wet
from the rain.   Cold pork and beans and a box of  cookies sitting
in our rain soaked sleeping bags with a  Labrador Retriever on one side and what looked
like a wolf on the other  side  while gazing down at Dawson City far below.    The 
dogs wandered away.

 We had a full day in Dawson City.  More time than we needed.   On the main street we stopped at a tent
with sign ‘Bank of B.N.A.’ where  a hostess was pleasant. “You really must see Foxy…at the theatre”

We needed a place to dump our soaked sleeping bags…not a play at the fancy theatre.

OCCIDENTAL  HOTEL…EARLY PICTURE…NOT SO  ROUGH WHEN WE STAYED THERE


OCCIDENTAL HOTEL IN 1977…NOT DOING SO WELL…


BANK  OF COMMERCE WHERE ROBERT SERVICE WORKED



 “Let’s register in the Occidental
Hotel for tonight…dump our bags..”  Got a  nice old fashioned room with two beds for $9.  Wandered around
noting some of the Dawson old timers who would just have been born back in the 1890’s
gold rush days.  Then back to the Occidental for a nap as we sure did not get much sleep
last night.   

I bought Marjorie a necklace for $7.50.   Then we had a  big supper in the Occidental
dining room.     The actor Bert Lahr sat at the next table.  The star of the special
play Foxy for whom the brand new theatre had  been built.  Dawson City was  
expecting a big tourist boom this  summer.  Lots of federal money had been spent…most
of it constructing the theatre and more to import the professional cast of actors
and  dancers.   I remembered  flying north with some of the chorus girls who
were very excited.  I wondered what they thought now…a month later. 


The Balance Grand theatre.


The girls of Dawson in the Gold Rush Days…maybe.



I DID not see any of the chorus girls who were on my flight to Vancouver a month ago.  They were so excited to be part of the musical Foxy
…excited to be living in Dawson City for the summer.  No sign of them here below.



We bought tickets at the Palace Grand for tonight’s performance of Foxy
which turned out to be a good show. It tried to capture the essence
of Dawson City and did so.

The plot:  Three old prospectors hobbled through a milling crowd…spectres from
the past that no-one cared about  …gold rush days remembered. We enjoyed
the play.  Not too many other tourists  in town.  

Then we went down to the Bonanza  bar and drank in some of the atmosphere
of Dawson.   Felt pleasantly good.  The barmaid was a  very pretty First Natons
girl.   Went back to the Occidental where Bill went to bed and I wrote Marjorie
a letter from the vintage hotel foyer.

We were not having a  great time really.  Might have been better to save 
our money and stay back in camp.

Thursday July 5m  1962

Up at 6 a.m. and out in the sunshine thankfully.   With my camera..trying
to capture the gold rush flavour of Old Dawson City which is easy to do.
…the old  hotels, the restored stern wheeler S.S.Keno hauled up on
the Yukon River shore, the slanted ruins of the hardware store, the
Presbyterian Church where the basement has  been returned  to the
permafrost (chairs and tables and hymn books covered nice), etc.

Then I went back to wake Bill up at our Occidental room where we
had breakfast with a drunk and a welfare case from Mayo Landing
(native lady with 6 kids)….All of us boarded the bus for the  return
trip to Mayo.  



WAITING FOR THE BUS ….GOING HOME TO MAYO LANDING



Nice drive down the Alaska highway to Stewart 
crossing where Mr. Hutton met us and we  hooked left to Mayo in
his truck.   Nice to be heading home.

At Mayo we got into a conversation with Jack Atchinson, a placer miner…on
Haggert Creek.  Pleasant fellow.  He bought me  a beer and I pulled up  a
chair at a liege table where he was
entertaining two  women from Elsa…an Australian girl  married to a
man from United Keno and her friend.  quite  normal people…families
from Elsa where the population was 600 in 1962 .  Boom times. Lots
of silver ore.  Sober people. Families with kids.

(NOTE:  This  meeting with Jack Atshinson turned out not
to be accidental.  I would meet him later.  He was a big time
placer miner who was interested in us…wanted to hire to help him.)

Then we  had to face the terrible walk back to our camp at Peso Silver from Haggart
Creek.  We had no way to tell the camp we were coming back so
we had to walk .. to climb really …for five mlles from the bottom
of the Great Valley to the Peso Camp.  We  were welcomed
when we got back.   Everyone was surprised..    Dirk drove down
and got our wet sleeping  bags.

Glad to be back home.

Was the three day holiday worth it?   Not  really…it it was
somewhat interesting…got some good  pictures.  The best
thing about the Dawson Episode was that it gave me
a great idea as to how I would  leave the 
Yukon when the job was  over.

How would I leave the Yukon ?
…cold  cans of  port and  beans….White Pass bus to Whitehorse
 …White Pass Railway to Skagway
 …Ferry boat to Juneau  Alaska
 …”Big 707 set to go” flight to Seattle
…Then flight home to Toronto
…all  I Would  need was a spoon and a can opener.

alan skeoch
Jan. 3  2021

HERE’S A ROBERT SERVICE POEM THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE

