The Mineral King

By GG Koe

This book is the sequel to King of the Mountain and details hilarious events in the life of the author from Nelson, BC between 1962 and 1966, while attending UBC and paying his way by working summers in the Mineral King Mine near Invermere, BC, on exploration with Cominco out of Trail, BC, in the Reeves MacDonald Mine near Salmo, BC, and in Britannia Beach Mine near Vancouver, BC.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GG Koe
• Release date: Dec 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310693601

GG Koe

GG Koe was born in Edmonton, AB and raised in Nelson, BC. This is where he came to love the outdoors and dreamt of adventuring. He has pursued an avid life of exploration and travel, and loves the wilds of British Columbia. He has an interest in folk lore, also reflected in his writings.His first novel, The Ring of Light, was published in 2014, and he is currently working on other books in this series. He has written numerous professional articles.Since his retirement, he currently lives with his wife in Mission, BC, where he pursues his passion in writing.

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The Mineral King

GG Koe

Copyright © 2015 GG Koe

All rights reserved.

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Acknowledgement

This book details events in the life of the author from Nelson, BC between 1962 and 1966, while attending UBC and paying his way by working summers in the Mineral King Mine near Invermere, BC, on exploration with Cominco out of Trail, BC, in the Reeves MacDonald Mine near Salmo, BC, and in Britannia Beach Mine near Vancouver, BC. The events described are to the best of my recall.

I wish to particularly thank my sons, Mykael and Shanyn, my daughter Nadyne, my wife Carryl, and my sister, Maeve and my friends, Art and Lois Loewen for their time, effort, and suggestions in editing and developing this book. I would particularly like to thank my friends, Terry Day and Gail Hildebrandt along with Diane Mitchell, the Curator of Education and Collections at the Britannia Mine Museum, for the pictures they have provided.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 1

It was late August 1962 and I’d just learned that I’d been accepted into first year pre-engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). I was both happy and apprehensive about leaving my girlfriend, as well as my family for the next eight months. However, I was also elated about going to university and fulfilling a lifelong dream. I knew that my parents would be proud of me. However, I’d miss the safety and security of my home, family, and friends and the familiar surroundings where I’d grown up.

We moved to Nelson from Edmonton when I was six months old and I lived in Nelson throughout my childhood. It was a city of approximately ten thousand people at that time nestled in the Selkirk Mountains and cradled in the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, a charming little community mainly dependent on Kootenay Forest Products and the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

My father was raised in Nenagh, Ireland and I think that Nelson reminded him of the Emerald Isle. Both towns heralded a history of silver mining and served as transportation, cultural, and artistic hubs. The city displayed much of the old world charm exemplified by Nenagh with its impressive collection of restored turn of the century buildings, stone buildings, cement sidewalks and boulevard lined streets. Most of all, I think my father was attracted by the friendliness of the people and the lifestyle that Nelson provided. It was truly a paradise, a wonderful town to raise a family.

It was a beautiful early September morning when my parents dropped me off outside the Nelson Greyhound Bus Depot on Baker Street on their way to work. Jan came to see me off. She had been my girl friend for the past two years, a real beauty, one year younger than I was, with a slender figure, beautiful blue eyes and long blond hair clinging to my arm like she’d never let go. We’d met in Slocan during the summer of 1960 and gone steady. Jan left her parents in Slocan and moved to Nelson to register at L.V. Rogers Secondary in order to be with me. She had three sisters living in Nelson, one quite near my house, and then later lived with her two other sisters who were renting a house in another part of Nelson. Over the past two years, my life had evolved entirely around her. Oh sure, I did my paper route, slept through classes, and attended the odd Scout function, but I spent the majority of my time with Jan.

I didn’t feel particularly comfortable inside the bus depot that morning. Maybe it was because the Sons of Freedom targeted that building on May 26, 1958, planting a bomb inside one of the lockers, which blew out most of the windows. I had been shocked earlier in the year when on February 17, 1962 the Trail Daily Times reported that Harry Kootenoff had blown himself up in a car traveling from Goose Creek to Castlegar. A bomb he was carrying in his lap prematurely exploded. About three weeks later on March 6, 1962, the Sons of Freedom reportedly blew up a 100-metre electric power transmission pylon on the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake bringing down the power lines and blacking out Riondel. It looked to me like the bombings were starting up once again.

