Post Date: Jan 25, 2012Trip Date:

“The Richardson Gold Mine – ElDorado, Ontario”


In past articles, I have tried to combine sites by primary minerals mined or site proximity to each other. Once establishing the topic, the article expanded outward with factual historical background material, site descriptions taken from several respected sources, numerous recently taken personal photos, and finally ending with my personal assessment and commentary of the site after physically exploring it.

For this particular article however, you will find the factual historical account, thoughts of my own and bits of Internet info. The article will deal with only a single site.

This particular site stands alone amongst all the other sites in Ontario possibly all of Canada and deserves special attention. It’s fame lies not in the mineral that was accidentally discovered here, not for any unique qualities or inventive mining techniques, not really for anything related to mining at all. The mine itself only produced for a very short period, then played out. Fortunes were invested and even lost here by many prominent people of the time. The site itself is now lost to time, probably overgrown, studded with trees and brush, like so many of the old mining sites are. The old sites, once booming with activity, shafts being dug, explosives being set off, fortunes being made and lost, all lay idle mere withered skeletons of their former selves.

I would like to introduce the Richardson Gold Mine located in the town of Eldorado, Ontario. This site has the only notable recognition of laying claim to fame to the fact it was here where gold was first discovered in Ontario in 1866. Doesn’t sound like much, does it???. The fame arises not from the gold but from the ripple effect this discovery created. Like a drop of water hitting a still pond.

I chose to do this article to enlighten if only a few readers with the factual historical account given in first person language by the discoverer himself followed by several other historical reports and separate fact from myth. For those of you unfamiliar with this site, after reading the story hopefully you will be encouraged to do farther research.

Yes, you will find numerous articles and stories on the Internet concerning the Richardson. Many of the stories you will read are merely stories. There are numerous versions of collected bits and pieces of stories gathered and rolled into articles found on the Internet. I also found many Internet articles historically accurate, either in a condensed form or in a form being portrayed by the author.

A word concerning the Internet…. the Internet is not subject to any regulating body charged with verifying information posted on it. We can’t always believe what we read there. I can confirm this to be very true after visiting numerous websites and finding conflicting, even complete fabrications concerning the Richardson Gold Mine. At the time of my search, I could not tell fact from fiction. It was this misinformation that led me to seek a factual account and in doing so locating the account which you will read here..

For your entertainment, pleasure and historical insight, I will post here the actual report from the Third Report of the Bureau of Mines dated 1893.

The Report begins with introductions……………

To His Honor George Airey KirkPatrick, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario

I have the honor to transmit herewith, for presentation to the Legislative Assembly, the Third Report of the Bureau of Mines.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, A. S. Hardy, Commissioner of Crown Lands

Department of Crown Lands, Toronto, April 27, 1894.



To the Honorable Arthur S. Hardy, Commissioner of Crown Lands:
Sir, I have the honor to submit herewith, for presentation to His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, the Third Report of the Bureau of Mines.

Besides the statistics of mineral production in the Province, mining lands leased or sold by the Department of Crown Lands last year, this report deals with several subjects, which are attracting notice at the present time.

One of these subjects relates to our gold fields. Last year I visited mines in the Lake of the Woods region, in the district north of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, and in the county of Hastings, and a full account of operations in those several fields is given in the Report.

I also performed the duty of inspecting the several gold mines and mills, and therefore it was not necessary for the Inspector to visit them. The prospect of gold mining in the Province has greatly improved during the
year, and with new fields to attract the industrious explorer there is promise of increased activity this year.


The introduction continues on and concludes with:

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Archibald Blue,

Director

Office of the Bureau Of Mines, Toronto, April 27, 1894.



