Reblogged from James Osborne:

We all know legends grow with retelling.  This one’s no exception.  It’s about a gold boulder . . . and how it caused a murder. Or did it?  We’re not sure. Nor are we convinced about the rest of the story . . . but that won’t stop us from telling you what we think we know.

The core question is . . . did a boulder of raw gold really slip from the hands of a murderer, roll down a mountainside and disappear into a deep lake?

It all began in the 1890s.  Back then, prospectors were scouring the mountains of Canada and the US.  Some struck it rich on gold, but most left empty handed.  A few were murdered and their riches stolen.  The stories abound.

This legend – or, legends – of the gold boulder began on Kootenay Lake in the interior of British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province.

One version is full of intrigue, betrayal and murder.  Another is much less sensational but more likely to be true.  Well, perhaps. Chances are, we’ll never know for sure.

Let’s begin with the sensational version. It’s more fun.

That story tells of a prospector working his claim on a mountain stream above Kootenay Lake coming upon traces of gold. Developing the site turned into a bigger job than he expected. So he returned to a nearby settlement, where he and his wife had a home, to look for help.  He located an experienced miner, took him home and the two made plans to develop the prospector’s claim.  He didn’t know that his attractive young wife and the miner had already become, shall we say, quite familiar while he was away prospecting.

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