Walter Guppy has probably seen more of Vancouver Island than any other prospector alive today and he’s recounted his experiences in a paperback called WetCoast Ventures: mine finding on Vancouver Island. The title — not to be confused with WestCoast — illustrates at least one feature of the island that has plagued prospectors for years.
Guppy’s father, a retired Indian Civil Service officer, moved his family to Tofino in 1921, about 15 years before the Zeballos gold rush. As a child, Guppy was smitten by the great outdoors and later as a teenager he was overcome by the prospecting bug. At the age of 18, he acquired his first Free Miner’s Certificate and has been prospecting ever since.
This easy-to-read book is a testament to the fortitude and ingenuity of the “old breed” of prospectors who paved the way for the modern prospectors of today. The book covers a number of important discoveries and describes many of the “characters” of the era, modern versions of whom you will probably recognize.
WetCoast Ventures: mine finding on Vancouver Island by Walter Guppy. Cappis Press, Publishers, 1119 Oscar St, Victoria, B.C. V8V 2X3 or phone (604) 380-0568.
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