MC’CLUSKEY’S NELL

BY ROBERT SERVICE


In Mike Maloney’s Nugget bar the hooch was flowin’ free, An’ One-eyed Mike was shakin’ dice wi’ Montreal Maree, An roarin’ rageful warning when the boys got overwild, When peekin’ through the double door he spied a tiny child. Then Mike Maloney muttered: “Hell! Now ain’t that jest too bad; It’s Dud McClusky’s orphen Nell a-lookin’ for her dad. An’ him in back, a-lushin’ wine wi’ Violet de Vere- Three times I’ve told the lousy swine to keep away from here.” “Pore leetle sing! He leaves her lone, so he go on ze spree: I feex her yet, zat Violet,” said Montreal Maree. Now I’m accommodatin’ when it comes to scented sin But when I saw that innocent step in our drunken din, I felt that I would like to crawl an’ hide my head in shame. An’ judgin’ by their features all them sourdoughs felt the same. For there they stood like chunks o’ wood, forgettin’ how to swear, An’ every glass o’ likker was suspended in the air. For with her hair of sunny silk, and big, blue pansy eyes She looked jest like an angel child stepped outa paradise. So then Big Mike, paternal like, took her upon his knee. “Ze pauv’ petite! She ees so sweet,” said Montreal Maree. The kid was mighty scared, we saw, an’ peaked an’ pale an’ sad; She nestled up to One-eyed Mike jest like he was her dad. Then he got strokin’ of her hair an’ she began to sob, An’ there was anger in the air of all that plastered mob, When in a hush so stark an’ strained it seemed to stab the ear, We heard the lush, plunk-parlour laugh o’ Violet de Vere. Then Montreal Maree arose an’ vanished from our sight, An’ soon we heard the sound o’ blows suggestin’ female fight. An’ when she joined the gang again dishevelly was she: “Jeezecrize! I fix zat Violet,” said Montreal Maree. Then Barman Bill cam forward with what seemed a glass o’ milk: “It’s jest an egg-nog Missy, but it’s slick an’ smooth as silk.” An’ as the kiddy slowly sipped wi’ gaze o’ glad surprise, Them fifty sozzled sourdoughs uttered fifty happy sighs. Then Ragtime Joe swung on his stool an’ soft began to play A liltin’ tune that made ye think o’ daffydills in May; An’ Gumboot Jones in solemn tones said: “You should hear her sing; They’ve got the cabin next to mine, an like a bird in Spring, She fills that tumble-down old shack wi’ simple melodee.” “Maybe she sing a song for us,” said Montreal Maree. Now I don’t hold wi’ mushy stuff, tear-jerkin’ ain’t my line, Yet somehow that kid’s singin’ sent the shivers down my spine; An’ all them salted sourdoughs sighed, an’ every eye was dim For what she sang upon the bar was just a simple hymn; Somethin’ about “Abide with me, fast falls the eventide,” My Mother used to sing it – say, I listened bleary-eyed. That childish treble was so sweet, so clear, so tender true, It seemed to grip you by the heart an’ did queer things to you. It made me think o’ childhood days from sin an’ sorrow free: “Zat child, she make me want to cry,” said Montreal Maree. Then up spoke One-eyed Mike: “What can’t with us let her abide; For her dear Mother’s sake we gotta send that kid outside. Ye know this camp’s a den o’ sin, ye know that Dud’s no dice – Let’s stake her to a convent school, an’ have her brought up nice.” An’ so them bearded sourdoughs crowded round an’ on an’ all, Dug down an’ flung upon the bar their nuggets great and small. “I guess we got a thousand bucks,” exulted One-eyed Mike; “You bastards are a credit to the camp of Lucky Strike.” “You see zis leetle silver cross my mozzaire give to me – Look, boys, I hang it on zee gosse,” said Montreal Maree. Time marches on; that little Nell is now a famous star, An’ yet she got her singin’ start on Mike Maloney’s bar. Aye it was back in ninety-eight she made her first dayboo, An’ of that audience to-day are left but only two. For all them bibulous sourdoughs have bravely passed away. An’ Lucky Strike is jest another ghost town to-day. But Nell now sings in opera, we saw her in Boheem; ‘Twas at a high-toned matinay, an’ say! she was a dream. So also thought the white-haired dame a-sittin’ down by me – My lovin’ spouse that once was known as Montreal Maree.


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EPISODE 216 THE YUKON DIARY ..STORY 5 JUNE 11, 1962 TO JULY 2,1962

EPISODE 216   YUKON DIARY 5   MONDAY JUNE 11, 1962   TO  MONDAY JULY 2, 1962


RED BEARD

alan skeoch
Jan. 3,2021

OVERVIEW: 1) MEET DR. AHO…famous promotor of the Yukon … buyer of Double OP’s for fools and alcoholics
                             2) USE A RIVER AS A ROAD…to Silver King  Mine
                            3) MEET BOTH A FAKE AND  A  REAL  BLACK BEAR
                            4) MEET A HIDDEN MAN WITH STRANGE QUESTIONS
                           5) MEET AN ANCIENT BURNED FOREST (and recover some shapes)
                           6) DISCOVERED I WAS PAID  LESS  THAN OTHERS
                          7)  LOSE WEIGHT…we are being sent to Dawson City for 3day  holiday…at our expense

Diary Entry, Monday June 11, 1962: Arose at 7.30 and cooked a quick French Toast breakfast before packing into the survey site to rev up the motor generator.  Spent another hard day doing lines 11,15,13,17 (2-1500 feet long), and lines 66 (1500), 62 (16-1500),64 (8-1500).  Saw a spruce partridge en route back to camp.  Bill Dunn found an old pick embedded in a tree stump by some long forgotten miner whose trail had disappeared long ago.  We drove to Elsa to do the shopping including several extras — 24 cans general soups, stew, etc, 24 chocolate bars, 3 pints ice cream, 6 feet of garlic sausage, 3 boxes of Cadbury’s chocolate cookies, 1 tube of Jiffy-sew. Back at our camp we awaited the arrival of Dr. Aho and the mail. Both of which never arrived.  My beard is progressing quite well and seems to be red. Imagine that.  Dad was known as Red Skeoch when a kid…proof of my legitimacy maybe.


 Diary. Tuesday June 12, 1962: Awoke early and had luxury of slowly getting ready for the day.  Cooked breakfast for the fellows. Steve Rudnicki arrived and we set off for the base line.  Long cable for Base line #2.  Moved motor generator.  Began reading lines 4,6,8,10,12,14,16 East.  Fell and strained my leg badly.  Bugs are now out in force.  Packed part of equipment out to base camp where I received letters from Marjorie and mom.  Wonderful. Eric has the rhubarb wine working in the cellar at home in Toronto.  Bill Dunn and I walked up to the old shack on the road where the walls are papered with old London Illustraed News papers dating back to World War I. Abandoned log cabins are common here in the Yukon…some found furnished as if builders were going to return sometime but never did.

Diary, Wednesday June 13, 1962: Arose early and made light breakfast of toast and cereal.  Hard day in bush today. Bill Scott and Steve coiled up part of Base Line #1 while Bill Dunn and i completed Base Line #2.  Completed reading lines 12, 14, 16…all 1600 feet long. While I was taking a reading Steve sneaked up behind me and growled.  I was sure it was a bear just about to grab me…my heart raced.  Spent afternoon hauling cable, more than a mile long.  Then packing out the loads.  Heavy reels of wire exhausted all three of us.  My back has scrapes from the cable  frame digging into my flesh. Drove to Mayo Landing to repair one of the reels…acetylene torch needed.  Tlelegram from Peso Siolver re: survey.  Bill Dunn and I had two rum and cokes while Mabel got our mail.  Pork Hocks and pork and beans at Luigi’s.  Expenses $5 for two dinners.

Diary, Thursday June 14, 1962: Steve Rudnicki arrived and we coiled the rest of the base line.Spent an hour over a smudge fire trying to drive the mosquitoes away,.  wonder at our loss of blood.  Roasted good length of garlic sausage which was delicious. On way back to camp found several hundred feet of resitivity wire left by previous crew some time ago. In afternoon Bill Dunn and I drove as far as we could by road then hiked to the Gerlitzki claim where we left search guns.  Found great waterfall en route.   Then packed Turam and drove to Elsa to get grub for our last supper in the old miners cabin.  Bought 3 steaks, bottle of whipping cream, one cake mix, 2 cans strawberries.  I baked the cake in the wood stove  and then fried the steaks…backwards dinner. Then packed all equipment including a pick, axe and shovel from the Wernecke mine stopes.  



The Peso Silver men and our survey and line- cutting teams meet each other on one of the mining roads. There is
no danger of traffic as we are the only people here (except for one mysterious man seeking information about our survey.)
No problem so we stop for a beer and share stories.   Nice bunch of men to work with really.   Some First Nations guys
from the Mayo Landing tribal territory as well.




