EPISODE 227 YUKON DIARY JACK ACHESON..GOLD MINER FNDS A MAMMOTH
alan skeoch
Jan. 2021
By now you must find gold rather boring.
Largest old nugget ever found…20 ounces
Jack Acheson’s was 7 ounces, about 1/3 this size.
Tuesday, July 31, 1962
What a beautiful day. Bill Dunn, Andy and I walked and waded up Haggart Creek
to see Jack Acheson at his hydraulic operation. He suggested we look at his
shaft and do some gold panning with gravel concentrate taken off his sluice box.
Later he showed us some gold nuggets.
Strolled back to camp and tried to divert a part of the stream through our
camp like the placer miners do in order to get water running through their
sluice boxes. (Why did I want to divert the creek? Makes no sense.)
Bill Scott, Hans Buhr and Axel arrived … we packed and moved to town for
the evening. I was not too hot on the idea but it was cheaper. Bill Dunn and
I had a couple of beers in the Silver Inn and then walked home at dusk.
Watched a silver headed resident who was drunk trying to beat time to the
music machine then fell asleep with his coffee cup in his mouth. Not
really funny.
Expenses meals 3.65
Wednesday August 1, 1962
Arose late and had Marjorie’s package of Sugar Pops for breakfast…she
sends interesting packages. Then walked around Mayo Landing looking st
all the gardens with envy…took pictures…long summer days inYukon means great
growing season.
Bought $20 worth of grub for the Hans Buhr campsite. Met little Patricia Gilroy
who is 5 years old or so…she came running down the street to take my hand…
calls me ‘uncle’…I walked her home. There are normal families in the Yukon
I must say that overland over again lest people believe the Territory is filled with 24 year olds
summer miners and aged like I have implied.
Later we drove the Land Rover back to Dublin Gulch….60 mile trip each time.
I had a very pleasant supper with Jack Acheson at his camp…roast beef
and Yorkshire pudding in his old log cabin. Cooked by Mrs. Hanson the
is partly First Nations. Jack has a very nice crew or maybe they are partners….
Bob. Don and Albert.
Jack showed me a huge tooth from a Hairy Mammoth or a Mastodon…10,000
or maybe 50,000 years old. (which he gave to me later…see earlier story)
Then we looked over his collection of ancient tusks
leaning against the outside wall of the cabin.
Then we watched him weigh his gold….125 ounces this week.
(Note: gold in 2021 is $2,000 and ounce, therefore Jack’s weekly find was
worth $250.000 today but only $4,375 in 1962. By 1966 Jack did not get
enough gold to pay his bills according to Dr. Aho in his book Hills of Silver.
Thursday August 2, 1962
Up at 6 a.m. Had open air breakfast then on
the job by 7 a.m. Long hard day with seismic machine. The forcite explosives
gave both Bill Scott and me migraine headaches….called glycerine headaches as
beaded material on sticks of forcite is absorbed by our skin.
We managed to do 6 determinations…sites. Does not look good. Permafrost
lurks just below surface. Cannot get sound waves to travel.
Had a brief lunch with Albert who was clearing a tunnel into the shoulder of
the hill in search for gold bearing gravels…if found then hydraulic hose
and bulldozer and dragline would move in I assumed.
Managed to pick a tin can full of blueberries…big berries. Walked
home down Haggart Creek in he evening and had delicious supper with
Axel…pork chops and potatoes.
After supper Bill and I strengthened the tent. Not proud of our work.
Our Seismic results are not good. Must inform Jack Acheson tomorrow
which is something we are not looking forward to doing
Friday, August 3, 1962
Up at 6 a.m. Out to see Jack. Gave him the bad news then did a test determination on
bedrock…2800 feet per second…very slow…confirmed our view that permafrost problem
exists.
Drove up to tell Mrs. Anson we would not be here for supper then drove onto see Fred Taylor
…tell him that the seismogrph was not good at all in the area. Fred was disappointed but
cheerful…showed us some of his slides…had a chocolate bar … invited Fred down to our
camp. We are not sure how this failed project is financed…not our side of the business…expect
there will be no charge
failed in effort to divert some water to our site vis a sluice system. Failure. (not sure why
we did this). Ron, Buddy, Fred and Neil dropped into our camp for a visit…usual camaraderie.
