Those who examined the Mineral King property in these early years agreed that that it was, “very encouraging”24, but as the scattered investment in the property suggests, there were a number of factors impeding development.
The fortunes of Thomas Starbird took a sharp turn in Autumn 1913, when Mountain Valley Ranch was destroyed in a fire with all of its contents. There was “very little” insurance.
The area of Law Creek (and now Mount Law) is interesting in that it is named after a man who, by all accounts, had left the Kootenays by 1892 never to return. It is also unique as the name “Law Creek” is the best evidence I’ve been able to find for Charles Frederick Law ever having done prospecting work in that area.
“No man in Toronto hated humbug more than H.C. Hammond … Mr Hammond was a rough diamond but he was real.”15
In The Windermere 