Deadman's Curse: Volcanic Gold (Curiouscast)

Charlie Mould believed that Spanish explorers began mining and processing gold in the years before the British officially claimed what became British Columbia and that that gold was still out there…waiting to be found.  Could this be true? Not too far down the Pacific coast in Oregon, experts investigate evidence washed ashore from Spanish Galleon shipwrecks from centuries past. Beeswax, porcelain fragments, and wooden planks have washed up along the beaches through the years. But no precious metals–and no gold–have been found. Nothing has been reported, that is. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Judith Williams Scott Williams Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

60 years after Slumach’s death, in 1951, The Province newspaper, one of Vancouver’s major dailies that is still in existence, connected Slumach’s name to a curse. Up until that moment, the curse was nowhere to be found in newspaper articles at the time, even when they reported on the misfortunes of those seeking gold. Pulp fiction turned Slumach into an evil madman, and promoted the idea that getting his gold was as easy as hiking into the mountains north of Pitt Lake, which led to the deaths of many ill-prepared prospectors. In this episode, we investigate the origin of: ‘Nika memloose, mine memloose,’ and the curse attributed to Slumach. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Len Pierre - @lenpierreconsulting Brian Antonson https://www.amazon.ca/Slumachs-Gold-Search-Rick-Antonson/dp/1894974352 Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

80 years after Slumach’s execution, exclusive information emerged as part of a family story passed down through history: Slumach’s story from his lips to only one person’s ears. In this episode, we hear the account of what happened from Slumach’s perspective.  He was a wanted man and seen as a menace to society, so there seemed to be little interest in pursuing Slumach’s motive. This raises the questions: Did Slumach shoot Louis Bee in cold blood to protect his gold as the legend says? Or was it actually self-defence? Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guests: Don Froese Dr. Keith Carlson, PhD https://www.keiththorcarlson.com/ Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Spanish were known for keeping records of their colonial exploits around the world, but they were also known for privateering, profiteering and piracy. What might have been aboard the legendary Spanish galleon the Santo Cristo de Burgos, that wrecked off the coast of Oregon? Was there treasure amongst the swaths of beeswax and porcelain? Cursed treasure? Meanwhile, up in Bute Inlet, Jack Mould uses Slumach’s name to garner investment and continue his search for Slumach’s gold, at any cost. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Don Froese Taylor Starr Judith Williams Scott Williams Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We left off as we introduced you to Ms Amanda Charnley, a Katzie woman and Peter Pierre’s daughter. Pierre was a catechist for the Roman Catholic Order of Mary Immaculate. He was also a healer and leader within the Katzie First Nation, and Slumach’s nephew. Charnley described Slumach as ‘a harmless old widower who lived at the bottom end of Pitt Lake in a shack which was on the abandoned Silver Creek Indian Reserve.’ In this episode, we look at Slumach because the legend and newspapers painted him out to be some demon, evil incarnate. But could it have been just the opposite? Maybe he was just a man, and forces beyond his control doomed his fate. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Don Froese Gail Starr Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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In the decades following Slumach’s execution, we see people injured–sometimes fatally–while going into the region looking for a gold mine without much proof of its existence. Gold represented wealth and power, freedom from hunger and oppression, a source of abundance.  People have killed and died for gold, crossed oceans for gold. Its lustre and scarcity easily made it the stuff of legend. In this episode, we’re on the search for El Dorado and while we don’t have a treasure map, we have the Jackson Letter, which may hold the key to finding Slumach’s lost mine and his cursed gold. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Adam Palmer Brian Antonson https://www.amazon.ca/Slumachs-Gold-Search-Rick-Antonson/dp/1894974352 Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Claiming to have found Slumach’s legendary motherlode, WWII veteran and German POW survivor, Stu Brown, allegedly hauls ten pounds of gold nuggets out of the Upper Pitt and spends the last three decades of his life trying to convince the government of the riches to be had in its own backyard.  Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Brian Antonson Daryl Friesen Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1931, a larger than life prospector, in search of Slumach’s legendary lost gold mine goes missing in the wilderness of British Columbia. In this episode, we retrace the epic search and rescue efforts that went into looking for the missing prospector as well potential clues left behind at his campsite, that point to an even bigger mystery of what happened to Volcanic Brown? Host:  Kru Williams Guest: Adam Palmer Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Curiouscast website: https://curiouscast.ca/ Great Pacific Media Website: https://greatpacifictv.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slumach’s lost mine isn’t the only tale of gold hidden in Western Canada with a dubious history. There is a trail of treasures in and around BC with wild stories, danger, and legendary paydirt attached to their provenances.  In this season finale episode, we dive into some of these other tales, and Jack Mould’s story comes to a close as we wrap up Deadman’s Curse: Volcanic Gold and reflect on what draws us to keep chasing the gold, in spite of a curse.  Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Don Froese Adam Palmer Judith Williams Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the course of this podcast, we’ve discussed the ways in which Slumach and so many Indigenous peoples were at the mercy of an ongoing colonial enterprise that sought to extract wealth from a bountiful land no matter the cost, and often, the cost was justice. Slumach was vilified in the media, as part of a tradition of British colonial dominance that dehumanised Indigenous people and the legal mechanisms at the time doomed Slumach from the start. In this episode we look at an alternative, one that centres on healing. So what would that look like? What is the traditional justice process? Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Gail Starr Don Froese Dr. Keith Carlson   https://www.keiththorcarlson.com/ Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1931, on a night cold enough to freeze your bones, a larger-than-life prospector, in search of a legendary lost gold mine in the wilderness of British Columbia, disappears without a trace. Known for his solid gold teeth and team of black stallions, he was a force of nature. So, was he murdered? Did he fake his own death? Or was he the latest victim of the dead man’s curse? The adventure begins June 3rd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final episode of the season, we share our final findings into the investigation of Slumach’s story, the legend and the curse, and explore unanswered questions after walking the same path and sleeping under the same stars Slumach did over 150 years ago.  We’ve been entrusted to rewrite his legacy in our search for the truth, and Slumach’s story is not over. Neither is our quest for his gold. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Don Froese Taylor Starr Adam Palmer Len Pierre - @lenpierreconsulting Brian Antonson https://www.amazon.ca/Slumachs-Gold-Search-Rick-Antonson/dp/1894974352 Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On August 26, 1899, the name Volcanic City first appeared in the Cascade Record newspaper. It was said to be a city on a hill filled with wealth and abundance in the mineral richness of southern British Columbia. By 1928, almost thirty years later, Volcanic City was a ghost town and its founder would vanish three years later. In this episode we travel back through time to the early 20th century to the boomtowns of Boundary Country, BC. Fueled by a global demand for copper, bustling cities sprouted up almost overnight, including Volcanic City which was dreamt up by the man at the heart of our story, Volcanic Brown.  Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Christopher Stevenson Adam Palmer Marc Ferrero Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary prospector Volcanic Brown had a talent for surviving incredibly harsh conditions and a résumé of achievements almost too unbelievable to be true. So who was this larger than life character who had a knack for sniffing out treasure? In this episode, we take a look at Volcanic Brown, and dig deeper into the mystery of his disappearance. Could items found in his final campsite hold the key to the mystery? Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Adam Palmer Don Froese Taylor Starr Marc Ferrero Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five years after Slumach died, on August 16, 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike region of Yukon, bordering Alaska to the far north of British Columbia.  As it happened almost 40 years earlier with BC’s Fraser Gold Rush, some 30-to-40,000 fortune-seekers from around the world streamed into the Rocky Mountain wilderness in search of another El Dorado. Prospectors who passed through the region heard the tale of the old Indigenous man hanged for murder not so long before. Most knew of the Jackson Letter, which described the location of the bonanza above Pitt Lake that awaited the lucky finder.  