Reproduced here in its exact form, I give you the following report:

A Pioneer Explorer In Hastings:

One of the earliest explorers for gold in the County of Hastings is Marcus Herbert Powell of Marmora, clerk of the Division Court at Marmora. Although but little more than fifty years of age, he has the honor of being the discoverer of the Richardson mine in the township of Madoc, which was an exciting event in that region twenty-eight years ago. Mr. Powell retains his interest in prospecting work, and occasionally spends a few days in going over his old hunting ground. Four years ago he discovered gold on lot 24 in the fifth concession of Marmora, which is now known as the Demars mine. It is an arsenical ore, he says, cropping out over a width of 66 feet in a mixed country rock of quartzite and granite. " The ledge has been traced by me for 12 miles from Belmont, through Marmora, and I think it strikes the corner of Tudor." I was unable to see this property, but Mr. Powell shows very fine samples of free gold ore, which have been taken from it. Two or three test pits have been sunk, but no actual mining work has yet been attempted.

The Richardson Mine:

Mr. Powell, who is an intelligent but unassuming man, gave me the following account of the discovery of gold at the Richardson mine. It is worthy of being put on record as perhaps the only narrative of the event ever given by the discoverer himself for publication. " I began prospecting in Madoc," Mr. Powell said, " in the spring of 1863, and explored Belmont, Elzevir and other townships in search of copper, having for an associate a German copper miner named Nicholas Snider. He continued with me for two years and a half, but nothing of value was discovered and we separated.

I kept on, taking with me as my new associate one William Berryman. On 15th August, 1866,I discovered gold on the John Richardson lot, the east half of 18 in the fifth concession of Madoc, containing 100 acres. I was following on a seam for copper, and at a depth of 15 feet I struck ore carrying free gold. The seam was six inches wide at the top and was decomposed for six feet; then it was solid rock to 15 feet, where it suddenly opened out into a cave 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet high, so that I could stand upright in it.

The hanging wall was quartzite and the foot wall granite, while the roof was composed of spar, talc and rocks of various kinds, and the floor of iron, talc, quartzite, black mica and other minerals. The gold was found in all these rocks in the forms of leaves and nuggets, and in the roof it ran through a foot thickness like knife blades. The largest nugget was about the size of a butternut.

This was the first discovery of gold in the district. We sold the property to Lombard and Hardin of Chicago for $36,000. I don't know how much gold was taken out; but I guess the miners got as much as the
owners, for I have seen specimens of it all over the country. I remember very well the raid made upon this mine in the summer of 1867, under the leadership of ' Caribou ' Cameron. I suppose there were a hundred men with him. The reason of the raid was, that they did not believe there was any gold in the mine.

Ropes were thrown over the shaft house to pull it down -Hardin being in charge at the time as superintendent - but before any damage was done ' Caribou ' Cameron and another man were allowed to enter the mine and examine it. By this time two or three men of the Mounted Police had come up from Madoc, six miles off, and the raiders quietly dispersed.

Mining was continued until the spring of 1868 ; but although exploration work has been undertaken at various times since, no gold has been found. There were 19 acres in the location, which I had under lease from Richardson for a consideration of one-half of the mineral won. In dividing the proceeds of the sale to Lombard and Hardin, Richardson got S21,000 and Berryman $1,500. I gave my old associate Snider $3,500, and had $10,000 left for my own share."

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The following is the report by Alfred A. Campbell, Inspector for the Madoc Mining Division, made to the Commissioner of Crown Lands under date of May 6, 1867, gives some interesting particulars of the Richardson mine and the attack made upon it, as well as of the general state of gold mining in the district. It will be noticed that he fixes the occurrence of the raid on the Richardson mine more definitely than Mr. Powell, and at an earlier date:

" I have the honor to report for the information of the Honorable the Commissioner of Crown Lands that I have just returned from a tour through the gold region of Madoc; that I find, owing to the very unfavorable state of the weather, it having rained incessantly for the past three weeks, miners have been unable to continue work, the surface water filling up most of the excavations; and in my opinion nothing much can be done for the next three weeks. There have been however about one hundred shafts sunk in Madoc and adjoining townships, and every preparation is being made to continue the work as soon as the weather
will permit.