Diary, Friday June 15, 1962: Met Bill Dunn in Luigi’s for breakfast then joined by Dr. Aho and Bill Scott.  Wheland Rand arrived at 1 p.m. from Peso Silver Mine and we loaded gear into the GMC four wheel drive.  Marjorie sent me a 2.5 box of nuts from Kingston.  The drive to Peso silver Mine was fantastic. Treacherous road up river beds with water over the running boards. Halfway there we switched to  D6 Cat with wagon and drove up the river between the mountains for several miles then switched to an old Dodge Power Wagon with elevated body.  Sometimes the angle of the so called road was 45 degrees. Reached Peso at 7.20 p.m.  Site was on edge of a cliff. This would not be an easy job.  Met new crew.   HIlls are all very steep …some seem vertical;.  Good supper though in the cook house.
Fluff, the baby rabbit raised hell all night as she did not like the cardboard box.   Our tent is white which makes night seem  like day…too bright to fall asleep.





Expenses:  Boots and KiT  $5.80, Meals $3.50, Chocolate 70 cents

Diary, Saturday, June 16, 1962: On the job by 7 a.m. Carried motor generator to site and strung out base line cable.  Put grounding rods #1 in Secret Creek while ground #2 is in the saddle on Eastern ridge.  Resistance 540 ohms. The high altitude and exceptionally steep slopes made Bill and I feel weak. Heart racing very fast.  Mosquito bites are so numerous that my whole body seems swollen.  The project looks quite difficult due to the steep hills…very rough following lines.  Worried that squirrels will cut the base line.  Spent evening setting up tent for our living quarters…built a 
table and several shelves.  Hung up Marjorie’s photograph above my so called bed…a piece of canvas stretched over wire hoops.  The new fellows trooped in and introduced themselves.  Had coffee and went to bed.



Sunday June 17, 1962:


ON job by 8 a.m.  Motor is not kicking out enough current…only o.2 amps at 240 watts. 
did  line w 4 Bm w t N.  Storm hit and soaked us. Returned to camp to dry the instrument then coninued
after lunching lines W18W, W18S, W16N, W16S,…total for the day was 10,500 line feet.  Good supper then
prepared  maps for Barrie Nichols in Toronto.  Wrote Marjorie. 

Then had bull shit session with Paddy, our cook on this site.Nice to have someone making meals.  Joined
by Fred,Ray and Dirk…subjects ranged from Catholicism, hiking, girls,whores and Ireland until 11.30 bed time.

Wheland  Reed has gone to town with the line cutters   He will have a tough time getting back because both
Len and Kellly are alcoholics.

Monday, June 18, 1962:

On the job at 9 am.   Covered 14,200  line  feet.  One line went right through campsite so we had lunch with the lads
for a change.  Better than sitting on wet moss and getting hemmoroids. Hugh Naylor and I discovered two birds
nests on our lines, both with babies but so well disguised that they were invisible in plain sight.

We took readings right over the known mineralized vein but got no indications of an anomaly.  This caused us great concern.
We must keep that fact secret at all costs.  Hard to explain.  Wait until Toronto office hears that.  Must not tell Aho as he
seems to want good news to help promote the mine he likes (which ever that is).

In the evening the truck came back from trip to Peso and town. Len was in an alcoholic stupor all night wandering from
tent to tent telling tales of Finland in broken English.

Tuesday, June 19, 1962

Bloody hot day covering 12,800 line feet…..lots …so hot out that tried  to work without the mosquito net
over my head. Impossible to do that..too many bugs.   Pulling the base line … winding on reel is nasty work.
Finished at 5 pm…so exhausted we left the reel and wire on top of hill. 

Startled to fins a forest of skeletons…huge
forest of Yukon Spruce that had  been burned  years  ago.  Trees all silver grey trunks with old burn marks
scoured out.  Beautiful  in a grim way.   Cut off a couple  to take back to camp and  maybe ship home to Toronto.
The piece  we cut was  over 100 years old yet looked liked 20 years old when we read the growth rings.


This is Bill Scott, my Toronto partner, hugging one of the burned over logs that has been scoured
by many Yukon winters.   Maybe I will get it home  (which I did…it sits in my workshop)



Short discussion with Wheland about oxidation.  Then we talked about the dangers of Yukon mines  cut into soft
rock…oxidation and weathering in Yukon mines…then went into mine  workings to look at the soft, clay  like  pyrite, silver,
lead, antimony. soft form of rock Makes mines very unstable…danger of collapse.

Awoke st 3 a.m. to find  the rabbit Fluffy asleep on my forehead.

Wednesday  June 20, 1962

Got reasonable start today and managed 8,000 line feet of readings.  The switch  box gave us a lot of trouble…cut out three times.
Hugh and  I are anticipating big trouble…hard to trace where wires  are shorting.  In the evening we took our gold pans to a spot
on the valley floor where a placer mine once existed…panned for gold.  Found tiny pieces on first effort.  Amazing.   No value of course as
so small.  Then Dirk and  Ron gave it a try…eureka!  Gold.

Apparently Peso Silver people ordered  a case of toilet paper Air Express last winter…cost $54.00.

Thursday,  June 21, 1962

Poor start today because no help available …still did 6,200 feet when 1 man joined me…The symmetry switch has  broken delaying work in afternoon.
I did some repairs to the console and then lay down on my cot with a  copy of Klondile by Pierre Berton.

Wheland Reed showed  up at 7 with mail…got two letters from Marjorie, one  from mom, and one from Aunt Mabel…and
a  box of cookies from Marjorie…home made. 

Spent evening talking with Fred and  Dirk. Fred had been a pilot until his plane crashed in the bush.

Friday,  June.22, 1962

Rain…Rain…wonderful rain!   Got up, had  leisurely breakfast and went back  to bed.  Wrote letters and wrote a poem (what drivel I write)
Spent whole day eating and sharing Marjorie’s  cookies.   Read more of Klondile where the fall of  1897 was tragic…3,000  horses  were 
lost scaling the Chilkoot Pass…killed, tortured, Maimed,  poisoned.




Saturday June 23, 2962

 fog and rain delayed us but still managed to do 13,400 feet of line.  Dr. Green of the Geological  Survey of Canada(DSC) dropped
in for supper putting pressure on our cook Paddy.   After supper Wrote Gord Sanford  a  letter.   Beautiful sunset.

Discovered that I am the lowest paid person in camp.  Yet feel I am the person who does  most of the goddamned  work.  My crew
was the only crew out working yesterday    Bill  gets  $450 a month whereas I get $350 a month…not really fair.  Feel badly
…love  the adventures of the job.  Wage works out to about $10 a day or $1 an hour.  Then again I do get room and board …wire assembled cot
that has collapsed and good food occasionally.   Dr. Aho does buy us  drinks when given a chance.  “calls them double OP’s”
which means  Overproof rum (80 proof…nearly absolute alcohol) . Story of the Yukon there…overproof alcohol connects to rampant
alcoholism.  Why send OP  rum to Yukon?  To save
shipping costs and expect the rum to be diluted 50%…never ever diluted though.  One drink of OP rum and we are drunk.  Rather funny
when it happens once.  But if it happens regularly…not so funny

(Dr. Aho was a charismatic figure who would eventually write a 300 page history of the Yukon.
He  is also a skilled geologist.  Impressive.)

