Page 10 June 1985 Cassiar Courier

Cassiar Courier June 1985 Page 11

And the next item for sale....... a mining town!
Down memory lane..........

by Gordon Parton

Clinton Creek holds many, many fond memories for me. It was a very special and

unique place to work and live. Because we were fairly isolated, the people in the com-
munity pooled their individual best to participate in all aspects of events. In actual fact,
Clinton was like one big happy family.

To offset boredom or getting ‘bushed’, a bunch of us would go out of our way to

create some excitement. There are a couple of such incidents that are particularly mem-
orable to me,

.

Clinton Creek International Airport

On the days the plane would come in (twice a week), half of the town would go up

to the Clinton Creek International Airport to welcome the plane. The plane would come
in during lunch hour so a bunch of the guys from the warehouse would dress up in mil-
itary uniforms, including helmets, and bomb up to the airport in a jeep rigged up mili-
tary style, to greet any new hires coming in. One time they kidnapped the stewardess
when she got off the plane. The pilot had to come to her rescue, Every time after that
the poor stewardess would never get out of the plane, but just poke her head out.

When people left
Clinton they would
usually go out in
style with excess
baggage attached
to. their leg, which
they would have to
get removed in

To make new hires feel at home, the cafeteria was the place for live entertainment.

Spot (a rubber glove on a long string) and his trainer (me) would appear every so often

Glinton’s last days........

August 18, 1978 was the last day of mill operation at Clinton Mine. The subsequent

during meal times to perform standard tricks like Jump Spot, Run Spot, Attack Spot,

etc.
The memories of the many magnificent buffets, the best annual curling bonspiels in

the Yukon and many other events are engraved in my mind forever.

by Bubs Crossley

weeks passed in a flurry of activity for those of us left as there was an enormous work-
load to be completed before a convoy departed Clinton Creek on an October morning
to ferry across the Yukon River at Dawson City before ferry service was discontinued
due to freeze-up. We left behind a few people who would later fly out — among them
were present Cassiar residents, Milan Psenko and Sandy Iskra.

We took with us memories of a modern, well organized and close-knit northern com-

munity, situated 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle and isolated for several weeks
every spring.and fall by the break-up and freeze-up of the Yukon River. More important
our lives were enriched by the resourcefulness and humor of the people with whom we
lived and worked.

DO YOU REMEMBER

the launching of HMS “‘Rapake” — or its sinking a few minutes later

the weekend Pat Hogan came home and found a moose in his bed

Laurie Boguski being grounded by inclement weather every time he tried to fly out
on holidays or debushing — even in August

the day the warehouse staff sent Neil Cross a raven — gift-wrapped

the wager that set Elaine Ready on a weekend run to Dawson City

the Christmas morning staffhouse residents awoke to find Santa Claus (also Known
as Conrad Altendorfer) sleeping in his bed under their Christmas tree

the fateful maiden voyage of HMS “Scouse” under the seamanship of Phil
McWalters and Brian Jackson

Johnny S, Wayne's Friday night battle cry of ‘Boom, boom, the big one”’

the occasion that took me to Clinton Creek — the wedding of Bill and Cecile Pratt
the day Neil Cross’ talking mynah bird uttered a blasphemous phrase to Mrs. J. D.
Christian

Clinton Creek townsite before closure

This was the headline in the Edmonton Jour-
nal on October 5, 1978. The ore reserves at Clin-
ton Creek, Yukon, an asbestos mine approximate-
ly 120 km northwest of Dawson City, had been
exhausted so Cassiar Asbestos was closing the
mine.

In February 1957, Fred Caley, Dawson City,
a merchant and grubstaker of many miners, was
showing some asbestos samples to Arthur And-
erson and his partner George Walters, who were
trappers in the Clinton Creek area near Forty-
mile, when Anderson exlaimed ‘‘There’s stuff like
that on my trapline.” Caley grubstaked these two
trappers and, although they had considerable
difficulty locating the asbestos under the snow,
they returned with samples. Anderson, Walters,
Caley and Caley’s son Bob staked eight claims
each and then contacted Alec Berry, Conwest
Exploration Company’s field representative. Con-
west had already put the Cassiar mine at Cassiar,
B.C. into production and now began the long pro-
cess of developing the Clinton Creek mine.

