ODDS’N’SODS — Wild goose chase

Ontario’s Red Lake gold camp was booming in 1936.

No fewer than 12 new mine shafts were being sunk that year, causing the town’s population to double within a short period. At the time, Placer Dome’s Campbell operation was considered one of the richest gold mines in the Western Hemisphere. New houses were being built all over town, and Art Fromson opened a meat and poultry shop on Howey Street, next to a new bakery and cafe.

Art once ordered six geese to be flown in from Winnipeg, and they appeared unremarkable when they arrived. However, as they were being plucked and cleaned by Bill and Michael Kostynuk (two local boys), four gold nuggets were found with some gravel stones in the crop of one of the birds.

The boys finished their task and asked Art to find out exactly where these geese were from. Bill and Michael thought there might be more gold to be found in that location. Art telegraphed Winnipeg and discovered that the geese were from a poultry farm, near Red River, situated 16 miles south of Winnipeg, Man.

Although the section of the Red River that runs through Winnipeg is noted for its muddy water and river banks, the only thing golden in the province is the color of its wheatfields.

No one ever did discover where that goose found the four gold nuggets it brought to Red Lake.

— The author, a frequent contributor and retired operating engineer, resides in Thunder Bay, Ont.