Page 6 - April 2024 News On 7

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH: THE RISE AND FALL OF ONTARIO’S OWN ELDORADO Written by Jamie Bradburn
“Eldorado is one of those cities which American genius calls into
existence in some emergency of speculation, which rise like a mushroom,
sometimes attaining a world-wide celebrity, and often sinking as
mysteriously as they have risen.” — “Orlando,” Hamilton Spectator,
September 10, 1867
For a brief moment in the late 1860s, central Ontario provided visions of
riches for thousands of prospectors, speculators, and others caught up in
the province’s first gold rush. While our own Eldorado still exists as a
small hamlet you might blink and miss while driving along Highway 62
between Madoc and Bancroft, it has yet to fulfil the dreams that continue
to this day.
Iron-ore mining in modern-day Hastings and Peterborough counties began in the
1820s, when deposits were found near Marmora. By the 1860s, Belleville businessmen
promoted the mineral-wealth potential of the region after discoveries of copper,
lithographic stone, marble, and soapstone. Geologists and prospectors explored the
land, hoping to strike it rich.
Among those on the prowl was Marcus Powell, a local farmer and part-time
prospector. Around 1865, he and several colleagues began exploring fellow farmer
John Richardson’s property north of Madoc. Powell’s group and Richardson agreed to
split whatever was discovered. At first, Powell suspected the property might have
copper pyrites beneath it.

While digging on August 15, 1866, Powell and two other prospectors found something else.
In a government report issued decades later, Powell recalled that day. “I was following on a seam for copper, and at a depth of 15 feet I
struck ore carrying free gold. The seam was six inches wide at the top and was decomposed for six feet, then it was solid rock to 15 feet,
where it suddenly opened up into a cave 12 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet high, so that I could stand upright in it.”
The gold was mixed in with other minerals ranging from mica to talc: “The gold was found in all these rocks in the forms of leaves and
nuggets, and in the roof it ran through a foot thickness like knife blades. The largest nugget was about the size of a butternut.”
Powell’s group was skeptical about what exactly they’d found and didn’t believe the first consultants who suggested it was gold. Digging
continued, and by early September, when their shaft had reached a depth of 18 feet, another crevice of gold had been found. Their
discoveries were confirmed by a geologist from the Geological Survey of Canada who had recently finished a two-month mineral survey
of the Madoc area.
Rumours about the discovery spread slowly and were treated skeptically. The September 8, 1866, edition of the Madoc Mercury
reported that only a “very small portion” of gold had been found. “At one time,” the paper observed, “the announcement that gold had
undoubtedly been found in the township would have created great excitement, however small the quantity discovered; but such
intelligence is now received with more calmness that it would have been in the days of Californian and Australian gold fever.”
As more samples were discovered, skepticism turned into a sense of possibility. Richardson was approached by a group of Boston-
based investors led by Joseph Carr, who had been involved in oil speculation in the area. After an initial offer of $2,000 for the mine,
Richardson eventually wrangled a $20,000 deal, along with $15,000 to be split by Powell and his fellow prospectors. But no money ever
changed hands, as the deal collapsed, leading to months of legal wrangling over promised bonds to the Americans.
As stories of the find spread, an increasing stream of visitors showed up at Richardson’s farm. The early waves were rewarded with free
ore samples, if they weren’t greedy (Richardson sent away one man who’d arrived with a large bag). “If gold is not soon found in
quantity sufficient to make Madoc a place of note,” the Madoc Mercury observed on November 3, “it will solely be from the deficiency
of the precious metal, and not for want of seekers after it.”

A certified reproduction of the Plan of Eldorado, Village & Mining Lots, as
laid out on the northeast quarter of Lot # 17 in the 5th Concession of
Madoc Township for John Moore. Surveyed by C. F. Aylsworth Sr., P.L.S.
and signed January 2, 1867. (Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings
County.)

To Read More go to: https://www.tvo.org/article/after-the-gold-rush-
the-rise-and-fall-of-ontarios-own-eldorado