However, truthfully my discomfort was probably more related to leaving Jan rather than worrying about the Sons of Freedom. I felt terrible leaving her and wondered if I’d made the right decision. Mom indicated I’d have a better life if I had a university education. She saw university as the portal to my future. But I wondered if it wasn’t just a ruse. She just thought I was too young to get married.

It rained tears that morning. To this day, I don’t know what Jan saw in me, a tall, skinny kid dressed in blue jeans and a black leather jacket sporting a duck cut and zoot chain, looking more like a thug than any university student. I certainly didn’t think I was particularly good looking and Mom always said I had an ascorbic tongue that tended to burn other people. I could be cruel and cutting. Yet despite these limitations Jan saw something in me.

University had always been an expectation for me. Dad longed to be an engineer, but ended up completing a degree in accounting through LaSalle Extension University, a private university based in Chicago, Illinois. Mom scored sufficiently high in her senior matriculation exams to be personally invited to attend the University of Alberta by the Dean, but she lacked the financial means to do so, ending up completing two years in the accounting program through LaSalle. Both parents were determined I would have opportunities denied to them.

Less than ten percent of students from L.V. Rogers Secondary went to university. It was rumored that you had to have an average higher than seventy percent to get into the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, or the University of Victoria (UVIC) on Vancouver Island. Otherwise you could apply to Notre Dame, a small university in Nelson, established by the Roman Catholic diocese in 1951. It was rumored they would take anybody. Notre Dame opened with only twelve students and at the peak of its operation, only had about two thousand students, mostly from Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the United States. It closed in 1984.

I delivered the Nelson Daily News to students in the dorms at Notre Dame for three years and, like many of my friends, didn’t hold that university in high regard. There was a rumor that they purchased an entire boxcar full of Spam and were making their students eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In my opinion, Spam was disgusting and there was no way they were going to make me eat it. However, in later years, like in many other areas, my prejudice proved unfounded. In retrospect, I didn’t mind eating Spam and I’ve met many students from Notre Dame whose achievements I hold in high regard.

UBC was founded in 1908 as the McGill University College of British Columbia and didn’t adopt its current name until 1915. It was the oldest institution of higher learning in British Columbia and currently offers degrees and diplomas in over 300 fields of study. According to Maclean’s, UBC has second highest average entering grade among Canadian universities and boasts seven Nobel Prizes and two Canadian prime ministers. It was ranked the 8th best university outside the United States by Newsweek and was considered the premier university in British Columbia at that time.

I was excited to learn that I’d been accepted at this institution. I wasn’t a particularly good student in high school and spent very little time studying. I was generally a C+ student with the occasional B. I found school boring and often fell asleep in class, becoming renown for my snoring.

Despite my lack of academic application, it was my intent to become a mining engineer. Originally, I was interested in going into archeology, but my friend Doug persuaded me that there was no money in that profession. He said, If you get a bachelor’s degree in archeology all you can hope for is administer some insignificant museum.

I wasn’t interested in administering some insignificant museum and Doug suggested I go into mining engineering, like both him and his father before him. My father seemed very pleased with my decision to become a mining engineer. However, Mom said, The best thing that ever came out of any mine was the miners.

My friend Doug was one of the top students in my graduating class and was accepted into the Colorado School of Mines, a research university in Golden, Colorado, devoted to engineering, with a focus on the development and stewardship of natural resources. I would have loved to attend such a prestigious university, but I suspect that neither my marks nor my pocket book met their criteria. My friends Terry and Keith were accepted into UBC. Terry lived in the house next to Doug and also registered in pre-engineering. Keith decided to go into the Faculty of Arts. We all made our way separately to UBC.

Mom and Dad paid for my registration, books, room, and board and provided me with twenty dollars a week allowance. I’d only saved four dollars during the summer and Mom paid my bus fare, slipping me an additional twenty dollars, and promising to send me more money when she could.

While I was excited about going to UBC, I was a little frightened about leaving my many friends. Jan promised to wait for me and I was missing her before I even left. However, I was too young to settle down into married life and the lure of adventure beckoned.

The Greyhound finally arrived and I left Jan with a kiss that should have easily satisfied her for a year. I held her close, then turned quickly and climbed aboard. I certainly wasn’t about to let anyone see me cry.

I sat near the back, waving as we pulled out from the depot, and then, emotionally exhausted, drifted off to sleep. I woke when the bus stopped in Osoyoos, but didn’t know how long it would remain and even though I felt a slight urge to urinate, decided not to get off, because I was concerned the bus would leave without me. I didn’t have enough money to catch another one and I had been stuck in the Okanagan