Jack Thornton
| Jolly Jack's Lost Mine | |
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| Creek | |
 Jolly Jack's Lost Mine
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| Coordinates: 49°03′00″N 118°33′00″W / 49.05000°N 118.55000°WCoordinates: 49°03′00″N 118°33′00″W / 49.05000°N 118.55000°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Regional District | Boundary Country |
Jolly Jack's Lost Mine is a legend about a hidden placer mine supposed to be located in the Boundary Country of British Columbia. The mine has been written about by local historians and various magazines. Many have searched for the lost placer mine of Jolly Jack. It is a local legend in the Boundary Country.
A prospector named Jack Thornton had been prospecting many creeks around the city of Greenwood, British Columbia. Jack Thornton was also known as "Jolly Jack" and had been in the US Navy at one time. Thornton lived in a cabin located near Boundary Creek. Thornton discovered a source of placer gold somewhere near Greenwood around 1900. The gold discovered was coarse and heavy with nuggets weighing an ounce. This gold was red and heavily oxidized like dark copper. Thornton never revealed the location of the source of his placer gold. In 1967, May Jones, one of Thornton's surviving daughters left an account at the Greenwood Museum. May states "My mother told me that my father really had found something very rich, but where it was he took to the great beyond with him. It was in the spring of the year. He left home in the morning and was back at night and he had a baking powder can full of nuggets when he came home. He was old and so was his horse so he could not have gone far. She said he told her that they had struck it rich at last, but he never told mother where it was, or anyone else. Many have looked for it but none have ever found the place yet."
Thornton lived on Boundary Creek and mined many creeks in the area. Local historian Bill Barlee speculates the lost mine could not have been Rock Creek or its tributaries such as Jolly, McKinney and Baker because that round trip would require two days travel from Jack's Cabin. The Kettle River and Boundary Creek could not be the location because the gold was too fine and sparse when compared to Thornton's gold.Bill Barlee believes the area where Jack found his gold was Fourth of July Creek with its tributaries. A local prospector in Greenwood named Peter den Hartog claimed he found Jolly Jack's lost mine. The gold Hartog found in Skeff Creek matched the characteristics of Jack's gold.Skeff Creek is a tributary of Fourth of July Creek and is the reputed location of Jolly Jack's lost mine.
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Wikipedia