The $200,000 week myth

An oft-repeated statement claims the Reco mine produced $200,000 worth of ore in one week. This is not true, but here are the instances where it appeared.

 

Vancouver Province, 14 Jul 1958: “First settler and one of the last, was J.M. (Johnny) Harris who came in 1892. … He owned several mines. One is said to have produced $200,000 for him in a single week, then dried up.”

 

George Stewart, as told to Gus Stakoven, published in the Nelson Daily News, 14 Jul 1967: “J.M. Harris staked the Reco mine and in one week it yielded ore to the value of $200,000.”

 

Nobody Here But Us, Moira Farrow, 1975, p. 86-87: “One of Harris’s mines yielded silver valued at $200,000 during one week of operation, but most of his fortune came from real estate dealings.”

 

Sandon Historical Society website: “Eventually, his real estate empire grew to include mines such as the rich Reco Claim, which at one point in 1897 produced over $200,000 worth of ore in a single week.” 

 

This is possibly what led to the erroneous statement:

 

History of City of Spokane and Spokane Country [sic], Vol. 1, 1912, p. 478: “Col. S.M. Wharton, J.M. Harris and E.J. [sic] Kelly were taking ore of fabulous richness from the Reco. They shipped four carloads in December [1896] that netted $20,798. A previous shipment of two carloads returned $18,000 profit.” 

 

Perhaps someone added a zero to the $20,000.