Many went searching…some never came back. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Adam Palmer Daryl Friesen - @FrozenGoldDaryl Brian Antonson https://www.amazon.ca/Slumachs-Gold-Search-Rick-Antonson/dp/1894974352 Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a cold January evening in 1891, a condemned man was led slowly back to his cell for the very last time the night before his execution. The next morning, the hangman arrived at the man’s cell and they headed toward the gallows where a black cap was put on, and at 8 o’clock exactly the bolt was drawn, and the trap fell. His death was painless.  The man’s name was Slumach, and he had just paid the ultimate penalty for his crime. But, not long after his death, rumours began to surface that he had discovered a lucrative and hidden stash of gold in the mountains, a source worth billions. It is said that just before Slumach was hanged, he muttered these words as a warning to anyone who dared to search for his secret gold mine: ‘Nika memloose, mine memloose.’ In this episode we look at how a single bullet was the catalyst for a 150 year old mystery. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Taylor Starr Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Great Pacific Media Website: https://greatpacifictv.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Volcanic Brown makes a name for himself as a miner within Boundary Country in the early 20th century by making headlines for landing in jail for shooting a man in self defence - sound familiar? We continue our escapade through the booms and busts of mining towns in BC. Today, there are over 150 ghost towns dotting the entire province of British Columbia.  Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Christopher Stevenson Adam Palmer Marc Ferrero Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Volcanic Brown vanished without a trace - but how? Why? Was he murdered? Did he fake his own death? Did he slip into another dimension? Articles have mentioned there have been at least 20 others who have also disappeared in search of Slumach’s lost gold mine. What could explain these mysterious disappearances? In this episode we get insight from survival experts, prospectors and our very own research aficionado Taylor Starr into theories as to how a seasoned and exceptional outdoorsman and treasure hunter like Volcanic Brown could disappear without a trace, and why are so many others have gone missing in the same area. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Adam Palmer Taylor Starr Renee Coghill Daryl Friesen Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this special episode of Deadman’s Curse, Kru Williams is joined by co-writer and executive producer, Ernest White II, to allow Kru to share his personal insights on what it was like contributing to the podcast, filming the TV series, and diving into the legend, and the curse, of Slumach and his lost gold. Host:  Ernest White II  Guest: Kru Williams Contact: Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Instagram - @ernestwhiteii Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a summer night in 1998. Vienna, Austria. And petty thief Daniel Blanchard is about to carry out the heist of a lifetime. Stealing a crown jewel. The last remaining diamond Sisi Star. His plan? A daring night-time parachute jump. Daniel is no ordinary thief. His heists are ingenious, meticulously planned; his escapes from the law defy belief. And Daniel knows that if he can get his hands on the star, it will launch him into the criminal big-leagues. Daniel’s exploits unleash a relentless game of cat-and-mouse, as police track him across continents yet vanishes from their grasp.  What he doesn’t know is that the Sisi Star has a history. A dark history. Its original owner, the legendary Empress Elisabeth of Austria, used it to carve her own legacy of absolute beauty and power. That pursuit drove her to her very limits.  And now Daniel’s fate is fixed to that same star. But how long can Sisi’s star stay lucky for Daniel?  This is A Most Audacious Heist – it’s the story of a master thief, an intercontinental manhunt, and the jewel that changes everything. Contact: Facebook: @BlanchardHouseStories Instagram: @BlanchardHouseStories X (formerly Twitter): @BlanchardTweets Blanchard House website: blanchard-house.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our mission to to uncover the truth behind the curse of Slumach’s gold mine, a major piece to the puzzle lies with Volcanic Brown. Although some things have been lost to history, one thing we know for sure he had been on the hunt for Slumach’s gold, for over a decade. Did their paths ever meet? How did Volcanic Brown become a prospecting legend? In this episode, we retrace Brown's journey from the gold fields of the Maritimes, to the labour disputes in Ontario, and to finally, landing in the wild west of British Columbia where our tale begins to take shape. