November 20, 2013

Miner working on a vein into a Wapiti Coal Mine c1936
Miner working on a vein into a Wapiti Coal Mine c1936

Big news in the Nov. 22, 1921 paper was the discovery of tungsten and platinum at the confluence of the Bad Heart and Smoky Rivers.Nov 20 blog

 It was two weeks before a fuller report appeared in the news, several people from Grande Prairie having made the trip to have a look around. The number of claims staked was already over 1000, and several miles of dredging claims had also been filed. The site was a hive of activity with some opportunistic fellows already planning restaurant and sleeping quarters there to accommodate the would be miners.

Nov 20 blog post fixBut a week later there was bad news – a much smaller headline announced that the tungsten and platinum bubble had burst. There is not much more comment other than the newspaper fellow saying that people should be more careful about starting rumors! Some irony there, I think.

Nov 20 blog fix 3

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