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Johnny Harris’ cars
Johnny Harris bought at least three cars, all purchased between 1924 and 1926. He may have briefly owned them all at the same time. They allowed him to get to his mining claims and to flaunt his wealth. Here’s what we know about each of those vehicles.
• Ford Roadster: Johnny bought this vehicle in May 1924, a few days after meeting Alma, his bride-to-be. He was probably trying to impress her. Nelson dealer Robert Peebles brought the car out to Sandon and Alma drove him back to New Denver to catch the boat home. Alma had been driving since she was 12 and was unafraid of the sketchy mountain road, much to the amazement of some of Sandon’s other women. What happened to this car is unknown.
• 1925 Dodge Coupe: Johnny purchased this car in Nelson on July 15, 1925 for $1,845. He still owned it when he died in 1953. For a few years afterward, the car sat on blocks and became a magnet for all of the young men in Sandon. They pestered Alma about it, but while she had no use for it, she didn’t seem interested in selling.
Finally, in 1956, she accepted a tentative offer. When Derek Pollard got wind of the impending sale, he “whipped up there” and offered $100, although he could only provide a $5 deposit. (Johnny’s probate file had only valued the car at $25.)
A year later, Alma asked Pollard for the balance. He scraped the money together and got the car going. It came with the original owner’s manual, sales brochure, and registration papers with Johnny’s signature.
In 1967, Pollard and his wife drove the Dodge from Fernie to Victoria as part of a government-funded cavalcade to commemorate Canada’s centennial. Pollard held on to the car for the rest of his life, and after his death in 2019, one of his sons moved it to Alberta.
Johnny and Alma’s Dodge on the Sandon road, date unknown. (Silvery Slocan Historical Society 2024.01.012 and 2024.01.013)
The Dodge as seen in 2017. (Courtesy Joel Pollard)
The original 1925 Dodge registration. (Courtesy Joel Pollard)
• Lincoln Club Sedan: Johnny bought this car in Detroit in 1926 or 1927 during his honeymoon with Alma and they travelled in it the rest of the way, through the United States and home. According to Norman Carter, whose father was Johnny’s friend and denturist, Johnny paid $2,000.
Like the Roadster and the Dodge before it, it arrived aboard the SS Slocan because a road between Slocan and Silverton hadn’t yet been built. To Johnny’s dismay, the Lincoln couldn’t make the tight corners on the Sandon road. So the vehicle sat in Silverton while Johnny hired a crew of miners to widen the switchbacks.
Carter added another detail, which I haven’t been able to corroborate: six months after the car finally reached its destination, Johnny had a visit from a police officer and customs official. He was charged $2,000 duty and another $2,000 for smuggling.
After The King of Sandon was published, I found the ad below, showing Johnny was trying to sell the car in Spokane.
Spokesman-Review, May 11, 1927
This is interesting for a few reasons. First, this was just as Johnny and Alma were returning from their honeymoon. Was the “good reason for selling” that he still owned two other vehicles and didn't need a third? Or did he anticipate trouble bringing the Lincoln home via the Sandon road?
Second, his asking price was $3,500. Was the $2,000 price that Norman Carter cited incorrect? Or was Johnny trying to turn a substantial profit? In any event, there was no buyer.
Carter related that this car met an inglorious end about a year later when it missed a turn and ended up in Carpenter Creek. He didn’t say who was driving, whether there were any passengers, or how close a call it was.
Retrieval of the Lincoln must have been impossible or at least more effort than Johnny felt was worth. The car stayed put and, in Carter’s words, “became a shrine for a whole generation of little boys, who for years after used to climb up the creek from Silverton and drive it in their Saturday dreams.”
I have no idea how long it remained there or if there is any sign today of its watery grave.
• The mystery car: The Spokane Chronicle of April 20, 1928 reported Johnny and Alma were en route after four months in California: “They drove down by auto but disposed of their car and returned by train.”
Which vehicle was this? I’ll suggest it was the Roadster, since that would neatly tie up the loose end about its fate. But I can’t say for certain.