In 1881, when prospector Bob Sproule first looked over the edge of the galena cliff that rose above the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake, little did he know that he was about to fall – not into the deep blue waters of the lake below, but into a state of murderous insanity, caused by greed, injustice, unfairness and a crushing twist of fate.

The Big Ledge: The scene of Robert Evan Sproule’s undoing was a rust-stained, mineral-filled rocky ledge that ran more than a kilometre along the Lake, just north of present-day Kootenay Bay. The ledge, about 45 metres high and 6 metres wide, was already well-known to the local Ktunaxa.

As early as 1844, geologists guided to the site by the Ktunaxa began noting the mineral potential of the ledge. But in the absence of nearby road or rail, the ore was dismissed as being “economically inaccessible.” The site came close to being mined in 1879, when an unscrupulous prospector, Henry Doan, convinced wealthy San Francisco politician and businessman George Hearst (father of publisher William Randolph Hearst) that he had obtained rich silver samples from the outcropping. Hearst himself travelled by boat up the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers and crossed Kootenay Lake to obtain his own samples from the ledge. When they turned out to contain mostly lead, Doan sheepishly admitted that his original samples had actually come from a silver mine in Colorado.

Sproule Stakes His Claim: In 1881, the ill-fated Sproule was the next on the scene, and the first to stake a claim on the ledge. (He called it the “Bluebell”, after the wildlflowers that covered the ground.) But registering the claim was not a simple matter. The provincial Minerals Act required that a claim could not be left unattended for more than 72 hours. Since the nearest claim office was more than 700 kilometres away, Sproule was forced to camp at the ledge all summer, until the end of the mining season in October. He dutifully returned in the spring of 1882, before the season re-opened on June 1st, and on July 31, succeeded in legally registering the claim when the District Gold Commissioner, William Fernie, dropped by his camp.

Competing Interest: Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, George Hearst was making plans to exploit the rich natural resources he had noted during his expedition to Kootenay Lake. Along with his business partner, George Jennings Ainsworth, and Ainsworth’s son, he sent a team of prospectors back to the Kootenay area. A trio headed by Thomas Hammill staked a series of mining claims and set up camp at the site of a hot springs (still known today as Ainsworth Hot Springs) on the west side of Kootenay Lake, directly across from Sproule’s ledge.

On the east side of the Lake, Sproule continued to guard his claim. But not long before the end of the season, he fell ill. Carefully abiding by the letter of the law, Sproule filed a formal request for leave of absence with Gold Commissioner Fernie before departing for Bonner’s Ferry to the south.

Hammill Makes His Move: On the opposite shore, Thomas Hammill – Hearst and Ainsworth’s man – had been lying in wait. As soon as Sproule had been gone 3 days, Hammill rowed across the lake and re-staked Sproule’s Bluebell claim, dubbing it the “Silver Queen.” On November 15, 1882, for reasons that remain unknown, Hammill succeeded in convincing Commissioner Fernie to legally register the claim.

When Sproule returned to his ledge in the spring of 1883 and discovered that Hammill had jumped his claim, he once again played by the rules and registered an objection with the Gold Commissioner. But he was no longer the sole owner of the Bluebell; in order to raise working capital, he had acquired a new investor, Colonel Hudnut of Idaho, and 2 working partners. His less scrupulous prospecting associates were not above retaliation: they crossed the lake in the opposite direction and re-staked the Ainsworth claims.

By the time Sproule’s case was heard, late in the summer of 1883, there was a new provincial government and a new District Gold Commissioner, Edward Kelly. When Kelly decided the case in favour of Sproule, the Ainsworths appealed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Unfortunately for Sproule, the appeal became attached to his partners’ other contested claims. Although the court once again found in favour of Sproule and his east-side Bluebell claim, his partners lost their cases, and were forced to restore ownership of the west side mining claims to the Ainsworths.

A Forced Partnership: In a cruel and astonishing twist of fate, Sproule’s investor, Colonel Hudnut, failed to pay the fines and court costs associated with his loss. In order to settle his debt, his only British Columbian asset – part ownership in Sproule’s Bluebell MIne – was put up for public auction.

To Sproule’s dismay, the winning bidder was none other than his arch-enemy, Thomas Hammill!

Murder and Execution: During the winter of 1885, Sproule persevered, acquiring a new investor from Idaho, Dr. Wilbur Hendryx, to help him keep his dream alive. Sproule and his crew returned to Kootenay Lake for the mining season, but on June 1st, when Thomas Hammill crossed the lake to assert his new-found stake in Sproule’s claim, Sproule’s patience came to an end. He fatally shot Hammill with a borrowed rifle, and quickly fled down the lake in a rowboat. Within days, he was captured on the Kootenay River. He was tried for murder in a Victoria courtroom, and hanged on October 29, 1886.

• There are many versions of the series of events that led to the fatal shooting at the Bluebell Mine. In spite of his conviction, Sproule’s guilt in the murder of Thomas Hammill remains a subject of historical controversy. Both the facts of Hammill’s death, and the fairness of the trial that convicted Sproule, have been questioned.

• After Hammill’s death, the Ainsworths abandoned their claim to the Bluebell mine. Dr. Hendryx began to work the mine in 1888, using the small steamship Galena to lug the heavy ore to Bonner’s Ferry, where it was hauled by wagon to the nearest railroad depot. In order to make the process more cost effective, Hendryx arranged for the construction of a smelter at nearby Pilot Bay. But the equipment at Pilot Bay was inadequate, and within 2 years, the entire operation was shut down.

• In the early 1900’s, the Bluebell mine was re-opened by the Paris-based Canadian Metal Company (at which time the mining site, now a retirement community, took its current name of Riondel). It operated until 1921, was revived in 1952, and was finally exhausted in 1971.