Under these circumstances, the rapid upbuilding of the town followed and
the Government sale of town lot prices ran up to the thousands. The sound of
hammer and saw echoed from dawn to dark, and in sometimes, later, as was the
case of a man finishing his shingling with the aid of a lantern.
Nearly every line of business was represented, and the hotel business was
so good that there were sleepers in the hallways. The sixty-four foot bar of
the King Edward Hotel was crowded from end to end, and it was said that a
large size stable bucket was used to pack the previous days take over to the
bank in the morning; but this was an exaggeration, as an ordinary bucket would
have done.
The first newspaper, The Portland Canal News, was started by Percy
Godenrath. Percy was a great boaster but he always endeavored to stick to the
facts. His paper was always moderate in connection with the publication of
news concerning mining developments, and sometimes information furbished by
interested parties found its way to the waste paper basket. Percy was not in
favour of free advertising.
Percy was not in charge of the paper when the story of the “mountain of
gold” was published. It was extensively reprinted in papers all over the
world, and possibly did some harm to the district. The real facts were that,
although large ore bodies of gold bearing quartz were found at the head of
Bitter Creek, the values were too low to permit a profitable operation.
Probably, to day, these ore bodies might warrant investigation. Placer gold in
small quantities has been found for years on Bitter Creek, the apparent source
being in the neighborhood of the “Mountain of gold”.