Mail from Marjorie. Will sleep in tomorrow.
The placer gold miners were hoping we could tell them depth of overburden to bed rock
which would help them decide where to strip the gravel. No luck.
Fred’s slides…fireweed, Dinky aRay Harris,Fred, Len,Alan, Peso Silver camp
Saturday August 4, 1962
Not much doing today. Built frame for cook tent then discovered maggots in the Polish
sausage and slab of bacon. Washed them out in Haggart Creek. Hope I got them all…ghastly
looking things. I wonder what kind of pollutants are in the Haggart Creek water…certainly lots
of lead which is not good. Maybe the lead will kill the maggots.
EAGLE GOLD MINE…DUBLIN GULCH TODAY (2021)
This is how the Eagle Gold Mine operates today. Immense machines but the system is
essentially the same as the old gold banners … much liike Jack’s system. The Eagle mine
seems to be working over the same ground catching the gold others missed…and then
stopping more and more overburden.
Work History (Report by Eagle Gold)
Placer gold was discovered on Haggart Creek in 1895 and on Dublin Gulch in 1898. The first hard rock claims were recorded in Oct/1901 and included Dublin Lode (2404), North Star and numerous other claims. In 1904 a 14 m adit was driven on the Dublin Lode claim. By 1912, development work had been recorded on five separate claim groups. On the Stewart-Catto claim group (Happy Jack (8029) and Victoria (8022) claims) recorded in Jun-Oct/08, two adits were driven, the first 38 m long and off vein, and the second a 600 m crosscut which included 23 m of drifting on vein. On the Olive claim (8025) recorded in Jun/08, a 21 meter adit was driven, the last metre of which was on the vein. Trenching and pitting was performed on the Shamrock claim group, while an 8 m shaft was sunk on the Blue Lead claim group (8049), recorded in Dec/09.
T. McKay and A.H. Martin tied on Bob (55056), Mucking Futch, and other claims to the Olive claim in Nov/37, prospected with pits and shallow shafts in 1938 and sold the claims to Treadwell Yukon Ltd, which performed more trenching. The property was transferred to Keno Hill Mining Company Ltd in 1946.
Restaked as Avoca, etc cl (59052) in Oct/48 by J.B. O’Neill and J.J. Colt, who explored with hand and bulldozer trenching in 1949-54, sold an interest in 1958 to E.H. Barker, who trenched in 1958-61 and sold the property to Peso Silver Mines Ltd in 1962. Peso performed trenching in 1962.”
Placer gold was discovered on Haggart Creek in 1895 and on Dublin Gulch in 1898. The first hard rock claims were recorded in Oct/1901 and included Dublin Lode (2404), North Star and numerous other claims. In 1904 a 14 m adit was driven on the Dublin Lode claim. By 1912, development work had been recorded on five separate claim groups. On the Stewart-Catto claim group (Happy Jack (8029) and Victoria (8022) claims) recorded in Jun-Oct/08, two adits were driven, the first 38 m long and off vein, and the second a 600 m crosscut which included 23 m of drifting on vein. On the Olive claim (8025) recorded in Jun/08, a 21 meter adit was driven, the last metre of which was on the vein. Trenching and pitting was performed on the Shamrock claim group, while an 8 m shaft was sunk on the Blue Lead claim group (8049), recorded in Dec/09.
T. McKay and A.H. Martin tied on Bob (55056), Mucking Futch, and other claims to the Olive claim in Nov/37, prospected with pits and shallow shafts in 1938 and sold the claims to Treadwell Yukon Ltd, which performed more trenching. The property was transferred to Keno Hill Mining Company Ltd in 1946.
Restaked as Avoca, etc cl (59052) in Oct/48 by J.B. O’Neill and J.J. Colt, who explored with hand and bulldozer trenching in 1949-54, sold an interest in 1958 to E.H. Barker, who trenched in 1958-61 and sold the property to Peso Silver Mines Ltd in 1962. Peso performed trenching in 1962.”