1

General View of the Silver King Mine site.
1896
Toad Mountain, near Nelson B.C

2

It was the late 1890's when my Father started to work at the Silver King Mine. My Mother and we three little girls lived in Nelson, B.C. and as working hours were long and seven days a week, we didn't see Dad very often. Finally several houses were built and a number of families moved to the mine. It was a nine-mile drive by road, usually behind a four-horse team. There was also a steep footpath, much shorter, along the tramline which carried the ore to the Hall Mines Smelter in Nelson.

3

Moving to the Silver King Mine
2005

4

Map of the settlement for the miners for the Silver King, referred to as Frederickton.
1955

5

I had better try to give you a plan of the settlement. First, one arrived at the boarding house, then the store. Here on the lower side of the road was the lower tunnel and tramway terminus. Then the road swept in a semi-circle up the hill. Here was another tunnel, a sawmill, blacksmith shop, mine buildings, offices and a few single dwellings, among them the superintendent's residence. Between the lower and upper part of the road were the other homes and school.

6

Plan of the Settlement
2005

7

Silver King Lake
1899
Toad Mountain, near Nelson B.C

8

The winters were long. Sometimes snow came in October and didn't leave us until nearly the end of April. My sister's birthday fell on July 31st, and we went to a little lake farther up the mountain for a picnic and found snow still under the evergreens. Every child had a sled and romped about in the snow. Sometimes the older children went a distance down the road and when they heard sleigh bells waited, hoping for a ride back with the teams. If the driver was in a happy mood he would let them hitch their sleds behind and pile into the big sleigh. It was all uphill so not too dangerous. At times the roads were blocked after a big snowfall, so supplies came up in the buckets on the tramline. It was great fun watching sides of meat, bales of hay, etc. coming in by air.

9

The winters were long.
2005

10

Front view of the Boarding House at the Silver King Mine.
1899
Toad Mountain, near Nelson B.C

11

One winter morning about five o'clock the mine whistles started blowing. We realized something was wrong and tumbled from our warm beds. The boarding house was ablaze. Having no fire-fighting equipment it was a smoldering ruin in a matter of minutes. The men saved very little, just what they could hurl through the windows as they made for safety. The poor fellows who were underground stood in amazement when they came off shift. All they had were the working clothes they stood in. One little story of heroism during this fire I shall never forget. The cookhouse cat came from the basement carrying a kitten, crossed the road and put it down, went back and brought out a second and placed it by the first. She went in the third time but wasn't seen again. One of the men put the little shivering things under his coat and later took them to the store. The clerk put them in a box in the window for all to see.

12

Fire in the Bunkhouse
2005

13

Upper Terminal of Tramway at the Silver King Mine.
1896
Toad Mountain, near Nelson B.C

14

We had our tragedies, too. There was a rule forbidding persons to ride the tramline. Some took the chance. Two men decided to steal a ride in the buckets from Nelson to the mine. The tram stopped and there they hung, between towers, high in the air. One jumped, thinking the deep snow would save him from injury, but he broke both legs. The other went along the cable , hand over hand, to a tower and reached the ground in safety.