Prospector

by Ted Nagle, Jordan Zinovich

The biography of Ted Nagle, one of the challengers in the exciting competition for ownership of the North's vast mineral resources.

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a history of a exploration team in the 1920-1930's in northern Canada's wildness, this book was a near miss. Certainly the author had a wealth of great stories as he worked for Cominco - but nothing seemed to quite coalesce until the final chapter. The author and co-author, had an amazing trove of detail, and the ability - to some 50 years later - tell every day in great detail amazed me as a feat of record keeping not easily matched. But all this detail made the forest unviewable through the trees. As a story, I had a hard time grasping on to the larger picture, and meaning to hold it all together. The other surprise to me was the lack of mention of geology. Now this manager of exploration wasn't a geologist. Acting as a engineer or surveyor (but with no formal education), their main thrust seemed at times to be simply to map the crazy array of waterways in that unknown land. Often a whole summer seemed to produce no more than a river voyage, camping trip, and water route. There was little mention of rocks picked up for the first few years. Later on when they re-discovered the Pine Point Pb-Zn deposits, there was more mention of geology, but I was amazed by the lack of land/rock description, especially considering the book's depth of trip logistic descriptions. The last chapter though sums up the reason the author wrote the book. He was interested in having his place in the Pine Point deposit put down and given credit, as the company apparently stiffed him on a $100,000 finders reward that was promised him and tried to change the amount of responsibility he had in discovering and more so acquiring the place, so as to shift their financial obligations. Nagel (the prospector) also help developed the first North American U mine (LaBine Point).

I am struck with the impression that even in the 1930's geologists were not so important to an exploration team. Most the men hired were hired more for their ability as outdoors men. They seemed to be claim posters running to and fro tracking down every rumor that every fur trapper, Indian, or squaw man brought in about interesting looking rocks. Their sole thrust was simply mapping the land, having a blank sheet on which to draw...and at least according to this account, there was no thought of geologic mapping.

Lastly, of interest is that these men were the first men ever up in the air in the barren lands region. The first few years he recount are by canoe, but they they start using tiny aircraft to land on the lakes. A favorite and telling quote regarding this change:
"But our independence had a double edge to it. Although we could now move quickly and secretly to any mineralized site that seemed promising, we no longer spent much time on the ground with the old-timers who knew the country. Those were the men who so often came upon important mineral deposits: the trappers and prospectors who had spent years walking and canoing over the areas at the ends of the tributaries to the great northern rivers, and knew the ancient, unmapped Indian trails."