Fwd: EPEISODE 687 REPRINT OF EPISODE 249 YUKON DIARY LIVINGSTONE WERNICKE . ON KENO HILL 1925 TO 1935

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From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

Subject: Fwd: EPISODE 249 YUKON DIARY LIVINGSTONE WERNICKE . ON KENO HILL 1925 TO 1935

Date: November 30, 2022 at 2:02:07 PM EST

To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

Begin forwarded message:

Subject: EPISODE 687 RERINT OF  EPISODE 249 YUKON DIARY LIVINGSTONE WERNICKE . ON KENO HILL 1925 TO 1935

Subject: EPISODE  687  REPRINT OF EPISODE 249 YUKON DIARY LIVINGSTONE WERNICKE . ON KENO HILL 1925 TO 1935

 

NOTE: Early in June 1961 I explored a ghost town and got mine on Keno Hill called Wernecke.  The name was strange

EPISODE 687  REPRINT OF EPISODE 249

EPISODE 249   YUKON DIARY  LIVINGSTON WERNECKE   ON KENO HILL 1921 TO 1935

 

alan skeoch

Feb. 2021

 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE IN WERNECKE CAMP, KENO HILL  1925

 

Mining is dangerous.  So it is not first in line up of desirable careers.  Test yourself.  

Would you take a job cutting out slabs of rock with explosives five  to 1,000

feet beneath the ground where the darkness is absolute and arsenic is just

one of the nasty minerals you will be handling while the air you breathe

is often  filled with tiny dust particles that are sharp enough to grind  your

lungs to a cancerous  pulp.

 

Arsenic and lead pouring out of mine site…not the Wernecke mine site but the problem was present in the Yukon and remains a problem

 

Not so nice.   Probably worse than I have noted.  Many miners, even as late

as the 1920’s could not stand erect in the stopes.   And the water they drank

had contaminants no one had identified…arsenic for sure.

 

Livingston Wernecke was well aware of the dangers miners faced.  He tried

to make the conditions in Keno Hill as pleasant as possible.  His mine was

not filled with dust.  His drills were water infused to reduce the chances of

silicosis of the lung;  It was safer to work  in a Wernecke mine than the

Guggenheim mine at the top of Keno Hill.  Not perfectly safe.  Mining

can be  dangerous but Wernecke made sure his miners knew the dangers

and took precautions.  

 

YES, he seems to have been erasable at times.  Miners that displeased

him were told to ‘get your time owed and get out’.  When buying claims from

stakers he gave fair prices as high as $100,000 if the site was tops.  But

he only made one offer.  Take it or leave it.  He did not talk much…lacked

the social graces. 

 

 He did not like prostitution or hard liquor.  Attempts to control both of these

vices failed it seems but were minimized.

 

 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE A MINER ON KENO HILL BETWEEN 1925 AND 1935.

 

   Dr. Aaro Aho in his book, ‘Hills of Silver’ shows  the good  side of Livingston Wernecke.

He referred to his miners as his ‘boys’.  Livingston may not have spent a lot of time

sharing stories with them over a hot drink but he made the conditions of their

lives as good as possible.  

 

Wernecke Camp Mine was not the wreck  that we saw in 1962.   In 1927 “there were two bunkhouses, 

a cookery, two  shafts and head  frames, a machine shop, a framing shed, mill buildings, Wernecke’s

and Hargreaves’ (mine manager) houses, three other residences, several outlying log cabins

and shacks, a recreation hall with a poolroom, bowling alley, library and radio, an outdoor skating

and curling rink, a warehouse,an office, a mess hall for 200 people,  laundry, the mill,

power house,  and assay office.” (P. 123, Hills of Silver)

 

Because of his stomach troubles, Livingston kept a cow for fresh milk.  Often the cow

did not give  all the milk expected because some teamsters would  milk her at night.

She eventually died… lead contamination from eating ore sacks. 

 

Wernicke’s  house was attractive since he expected his wife Mabel and their

two children to live on the mine site. Livingston liked to sit on his porch and watch moose

wading in the lakes far down in the McQuesten Valley.  Married miners with children were welcomed

as  employees .  Mabel and Maud (Hargreaves wife) often had games of bridge with other wives.

 

The poolroom, barbershop and  store were operated like any  such businesses in towns like

Dawson City, Whitehorse or even Keno City.