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Dr. Keith Carlson Don Froese Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Passed down to a young Jack Mould by his father Charlie, were tales of Spanish explorers mining for gold in the mountains high above the icy waters of Bute Inlet. For decades father and son searched Bute Inlet and the surrounding wilderness for lost gold mines.  Over time, his search for Spanish gold entwined with a search for Slumach’s motherlode, and a fear of curses wouldn’t keep him away. One day Jack disappeared. Authorities searching for him found his vehicle, a gun resting against it, two empty water bottles, his dog nearby, and a pair of boots down river. But no sign of Jack Mould. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Taylor Starr Don Froese Scott Williams Robin Inglis Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just before he was hanged, an indigenous prospector accused of murder set a curse on anyone who searched for his hidden gold. Over a century later, a prospector, a mountaineer, a truth-seeker and a way-shower band together to walk the same paths of those who went looking for Slumach’s cursed gold and never returned.   Deadman's Curse: Slumach's Gold is a historical, true crime podcast hosted by Kru Williams from History Television's hit original series Deadmans Curse: The Legend of Lost Gold. Join Kru and the team as they investigate the curse and legend surrounding the lost gold mine of Pitt Lake.   On their quest they're joined by members of the Stó:lō and Katzie First Nations, historians and cultural experts of diverse backgrounds, as they sort fact from fiction and give Slumach a voice from the other side of the veil. Their quest begins June 06. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Volcanic Brown, known in some circles as ‘Doc Brown’, set his gold-fevered sights on finding Slumach’s legendary lost mine. Legend has it, he did it after he saved Slumach’s granddaughter’s life and was repaid with the secret location of the mine. Host:  Kru Williams Guests: Don Froese Brian Antonson Marc Ferrero Renee Coghill Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Instagram - @kru_williams Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The legend of Slumach and his gold goes by many names: the Legend of the Lost Mine of Pitt Lake, the Legend of the Lost Creek Mine, the Legend of Slumach’s Gold. The story always starts with a variation on ‘a brash young man from Pitt Lake’, bragging about his wealth, spending it freely in New Westminster on booze and women. He would always disappear for a while to a creek rich with gold nuggets–a source that would be worth billions today. But in our investigation into Slumach’s story, from the killing of Louis Bee to his execution, not a single newspaper article from the time mentioned anything about gold.  Not one word. In this episode, we’re on the path of many others who have gone before us, who have gone looking for the lost gold mine. But is there a mine for us to find? And how was Slumach connected to it? Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guests: Don Froese Adam Palmer Gail Starr Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we last left off, a man named Slumach shot and killed a man named Louis Bee on September 8, 1890, along the reedy shores of what was then known as Lillooet Slough, near the vast expanse of Pitt Lake in southern British Columbia. In this episode, we take you through the relentless manhunt for Slumach, and the facts of the case as reported in the press. We also share details from the trial, which lasted no more than seven or eight hours, and where the defence called no witnesses. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guest: Taylor Starr Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Copies of the original court records - https://www.slumach.ca/legal.htm Great Pacific Media Website: https://greatpacifictv.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slumach, accused of shooting Louis Bee and then fleeing, was tried for murder. The trial took mere days and the jury reached a guilty verdict in just 15 minutes, even though no witnesses for the defence were called or testified and, in the end, Slumach was hanged for murder. But what if we told you the official accounts don’t tell the whole story? In this episode we walk along the same reedy shores and sleep under the same stars as Slumach did in the late 1800s to learn from the land. The Pitt Lake region is the scene of the crime; the lake, and the silent mountains surrounding it, are the only witnesses that remain and they hold the truth behind the legend, the curse, and the gold. Host:  Kru Williams - @kru_williams Guests: Don Froese Adam Palmer Facebook - @deadmanscursegpm Facebook - @HISTORYCanada  Instagram - @deadmanscurse Instagram - @Historyca Twitter - @HistoryTVCanada  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices