Captain James Alexander

Captain James Alexander, was one of the owners of the Engineer Mine located on the east shore of the Taku Arm of Tagish Lake 32 km west of Atlin BC.

Before leaving for the 'outside' and the voyage on the Sophia, Alexander asked the proprietors of the Anderson Hotel in Carcross, Yukon Territory, the Gideons, to take care of his parrot Polly (a male).

The Engineer Mine

As with so many mines in British Columbia, the Engineer mine's history is one of high hopes and dreams, fancy financial footwork, success and disaster. The story began in 1899, when Charles A. Anderson, an engineer with the White Pass and Yukon Railway, paddled south along the eastern shore of Taku Arm. He found visible gold in large quartz veins in bluffs at the water's edge. Anderson staked the Hope claim on July 8, recorded it in Atlin, then returned with Henry C. Diers, another company engineer, to stake another twelve claims which became known as the Engineer Group. These men then organized the Engineer Mining Company of Skagway, Alaska, and began development work on the property, which continued for several years They also began construction of a small mill, but did not complete it. The Company's money had run out and the results had not been encouraging enough to attempt more fund-raising. As a result, the claims were allowed to lapse in 1906. A group of local men led by Edwin Brown restaked the claims, then in 1907 sold them to Captain James Alexander, John Dunham, Ben G. Nichol and K. Wawrecka of the Northern Partnership Syndicate.

Minimal work was done between 1910 and 1912 due to pending litigation. After acquiring the interests of his partners, Captain Alexander continued more comprehensive and systematic prospecting and development than had been previously undertaken and, for the next 6 years, work continued sporadically. It slowed down when engineers and consultants visited during attempts to sell the mine. When asked about the origin of the mine's name Alexander was reported to have replied, "Because it has been 'engineered' to death!"

In 1918, Wayne Darlington, a well-known New York engineer, managed to secure an option on the mine from Alexander, with a total purchase price of $1,000,000. This option was passed on to the Mining Corporation of Canada. One of the Corporation's young engineers, George Randolph, was in British Columbia inspecting properties for option. Charles E. Watson, then manager of the MCC, also came to British Columbia to look over properties already optioned by Randolph. Watson had just joined Randolph at the Silver Creek property near Revelstoke when a wire was received to proceed immediately to the Engineer mine. Watson and Randolph joined Captain Alexander, his lady and C. S. Verril, an engineer representing Darlington, in Vancouver. They sailed for Skagway and then went on to visit the mine. The group was returning to Vancouver aboard the Canadian Pacific Railway steamer Princess Sophia, which had sailed from Skagway at midnight on October 26th, 1918.

For several years after Alexander's death, little work was done at the mine due to litigation regarding the ownership. It turned out that the woman accompanying Alexander in British Columbia was not his wife as people had assumed. Apparently Mrs. Alexander and their 16-year-old daughter were still living in England when they learned of his demise. Litigation arose when their claim as heirs was countered by a claim made by Alan Smith of Philadelphia. Smith claimed that he had grubstaked Alexander and the two had an agreement that in the event of the death of one partner, the other was to receive the deceased's share of the Engineer mine.

Exerpt from the Mineralogical Record, July/Aug 1996 by Mauthner, Mark H F, Groat, Lee A, Raudsepp, Mati