Gold Creek is a creek in

Stevens County, Washington Stevens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–US border. At the 2020 census, its population was 46,445. As of July 2023, the population was estimated to be 48,837. The county seat and largest city is ...

. Gold Creek flows into Sheep Creek, a tributary of the Columbia.N.L. Barlee, Gold Creeks and Ghost Towns of Northeastern Washington., Hancock House Publishers., 2004 The Gold Creek Basin is located around Gold Creek.

Lost Doukhobor Ledge

In the fall of 1929, a lightning strike caused a fire in Gold Creek Basin. The area is beyond Hubbard Ridge, north of Flagstaff Mountain. A crew of twenty-five men was sent from

Rossland, British Columbia Rossland is in the West Kootenay region of south central British Columbia. High in the Monashee Mountains, the city lies immediately east of the intersections of BC highways British Columbia Highway 3B, 3B and British Columbia Highway 22, 22. The f ...

to help put the fire out. Most of the men were

Doukhobor The Doukhobors ( Canadian spelling) or Dukhobors (; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are known for their pacifism and tradition of oral history, hymn-singing, and verse. They reject the Russian Ortho ...

s. The fire jumped the fireguard that the men had built and the men’s camp was engulfed in flames. The firefighters ran for their lives. Later, after a headcount the men realized two of their crew were missing. In the morning the two Doukhobors who were missing joined their crew. The Doukhobors related how they managed to keep ahead of the flames. They spent the night at the base of a rock slide and discovered a vein of galena. The Doukhobors took samples back with them. A workman, named Ray Wiley, remembers "it was fine-grained

argentite In mineralogy, argentite () is cubic silver sulfide (Ag2S), which can only exist at temperatures above , , or . When it cools to ordinary temperatures it turns into its monoclinic polymorph, acanthite. The International Mineralogical Associatio ...

– high-grade silver ore." The ore was assayed at CM&S Co. assay office in

Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the western Kootenays region of the British Columbia Interior, Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Lan ...

. The ore assayed at over 1,000 ounces (28.4 kg) of silver a ton – bonanza ore. In 1930, the Doukhobors accompanied with geologists returned, looking for the rock slide with the rich silver ledge of galena. They were unable to find it. Since then, many prospectors have searched Gold Creek Basin for the lost Doukhobor Ledge. All attempts to find the silver ledge have failed.

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External links

* {{authority control Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Stevens County, Washington Doukhobors