The Major Did It First

I read your article entitled “A Tale of Two Sisters” [CMJ October 2000, p.5] and am quite dismayed that you did not give credit where it is due.

First of all, I would be extremely surprised if Art White ever staked a claim in his life. He did indeed make a deal for the claims which became the Campbell mine, and later another deal for the claims which became the Dickenson mine (later Arthur White mine and now the Red Lake mine), but that was a far cry from making the original discovery and staking the ground.

I enclose copies of two articles (Precambrian, March 1949; Northern Miner, May 1, 1995), showing clearly that it was my grandfather, Maj. Charles James Alexander Cunningham-Dunlop, who staked the Dickenson claims and part of Campbell in 1926 and made the first gold discovery on the Dickenson a year or so later. His story appears in several books. He died of cancer in 1929 and my father, J.M. Cunningham-Dunlop, did not have the resources to keep the claims in good standing. You will note by reading the enclosures that the claims were restaked a number of times and eventually by Gordon Shearn, a former employee of the Major. Shearn dealt the ground to Dickenson who dealt them to White. Today’s claims have exactly the same boundaries as those of the originals.

May I respectfully suggest that as a professional geologist, you confirm the facts before rushing to print someone’s promotional material. After all, you are not the average journalist.

C.Jack Cunningham-Dunlop, mining engineer

Wellington, Ont.

Thanks for the correction. I am glad we have readers with longer memories than mine. Ed.