BEDWELL RIVER AREA Vancouver Island British Columbia

BRITISH COIAJMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MINES Hon. W. J. ASSELSTINE, Minister JOHN F. WALKER, Deputy Minister - BULLETIN No. 8 __ Preliminary Report on BEDWELL RIVER AREA Vancouver Island British Columbia H. SARGENT 1940 VICTORIA. B.C.: Photmffset by CHARLEESF. BANFIELD,Printer to the Kins’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1940. By courtesy of Department of Lands. By courtesy of Department of Lands. Taylor left of center. By courtesy of Department of Lands. By courtesy of Department of Lands. (3) Bedwell Valley from Cotter Mountain (4) Big Interior Mountain viewed from - Big Interior Mountain inoenter. south-west. CONTENTS. BEDWELL RIVER AREA INTRODOCTION. Location TheBedwell River rises in the south-western part of StrathconaPark, andempties into the head of Bedvrell Sound on thewest coast of Vancouver Island. The name "Bear River" was frequently used in old reports and is still 5.n common use. The head of Bedwell Sound is about 16 milesnorth of Tofino andClayoquot which are ports of call about 35 mi1.e~north of theentrance to Barkley Sound. Most of thearea tributary to the river is in the ClayoquotMining Division.but the eas- tern part lies within the Alberni Mining Division. History Reports of theMinister of Mines, British Columbia, for 1898 and 1899, containbrief references to placer-.mining in the 'sixties and to Chineseplacer-miners abandoning the area in thelate 'eighties, but give no information abcsut the ex- tent of the operations and the quantity of goldrecovered. The Annual Reports for 1898 :and following years refer to developmentwork on gold-bearing veins and copper-bearingr,e- placementdeposits. Underground workwas done on several properties. The claimsforming the Seattle group were recordedin the years 1896,1897 and 1899, and were brought to Crown-grant in 1907. The Amex. and Belvidereclaims were recorded in 1898and 1903; after beingCrown-granted in 1911, theywere allowed to lapse but were again Crown-granted in 1929. Among otherearly locations on the lowerBedwell Riv- er,the Galena has been re-located underthe same name, the present group includesground covered by the ,Castle group forty years ago,and thepresent Prosper group is be- lieved to include ground known in 1903 as the Pakehamineral claim. The discovery of copper-bearing mineralization on Big Interior Mountain, on thedivide between the Bedwell River and DrinkwaterCreek (which flows into Great Central Lake), was mentioned in the Annual ReportMinister of Mines, British Columbia, for 1903,but a later report indicates t%at the Big Interiorgroup was locatedin 1899.Although situated at a highelevation in rugged country, about 1.2 miles from tidewater and partly covered by a glacier,this oc,-urrence was considered to have attractive possibilities of developing intoan important copper prod.ucer. Ptarmigan Mine.5 Ltd., a -1- company withhead office in London, England,acquired the claimsBig I Nos. 5 and 6 and GreatCentral Nos. 5 and 6, known asthe Ptarmigan group, .lying north-west of the four claims of theBigInterior group. It was proposed to con- struct a road for about 13 miles from tidewater to a uoint whichwas to be connected, by an aerial tramway, with work- ingsnear the summit of the mountain.Road-construction had progressed to a pointabout 7 milesfrom tidewater, and equip- ment for the tramwaywas on the ground at the head of the Sound when operations were suspended .on the outbreak of the war in 1914. The Annual Report,Minister of Mines, British Columbia, 1916, refers to a diamond-drilling program on the Big Interior group.Since that time there has been no re- portedactivity at eitherproperty. The eight Crown-granted claimsforming the two groupsare still in good standing. The old reports, while referring to large exposures of low- gradecopper-bearing material and to smaller occurrences of highergrade, do notindicate that development and testing had gone far enough to make dependableestimates of tonnage and grade possible. The claims of the -You group, covering a vein on the south- western slopes of Big Interior Mountain,were recordedin 1912. The property is mentioned for the first time in the Annual ReportMinister of Mines, British Columbia, for 1913.Subse- quentreports record development work at the property and the construction of a small mill. There was activityperiodically at this property from 1912 untilabout 1933 or 1934 during whichtime there was but little activity elsewhere in the area. The group,connected by trailwith the road and trail de- signed to serve the Ptarmigan group, was reached also by trail fromGreat Central Lake viaDrinkwater Creek, Della Lake, Bear Pass, and You Creek. Although scme claims were recorded from time to time there was but little interest in the BedwellRiver area for some yearspreceding 1938. In thatyear prospectors visiting thearea discovered gold-bearing veins, north-west of the river, onNoble (Clarke)Creek. This was followedby a discovery,south of theriver, on Sam CraigCreek. Other discoveries were made in the autumn of the same year. A 70 percent. interest in the gusketeer andShamrock