Sunday, June 24, 1962

Got good  early start and covered 18,600 get of line…3.7 miles.  Roughest day yet but I feel good about the mileage.  Who would
be impressed?  No one. Then we extended the base line to the east.  

When I got back to camp my mouth was so dry I could not speak with ease. Had a good shower and  then we had  the usual
bull shit session with Dirk, Fred, Ron,  Bill and Ray.  Lots of off colour and funny jokes.  Checked  resistors before going to bed.

Monday June 25, 1962

Morning writing letters and checking equipment while Bill Scott set the grounding rods  for new base line.  Then managed to
do 8,900 line feet of readings…1.78 miles.  We really  worked like devils … before the rain  came…heavy black clouds.

Returned to camp to discover that Paddy the cook had cut his hand badly…thumb deep cut…needed a doctor.  My first aid
kit was the only first aid in camp.  Never laugh at a Boy Scout.  Bill and Ron served  supper while Hugh and  I did the dishes.
Then I washed  9 pairs of socks, 3 boxer shorts and 1 shirt.  Mail arrived from Marjorie, mom and Russ  Vanstone. 

So far my earnings total $321.46 with $24.95 taken off for income tax.  Russ says he is planning to go one for his  MA at
U.of T…maybe.

My bed  collapsed  in the night…cannot be fixed  as  canvas ripped  along the wire rods.  Will be sleeping on the floor.

Tuesday June 26, 1962

Hell of an evening…slept fitfully with nightmares after my bed collapsed.   Woke early and had terrible breakfast
of pork chops of all things…preferred bread and jam.  Then Ray Harris drove me up to the top of the hill (Yukon people
seem to call mountains  hills unless they have a snow cone on them) Managed  to complete 19,000 line feet….3.8 miles.
Long but spectacular vistas … made return to camp seem dull.  Paddy returned bandaged…brought mail.  

I was so tired  that I gave up efforts to repair my bed.  Fred and  I had a glass of sherry to soothe our nerves…Fred failed
his first year at UBC…word came in letter today.  Then Hughie joined  us as he just got  a  Dear John letter from his
girlfriend…he was very broken up to say the least.

Wednesday June 27, 1962

Tired…no sleep on cot…got up stiff in joints.   Managed to cover 14,400 feet of line…2.88 miles…

Bill Scott and I spent evening talking religion of all things.  What do  I know about religion really?  I  am
Presbyterisn whatever that really means while Bill is a very active Catholic.  No arguments.  We will get
along fine.  We traded Bibles … i brought my copy of New Testament but had not opened it…did not
tell Billl that.

Had  coffee later with Fred who told funny stories about the Bengal Bicycle club snd the Dirty Buggers Club.
Lots of laughter.

Thursday,  June 28, 1962  

Fred, Len and I spent the day reclaiming Base Lines  1 and  2…shielded single strand copper wire.  Then moved
the motor generator over to the new site.  Seems to be difficult to read  console  here for some reason

Got some lumber and built a desk  and  a chair. 

Wheland Read arrived with Roger Verity from Vancouver.   Verity is a big promotor for Peso Silver.  Seems nice.

I received a nice letter from the love of my life.

Names of men in our Peso Silver camp
Fred Carter
Hugh Naylor
Dirk Tempelman Kuit
Pat McGan
Wheland Read
Len Aaltonen
     Kelly
Ray Harris
Neil Hager
Dinky (First Nations)
Lea
Ron
Roger Verity
Budd Rich

Friday June 29,1962

Looks like rain.  Len and  I attempted to reach the eastern edge of grid where we had  a hell of  a time
with grounding rods  due to the permafrost.   Eventually got satisfactory resistance of  290 ohms.  Len
decided  to walk back to camp along the ridge.   Ten miles  walking through the bush.  Hard.  Startled
a mother partridge and her chicks…got some pictures.

Saturday June 30, 1962

Drove to job site with the line cutters in our Power Wagon.  Then Len and I put in the western grounding
rods…500 ohms … line resistance of 440 ohms (meaning what?) 

A strange guy from Rio Plata popped out of the bush wanting to know what we were doing for Peso Silver…wanted
information but got none from us.  Mystery .  His name seemed to be Ed Chase but I could be wrong.
Len and I managed to cover 8,600 line feet….1.72 miles.

It was very cold today and some of the fellows expected snow. Imagine that ..snow at end of June.
Len commented “Imagine that, I  will have put on my ‘Jesusly’ underwear when I just took them off last week.”
Jesusly is a new word.

Wheland Read and Roger Verity have planned a 3 day  holiday  for Bill Scott and me … in Dawson City
because we have overtaken the linocutting crew.  Nothing really for us to do.  We plan to take
our sleeping bags, mosquito nets and food.  Not sure we  can afford this trip but it is a chance
to see the Klondike at its  core.

Went to bed and fell asleep for an hour.  Woke up and read more of Klondike by Pierre Berton.

High wind shook our tent all night.

Sunday, july 1, 1962

This camp was made flat by the bulldozer then some professional carpenters set up the tents.  Neat.

Kelly, the new cook, rang the gong at 6.30 so  we got an early start on the Rex Base Line.   Managed  19,280 line feet..
3.85 line miles.   Switch box  cut out twice.   Today was cool with bright sunshine…conducive to working .

Back at camp Ron and  I were discussing books when suddenly he looked down towards the cook shack…”God…there’s
a bear!”  A large black bear was about 5 feet from the cook shack.  I got two pictures of the fellow.

Later we  had a discussion with Roger Verity and Wheland  Reed about three possible extensions.  Then we had coffee
and tried to guess  Dinky’s age.  He says he is 51 but looks about 21. Then he told  us about bears and
wolverines on his trap line.  Apparently a grizzly bear walked right into the Calumet bunkhouse.
“Wolverines are  vicious and smart…got into my cabin by squeezing down the stove pipe….in summer”


Monday July 2, 1962

This was one of those bad days as  the switch box failed 8 times and  we lost the whole morning’s work.  Put in extra grounding rods
at the western end.  Still failed.  I sent word  to Bill Scott for help.  He watched the switch while Len and  I did lines.   Then I
built a cover for the switch  box…discovered that sun’s heat may  have been problem.   Bad day but did manage to
get 9,770 feet of line done…1.95 miles.


BEARD  IS PROGRESSING FINE…..vanity you might say.

Tuesday July 3, 1962

DAWSON CITY, HERE WE COME!

