As I returned from the summer with the Yukon Border Survey, at Skagway I thought about my brother Arthur who had some years of prospecting with Fred Wells on Princess Royal Island.
Art had written to me occasionally and had told me some his adventures with Fred Wells, after whom the town of Wells, B.C. was named.
Fred Wells was a remarkably clever prospector. In fact he did not actually prospect but looked for prospects of others. He had a very keen understanding of mining deposits and ores. He had persuaded a group of Vancouver business men to form a combine for the purpose of exploiting mining properties which Fred should find and recommend to them. They were to finance him. None of them were mining men. Fred located on Princess Royal Island a gold prospect which looked very favorable. He persuaded his group to buy it and do some development work. The prospect looked very good after some tunnels had been driven. The combine upon Fred's advice decided that the property could be very large and that it would be wise to get a big company interested.
The Tonopah Belmont Company of Nevada took an option to buy the property if they were satisfied after one year of testing. A crew of miners was sent in, a camp built and work commenced on a long tunnel. At that time Fred and Art moved in. Fred, who had located the property originally went to his associates and told them that there were several claims which should be staked as there were indications that the ore might extend into these claims. The men told Fred to forget it as they had plenty of claims. Fred told Art that he wanted to stake these extra claims but could not do so himself as his agreement with his associates would give the major share to them. He wanted Art to do all the staking in his name and in the names of my Dad, brother Carew and me. Prospectors permits were bought for each of us and the claims staked in our various names with the understanding that they would revert back to Fred, with a 10% to Art. This happened about 1914.
The company anted Fred's claims but considered that they had been cheated out of them. From then on they made things as disagreeable as possible and during the year of exploratory work would not allow Fred into the works. In the meantime Fred and Art built a cabin and proceeded with their assessment work. Fred told Art that he believed that some day he might find it necessary to leave the island in an emergency.
The east side of the island faced the inside passage where all Alaska ships sail going North or South. On the island's east shore is Butedale, a town devoted to canning salmon. Fred said we must be able to go overland to Butedale if necessary to go to Vancouver, as there was no boat service to Surf Inlet.
Fred and Art did a good deal of hunting and prospecting and made it a point to find a way to cross the island from west to east to reach Butedale where ships passed very frequently. Both local people and Indians said that no one had ever crossed the island due to mountains, cliffs and lakes. But by persisting they finally found a way to cross from Surf Inlet to Butedale. I remembered Art writing me of this adventure.
The time came when Tonopah had to decide whether or not they would buy the property. A meeting was arranged with Fred's people in Vancouver. Fred was told by the Tonopah people that they were going to Vancouver on this business, and since he represented his company who were the sellers, would he care to go with them. He agreed but said since he had never been allowed in the mine, it would be necessary for him to examine the workings and take samples. They told him to go ahead and take samples, and that they were leaving at a given hour for Prince Rupert where they would catch a steamer for Vancouver.
Fred and Art immediately entered the tunnel and began sampling. Their time was limited, so they could not do as much as they wished. However, when they went to take the boat it had already pulled out deliberately, leaving them behind.
Fred said "now is the time we will cross this island and fool those people." They packed up all the samples they could carry and started across. When they reached a big lake over the mountains on the west side Fred went on to Butedale and sent Art back to Surf Inlet.
Fred caught a boat and reached Vancouver several days before the Tonopah crowd. He went to his associates and immediately told them how he had been deliberately left behind, and how they had not allowed him to take ore samples until the last minute. He said that it was certain that the company was planning on cutting the price of the property by falsifying the assays. Fred said he would have his own samples assayed immediately and he would remain out of sight until after the proposed meeting. This was agreed to.
The Tonopah people arrived and arranged a date for discussion of the sales contract. They were staying at the Vancouver Hotel which was the most important in the city. Fred Wells was staying a small hotel and carefully keeping out of sight not wanting to be seen by the Tonopah men. However, in the evening before the general meeting, Fred took a walk down town and passed by the Vancouver Hotel. It happened that one of the Tonopah men was sitting in the hotel lobby looking out the window. A few minutes later Fred heard rapidly running foot steps behind him. Suddenly the man stopped by Fred and said "Is that you, Fred? How did you get to Vancouver?" Fred said little and after they separated he called up his associates and told them that he was sure the proposed meeting would be postponed. He was right for the Tonopah people phoned the next morning and said they were not yet ready for the meeting and wanted 3 more days time. Several years later Fred was told by one of the members that they had worked day and night revising their assay reports and proposal to modify the contract. When the meeting was finally held the Tonopah presented a report quite inferior to what Fred Wells reported. The syndicate did make some concessions, but Fred's unexpected appearance really saved the day for the Vancouver syndicate. The company proceeded with the development of the mine. They built a modern ore treatment plant capable of 300 tons per day. A modern concrete dam was built close to the bay, which raised the water of the first lake to include the second lake bringing navigable water within ½ mile of the mine. A hydroelectric plant was at the dam site producing all necessary electricity for the operation of the mine and mill. Ships could be anchored near the dam and the gold concentrates, after being floated seven miles to the dam, were then loaded onto boats for shipment to the Tacoma Smelter. Though many million dollars were taken out of the mine, my brother Arthur said that it was very inefficiently operated. There was a great deal of waste. Great quantities of ore were dumped out as waste and afterward treated by a succeeding company.
A very large modern shaft was sunk at tremendous cost to a depth of about 2000 feet where ore was found, but after some years of operation the whole works was abandoned, much of the machinery and mill was destroyed by dynamite. The 2000 ft. shaft which had hardly been used was also dynamited. They also said they were going to dynamite the dam by the salt water. When Fred heard of this he got word to authorities who immediately forbade the company to destroy the dam.
The property was later acquired by others who rebuilt a portion of the mill to about 20% of its original capacity ad treated thousands of tons of so-called waste rock profitably. The main mine was never pumped out or restored to this day. Fred was convinced that there were millions left in the deep levels. Knowing how clever he was and how successful he had been in picking out successful mines I feel certain he was right in his conclusion that the Surf Inlet mine still contains millions of dollars in gold, especially since gold is now on the world market worth up to $60.00 per ounce (this was written around 1970) as against $18.00 per ounce in those days.
Since I am on the subject of Fred Wells, I would like to add something more about this remarkable man. After my graduation from the college of mines I met him in Seattle one day. He and my brother Art had returned from Surf Inlet more or less permanently. Fred asked me if I knew of anyone with money enough to take over a mine in Canada which he was convinced would be developed into a big thing. A shaft had been sunk which opened up a very rich deposit of gold ore. The man who had control of it was a good friend of Fred and gave him an option to buy the whole works for a very nominal sum. Fred had been unable to get his Vancouver associates interested and his option was due to expire soon. He asked me if I knew of anyone with some money who would take up the option. I went to see one of my college professors who had been acting as an advisor to a man who had made a great deal of money shipbuilding in the first world war. Nothing came of this even though the shipbuilder had been investing in mines. Fred's option expired and his friend kept the mine and continued developing it. In time it became one of the richest mines in Western Canada producing millions. He examined and approved a mine in the Flin Flon district of Manitoba which became a highly successful producer. He examined and approved a gold prospect in southeast Alaska or northwest B.C. which was highly successful. I regret that after nearly 50 years I con no longer remember many names and places.