Page 46 By Gregory Reynolds A good story with a bit of colour is always going to capture the attention of the public and it was never truer then when one seeks the facts about the birth of the T own of Cobalt the Silver Capital of the world It all came down to three separate mineral discoveries involvi ng four diferent men Y et one man got the credit while the other three silver dis covers faded into obscurity Fred LaRose was the lucky one in that his name is remembered as the man who made the key fnd but he made the least amount of money when it was all over Someone coloured the LaRose story by saying he went for a walk one night and threw his hammer at a pesky fox The tool hit a rock that re vealed a treasure trove of silver For many and varied reasons that story delighted the public for over 1 1 decades The facts are diferent and pretty dull According to the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame James H McKinley and Ernest J Darragh were contrac tors providing lumber for the T emis kaming and Northern Ontario Rail way being pushed north through the thick Ontario bush On Aug 7 1903 the two partners were walking the right of way scout ing for trees suitable for railway ties As they passed through a rock cut their curiosity was aroused by a pink stain They stopped to pick up a few loose rock pieces which were unusually heavy A quick wash of the rock in a near by river and then a bite into blackened metal fakes to fnd the fakes were soft McKinley and Darragh wisely sent their rock samples for expert exami nation to two placesOt Contd on pg 48 LaRose great story but Cobalt s birth truly diferent tawa and Montreal The Ottawa ex pert reported bismuth the Montreal assayer reporte d native silver assay ing 4000 ounces to the ton The black colour of the soft metal was caused by tarnished silver Cobalt s second silver discovery came a few weeks later in midSep tember On the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame entry for Fred LaRose it was noted that he was a blacksmit h sharp ening drill steels for the railway builders He had earlier worked in Quebec mines LaRose had a 5050 partnership with his employer to keep a prospector s eye open for minerals LaRose noticed a pinkstained rock and took samples which he thought contained copper The sample was sent to T oronto where it was classifed as rich in nickel Fortunately for Cobalt for Canada and the minin g industry the then newlyappointed frst fullti me On tario Provincial Geologist W illett G Miller followed up on the nickel indi cation with a visit to the district Miller found that LaRose had ex posed four veins Three of the veins contained massive native silver in cluding as he reported chunks as lar ge as stove lids or cannon balls The pink colour and mistakenlyiden Page 46 fox legend