END PART 5  YUKON STORY DIARY

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EPISODE 215 YUKON STORY PART 4: GHOST TOWNS VISITED ON KENO HILL IN 1962 BY BILL DUNN AND ALAN SKEOCH

EPISODE 215     YUKON STORY: PART 4  GHOST TOWNS VISTED ON KENO HILL IN 1962 BY BILL DUNN AND ALAN SKEOCH


alan skeoch
Jan. 2, 2021

EPISODE 215    GHOST TOWNS PART 4  …KENO HILL AND WERNECKE CAMP

alan skeoch
Jan. 2, 2021



SUNDAY, JUNE 10, 1962


“THIS is our big day.  Bill Dunn and I are going to climb Keno Hill…really a mountain…in search of a ghost town we
heard about.   We have no idea what it will look like or where it is.  We do know there is an old road up the mountain
from Keno City which  is itself almost a ghost town.  Bill Scott with drive us to the base of the mountain in our bashed
and beaten 1953 Power Wagon then he will backtrack and go to Mass at the Catholic  Church in  Elsa.  Given a choice
between discovering  and exploring a ghost town and  going to mass, We chose the ghost town while Bill Scott chose
Mass.  What choice would you make?

We climbed upwards  for two hours following the long abandoned  mining road which is now blocked with a small
glacier partway up.  The melt water flows down the old track for a distance… impossible even for our power 
wagon to get through.”

ROAD TO KENO HILL CLOSED…BARRIER OF RUBBLE

“About 2/3 the way to the top we found an old mine entrance and a jumble of abandoned ore cars with their wheels
gone.  Should we crawl  over the cars  and explore inside this mine?  We thought about it but decided  finding the
ghost town came first since we only had a few hours to spend before Bill would return with the Power Wagon.
Strange however that the mine would be part way down  the mountain yet the mine buildings would  be up top.
(We did not know at the time that there were two mines here…Keno Hill and Wernecke Camp.  Both very historic
in the mining history of the Yukon.  More important than all of Dawson City.   To us, what we saw was just
a gaping hole held open by timbers that seemed about to collapse.)”

chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-14-300×200.jpg 300w, chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-14-768×513.jpg 768w, chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-14.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>






“So we continued to climb.  Very steep road. Eventually we got above the tree line and there spread before us was what remained of  
Keno Hill or Wernecke.  The two names were confusing.  But the vista was incredible.  We could see for miles  and  miles…maybe
50 to 100 mlles distant was the looming tower of snow clad  Mount Haldane…due west of Keno Hill.   Really we  did not see
this vista at first because our eyes were distracted by the more  or less parallel set of  railway tracks that curved  out from
another  mine opening and ended abruptly at a  cliff face that went straight down for several hundred feet.  At the terminal
end was a heavy wood platform built right to the edge of the  cliff.  This was where the waste  rock was dumped and fell
far below along with other things  we could see among the fractured waste.”

“Our trip had all the trappings of home….frying pan  We borrowed a small orange crate 
table as we dined luxuriously on a platform built over the edge  of a cliff face.  When the mine operated
the waste  rock and other things were dumped here and far below was a garbage  dump worth attention
we could not give.”



I think this is Mount Haldane but cannot be  sure.  The picture was taken at lake level.  Not from top of Keno Hill
This shows what miners leave behind.

“I was reticent to sit on the platform but Bill was  insistent we sit there and  have our lunch with our knees on the edge of
the precipice while we gazed  across the valley to Mount Haldane.  I suffered from a feeling of vertigo
but at the  same time  a feeling of wonder.  NO mosquitoes or black flies  up here because the wind
drove them to ground.  It was something out of this world.  We should have sat there longer but even
our rapid lunch gave enough time for the vista to get locked into long term storage in my brain. Indelible.
Keno Hill mine was built on a truncated Mountain valley that had convulsed long long ago…and  a great 
swath of Keno Hill had been torn free and fallen straight down to the great valley below.

Several lakes glowed emerald green  here and there across the valley.  We thought we saw a moose in one’
the nearest lakes but could not be sure.  Nor  did we want to take the time to do much more.  We had
the ghost town  to explore.  Dotted here and there across  the bare top of Keno Hill were many buildings…most
of them windowless.  But a couple looked like picture postcards from  gold rush days of the 1890’s…log buildings
mostly but a few had shiplap lumber.  Unpainted.  The first one we reached even had old curtains hanging on
the windows.   inside there were dishes and  pots and old kitchen stuff here and there along with tables
and chairs.  Abandoned but done so in haste it seemed.  We had not idea when this mine was closed.
We guessed turn of the century…1900.  (But we were wrong.  Keno Hill and  Wernecke were abandoned  
between 1928 and  1932).   


My memory of this house was that he windows were  intact and there  were curtains.  Easy  to see the curtains. The rest is a shambles.
Perhaps the picture is misplaced.


The  opening to the Wernicke mine adit is choked with ice.  Closed.

That home was hard  to forget.  We felt like intruders … maybe the owner would arrive any moment.  Outside, however,
was silence only disrupted by gusts of cold wind. 



I think these  are buildings that were constructed in 1921 by Livingston Wernicke as housing for his miners.


“Not far away from the house was a large log building.  Looked like a big log barn which is exactly what it turned  out
to be.  Inside were horse stalls with horse collars and harness hanging on spikes;  No horses…no sign of life at all.
(It Turns out there were once 98 horses  up here.  Some pulled the mine cars from the stopes to the mill while others
pulled the waste rock  to the dump at the cliff face where we had lunch.  Most of the horses were harnessed
to heavy wagons  where the sacks  of  galena ore were placed  in route down the mountain road to 
Keno City and then forward all the way to Mayo Landing where stern wheeling steamships paddled
the ore to Whitehorse where the White Pass Railway took over.   The  silver from Keno Hill dominated
the world silver supply for many years. )”


“We expected to find piles of old machinery in abandoned  workshops but did not do so.  When the
mine closed the crushing  machines and related  tooling was tool valuable tote discarded it seemed.
Small tools like  pick heads and D handled shovels were laying about here and there which indicated
the corpse of Keno Hill had been picked clean by previous explorers like Bill and me.

We had only a hour or two to explore.   Never got to see every building nor did we find
an adit leading into the mine.  Adits are horizontal…shafts are vertical.   We had no chance
of getting deep in the bowels of  Keno Hill.

I took a  few pictures and  we headed  down the mountain to Keno City where Bill Scott was waiting.
How were we able to get the time to do this?  I don’t know.  Maybe we had finished one job and  were
getting ready to start another.  Somehow we had a free Sunday.”

ONE of the horse stables on top of Keno Hill.  Once there were 98 horses up here.  Then Livingston Wernecke decided it was
cheaper to use Holt Tractors to haul galena to Mayo Landing.  What happened to the horses?   I have no idea but even to this
day there are wild  horses in the Yukon…tough wild  horses that manage  to survive.  At least they were
still there in 1962.  I do not know about today.

chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-4-300×200.jpg 300w, chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-4-768×513.jpg 768w, chris-nicole.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Chris-and-Nicole-CNA-Photos-visit-keno-city-yukon-4.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>
Many of the Keno Hill miners homes must have looked like this.   Use your imagination  When it was lived in
it may have been OK.  Small window openings were a blessing in a Yukon winter.