"Prospecting is going on to a large extent, there having been no less than from three to four thousand strangers who have visited Madoc during the last month, a large proportion of whom remain to prospect. Gold has been found to some extent on lot 29 in concession 4 of Madoc, at Downie's Rapids in Hungerford, and also in Tudor, but whether in paying quantities remains to be seen.


" There are at present four four-horse coaches and two covered stages, besides numerous private conveyances, leave Belleville for Madoc daily ; also line from Brighton by way of Trenton and Stirling to Madoc. A daily express has also been established. The work of erecting a telegraph line is also being rapidly pushed forward.

" At El Dorado, where last fall there was only one solitary log shanty, there have been already erected some eighty buildings, with many more going up ; in Madoc some eighteen new buildings are also being erected. Messrs. Gilbert and Turley are importing a steam quartz crushing machine, to be put up either at El Dorado or Bannockburn, which they expect to have in active operation in the course of a fortnight or three weeks.


" I have issued some thirty mining licenses, and as soon as the weather will permit the whole country will be thoroughly explored, when I hope to be able to report more fully and satisfactorily that gold exists in paying quantities in localities other than the Richardson mine. This latter promises to be one of the richest mines as yet discovered in any country.

Messrs. Lombard and Hardin commenced operations at the mine on Friday the 26th ultimo, but on Wednesday were served with an order from the Court of Chancery, in consequence of which they have suspended all further work.

'' I have also to report an unlawful organized attempt on the part of some one hundred miners and others to effect an entrance into the Richardson mine at present in possession of Messrs. Lombard and Hardin, not for the purpose of plunder but merely to satisfy themselves that gold existed in paying quantities, and that the whole affair was not a humbug.

Two of the party were allowed to examine the mine, and were quite satisfied with the result. This sort of organized intimidation is much to be regretted, as it may lead others less scrupulous to follow the same precedence, and may lead to acts of injustice and robbery ; happily however in this instance, owing entirely to the good sense of Mr. Hardin, bloodshed has been averted and quiet restored. The police were sent for and they together with myself were promptly on the spot; their services however were not required, as matters had been amicably arranged before their arrival. I have however thought it prudent to station a force at El Dorado.

This I think has proved the necessity that exists for the organized police force which has been established for this Division." Referring to the police force, the Report of the Commissioner of Crown Lands (Hon.
Alexander Campbell, the late Sir Alexander) for 1867 says : "As it was anticipated that a large number of persons would resort to the district for the purpose of prospecting and working for gold, a considerable number of whom would probably be men of violent character and habits, it was deemed necessary for the maintenance of order and the rights of property that a police force should be placed at the disposal of the Gold Mining Inspector, and a troop of twenty-five mounted police was organized under the authority of an Order in Council of the 22nd March, 1867. They were discharged on the 30th September, 1867."

***************************************

The above reports are of incredible historical reading. My reasons for posting these reports should be obvious………..I’ve stated in other articles, rock collecting and site history are intertwined. One can not exist without the other.

I have read this story over and over several times and every time I come up with new questions. Powell stated in the spring of 1863, he had explored Belmont, Elzevir and other townships in search of copper”. He was not looking for gold he was in search of copper. Copper up to this time was not yet discovered in this part of Ontario. This fact alone makes the story even more interesting. Adding to the mystery he took on an associate named Nicholas Snider who was a German copper miner. Coincidental??? These two searched for two and a half years and discovered nothing of value, neither copper nor gold. After that amount of time with nothing to show for all the digging and exploratory pits and shafts I would think a person would give up. Powell stated “and we separated”, he continued on alone stating he later took on a new associate one William Berryman

The process of digging exploratory pits and shafts was certainly not a one-man job by any stretch of the imagination. The bedrock in this area is granite and limestone. Granite is an extremely hard stone, limestone being slightly softer. From personal experience, using a pick, sledgehammer and wedges in Herkimer, New York searching for the famed Herkimer Diamonds, I can without a doubt confirm limestone to be very, very aggressive stone to work in. What factors were driving Powell to believe copper even existed here let alone gold???

