A larger-than-life prospector towers proud and confident over downtown Whitehorse from the corner of Third Avenue and Main Street. The bronze figure epitomizes those who follow their dreams.
He is clad in high-top boots, a feather stuck in his wide-brimmed hat, a gold poke attached to his belt. In his left hand, he carries a long-handled shovel. A sheathed rifle is slung from his shoulder. A cup, an ax, and the all-important gold pan are strapped to his backpack.
The faithful, broad-faced dog totes his master's packs, bedroll, jacket and bucket.
Attached to the base of the sculpture is an Honour Roll that pays tribute to 30 individuals, companies and organizations who have shown faith in the prospectors who chose to tread a rocky road.
The Hall of Fame celebrates the Yukon prospectors who struggled against seemingly impossible odds, suffered undue hardships and incurred incredible risks in their search for minerals in the territory.
From 1860 to 1992, 183 names are listed. Many were honoured posthumously.
Induction is an on-going process. Space is reserved to engrave names of other contributors who either have been inducted since the Yukon Prospectors' Association erected the statue in the fall of 1992 or will be inducted in years to come.
This special breed of individuals, though relatively small in numbers, has contributed tremendously to the Yukon, says the plaque.
One Hall of Famer whose name will be engraved is Ron Berdahl, a talented prospector who entered the profession when independent prospecting was practically dead.
Berdahl believes people are natural-born gamblers. "That's why they buy lottery tickets. Prospecting is just a way to do what I like to do. It allows a person freedom. It's a meager living with a chance for a big pay off."
The young prospector had not turned 40 when he was nominated, elected and blessed by the selection committee as the 1997 Prospector of the Year.
One achievement that cut a rank above all others was the discovery of what is believed to be the first emerald showing found in Canada and was probably the second one in North America.
The rarity was like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack to locate a gem showing immediately across the Yukon border in the expansive Northwest Territories. Only about 10 profitable emerald mines exist in the world.
Prospector Allen Carlos spoke of freedom as the biggest reward in his chosen career. His name has been synonymous with independent prospecting in the Yukon almost since the day he struck out on his own in 1967.
He was named 1991 Prospector of the Year and was presented with his engraved rockhammer during a traditional ceremony linked to the annual geoscience forum.
The true meaning of freedom wasn't fully realized, however, until he was economically free to work on projects, he said. His philosophy was to stick to areas previously proven as mining provinces and to concentrate on geology, geochemistry and geophysics. Each prospect was considered unique and treated separately.
"It is good to compare. But one prospect should not be related to another. There's nothing definite about geology. And a prospector cannot preconceive ideas or try to draw the lines too straight on maps."
Recognition was paid to a late, great prospecting trio. Peter Versluce, who contended that an independent prospector is a millionaire even when penniless, was best known for discovering the Little Chief orebody that was mined by Whitehorse Copper from 1972 to 1982.
Versluce, his brother, Harry, who died in 2002 in his 93rd year, and their partner Chuck Gibbons, literally staked mineral claims in their own backyard.
The 17-mile-long, crescent-shaped copper belt extended into their homestead property north of Whitehorse where a group of prospectors had constructed cabins in a treed nook they called "Bachelor Cove".
"Too often prospectors doggedly hold onto a property, waiting for the market price on metal to go up," noted Versluce. "But you have to do a hundred dollars of assessment work on claims every year--whether trenching, geophysical or whatever. Sometimes it's not practical. It's best to get rid of that property for whatever you can, then go look for something else--in your own backyard."
The prospecting bar was set high for those who followed in Alan Kulan's footsteps. In 1953, the young and hungry prospector checked out a rusty area reported to him by members of the Ross River Indian Band. He made the first discovery of lead-zinc mineralization in Vangorda Creek.
One of his associates was native trapper/prospector Arthur John, who lives near Ross River. He is a Hall of Fame inductee, too.