Clinton Creek, with a population of 450, was
a company town opened in 1967 by Cassiar As-
bestos Corporation (now Brinco Ltd.). At its
peak, over 300 people worked at the mine and
before it shut down in July 1978, over
17,000,000 tons of ore had been mined and over
~],000.000 tons of fibre were shipped out. Now
only the Powerhouse, Crusher Building, a shovel
and two drills remain at the site.

Approximately 1000 items, ranging from a
bench vise to an arena, were auctioned off by
Ritchie Bros. Ore trucks sold for $5,000 to
$26,000 each, the hospital sold for $4,500,
homes sold for $2,000 to $19,000 and the Male-

a
ae

Pictured above is the garden of Ciril and
Joan Habjan in 1976 and to the right the
same garden is pictured in 1979, after the
town had been closed down.

Mill Building being burned in October 1984
mute Saloon and Lounge, with its shag rug and
beamed ceiling, brought in $800. Buyers were

Mill and surrounding buildings in 1981

given approximately 14 months to’ remove their
purchases. Many of the purchases had to be mov-
ed out over a dizzying mountain-top road, and
could only be moved across the Yukon River at
Dawson City via the ice bridge during the winter
months so some extensions were granted.

Over the past seven years, most of the remain-
ing buildings and items were sold, with many of
the houses going to Inuvik over the new Dempster
Highway. The cafeteria/store complex was sold
for scrap and the mill building was burned in Oct-

ober 1984. From closure until October 1984, a |

watchman was on the property year round.

What happens now? The Yukon government
has no policy regarding the closure of company
towns. Peter Jones, executive vice-president of
Brinco Ltd. says that in agreement with the Yu-
kon government, Brinco must remove all build-
ings and equipment, and that negotiations are un-
derway with officials of the Yukon Territory Wa-
ter Board, who operate under the Northern In-
land Waters Act, regarding the effect of the tail-
ings and mine dump on the area.

Jones anticipates the removal of the buildings
and equipment to be completed in the near future
and once an agreement is reached withthe Yukon
Territory Water Board, Clinton Creek will official-
ly no longer exist and only the bridge across the
40 Mile River, constructed in six weeks in 1965/
66, will remain.

The Clinton Creek site was just a part of the
northern Yukon landscape when Anderson and
his. partner, George Walters, staked their claims in
1957 and, once again, it will become just another
wooded hillside.

Clinton Creek was the scene of many wed-
dings. One of these was Ciril and Joan Hab-
jan’s. They are pictured, to the left, with Jim
Murdoch, the late John Owen and Karen and
Patty Murdoch.

Creek cut-off from Highway. 5.

Right:

Breakup on the Fortymile River. From |
to r Helen Bollak, Joan and Ciril Habjan

Upper Right: Joan Habjan at the Clinton

Bridge over the Fortymile River

reminiscing

| have a lot of memorable moments during the time
| lived in Clinton Creek. | was there the last three years:
that Clinton was open.

| was quite involved with the ladies group called the
Petticoat Circle, along with selling Avon and teaching 'm
beadwork to the children at the Arts and Crafts Centre. | 4

One Easter | remember the Petticoat Circle had a!
Jadies Easter Tea and an Easter parade to show off our!
Easter bonnets. About half a hour before the tea, | threw
a bonnet together. My son Myles and husband Bob laugh-
ed at me for along time but my funny hat won first prize
— a set of beautiful glasses. Was | surprised! Our group
had something going on at least once a month. One month
we had a wild game dinner. We got donations of wild
meats and different fish to cook up. Everyone in the com-
munity showed up for that and enjoyed it considerably.

The banquets the Company us-
ed to put on were something else.
No wonder a lot of us left Clinton
like blimps! | know |, for one, put
on the weight while | was there.

The big event of the year was
when the Fortymile River broke up.

Everyone would go down and
watch the ice move down river to
the Yukon River. That was the best
time to go grayling fishing off the
bridge.

| went back to Clinton the sum.
mer of 1981 to visit Gordon, who
was still working up there during
the summer and was it ever weird
seeing all those empty houses and
bunkhouses.

I’m sure most everyone who
lived there throughout the 11 years
has a lot of good memories. | know
| | sure do!

by Claudette Parton