08/18/2026
The Campbell claims, located in Balmertown Township two miles east of Red Lake, were first staked by Edward Derraugh for the Summers-Derraugh Syndicate on February 28, 1926. Gordon G. Summers, an Ontario Land Survey from Haileybury, was one of the principals and also a Director of Hulroy Mines Limited at Haileybury, a company to which the resisted claims were turned over. Surface prospecting and samples were carried out during the summers of 1926 and 1927 but the results were disappointing and the claims were cancelled on June 8, 1928. That same day these claims were re-staked by Colin A. Campbell.
The Campbell family was well known in prospecting circles. George, John and Clifford Campbell, three brothers and their cousin, Colin, had all been prospecting for a number of years. George Campbell was especially well known for his gregarious personality and his practical jokes. A true prospector of the "old school".
Campbell's antics were on full display when he was 21. He and a friend were asked to drive 1,000 horses from Belgium to Spain. The pair set off, stopping every so often to imbibe in the small towns along the way. In order pay for the stops, they would sell a few of the horses. When they finally reached their destination only two horses remained. Campbell told the Spanish Government that the horses had died on the trail for a variety of different reasons. by the time the Spanish Government had finally figured out the truth of the matter, the two men were already back in Canada.
The Big Dome by Charles P Girdwood, Lawrence F. Jones and George Lonn.