THE FACTS THAT BILL DUNN AND I DID NOT KNOW

Bill and I knew  nothing about either Keno Hill or Wernecke Camp.   All we knew  was that people once lived
on the top of Keno Hill and no one lived there in 1962 but their homes were still there…empty…collapsing.
A regular ghost town.  We were not sure we  had any right to climb Keno Hill (really a mountain).  But the
lure of the mysterious Yukon was irresistible.

Now,  in 2021, I know  a lot more about what we saw that Sunday afternoon back in 1962.
Sorting  out the owners of the mines near Keno Hill, their years of operation, their stories
is  a task too big for this episode so  I have tried to pare it down  to something readers can
understand.   What should  be written is  a great novel the likes of  Grapes of Wrath by
Steinbeck.


Livingston Wernecke photo

Livingson Wernecke (1883-1941)





In 1917 the huge Treadwell Mine on the coast of the Alaskan panhandle suddenly fill with water.  350 Miners fled
up  the  shaft as fast as they could  The mine horses could not flee. The death of those horses broke the
heart of the mine  population.   Millions of gallons of sea water  soon filled every
corner of the mine.   Livingstone Wernecke  was a mine geologist here in 1917.  He moved to Keno Hill in 1921.


The easiest way to understand what happened on Keno Hill is to focus on one man,  Livingston
Wernecke.   He was a big time miner.   A geologist who spent his early years working the
Alaska Treadwell mine.  Incredibly dramatic life.  But I will hold the story of Treadwell back.
It will take another whole episode.  Captivating is an understatement.

In  June, 1921, Wernecke came to Keno to check out the possibilities.  Much of Keno Hill had
already been staked, and some silver ore had been extracted.  Rich ore…lots of  silver, lead
and zinc.  The market was good.  World War One was over and the 1920’s were  booming.

So Livingston Wernecke thought Keno Hill had  great possibilities.  He bought a sawmill
and set it up at Mayo Lake to get planks and timbers for the underground workings
and the town site he needed for his miners.  From the Treadwell mine in Alaska he sent
all that was needed to start mining…steel  rails, drills, mine  cars, chain falls…a165 diesel 
engine, a 150 kilowat generator…picks, shovels, mine  paraphernalia.   

Access to Keno Hill in 1921 was not easy.  The best transport was by flat bottomed 
sternwheeler steamships which had come up the Yukon River and then up the Stewart River to
Mayo Landing.  That was  only part way.  The rest of the way to Keno was overland
on a bush road that was best in the winter..a muddy terror in the spring…a fly infested
hell in the summer.  Especially hard on the horses, all 98 of them.  But the job was 
underway and in May 1924 planning was made to reconstruct a flotation mill weighing
100 tons.  By January 6, 1925 the mill was  in place.  (*There was no sign of
the mill in 1962. It had been removed to Elsa, a few miles west of Keno)

Meanwhile his miners, he called them his ‘boys’ and tried to keep  them morally pure.
..meanwhile Wernecke’s boys were digging, blasting….deep…600 feet hollowed out
and the galena was rich…high concentrations of silver at 60 cents a pound.
(*The first mine  entrance that Bill and  I found was a drainage  adit saving Wernecke
the $200 a day costs of pumping water from the mine stopes and passageways,)

The estimated cost for the whole  project was $200,000 and the estimated profit
was  $1,273 a day.   Every ton of  galena produced 64ounces of silver that was
then worth 60 cents a pound.   Then there was the side profit selling lead
at 6 cents a pound.   Wernecke processed over 244, thousand tons of ore
containing nearly 13 million ounces silver along with lead and zinc.

Those were good times for everyone.  The miners, some of  whom got
houses for their wives  and children.  Others  lived in fancy bunkhouses built
with lumber from Mayo Lake saw mill and sheets of corrugated steel
from United Staes steel  companies.

Then suddenly the price  of silver dropped.  By November 16, 1932, Keno Hill
was no longer profitable.  Wernecke was killed in 1941…killed  in an attempted
airplane rescue of another downed pilot and crew.  His plane circled through fog
and  hit an unseen immense tree on the Alaskan panhandle.  Killed all
while those about to be rescued watched  helplessly

So in 1932,  Keno Hill and  Wernecke Camp became  ghost towns.
Much of the machinery and even some of the buildings were
packed up and moved to Elsa,

What we  saw in 1962 was a townsite and mine site that was slowly
rotting into powder.  People visiting Wernecke today will only see
the railway tracks and abandoned mine cars maybe.  Apparently the one
house  that remains intact snd  livable is the house  that Livingston
Wernecke built for his own family.  Some enterprising residents
of Keno City would  like it preserved as an historic cite.  Is that
likely? I am  not too sure.  Getting to the top of Keno Hill is not easy.

This is the short form history of Keno.  The full story will come later.
Suffice it to say that Livingston Wernecke tried to keep his boys
away from the hookers that took over Keno City in the 1920’s, when the mines
were flourishing.  He failed to do that.  Wernecke will be another secondary story. 


When I read about that failure I remembered a miner I worked underground
with at Elliott Lake.  He asked me if I knew how to tell that a mine
was going to be successful.  I thought it must be the price of the raw
minerals.  “No, you can tell when the hookers start to arrive.”  Well,
they sure began to arrive in  Keno City.  That will be another secondary story.

alan skeoch

Jan. 2, 2021

Posted on

EPISODE 211 PICTURE OF JAMES SKEOCH SHORTLY BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN 1918

Note to General Readers:  Sorry to insert this episode as it is a Skeoch vignette of limited
interest to those of you looking for excitement !  In these episodes I try to balance interesting
stories with a dab or two of family history.  Call this a dab of family history .  The  pandemic 
gives all of us time to dab bits of family history.  I know hat from he email letters  I get back
from some readers.  


EPISODE  211    JAMES SKEOCH SHORTLY BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN 1918

alan skeoch
Dec. 2020



JAMES SKEOCH…LAST PHOTOGRAPH BEFORE HE WAS KILLED IN 1918

Look up top, far right.  That is the last image anyone ever saw  of James Skeoch… riding in a 1918 troop 
carrier to or from a rest break at a YMCA cafe in France.  I think this picture was sent to me by Tina Skeoch
from the Skeoch farm at Corunna   Tina corresponded often with James.

James was  the oldest child of James Skeoch sr.  When World War 1 broke out he volunteered o
join the Canadian army and was eventually shipped with other Fergus volunteers to England and then to the trenches  of  France.

His enthusiasm did not last long..  Somehow at least one  of  his letters escaped the eyes of the censors
and  was sent to my father, Arnold (Red) Skeoch.  In that letter James states clearly that his brothers
should not join he army.   The letter gave me the feeling that James did not expect to survive the war.
Arnold was  unlikely to join the army anyway as  he was  only 12 or 13 when the war began and 16 or 17
when the war ended.   Dad’s brother John,  however, was prime military age and  seems to have
taken his brother James advice.

alan skeoch
Dec. 2020

THE SKEOCH LETTERS OF THE `830’s and 1840’S

P.S.  Two decades ago I spent one winter laboriously transferring the hand written  Skeoch letters of
the  1830’s and  1840’s into typewritten form  Soon to be transferred to digital  form.  These  letters
are  interesting  but a little difficult to put into context.  At some point in the mid 1840’s a  decision was
made  to leave Scotland.  Not all the family migrated. Some were left behind, particularly the elderly. 
Most came to Canada.   Some to the United States.
Why?   Were they pushed out of Scotland by misery?  Or did they see a chance of great wealth in pioneer farming
in Canada?   Push  or pull.?  I found both.

