Gold Rush
By Tara Nelson
The Northwest has always been a place where many colorful characters call home. But it is possible that nowhere has this been documented more than a new book about Whatcom County’s gold rush during the early 1900s.
In his new book, The Lone Jack: King of the Mount Baker Mining District, Bellingham resident Michael Impero traces the history of gold mining in the Mt. Baker National Forest back to 1897 where a long-time prospector’s discovery of gold ore near Bear Mountain defined much of what the foothills are today.
The book is the second only book to attempt to document the county’s 110-year history of gold mining following Ferndale resident Percival Jeffcott’s 1963 publication Chechaco & Sourdough and profiles several key prospectors including Jack Post, a “free-spirited mountain man” who discovered a gold vein on the east side of Bear Mountain (later known as Lone Jack Mountain).
After finding color in a nearby stream, Post left his camp at 5,200 feet elevation near Twin Lakes in search of the source, following a large outcropping of quartz that ran diagonally up a steep, rocky mountain face. The quartz stream – later named Lone Jack Vein – was speckled with gold flakes and would spur a gold rush that enticed state and local governments to make large investments in road improvements, paving the way for future growth. The news hit so big that the Whatcom County auditor’s office created a voting precinct – called the Hannegan precinct – at the Twin Lakes campground near the entrance to the Lone Jack mine.
Post later went on to name several key Mt. Baker-area landmarks such as Winchester Mountain, which he named after his trusted Winchester 30/30 rifle, and the Twin Lakes that sit near the mountain’s trailhead.
The book’s preface may be a history of gold mines but it is the accounts of delightfully obscure characters such as Post that make it readable. Through five years of researching newspaper articles, essay reports, court records, claim files, sales records, maps and personal papers, Impero weaves together historical narratives, short biographies and bizarre legends such as infamous Sumas Chicken Manure Disagreement, the Great Nooksack Mining Company Scam in 1900 and stories of Canadian horse smuggling being intercepted by U.S. border agents.
The last chapter, for example, details the life of Jerry Bourn, a spirited, trigger-happy Glacier resident of whom Impero refers to as “the last true mountain man.” Bourn was born in Glacier and worked as a logger, hunter, trapper and prospector in Mt. Baker National Forest land. When he wasn’t crawling drunk down the Mt. Baker Highway to find his way home or picking fights with “long-haired hippie-type fellows” at Dick’s Tavern in Bellingham, Bourn was spending time with his well-trained and ferocious dog sled team, hunting or gardening at his cabin near Hannegan Pass Road.
One winter, Bourn and his brother Tom decided to secretly undertake a winter mining project at the Lone Jack mine without informing the mine’s then-owner: Harry Bullene. The two hiked in on horseback with enough supplies to last them through the winter and began mining the support pillars that were required by federal law to keep the ceilings from collapsing. Near the opening of the mine – called a portal – they hand crushed the ore and extracted gold by panning or using mercury. Luckily, the two were able to complete their project safely and removed all evidence of their actions before spring but Bourn was later confronted by Bullene’s angry son who had banked on inheriting the treasure.
“Yes, I did it, so?” said a ornery Bourn who then invited Bullene in for a cup of coffee.
Bourn died on April 14, 1980 when the vehicle he was riding in after a long party night in Glacier crashed on the highway between Glacier and the cabin over the top of Power Plant Hill. Upon learning of his death, the U.S. Forest Service condemned his cabin the following morning and imposed a sign reading “Property of the U.S. Government” as if to indicate they did not want another Jerry. Vandals, however, had already broken into the cabin, riddled with booby traps such as mouse traps and razor blades to foil unsuspecting thieves, searching for his stash of gold.
The book also includes three reproductions of historical maps outlining the general surface layout of the Lone Jack, the workings of Lone Jack from 1898 to 1907 and a copy of Anderson’s map of the Mt. Baker and Nooksack mining districts.
Impero is a retired construction worker of 37 years and a life-long Whatcom County resident. |
