“Headless Valley**
Stories Debunked
|{y( Canadian
• Hon. George Black, mcm!)cr o'
parliament for the Yukon Tern
tory, who was in Seattle last week
en route from the Yukon to Ottn
wa to attend the coming ession o.
the House of Commons, s much
interested in numerous report- i>
ing published in the press through
out Canada and the States resp
ing the so-called mystei ion I\ .
hanni or Headle s Valley, in t
remote section between dis'.an
portions of the Yukon Tc. ruo.
and the Northwest Territory.
Captain Black said he .-us > •
the authors of the stories arc
ing the publishers’ legs, an I u
ther that it is positive rubbr-h t
say that area is in anyway . i: • • ■
weird or dangerous, or that 12 n
13 people have gone in nev
return.
"The last man reported with
great fanfare to be missing, John
Patterson, came out last fall safe
and sound alter an uneventful
prospecting trip," reported Captain
Black, who tells the following by
one ol three well known Yukon
mining men who have explored
that "Headless Valley."
Clcl Timers' Report
In his conve rsatmn, Captain
B :ek said that William J. Lang
hat -. h fe Brown and Frank Ray,
w*ll known Yukon prospectors,
wen: into Nahanni Valley—bally
hnoed as the mysterious valley—
from Dawson in May, 1921. Bang
ham is Vis ting at Whitehorse
where he told Black his story re
cently. He said that he and Brown
and Ray, on their Nahanni trip,
found the property known as the
lost McLeod mine on McLeod
creek, including W. D. McLeod’s
discovery of stake No. 1, dated
May 17. 1904, and a miner’s cer
tificate issued in the Northwest
Territories, but saw no evidences
of foul play.
Langhum, now mining in the
Carmacks area said.
“Indians at Frances Lake, and
Lilly Atkinson, a local r« amt.
told us that McLeod had .v< a kid
til away down the Ne iani i ILv-n
a long distance Idoni the so-eallei
Ileadlcs Valley, and that Aik i
son’s Swedish, partner, Jorgensen
had also been killed. At ;in.>o
sai I he had been threatened w t
death it he returned to the Valley
Jorgenson had been killed at h.
cabin at the confluence of Fla
K ver on the Liard. He had left ;
cooked moose tongue in his cabin
Mini about 4') miles be
low di•'* ", h of Flat IIiver. An
In. i. in i jii’s absence, iia
c: a, i t ( cabin, helped himse
ae e tongue, and ;:op
cully. mis'.a a,1, a bottle "1 st.-y • ,
nine f »r • alt applied it to t- e
moo •(.* tongue. When othc ! * han
arrived at the cabin t ieC i mn
the man dying. They inferred that
Jorgensen had deliberately p.i
soiled the longue, went to his r:.bi:i
at the mouth of Flat ILver, ami
w’aited for his return. They
and killed him as he approac e<
the cabin.
“Two years later the skele.
was found by Poole Field ,
had been a member of the N. V
M. P. The men found that Mela
had not built a cache, a call in m
sluice boxes, and there was no ev
dence of mining having been d . i
by McLeod. We also found th
Scott Simpson, formerly In
agent at Telegraph Creek an f v
Indians had staked s x claims n
1908 on McLeod Creek. S mo
named the creek Borden (’ c
Later Simpson returned in
and restaked a claim in his v\ fe
name. The signature on the ~t :
is “FImma Simpson, by her- attoi
ney, Scott Simpson." We four ! i.
evidence of any prospecting, o
mining except that at one point ai
effort had been made to dive ! tin
creek. That must have been abou
1914. The creek was shallow, oni.\
five or six feet to bedrock, an i w<
sunk seven shafts on McLeod':
claim and in all recovered less thai
$1.00 worth of gold.
Return Unharmed
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WEARING APPAREL
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Phone Main 26
We built a' cache on McLeod
k and a tent frame. In the late
T.- a small stampede went in from
St. John and Great Bear Lake.
The Bear Exploration and Pros-1
»><:;n'i Syndicate of Great Bear
i* vent in a party, acquired
and later abandoned them,
vmg found nothing of value.
i\\ il returned safely with their
• !;>s intact.
“In 1903 Joe Cote disposed of his!
r ui iig po-.; at Ross River to Lewis
and Smith Cote and left Yukon by
• .ay oi Woodside branch of Peliv
River to the extreme headwutcTs
t* mam Nahanm, and down
th:.‘ stream to Liard River. He wa.
tee.impanied by a Francis Lake
in kan named Dutcha.
II »‘ \ i libh
an.i Del Van Gurner, the latter
no. a/ait l . Taylor and Drury
at Ross River Post on Pelly River,
veet several months in the so
•aw led Headless Valley. They are
* Wi alive and they have their
• v. .j<... They reported meeting 'In
dians who were entirely peaceable
ami Friendly.
“About 1915 or 1916, a Swede
named Karenson and a partner
left Francis Lain and went to F! r
ii vi and the ‘Headiers Valley'
and prospected all sum me \ T ay
were not molested.