One other branch moved
to  St. Croix, Virgin Islands where they owned and ran a plantation.  A book was written about
that branch titled  Robert Skeoch, Cruzan Planter.   We became  aware of this branch of the family
when my wife Marjorie suggested we look up Skeoch’s in a Scottish phone book while on tour in the 1960’s
The  visit was wonderful… elderly Skeoch farm family closely associated with the Virgin Island
branch.  Back in Canada when  we told  Aunt Elizabeth about that she packed  a bag  and
flew to the Virgin Islands to meet any she could find. 

Another  flourishing branch high tailed it to Australia.  We write back and forth
often.  The connection was made in the strangest way.  I discovered that I was
not the only Alan Skeoch…there were three of us unknown to each other.  The third
was a dentist in California who recently passed away before I could bother him.

Back in Scotland  the family seems to have thrived as well.  Even to the point of trying
to establish a car industry by manufacturing The Little Skeoch in 1921.  Unfortunately the
factory caught fire and burned to the ground.  Today, however, some enterprising men
in Dalbeattie, Scotland, have successfully rebuilt a  model of the Little Skeoch.  Look it
up on the internet…you will even see the little car moving.

STOP!  STOP, ALAN!  PLEASE STOP!

In a subsequent Episode I willi include copies of the Skeoch letters even though it is doubtful
they will interest general readers.  Wait!   Give me time.  I can  find a  hook that might make
the letters of broader interest.

ENJOY  the picture of James  Skeoch above.  You  do not have to be  a relative to find
that photo interesting.  Worth researching even.

P>A>   I HEARD  YOU SAY THAT…HEARD YOU SAY “I AM SICK AND TIRED
OF ALAN’S EPISODES”  (I do not blame you.)



Posted on

Fwd: EPISODE 210 “NEW ZEALAND AIR AMBULANCE NEEDED” (ANDREW SKEOCH, HEAD ON COLLISION)



Begin forwarded message:


From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: EPISODE 210 “NEW ZEALAND AIR AMBULANCE NEEDED” (ANDREW SKEOCH, HEAD ON COLLISION)
Date: December 27, 2020 at 7:41:44 PM EST


EPISODE 210    ” NEW  ZEALAND AIR AMBULANCE NEEDED”  

alan skeoch
Dec 2020

Dateline:  Dec. 1992
Place:  90 mile beach, Cape Rainga, North Island, New Zealand


“Christ Almighty…there going to hit us head on!”
“KABOOM…”
“JESUS…JESUS…ANYONE DEAD?”



WE loved that car…but it was scrap in the twinkling of an eye.




“Christ Almighty…there going to hit us head on!”
“KABOOM…”
“JESUS…JESUS…ANYONE DEAD?”

Excuse the profanity if you can.  People in crisis often appeal to Jesus whether they
are believers or not.  Two cars smashing together on a New Zealand near empty 
 highway should have  been  deadly.  Head on!  Head light to headlight…engine to
engine.  Glass shattered by heads hitting.  Metal folding like cardboard.  Blood flowing
like water.  Voices screaming for the Almighty.  Jesus!  Jesus! Both cars held young people
who were fit.  Bashed, broken, bleeding … all alive but needing medical treatment
immediately.  This was not a good place for a head  on collision.  Not that
there is ever a good place for that.   Andrew Skeoch and  Keith Merker along
with two girlfriends had  been windsurfing on 90 mile beach on the west coast
of New Zealand’s North Island.  Carefree.  Two Canadian  boys on their chosen
world  tour.  Two New Zealand  girls enjoying the exhilaration of youth.  No one
dead but injuries were grievous.  Four Kiwis in the other car…girl with broken arm.

“Hello, Air Ambulance!  Get a chopper up to tip of 90 mile beach right away.
Car accident.  Head  on for Christ’s sake.”
“How many hurt?”
“They are all hurt but three girls need to get to Auckland fast.”
“And the boys?”
“Send an ambulance…quick. Two Canadian lads.”
“It will take hours to get there and get back to hospital.”
“We are stabilizing the  boys.”
“Who is speaking?”
“Police Officer Clark”
“Police  Officer?’”

“Archie Moore…”
“Are you sure you’re OK?”  Any others hurt?”
“Everyone was hurt.  Joanne has a broken jaw.  






“How did it happen?”
“Looks like one  car was rounding a hairpin on wrong side of the road.”
“Canadians?”
“No, Kiwis…”
“Sounds like it could have been fatal.”
“Bloody true…lucky the cars were big…some  protection.   And the kids are fit.”
“Any danger of delayed shock?”
“Don’t think so…that danger was  over long ago.  They were not 
found  for a couple of hours.  All  are conscious.”
‘We’ll send an investigator…mind if a reporter tags along?
“No…get a move on, goddamnit.”




Marjorie and I did not get a phone call from Andrew  until a couple of  days had
passed.  He  wanted us to know.  Nothing hidden.  Feared over reaction.

 But both he and Keith were hurt
and in the Aukland  hospital.  To phone right away, he  felt, would cause panic back home.
In the meantime the boys had to make a big decision.  They could be flown back to Canada.
Insurance covered that if necessary.  Two days passed by  and  they were mending.  Andy had
his nose nearly severed and  Keith had the steering column rammed into his lower body.  Injuries that
seems bad when their heads went through the windshield.  But two days later seemed OK.

CHRISTMAS DAY 1992

“Hi Mom, how are things back  home.  All ready for Christmas i bet.”
“Oh, Andrew, how nice to hear from you.  How is the world adventure going?””
“Bit of a problem.  We got in a car accident…”
“Nooooo!”
“But we are fine.  Bruised…mending.”
“Any others hurt?”
“Everyone hurt…some worse than others.  Joanne has a broken jaw.  Claire
has a lot of soft tissue injuries.  Both girls and one from the other car flown to
Auckland by air ambulance.  The car is a write off.”

BEFORE THE HEAD ON COLLISION


ON Oct. 7, 1992, both of our sons left home.  To say it was a surprise is an understatement.
Kevin had  taken a job with the American School teaching English in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The Soviet Union had just collapsed and Eastern Europe was in chaos.  Most citizens  of
Slovakia were looking westward to places like Canada and the United States for help. Most.
Not all.  There still remained many supporters of the communist ideal.  We felt Kevin was
stepping into a morass.  As he was.

