| "Shumah, the jury have found you guilty of the wilful
murder of Louis Bee I am bound [?] to say. I therefore pronounced sentence
of death to take place on 16 January next." [Judge Drake's Bench Book,
15 November 1890] |
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In 1891 an elderly Native man whose name today is mostly spelled
Slumach was hanged in New Westminster for murdering a man called
Louis Bee. Myth links Slumach to a fabled bonanza known as Slumach´s
Gold, Lost Creek Gold, the Lost Creek Mine, or the Lost Mine of
Pitt Lake. Click here
to read a summary of the story of Slumach and his supposed connection
to the legendary gold of Pitt Lake.
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Around 1900 stories started emerging in the press about gold found
by a Native man in the impenetrable mountains around Pitt Lake.
In 1915, an American prospector named Armstrong connected Slumach
to this legendary Pitt Lake bonanza. Armstrong’s
story is the archetype of the Pitt Lake gold legend repeated
ever since by old-timers, journalists, and authors in their versions
of the tale.
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This site provides source material on Slumach and other real or imagined characters and features of the "Lost-Creek Mine" stories. There are for instance transcripts of legal records, newspaper and magazine articles, about the Pitt Lake bonanza .
For my thoughts on the Pitt Lake legends go to If
You Ask Me. Visit
my blog for research items, news, and comments.
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If you use information from this site, it'd be nice if you'd acknowledge this Web site as your source. Your contributions, messages, comments, corrections, and recommendations are very welcome. Feel free to put a link to this site on your Web site and let me know if you'd like me to reciprocate.
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I acknowledge gratefully contributions, support, and encouragement
from: Rick and Brian Antonson, Jim Carter, Mike Collier, Hamar Foster, Darren
Gosselin, Ann Lunghamer, Cal Mark, Dale and Archie Miller, Rob Nicholson,
David Mattison, Joanne Peterson, Greg Ray, Fred Rogers, Don Waite,
Jim Wolf, and the staff of the New Westminster Public Library, Vancouver
Public Library, and BC Archives.
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WEB SITE AWARD 2008
British Columbia
Historical Federation
&
David Mattison
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