Powell following a seam of copper accidentally ends up finding gold??? This type of storyline could only have been dreamed up in the movies but this is a factual story.

When the discovery of gold was made, the town of Eldorado did not exist. The gold rush of 1866 inspired the village's name in 1867, named after the Spanish mythical city of gold, Eldorado, or "the gilded one". The area was thinly inhabited with only a few scattered settlers living in log cabins. The main colonization road ran was through this area.

In the southern portion of Hastings County, place names are/were generally of English origin, due to the influence of then Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, the English and Scottish surveyors of the area and the English Loyalist’s from the American colonies. Which would have been those who fled during and after the American Revolution. Many of these place names date from the first settlements in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Irish immigration took place in the 1830s to the 1850s and impacted the area further north. The Irish immigrants followed the colonization roads in search of land and new beginnings. They used names they were accustomed with from the old country: Maynooth, Murphys Corners, Queensborough, the townships of Mayo, Carlow, Limerick, Cashel, Dungannon and Monteagle all have roots in Ireland.


I would like to add to the Richardson story just a little farther, if I may, with some information I found on a few different websites. This information, like stated earlier, is unsubstantiated however. I make no claims of its authenticity.

John Richardson, the property owner, was of Irish blood. He left Ireland looking for a new life here in the wilderness of Ontario as countless other immigrants did. Richardson had barely eked out an existence on his 100 acres of thin, rocky soil. Remember eons earlier, the glaciers scraped the landscape nearly down to the bedrock leaving very little soil covering the land. This is the reason there are no placer gold deposits in Ontario. According to the 1861 census, Richardson’s net worth, including log cabin and livestock, was valued at about $1,000. This to me sounds high, though depending on the number and type of livestock it could be accurate.

In the summer of 1866 Richardson hired Powell, a court clerk and part-time prospector to explore his land for possible minerals of value

When the gold was first discovered it was kept secret but by November the word was out and the area was stricken with gold fever. As word spread farther and farther the entire world listened.

Here are two very important points to remember………less than twenty years prior, on January 24, 1848, gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill on the American River in Coloma, California. How many of you are familiar with this story??? James W. Marshall was a carpenter and sawmill operator hired by John Sutter to establish a sawmill.

A bare-bones account of the story goes like this……in order to operate a sawmill one needs timber and a water source, in this case the American River, to transport the timber. A sawmill is constructed inland from the water source. Bulk timber is cut down up-river floated down to the mill site and held in storage on the water source till needed. Through a system of canals and holding ponds. The timber is floated into the canal to a massive holding pond or ponds. From the holding pond individual trees are channeled up and into the mill for processing.

One day on his routeen inspection of the mill and canal, Marshall noticed something shing, glistening in the water of the canal. The rest is history.

This discovery of gold resulted in the great California Gold Rush and hence lead to the the miners, prospectors being nicknamed “49ers”.

The 1860’s were also the time period of the American Civil War. A war which claimed more lives than all other American wars combined. At Getysburg alone estimates of between 46,000 to 51,000 soldiers from the combined armies of both the Union and the Confederacry were casualties in the three-day engagement. I think adding additional historical info to the story of the Richardson find establishes a better picture of the time period.

The Richardson find came on the heels of the California Gold Rush. Gold was the talk of the era everywhere, in Canada, the United States, Europe and beyond. Thousands of people converged on the gold area marked by the Richardson find all seeking untold fourtunes as in California. Though the Richardson find was not of such magnitude nor did it have the same impact as in California. None the less they came.

