MacBride Copperbelt Mining Museum facts for kids
The MacBride Copperbelt Mining Museum is a super cool place to learn about trains and mining history in the Yukon! It used to be called the Copperbelt Railway & Mining Museum.
This museum is run by a group called the Miles Canyon Historic Railway Society (MCHRS). Their main goals are to:
- Keep the railway history of the Yukon safe and share it.
- Run the fun Waterfront Trolley.
- Operate the Copperbelt Railway & Mining Museum.
- Help bring more visitors to Whitehorse and the Yukon.
The land for the museum, which is about eight hectares (that's like 16 football fields!), was given by the Yukon Electrical Company in 1998. That same year, they started building the first part of the narrow gauge train track. More tracks were added later. By 2011, there was a 1.8 km track shaped like a figure eight that trains could run on!
You can find the museum at 91928 Alaska Highway, just two kilometres north of Two Miles Hill. The museum building itself looks just like a train station built way back in 1906. It's open every day from 10 am to 5 pm, starting in early June and staying open until Labour Day weekend in September. It's a non-profit museum, which means it relies on money from the government and gifts from visitors to keep going.
The Whitehorse Waterfront Trolley, another fun way to see the city, is also looked after by the MCHRS.
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Discovering Copper in the Yukon
The MacBride Copperbelt Mining Museum is built on a special area rich in copper, about 4 km west of Whitehorse. People first found Copper here in 1898. This was when many adventurers were heading to Dawson during the exciting Klondike Gold Rush.
Most people were so focused on finding gold that they didn't pay much attention to the copper rocks. But a few smart people decided to stay in Whitehorse and claim land for copper. Some of these important people included John McIntyre, William P. Grainger, John Hanly, Andrew Olsen, Ole Dickson, H.E. Porter, and even Sam McGee!
Early Copper Mining Claims
John McIntyre was the first to claim land for copper on July 6, 1898. He named his claim the Copper King. William P. Grainger claimed land just north of it and called his the Copper Queen.
The Copper King turned out to be much richer in copper than the Copper Queen. So, Grainger bought half of the Copper King for $1,000. Early copper mining mostly involved looking for copper on the surface and digging tunnels underground. Work began at the Copper King in 1899.
The very first shipment of copper from the Copper King was nine tons of hand-picked rock. It had a huge amount of copper – 46.4%! It also contained 11 ounces of silver and $2.58 worth of gold per ton. This was a very high amount of copper for the time. Today, a typical copper mine might only have 0.4% to 1% copper in its rock.
Later, Grainger sold the Copper King to a group from Pennsylvania for $210,000, plus a share of the profits. Sadly, Grainger passed away a few days later in the mines.
Building the Copperbelt Railway
By 1905, almost 500 claims were made in the Copperbelt area. These claims covered a huge area, about 100 square miles (260 km2), stretching 20 km from north to south. The entire Copperbelt area is actually 30 km long. It goes from south of the Klondike and Alaska Highway to west of the Porter Creek neighborhood.
Moving the heavy copper ore out of the Copperbelt was very expensive. So, in 1907, they started building a special spur line (a short railway branch) to connect the main mines to McCrae. Building this 12 mi (12-mile (19 km)) railway was difficult because copper prices kept changing. This caused many delays and work stoppages. The railway was finally finished in 1910 at the Pueblo Mine.
The Pueblo Mine Story
The Pueblo mine was the most successful of all the early copper mines. John Hanly claimed it in 1898. It was located along Fish Lake Road. Sadly, the mine was covered over in 1986 to make way for a fish farm.
The mines in the Copperbelt needed a lot of wood to power their machines. For example, in 1914, the Pueblo mine's three boilers burned 3,000 cords of wood in one year! By 1916, the Pueblo mine was at its busiest, digging up copper worth $763,586.
When copper prices were high, mining in the Copperbelt brought good times and money to Whitehorse. But when prices dropped, it caused tough times. For instance, in 1911, the Pueblo mine temporarily closed. This caused the population of Whitehorse to shrink by 20–30% and led to job losses at White Pass.
A Difficult Mining Accident
The most serious mining accident in the Yukon happened at the Pueblo mine in the spring of 1917. A cave-in at a depth of 200–400 feet trapped nine miners. Rescuers dug an 85 ft (85-foot (26 m)) tunnel through solid granite and reached three of the miners within 72 hours.
Rescue efforts continued for eight more days. However, it became too dangerous to continue, and six miners remained trapped inside the mine. An investigation found that the mine was very "wet." Water built up underground, creating huge pressure that caused the weakest part of the mine to collapse. Today, a special plaque stands near the Fish Lake Road turn-off, along the Alaska Highway, to remember the six miners.
