Yellowknife, N. W. T.
Oct 2nd, 1939.
Dear Mother:
We had about two inches of snow on Saturday night and I think it is here to stay. It is above freezing during the day but nor enough to do much good. Rat Lake, the small lake between here and the mine is frozen over though not enough for skating—the future skating being already spoilt by the snow which came after it froze.
There are nearly nineteen men still waiting to go out—mostly from the exploration crew. There will probably be a terrific rush near the end as conditions are poor for flying. This is the worst time of year for flying as the days are too short to make a return trip, the weather is very unsettled the pilots have to wait in the mornings until the air warms up a bit—otherwise the spray when taking off freezes on the tail surfaces. I believe I am slated for the last trip though I would just as soon not wait that long unless it means a trip thru to Edmonton..
A week ago last Sunday we went duck-hunting with .22s. Taking our lunches we hiked back west of the mine to Kam Lake and numerous smaller lakes. We saw many duck and shot about fifty shots each at them without harm to the ducks. Most of them were so far out in the lake that had we hit any they could not have been retrieved. However we shot three grouse (also called prairie chicken, spruce hen or ptarmigan as no one knows exactly what they are). We saw no more that day but Tommy shot one on his way to work on Monday so that there was enough for one each. They were very fat and each one made a colossal meal.
It is quite possible that an amateur radio operator should have his transmitter dismantled as it is now against the law for them to operate. We received word from Trail recently not to send any more messages in code. Such messages as assay results, payment of invoices by wire etc had always been done in code.
I went over to the doctor’s apartment recently and saw some more of his movie pictures. I had seen most of them before but there were som [sic] excellent shots of the cross fox that was caught. He had put the fox in the dog pen with the cocker spaniels pups which the fox didn’t enjoy I’m afraid. The fox is still around camp but getting more wild. Probably it will end up trimming somebody’s parka.
The new boiler is practically installed now and is having a building built around it. This makes the fourth addition to the camp power house so it is now a weird specimen of architecture.
The Hearne Lake is supposed to make one more trip this season and the Dease Lake is here now waiting for fair weather to go out for the last time. I hope I am not far behind it.
With love from
Tony.