Andrew, on the other hand, and his friend  Keith Merker had decided to head westward. 
“Where are you going, Andrew?” 
‘ Across Canada, down to Los Angeles  and then
across the Pacific…island hopping to New Zealand.”
‘Money?”
“We have some.  Get jobs  along the way.”
“Sounds a little chancy.”
“if I get in a tight corner, I will call.”
“No car?”
“We will buy wrecks…cars  heading for the scrap heap.”

And they did.  One car they bought in the U.S. had no side
windows so when they dropped  in on Victor Poppa’s place in California he
made them Wooden windows.   On a side venture to Arizona they 
were advised  to get out of the state by a friendly police officer. “Stick around
here with that car and meet a different cop…you will wish you never heard
of Arizona.”
John Steinbeck, were he still alive, would have added a  chapter
in either East of Eden  or the Grapes  of Wrath.

Island hopping across the Pacific…Figi and so many others…turning
to road kill for supper on one occasion.  Never cooked the thing though
the thought seriously about it.  Island hopping.

This was the way they ended up at 90 mile beach on the North Island
of New Zealand.  Let me tell the story from Andrew’s own words.



“We bought the four door Ford for $2,000 which was all the
money we had.   No worries for we felt we could sell it for
that money or more when we were done.  It was a great car for
a surfing holiday.  We met Joanne and Claire and  pooled  our 
resources.   We had the car. They had  the food  money. Nice 
girls who had  won a lottery. Surfed all  day in shark water..
We drove for miles up the beach…as far north as we could go
to Cape Rainga.  Car got stuck trying to clear a sand dune
 so we had take a run at the dune to bust out onto the road.

Then one hour later on a hairpin curve a New Zealander was cutting
the curve  and hit us dead  on.  I flew through the wndow cutting my nostril
in half.  Keith crumpled the steering wheel  with his body and  sliced his kneecap.
Joanne  broke her jaw on the head rest.   Claire had soft tissue injuries to
most of her body.   In the other car a girl in back seat broke her arm.  Boys
in front were protected by the seat belts.  I know..I know..we  should have buckled.

We collided at 6 p.m. but did not get help until two hours later.  No traffic up
Road ends at the ocean…goes nowhere. Eventually some cars came. Wrapped
girls in bedrolls…chills, maybe shock.   Policeman named Archie Clark came and called for an air
ambulance for the girls and ground ambulance for Keith and me.  We did not
reach hospital until midnight.  Next day there was an article about the crash
in the Aukland Herald.

The investigation concluded we were not at fault (which is easy to see in photos).
We then had to decide whether to head back  to Canada or wait out the injuries
and continue.   I waited a few days before calling you.  Afraid to spoil your Christmas.
Then Archie Clark offered to take  us to his farm over Christmas.  He found us
jobs and fed us.  Boar hunting with his sons.  After that we headed for the south island and then over to
Australia.  You sent us some money and we made a little washing storefront 
windows wherever we  went.  All we needed was a couple of  squeegees and
a pail.   

The girls?  We never  saw them again although I keep in touch with
Joanne on Facebook.   Both girls are married with children as are  Keith 
and me.  I wonder  if  there are many police  officers like  Archie Clark.”




FACEBOOK NOTE FROM JOANNE

Hi Andy, 
You havent changed a bit!!!I found my box of travelling stuff in the loft yesterday and thought i would see if i could find anyone! Hard to beleive it was over 18 years ago. It was only last year that i had to have jaw surgery to correct my bite since the crash. Hows your nose?
Do you still see Keith. I see Claire, she lives around the corner from me and our children go to the same school. She is still travelling all over the world as an air hostess for BA. She is married to Andy has Ben whos 10 and Jessica who is 7. 
How is life with you? I see from your photo you are still surfing!!!
Love to hear from you
Love Jo






WHEN MARJORIE AND I TOOK ANDREW  TO NEW ZEALAND…hardly any danger of a speeding collision











Kiwi birds are hard to find.  This one was attracted to the beer bottle between my legs I think.


Campgrounds in New Zealand are wonderful…full kitchens.


That was sometime around  1993.  The years when the Soviet Union was collapsing.  We were able to experience
the collapse first hand when our other son, Kevin, called to ask  us over to Slovakia for a week…which also
turned out to be a grand adventure.

alan skeoch
Dec. 1990


Posted on

EPISODE 209 TRAPPED … WITH THE INCOMING TIDE IN NEW ZEALAND

Note:  Episode 208 will  come a little later.  It is complicated and
needs  a little more research.  while  combing through my pictures
I came across these two photos…reminded me of an adventure i
had almost forgotten.

EPISODE  209    TRAPPED…WITH THE INCOMING TIDE

alan skeoch
Dec.  2020


Some time ago
Andrew, Marjorie and I decided  to explore some hidden  beaches on the
east side of New  Zealand’s North Island… Taranga location.  Not very 
far from the the Maori grave of  my cousin Roy Skeoch whose Maori wife, Anna
and family we came to see.  

Black volcanic rocks with glass like needles rose  sharply above the beautiful beaches.

We did not pay much attention to the fact that those beaches were
getting  smaller and smaller and the surf was at the same time
becoming angry.

Too late.  Our escape route was  closed…no footpath remained… just churning
surf.  Our only escape was  over the volcanic base of Mount Taranga.

We thought it was funny at first.  Then we became aware that there
was no place to hide.  Marjorie got a bit ripped.  In the end Andrew
carried Marjorie over the rocks.  That gave me a chance to get
two fast pictures.   Afterwards we decided to name our kitten Taranga
in memory of this bit of surf and rock and  churning water.





New Zealand is very safe for tourists.  Great long beaches on both sides of
the islands.  Accessible.  The only danger, apparently, is from a tiny toxic
spider that lives under the rocks.

Well, not the only danger.

Shortly after we returned to North America with Andrew he decided to go back
to New Zealand with his friend Keith Merker.   Both of them kids who would turn
into young men while exploring the world  around them.  The danger?  The greatest
danger they faed in New Zealand came from fellow human beings.   

And at the same time the greatest rescue they experienced  also  came from
a human being…a New Zealand police officer.

I will try to put that story together.  I have the pictures.   

The pictures of this wild surf reminded me of those days and the adventures
we shared.   Our other son, Kevin, could  not go with us as he was a student
at the University of Toronto at the time.  He would have his own adventures  on
the other side of the world that might interest you.  Again…I have the pictures.

alan skeoch
Dec. 2020




Posted on

EPISODE 207 WOODEN FIRE ENGINE…ATTRACTS CHILDREN



EPISODE 207     WOODEN FIRE TRUCK…ATTRACTS KIDS

alan skeoch
Dec. 2020



“What are  you doing in the garage, Alan?”
“Building a fire engine.”
“Fire engine?”
“Got the parts at a farm sale…parts  that looked to me  like a fire engine.”

Took me a couple of weeks to get this fire engine assembled and painted.
The very day we  Wheeled it out to the front lawn a  huge load of  kids 
arrived.   Came like bees smelling nectar.   I counted11 of them..may have 
been more.


But where is Andrew?  Lots of kids…10 of them, but where is Andrew?


“Here I am Daddy.”