From the poem ‘The Cremation of Sam McGee’ by Robert Service.
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold…
There were many gold rush prospectors in northern Ontario “who moil for gold,” and there are two characters who lived in caves on the back roads back in their day.
From two leads it was back to the back roads to find out more of their stories.
Charlie Ross story
Jason Ingram from Larder Lake (Highway 66, 28 km east of Kirkland Lake) is a back roads kind of explorer who has a dogged determination to join the dots related to that sense of place.
“Like all good stories, they start in the past, when someone dies their legacy passes from one person to another through time," he said. "I first bought land in Larder Lake about 10 years ago from a dear friend, Kevin Anderson."
"He [Anderson] told a tale of an old prospector from the 30s who lived back in the woods. He built a cabin in front of a cave. The cabin was situated along a rock outcrop, named after him called Ross Wall.”
“He also told me a story about a monument that was built in the place where he [Ross] died. Supposedly his lantern was still lit when his friends found him.”
After five years of searching for this monument, it still eluded Ingram.
He began by tracking down the lady who wrote the book From Crown City to Omega but it took a while.
“Furthermore, through her 94-year-old brother, the story of Charlie Ross was told," Ingram said. "As I sat down to have lunch I learned of the tale of Charlie Ross."
"Charlie was a drinker, storyteller and a prospector. He had many friends and was well-respected by his peers. His house burnt down and he moved into the woods where he continued to prospect and live the remaining years of his life. One day coming into town he didn’t make it so his friends set out to find him. They found him slumped under a pine tree with his lantern still lit at his feet. This spot is where the monument was erected in his memory. Diamond drill bits were used for the cross.”
Since then the pine tree fell and broke the cross. The original bronze plaque ended up in the Museum of Northern History at the Sir Harry Oakes Chateau.
Ingram said a new plaque has replaced it and he pointed out on a map (to the best of his abilities) the location of the monument.
"With Kevin Anderson, we set out and found the monument after three hours of searching stoically all alone in the middle of the woods where no one had seen it for at least 25 years," he said. "The cross was lying amongst the leaves, the lantern standing proudly partially buried in the dirt, sitting in front of the monument. Just as the legend says for 83 years.”
That’s determination.
Kelly Gallagher, the Municipal Curator of Museum Services for the Corporation of the Town of Kirkland Lake provided more information about the original plaque.
“It (obituary) does mention he died at the age of 71,” Gallagher said. "It is known that after attending medical school, Charlie staked and claimed many properties that resulted in mining starts including a trace mineral, molybdenum, used to strengthen steel. He was injured in the Matheson Fire of 1916. His brother was Art Ross of NHL trophy fame.
She explained a heritage link.
“As for Charles Ross and other early prospectors to the Kirkland Gold Camp area, people tend to romanticize that era of mineral exploration as a big adventure and forget the day-to-day struggle of men and some women who spent months or years trying to make a discovery, when many were struggling just to eke out a living in a harsh environment. Even Harry Oakes had his struggles when he first arrived in the area. Ross was known throughout the region for his storytelling and possible embellishments that helped to perpetuate that ideal of prospecting I mentioned earlier. And who can blame him for wanting to put a spin on his experiences when sharing it with others to entertain? He didn't make his impact with a gold discovery but left a lasting impression with locals through the time he spent with them and his storytelling.”
The interesting thing about this cave is it was created by several enormous glacial erratic boulders. Charlie built what is best described as a cabin annex attached to the cave. More on this with the next prospector.
Brian Emblin from Timmins joined me and we met up with Ingram a couple of weeks back to make the meandering trek to the monument and then to the cave. It was a good workout and a monumental find, it felt like we knew Charlie.
Jacob 'Jake' Davidson
On the same day, we then set out for Matachewan on Highway 66 59 km west of Highway 11.
There was not much information about the prospector we were looking for but we started with this link about the next prospector, named “Jacob,” who also apparently lived in a cave as promoted by the municipality.
When you get stymied, you always go to the village’s general store for the local buzz. “Go over to the ZZZ “n” Eats restaurant they will know.”
And they did. We met Lindsay Cousineau and Ken McCollam proprietors of the restaurant and a bunkhouse for the nearby, operating gold mine, the second iteration of the Young-Davidson Mine now owned by Alamos Gold.
We discovered “Jacob” is Jake Davidson. McCollam’s grandfather, Cliff, was Jake’s partner. An original backpack and mounted newspaper clippings from a Nov. 20, 1930, Cleveland News newspaper telling about the gold discoveries are on the wall.
Jake Davidson found gold in Davidson Creek in 1916 in what would later become the Young-Davidson mine. Trenches and shallow cuts were created in the surface rock where more gold was discovered. The find sparked a mini gold with other discoveries. It was not until 1934 when his efforts were rewarded when Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd, built an ore processing mill.
Some post-discovery research uncovered the following, Jake was in the Klondike.
From the Yukon Prospectors Hall of Fame. “Jacob Alexander Davidson came from Ontario to the Yukon to join the Klondike gold rush. His party's two canoes, likely the birchbark variety Davidson built himself, entered the Yukon River system on May 27, 1898, at Lake Bennett, British Columbia.” The North West Mounted Police checked and registered the craft as #156162.
“Jake Davidson was a big, furryfaced, laconic, talented prospector who disliked crowds and preferred roaming the hills alone, albeit he had plenty of partners during his illustrious career. It is said that more creeks were named after him than any other prospector in Canada.
“Davidson's oddities made for many colourful tales told about him around campfires. He was known for enduring all kinds of privations simply because he ignored any discomforts. He preferred natural caves as shelters rather than the confines of canvas tents.”
This reference is important because like Charlie Ross, Jake, as well, lived in a cave with a cabin annex. (Jake’s cave was later used as a dynamite powder repository.)
Jake Davidson was inducted into the Prospectors' Association's Hall of Fame in 1988. His name is inscribed on a brass plate attached to the Hall of Fame art piece on display in the foyer of the Yukon government. His name also is engraved in the base of the bronze prospector statue in downtown Whitehorse.
Jake Davidson died just after receiving his first dividend check from his Matachewan gold discovery. Just before passing on, he bought all the miners rubber boots, a luxury in the day.
The interesting thing about both the Ross and Davidson caves is that they are vented by rock structures, several enormous glacial erratic boulders pushed together. The natural stovepipe became the hearth in both cases. They accented their meager lodgings building a cabin extension.
The two caves are strewn with quartz flakes indicating the prospectors spent a great deal of time with their “sledge” and “rock pick.” The rock pick has one blunt end while the other has the distinctive pick rock pointed tip, a mining hand tool staple. They were looking for traces of gold in the core samples (cores) they would have backpacked from the shallow pits and outcrops within their claims.
You can see the caves, here is the map for these prospectors.
As an addendum there is much more to this Matchewan story, there will be a return to find out more. One reason is that Glenn Bradley, the UFO aficionado lived here and there are stories of him, according to Ken McCollam. Back we go to the ZZZ “n” Eats on the back roads for more good food and company. And there is an American Civil War survivor buried in a nearby cemetery – another gem of a story but that will have to wait, more snow and winter starts December 21, and spring is March 20.