groups, on Sam Craig Creek, was optioned to Pioneer Gold Mines of B. C., Ltd.,and Anglo-Huronian Ltd. Undergroundwork was started on this property anddevelopment has been carried on continuously since 1938. In 1939prospecting was carriedout actively in thearea and furtherdiscoveries were made. Substantial development was undertaken on the Musketeer-Shamrock,Buccaneer and e.By the end of theyear about 550 claims had been -2- recorded covering discoveries as far inland as the north- westernslopes of Big Interior Mountain, the head of You Creek,and upper Ursus Creek:. The surface showings and the initial developmentwork indicated veins, of which the widths were usually measured in inches,containing sections which carry attractive if not spectacularvalues in gold. Practically all recentinterest hasbeen directed toward gold-bearing veins. Some of there- cent stakings cover ground which had been staked previously and allowed to lapse, and on some of theseproperties former operators had done underground work without developing sub- stantialbodies of ore. Field Work and Acknowledgments- The writerspent from July28th to September 15th,1939, inthe area, assisted by E. P. Williams and Lo E. Rowebottom, mapping thegeology of thearea andexamining profpects. A base camp situated about three miles from the head. of Bedwell Sound was used for abouthalf the season. For about twoweeks the party stayed at the camp of Musketeer Mines, I,imited, on Sam CraigCreek. During the remainder of theperiod short visits werepaid to the upper BedwellRiver where the Casino and yoU groupswere examined, and to upper Ursus Creekwhere theThunderbird and Trophy groups were examined. The current activity had its beginning so recently that prospecting and developmentwere still in theirearly stages, and trails and living accommodationwere quitelimited. Prospectors, and operatingcompanies were generous in supplyinginformation and assistance. The writer is particularly grateful to J. IN. Rarvey and Carl Xoel, whose cabin andcooking facilities were usedwhile the party was camped at 3-Mile and to P. A. Joubin, Manager of Musketeer'Mines, through whose kindnessthe party was accommodated at-the mine camp. The writer is also in- debted to C. N. Sharp,Mining Recorder at Tofino, who kindly supplied information concerning the recording andownership of claims. GeneralCharacter of the Area- In the lower 11 miles of its coursethe BedwellRiver hasan average gradient of about 80 feet per mile, the valley is of fair width though inseveral sections the ri-ver flows throughrock-canyons. The sides of the main valleyare steep and many of the tributary streams occupy hanging-valleys. Ursus Creek, thelargest tributary, has an easy gradient from the Forks to the mouth. Many of the tributary creeks rise in deepcirques and flow through. steep-walled canyons. The sum- -3- mit ofBig InteriorNountain has an elevation of 6,107 feet, the bottom of the BedwellValley, a little more than two miles to the west, has an elevation of 1,200feet, the average slope is thus more than2,000 feet per mile. Such slopesare cormnon and locallythere are numerous precipitoussections. A number ofthe mountains of volcanicrocks have jagged peaks, and many ofthe mountains and ridges of graniticrocks have rounded sum- mits. On theother hand, many ofthe steepest escarpments, and the conspicuous jagged ridge on the top of'Mount Tom Tay- lor, appearto be entirely of granitic rock. The areahas a heavy annual rainfall with a comparatively short dry season in the summer. Augustof 1939 was favourable for field work, but wet weather set in on August 27th,and from then until field workwas stoppedthere were few dry days. Rainfall sub- sequently raised the river level sufficiently to take out the 3-Mile pack-bridgewhich was more than 20 feet above the low- waterlevel. From elevations of 3,000 feet upward there is but little overburden or vegetation. The tops of the rounded ridges make easytravelling, and thereare numerous smalllakes in settings which arevery pleasant in fine weather. Below 3,000feet elevation,except on precipitous slopes of barerock, there is generally a heavygrowth of brush and conifers, with dense second-growth in burnedsections. The lower flats havestands of timber consisting principally of hemlock and red cedar with s0m.e balsam. lit higherelevati.ons there is yellowcedar. Shakesof redcedar have i'urnished useful material for build- ingcabins. The heavy vegetation makes travellingdifficult, though on some of thesteeper slopes it is only by hangingon tothe brush that it is possibleto climb up or down.The bottomsof the canyons are frequently filled with immense blocks of rockaround or overwhich it is necessaryto climb if the canyon is followed. Access " During the summer months the CanadianPacific Steamship Co.'s steamers maintain a service every fifth day on the west coast ofVancouver Island, and during the rest of the year a service v every tenthday. The north-boundsteamers call at PortAlberni ab0u.t 24 hoursafter leaving Victoria, and leaving Port Alberni at night call at Tofinoand Clayoquot about noon of thefollowing day.

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