In California the gold rush is said to have put California on the map. In 1848 the city of San Francisco had a population of approx. 1000 people. By 1850 that number had grown to 3500. Los Angeles County population grew from approx. 3500 in 1850 to over 15,000 in less than 20 years. The growth of California, surrounding states, and the west in general can be directly attributed to the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill. Becoming the 31’st state, California was admitted into the union September 9, 1850. Again, Sutters Mill was only the springboard of a much larger event taking place. This was the mass migration of people recognized as a result of the discovery.

In 1927 a monument dedicated to Marshall, the original gold discovery site and several building of historical significance became part of California’s State Park system. The Marshal Gold Discovery State Historic Park was formed as an enterprise, open for all to see and visit. It exemplifies the American spirit providing access to a site of great historical importantance. This site will remain under the park service system, being protected, maintained, and cared for in a professional manner in such a way only a state run entity can. It will remain for generations to come.

In previous articles, I have stated the need for the preservation of sites such as these, through state and/or federal entities and programs. They require the stewardship of a regulated body to ensure their safety and security as only an official body can provide. I find it hard to believe the government of Ontario, has not done more to preserve the Richardson mine for future generations. In fact the government of Ontario, to my knowledge, has done nothing to promote or preserve this site.

Basically the birthplace of Ontario gold, the site has remained as it was 150 years ago. Certainly time has caused irreparable damage, Mother Nature, rain, erosion, tree growth, sightseers, and even former property owners very well may have damaged the site. As quoted directly from Marcus Herbert Powell “We sold the property to Lombard and Hardin of Chicago for $36,000”. He specifically stated we sold the property. During the actual excavation by the mine owners and miners the actual shaft dug by Powell would probably have been used for the recovery of gold, being altered from its original form to suit the needs of the miners. Additional shafts, pits and diggings would also have occurred to locate and extract the gold.

Powell stated, “Mining was continued until the spring of 1868; but although exploration work has been undertaken at various times since, no gold has been found”

Mining continued with exploratory work being continued at various times no farther gold was found. So this proves additional work most assuredly disturbed the original site.

After the mine went broke and the police left it is perfectly logical to assume many of the local residents, people arriving after the gold ran, prospectors and others continued to dig holes everywhere in the surrounding area hoping to find just a trace of gold. Possibly right up to this day.

According to Powell he made his discovery on 15th August, 1866, and by the spring of 1868 no more gold was found. If I figure correctly that means the mine lasted approximately one and a half years.

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As a proponent to preservation of these old sites, I have sent out several emails (02-02-12) to various government agencies in Ontario asking just what the designigation of the Richardson mine is. The site has a roadside plaque, which gives a minuscule amount of information stating the site is located “nearby”. According to one website the plaque was placed where it stands today in 1958. The website goes on to say the roadside plaque is inaccessible to visitors, which I can confirm after physically seeing it.



***I received a reply from the Park Service of Ontario stating as follows:

Hello/Bonjour,

Thank you for contacting Parks Canada.

This was a plaque, as you mentioned, placed by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario, which is now part of the Ontario Heritage Trust
(www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Home.aspx).

The site is not listed on the Historic Places site (www.historicplaces.ca) which lists all national historic sites (national and provincial) nor in the Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada (www.pc.gc.ca/apps/lhn-nhs/index_e.asp) which indicates it is but a historical marker of interest to the Province of Ontario. For more information on the plaque you would need to contact the Ontario Heritage Trust.

I hope this information proves helpful. Should you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us again. Please note: you can also reach the Parks Canada National Information Service toll-free on 1-888-773-8888. We are open 7 days/week from 10 am to 6 pm EST

With regards,



*** The following reply is from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Dear Mr. Festa,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. It was passed along to me to answer.

The former Richardson Gold Mine in Hastings County is not a National Historic Site of Canada. The blue plaque marking the site as Ontario’s First Gold Mine is a provincial plaque and is only commemorative. Over 1200 provincial heritage plaques have been placed all across Ontario since 1957, first by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario, and, since 1974, by the Ontario Heritage Trust.