 

“In the recreation hall Emil Forrest showed silent movies on a small canvas screen for 75 cents  

admission and the  show  was always crowded  to see  Rudolph Valentino in the Sheik, Douglas

Fairbanks in The Three Musketeers, Gloria Swanson,  Tulula Bankhead, Pavlova, Tom Mix, Charlie

Chaplin and other great entertainers of the golden flapper era.”

 

Dances  were held with music  provided by the miners own “Jackhammer”  band  …a sax, 3 violins, a drum,

piano, and two banjos.   One prospector and  miner even gave dancing lessons.  When a dance

was planned Wernecke sent invitations and  provided  transportation from Keno City or even

as far away as Mayo Landing.

 

At Christmas time Wernecke threw  a big party for all.  

 

Drunkenness was unacceptable to Wernecke and one  story is told that he  threatened  to fire any

Irishman who got drunk on St. Patrick’s day.  None got drunk.  But his Swedish employees] did

get drunk so he  fired them all.  This sounds a little far fetched but the story does underline  the

stiff moral code by which Werncke lived.   And his determination to make sure others shared

his principles whether they liked it or not.

 

The brothel down in Keno City bothered Wernecke as mentioned earlier.  He visited the place

intending to have a talk with the Madam…perhaps named Vimy Ridge.  Before  the discussion

got underway one of his miners noted Livingston and said, “Hello, Mr. Wernecke, I see

you use this place too.” Seems Livingston said nothing but may have stared  at the miner in disgust.

 Another tale that may or may not be true but underlines his determination

to protect the  health of his boys.   He paid a doctor to ensure the girls were in good health and not

likely to infect his boys.   Infections would reduce production  at the mine.

 

A complicated man.   He looked after his boys well.  Grant that.  But he would fire them on the

spot for minor transgressions.   He gave terse orders which were sometimes misunderstood

which kept his miners on pins and needles.  

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HORSES?

 

When Bill  Dunn and I visited  the ruins of the Wernecke Camp Mine we found a horse stable with

two horse collars.  I made a big mistake when I assumed  the Mine was  shipping ore concentrates

by horse and sleigh or wagon to Mayo Landing where sternwheelers would load the sacks  and 

beat their way to Whitehorse.  Livingston Wernecke got rid of his horses in 1923…the same year

that Benjamin  Holt invented  and marketed  the Holt bulldozer…then called  the ‘caterpillar’.

At least two of these powerful machines were shipped  to Skagway and on up the White Pass

railway to Whitehorse then driven at crawl speed  all the way to Keno Hill.   Wernecke was criticized

for this  leap  of technology. “We do not even know how to get the machines off the boat in Skagway let

alone onto a White Pass railway flatcar.”   But it was done.   The Holt machines hauled multiple

sieighs of ore all hitched to the Holt caterpillars with a caboose as living space for the drivers

when at rest. 

 

What happened to the horses?  The good horses  were sold. “The others were shot.”  A  few were

kept to haul ore from the mine to the  ‘Holt train’ and others  hauled waste rock to be dumped over

the cliff into the MvQuesten Valley.

 

Werencke always tried to make his mine as efficient as possible for Treadwell Yukon directors

in California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wernecke was quick to see that these huge  Holt Caterpillars could haul many many

sleigh loads of silver ore from Keno Hill to Mayo Landing cheaper than the teams of horses

…and cheaper.  

 

 

 

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE WERNECKE MOUNTAIN RANGE?

 

Livingstone Wernecke was a shy man  really.  Efficient, frugal, irascible, generous, …a man who loved the wild places as  much as he loved

developing mining ventures.   Prospectors were often provided with food, gear and even airborne transportation to the unknown

part of the Yukon in hopes they would make discoveries. If a prospector found  and staked promising mining sites Wernecke was

quite willing, as mentioned earlier,  to pay as high as $100,000.   He encouraged discoveries by these free ranging unprofessionals.  He admired  their

tenacity..their risk taking…their independent spirit.

 

One  of the rewards, after his death, was the naming of a largely unexplored Yukon mountain range after him.  The Werneke Range.

Incredibly beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

So much more could be said about Livingston Wernecke.   Too little time to do it.

 

alan skeoch

Feb.  2021