Slumach's Gold chronicles what is possibly Canada's greatest lost-mine story. It searches out the truth behind a Salish man's hanging for murder in 1891 and tracks the intriguing legend about him that grew after his death. It was a legend that turned into a drama of international fascination when Slumach—the hanged criminal—was mysteriously linked to gold nuggets "the size of walnuts." The stories claimed that Slumach had placed a curse on a hidden motherlode to protect it from interlopers and trespassers just before he plunged to his death "at the wrong end of a five-strand rope." Although many have attempted to find Slumach's gold over the past 100 years, following tantalizing clues that are part of the legend itself, none have succeeded—or have they?
Rick Antonson, Mary Trainer and Brian Antonson have diligently sifted through history and myth, separating fact from fiction, but leaving the legend intact—along with the promise of gold yet to be found by some future gold seeker.
Rick Antonson is a full time author with 7 books, and formerlly was president and CEO of Tourism Vancouver. Mary Trainer was a writer and communications coordinator in the Corporate Relations Department at the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Brian Antonson was associate dean of Broadcast and Media Communications at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Rick, Mary and Brian first wrote and published Slumach's Gold in 1972 and updated and reissued in 2007. They also co-authored Whistle Posts West; Railway Tales from British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon.