Conrad (Yukon)
Conrad is a ghost town in the Yukon, which consisted 1899-1914 due to silver finds. Between 1905 and 1912, the American John Conrad led the Conrad Consolidated Mines.
How many gold prospectors who had moved to the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the American John Conrad sought († 1928) in the region after precious metals. In July 1899 it was found on Windy Arm of Tagish Lake Gold and Silver, so to Carcross, which still Caribou Crossing was called at that time, thousands of gold and silver prospectors appeared.
Within a few years succeeded John Conrad to bring almost all claims per se, so that most men worked for him. In March 1905, the dismantling work began on Montana Mountain. In June, Conrad estimated the incidence to a value of 12 million dollars. In the Town of Conrad, Conrad, or simply as the place was called soon, it attracted hundreds of workers, and it originated shops, hotels, churches and a phone line to Carcross. The Gleaner, a steamboat, presented twice a week a ship connection.
To get the silver from the mountain to get there by ship to Carcross and from there by train to Skagway on the coast of Alaska, much capital was being provided. Mid-July to Conrad traveled to Seattle, where he earned a corresponding device. Conrad invested $ 80,000 to build a web of material for his ore, which overcame more than 6 km and more than 1,200 meters in altitude. 80 Erzkübel hung on the wire rope, each of which took twelve cubic feet ( about 0.3 cubic meters ) each. The trip took 50 minutes from the mine to the base station at Windy Arm. In August, 60 men were already working on the railway and 100 to Pack paths, roads and buildings. The government had a road built to the base station.
Conrad raved about it, his city will replace Dawson as the capital of the territory Yukon. In 1907 350 men worked in the mines, 150 continued to look for silver deposits. Six hotels emerged in the city, a hospital, a police and a telegraph station, as well as numerous shops and forges. Despite the enormous extraction and transport costs Conrad upheld the company, although his fortune shrank.
Serious resulted from the fact that Conrad sued the White Pass Railway, the required five times excessive transportation rates in his opinion. The owners in turn led into the field, they had caused by the extreme climate and the surface shape, very high cost. An international commission found that the railroad could not lower the prices without going bankrupt itself. Thus, the Conrad Consolidated Mines went bankrupt.
In April 1912 " Colonel " John Conrad left the territory. He died on November 27, 1928 in Seattle of heart failure.
The silver mine at the time was long since closed and the site was abandoned in 1914.