Provincial plaques do not protect the sites they mark, though in some cases the property may also have been formally protected by designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. According to the information I have available, this is not the case for the Richardson Gold Mine. Under the Act, local municipalities have the primary role in designating heritage properties within their jurisdiction. It does not appear that the municipality—the Township of Madoc—has designated this property however you may wish to contact the township itself for confirmation.

Please feel free to send a reply to this email or contact me via any of the means listed in my signature if you have any further questions about this matter.

Sincerely,



There you have it…………”with no national historic site designation” and “is not a National Historic Site of Canada”. To tell you the honest truth, when I read these replies I was shocked. These answers were not what I was expecting. This is totally unacceptable to me and I am not even of Canadian extraction! ! ! ! How can this be??? This is pure Canadian/Ontario heritage and the site is not a national historical site?????

Sutters Mill became a national historical site and park in 1927 and this site, The Richardson mine is still basically a nothing?????????.


Speaking in purely general terms……sites of significant historical importance can not, do not, and will not survive without the necessary security, maintenance, up keep, along with a myriad of other necessities. Furthermore, not only does a site need protection but visitors to a site need protection as well, from accidents arising while visiting such a site. Only a regulated body can fully compliment a sites needs now and into the future and provide protection for the visitor as well as the site through laws and regulations enacted on behalf of each of them.

As in the California Gold Rush …the merchants in neighboring towns all the way up to Madoc, were said to have greatly inflated their prices for goods and services for everything from butter to baths. Fortunes were being made even before any gold was recovered. Extra stage lines were added from Belleville to accommodate the mass of prospectors and fortune seekers. Madoc, the largest town nearby and hub at the time, previously a quiet, rural town was booming with thousands of new people arriving daily, all seeking fortunes. As rumors of overnight wealth continued to grow, new hotels were quickly being built. Hastily taken land surveys were being made and local development was in full swing. A post office was opened in June 1867. The California Gold Rush could have been used as the blue print for what was taking place in Eldorado and the surrounding countryside. The migration of people to this area was simply unimaginable as goods and services were in huge demand practically over night. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie. People were coming to this area for one thing, wealth. That wealth was not necessarily in the form of gold. The shop keepers, saloon owners, gamblers, hotels, stages, hardware goods, food suppliers, clothing, horses, mining equipment, blacksmiths, investors this list could run the full gamut of everyday needs of a society. A society that up to this point did not exist in this part of Ontario. This is what makes the Richardson gold find so important…not the gold but what came after the gold, the same as at Sutters Mill.

John Richardson was reported to have received $21,000, Mark Powell received $10,000. From the accounts I read these two men were most likely the only ones who benefited from the mine directly. With heavy investment in the mine by wealthy businessmen, the Richardson Mine owners sank large amounts amount of money into modern day mining equipment of that period. The idea was to get the ore out quickly and realize huge profits quickly. Although the gold was extremely pure, only later was it realized that the deposit was an extremely small isolated pocket as exploratory digs proved. At the end of the year, their investments returned about $15 dollars to the ton. That means there were lots and lots of absolutely worthless rock scattered about.

The investors quickly realizing this mine was not the Eldorado of myth but a worthless hole in the ground, bailed out of farther involvement causing the mine was shut down. The company eventually went into bankruptcy.

In 1869, shortly after the Richardson Mine was closed, Eldorado was said to still have four hotels, two grocery stores, a dry goods store, a lawyer and a physician. By 1871 the hotels were gone, only three stores and two taverns remained in operation.

The Phoenix Gold Mine, employing about a half a dozen men tried to renew work at the mine during the early 1880’s with little success. The glory days were over but the story still remains.

If the information posted on the Internet is correct, 1268 ounces of gold was originally recovered from the Richardson. Which in itself is not exactly a large amount. Also stated was that while the mine was being reworked from1880 to 1882, 116 ounces of gold was recovered. If these figures are correct, the Richardson finds were very small in deed.