Three years hence, in proximity of the first find, Kulan discoverd another rusty zone in the Anvil Range area. This gossan turned out to be the gigantic, 60-million-tonne Faro lead-zinc-silver mine that put the Yukon on the world map in 1969.
These self-educated geologists at the roots of the Yukon's mining industry read about rocks all winter and break them all summer. Kulan gambled and won. He ignored the Geological Survey of Canada reports which indicated his area of focus was not suitable for mineralization.
Kulan was murdered in September, 1977. Ross River resident John Rolls, crazed with jealousy and alcohol abuse, shot the multi-millionaire in the face with a .357 Magnum handgun (see Yukoner Magazine #14).
The late Wellington "Wally" Green was hoofing over the hills alone well into his 80s. The spry, wiry little man is best remembered for and most disappointed over his discovery of the Wellington copper-nickel mine near the Kluane National Park boundary.
Green came to the Yukon in 1944, as a chef for the U.S. Army during construction of the Alaska Highway. He couldn't find anybody to talk geology with him, though.
"Everybody knew placer," he said. "For placer mining you need a strong back and a light head. Too hard work for me."
The mine that bears his name had an ephemeral production life of 14 months before Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting closed it in August, 1973.
Mines did not fascinate Green; he just liked finding the ore and getting rewarded with his share of the loot.
His advice to fledgling prospectors was to study more than the rocks. "He has to study the business end of prospecting, too, or he's going to get fleeced."
Al Kulan and Pete Versluce agreed there is more to prospecting than meets the eyes. After much practical business experience, they suggested that potential prospectors take a basic course in law...and definitely learn to cook.
These venerable ambassadors to the rock trade substantiate why the several-tonne, permanent metal statement about Yukon prospecting was such a grand idea.
It was an incredibly huge project that came together quickly once it gathered momentum. From initial concept and design in 1988 to finding funds to sculpt and erect the monument took less than four years.
"But it wouldn't have come together without Chuck Buchanan and his knowledge and contacts for bronzing," praised Bruce Patnode, an artist in his own right, and former long-term president of the Yukon Prospectors' Association.
"Chuck is very organized," said Patnode about the sculptor, who owned a museum of natural history and the park south of Whitehorse near the quaint burg of Carcross.
"He did it on a forgiving basis. It would be doubtful if any other sculptor could have done the project for $80,000."
The funding to cast and erect the metal creation was cost-shared between two government levels and private enterprise.
Once the money was committed, Buchanan started the clay work on the larger-than-life figures in June, 1992. The art casting was then sent to a Montana foundry for bronzing and was shipped to Whitehorse in record time.
It was nip and tuck. If the statue, expressed from the foundry on Consolidated Freightways, had missed the connection with Canadian Freightways, it would not have been in Whitehorse on time for the dedication ceremony.
It was on schedule. The statue was trucked to the Midnight Sun Drilling shop, where it was assembled and prepared for the concrete base. Sidrock Company was downtown digging up flagstones in the courtyard square and doing concrete work on which to bolt the base. Continental Crane was hired to unload the masterpiece from Jerry Vermette's lowboy onto the deck.
Only 10 months lapsed from the time Buchanan cast the miniature prototype until the three-metre-tall prospector, accompanied by his malamute companion, magically appeared for the unveiling.
The official ceremony was part of the Mines Ministers' Conference staged in Whitehorse in September 21-22, 1992.
When the delegates went into their Monday morning meeting, the statue was not there; when they swarmed out less than three hours later for lunch, the statue was bolted in place and concealed by a plastic shroud.
"The area was tidy and the heavy equipment gone. The scene was ready for Patnode and federal and territorial politicians to speak to the crowd.
It was Elmer MacKay, the Public Works minister, who liked the idea," said Patnode. "MacKay was instrumental in making the project a success as well as providing an excellent location for this landmark."
The public immediately assumed ownership of the artpiece. Kids climb up and sit at the prospector's big feet to eat their lunch and have private conversations. And the statue has proven to be the most popular backdrop and photographed item in Whitehorse.
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