Geological Surveys
‘“In 1995. Ur. Keels of 11 a I>
min ’i • ■ merit (1 ■
Survey, made a gcolugica. ,>uni
mary up Koss River a< ims ! i.
Uoekies by way ol (Law: li ve
the McKenzie River. i!u ice to Ft
Nolanan. Ur Keel.- l:u- i t
it iy t ha* ’ he .irn by
was parti la i.\ u i n; •. •-liny
Irom a pro m’dor'. tan.lp. m., too
format' ins being chiefly linrustone
..anuston.•. argillite and slato.
“In b't.'ti Ur. !«. Cb Met ’on:a
at on time director of C.eolog V .
Survey, made a travel- e of Iaard
River to L'. S'mpson an i bam
the geological feature- aimv. t.i;
traverse the same as seen by Ur.
Keels on his hip. Neither area
mineralized.
“When Brow.i, Ray and ! writ
in Nahanni Valley at Virgin .
Falls, which had drop of 3L>
feet, about m dway between these
surveys, we found the geological
formation entirely .favorable for
gold or other minerals. While we
were in the much ballyhooed val
ley we heard no ‘wierd’ wailing ol
the wind as reported by Har leson.
nor were any mighty mastodons or
( hairy elephants roaming the coun
try.
No Foul Play
“The statement that a dozen peo
ple have died in the valley, all
under conditions pointing to foul
1 play, is incorrect. The records of
the Northwest Mounted Police,
! who have traveled 2,000 miles into
the Arctic to get an Esquimault
murderer, are such that had these
been any ground for suspicion of
, foul pfay in ‘Headless Valley,’ it
! would have been promptly inves
tigated and cleared up by them.”'
j The disappearance of men who
have gone into the wilderness of
Yukon and Alaska is not uncom-j
mon due to accident, old age or in
experience, said Capt. Black. To
assert that men so disappearing
have been murdered may be grati
fying to those seeking to create a
mystery and personal publicity, he
said.
“If prospecting and exploring
parties are going into that area this
year expecting thrilling adventure!
and hairbreadth escapes that may !
make heroes of them,” said Capt.j
Black, “I fear they are doomed to!
disappointment. Nevertheless, il
wish them all good luck and sue-1
cess, even in their assured battles |
with mosquitoes.” |
SUM WE COURT
ROUNDUP
WASHINGTON, (/P< In ruling
which may net many railroads
large checks from the federal
treasury, the Supipme Court ci:«•.
a line today be'v"mn what a. m»
itary and wha ere cnv... a
plies.
Justice Douglas delve cl i<
court’s opinions in tv. o c.i c
hold that the con’roll a
the 'dominant pu
they are intended
The effect will bo t >
railroads to collect f.ii c • . .1
rates for wartime haul u ,,
lend-lea.se supplin'-- o.u .
government coni'- I
military rate should
Neither tn»- treu ury
social ion of Amo. n
would estimate how nm
is invoked, but A A11 n
it is a "large amount."
The court also*
1. Agreed to speed a -
constitutionality of the Lea act
which is known as the "anti-1 'e
trillo" act. This law, enacted b\
Congress, last year, v . 1 . ,
its sponsors at p-aud.. • by .Jurne
C. Peti illo’. APL Ana- -. i t IV
r lion of tun c m . it , :or.y>:
* 1 outlaw pried.co- w c -.rip -
rad io 11 • ■ 1 enst
musicians than t-n-y nr •
IV- -d i 1- > < h-d - i - -
a IT. S. district jud In '
held d uncon.slitu' ird.
The high coint a rr.-d. • • he
government’- reruinr;. '
c;i i' without waiting for a circuit
court ruling.
2. Refused to hear an appeal
1 om a Kansas resident who pro
tested that federal officers seized
40a gallons of whisky from him al
i ough he had a S27.50 U. E. retail
liquor dealers’ stamp posted on his
premises, fly implication, the
court's stand was that federal offi
cers may seize whisky in a dry
' ‘e under federal statutes forbid
1 ing it- transportation into dry
* > i
i du government’, contempt
< a.-e against John L. Lewi- and the
Aided Mine Worker.-. J ,. now
• > > n on‘ rlay n •(* t he
<■ a: : heard arguments of the
— LMW appeal from $3,510,
1 ■ 1 .i . .Me ' mpf sc i on f ii for
•• 'O’-uin ; a I ’ S. di ' court
•• A '•> ’ last fall'.- coat . Lake.
* <>ne railroad * n<* - . trie
i -t !u Id the Rea bo d Air Line
• i sav and the Ati aide Coast.
L.ne Railroad are entitle ! full
< ommcrcsal rates for movement ot
in p a‘es vvh ch were - nt to
!' da. Si, under lend-lease,
er. In i n< t ter, it
'die N’orthern Pac lie Railway
corn party was entitled to only the
rsi’ilary rate fo movement of
on lint • 'l 'v equ ,»mont infl
mater:;,', which wen* to
due p inert•- in A a 1- a
AT■■!/•■ ILM. R: " \ntuary
' toouph;;>h..tans <■ Hrik-sok, Si
am. on?' ot 4 sc 144 mid-year
o to graduate from Lehigh
University.
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