It is quite possible with modern testing methods a trace of gold may still linger here as well as many of the old former gold and precious metal mines in the surrounding area, but the likelihood of even recreational gold finding would not be worth the effort, let alone any forms of mineral extraction processes.

Eldorado was a short-lived “boom town”. Going from an inconspicuous speck on the map to world attention overnight. It is historical fact that many, many of the prospectors, business owners and fortune seekers stayed in this area leading to growth and development in other areas. Remember as prospecting expanded outward from ElDorado other sites were being explored for gold, other precious metals and minerals of value. Beside mineral wealth, logging and lumber, an industry formed as a result of gold, was rapidly growing. This entire region was under going an immense expansion, a metamorphosis, and that expansion can be attributed to the Richardson gold discovery.


In his report “Gold in Ontario: It’s Associated Rocks and Minerals”, by Dr. A. P. Coleman, Geologist and Mineralogist of the Bureau of Mines, 1894

Doctor Coleman states, since the discovery of the Richardson mine in the township of Madoc, in 1866, gold has been found at hundreds of points in Ontario, from the Madoc region in the east to the Lake of the Woods in the extreme west.

Read again what Doctor Coleman wrote……. since the discovery at the Richardson mine, gold has been found at hundreds of points……….hundreds.

Who made all these discoveries??? Many of the men, woman and children who can to find wealth as a result of the Richardson were involved.

Doctor Coleman continues…in this distance of 900 miles there is nowhere a gap or more than about 100 miles between known gold deposits, except in the little explored region northeast of lake Superior, where gold has not been discovered for a stretch of 175 miles. It will be convenient to speak of three gold regions in the province,

1. Gold regions a southeastern Hastings county
2. A central region reaching from Wahnapitae to the Sault
3. A western one extending from lake Shebandowan to the Lake of the Woods

A few isolated discoveries lie outside these areas, and it may be that future finds will connect the three gold regions into a single one, including the whole Archaean portion of Ontario.

Unlike most gold regions, Ontario has no placer deposits, as a consequence from the effects of ice of intense glacial action which has swept away all gold bearing sands and gravels and so mixed them with barren materials in the immense beds of drift found in the southern portions of the region as to make placer mining hopeless. It is said that colors of gold may be washed from the sands of Toronto island, and probably traces of placer gold could be obtained at many other points by perseverance in panning, but nowhere in paying quantities. In this respect Ontario resembles Nova Scotia and differs from Quebec with its Chaudiere placers, and still more from British Columbia.



… Vennor refers to the occurrence of gold in the wonderfully rich cavity of the Richardson mine in Madoc, where the first gold was discovered in Ontario. The gold was here found in a " reddish brown ferruginous earth in which were scattered fragments of a black carbonaceous matter, the latter showing when broken small flakes and scales of the metal. Specimens of free gold from Marmora, in the School of Science collection, are associated with a somewhat weathered siderite. Probably some of the rusty quartz with free
gold from this and other parts of the province results from the decay of siderite or other carbonates rich in iron rather than from the weathering of sulphides.


Hopefully some of you enjoyed this bit of history. For me the story was simply amazing. The ramifications of both the California gold discovery at Sutters Mill and the Richardson mine require you to investigate farther.


Adam and I were in Eldorado on three separate occasions. There is a historical marker plaque placed alongside the highway as stated earlier. I did not take a photo of the plaque because of where it is placed. I actually thought it was a lawn decoration appearing to be in a local persons yard. The plaque can be seen on the Internet.


Thank you and happy hunting


Franko





References:


Blue, Archibald, Director, The Gold Fields of Ontario, Bureau of Mines, Annual Report, 1893, v.3, pt.2, p. 11-61

Coleman, A. P., Geologist and Mineralogist of the Bureau, Gold: Its Associated Rocks and Minerals, Bureau of Mines, Annual Report, 1894, v.4, pt.2, p. 35-100

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