Here is an old article i just came across man i wish i had known about this when i lived in Sooke B.C i have 5been to these areas any way here is an old article Steps carved into a solid rock cliff, in the middle of a rain forest. Rumors of a heavy bronze cannon seen in a Vancouver Island swamp. Bloodchilling legends of a lost monastery and Spanish massacre. A strange clearing in virgin timber, where nothing grows around an ancient cairn. Bobbing white lights which "float" over a meadow, terrorising hunters...
Are these the products of an unsound mind, or, at the very least, an overactive imagination? Or are the fact?
The answer to this question would solve what must be one of the most intriguing tails of lost treasure in British Columbia history -- and the key likes within 25 miles of Victoria!
The most important chapter of this story is quite well known locally, and began 10 years ago when former Colonist reporter Ted Harris heard a tantalizing story from a friend. The friend told him of an old prospector named Ed Mullard, and subsequently, Mr. Harris confirmed the fascinating details with Mr. Mullard himself.
Some time before--it is not recorded when-- Mr. Mullard and a partner had been prospecting in the historic Jordan Meadow- Leechtown region. Situated to the northwest of the onetime mining and logging camp, between the Jordan and Leech Rivers, Jordan Meadows is a triangular quilt of trees , meadow and swamp.
Long ago a family named Weeks, after whom Trout Lake was rechristened, homesteaded here, but virtually all traces of their substantial home and outbuildings have disappeared. Today only loggers, outdoorsmen and an occasional prospector visit this region, much of which floods in winter.
But to return to our story: Late on afternoon, Mullard had left his partner to hunt deer. Finding a fresh track, he followed his prey through the undergrowth. Night descends rapidly in autumn, however, and dusk ended the hunt prematurely.
Heading back to camp, Mullard elbowed his way through chest-high salal. Suddenly, the prospector made a startling discovery -- he was descending a staircase in the brush. Shouldering aside the salal for a better view in the failing light, Mullard found himself facing an oblong hole in the cliffside.
Upon peering into its murky depths, he could see another series of steps, seven in number. Beyond was an arch and a rectangular gallery about 10 feet in length; and high enough for a man to stand upright (Mullard stood around six feet tall).
Overcome by curiosity, in the feeble glow of matches, Mullard inched along the silent passage, down the second staircase, and into the gallery. At its far end, in the right wall, the scene was repeated: another arch, seven more steps and a second gallery.
Here, however, Mullard encountered water shin-deep. Beyond the dancing pale of his match, he detected what appeared to be yet another gallery. But instead of exploring further, he retreated to the entrance, memorized his location, and hastened back to camp.
He did not live to see the mystery shaft again, and, as far as is known, no other man has set eyes on it.
Reporter Harris had heard of Mullard's wondrous tale in April, 1959, and called the prospector. According to the Colonist account of 18 Months later, 'The old man told him (Harris) a great deal -- perhaps more than he's told anyone else -- and readily agreed to take Harris right to the spot." Mallard and Harris make their pact in the spring of 1959, but because of unsettled weather at this time of year, decided to wait until June. A month before they were to go, Mullard died.
Which is where our mystery really thickens, as although Mullard told Harris more than he had told anyone else, he had not divulged the tunnel's exact location.
Upon hearing Harris' story, the Colonist had agreed to sponsor an official expedition, on the basis of seven clues which Harris had gleaned from his conversation with Mullard:
The area is between Leechtown and Jordan Meadows;
It is somewhere along a shorter route than the regular trail between the two, because Mullard spoke of a shortcut home;
It is at the foot of huge rock bluffs;
It is on ground that isn't very steep, for the opening is almost horizontal;
It is among heavy undergrowth on shallow soil, for it was overgrown although cut into granite;
It is a substantial distance from Leechtown, for Mullard spoke of hoping to get to the site and out again in one day, but being prepared for a two-day trip, just in case;
It is in high country, for he mentioned it overlooked Jordan Meadows.
Using Mullard's seven clues and aerial survey photos, organizers narrowed down the target area to the southwest face of Survey Mountain. This, because "the only rock bluffs (remembering Mullard's description) of any consequence" are to be found here. "At the foot of the bluffs is a shoulder -- at about the 2700 foot level -- roughly 100 to 200 yards wide and several miles long.
"All clues point to the shaft being somewhere along this shoulder," wrote newsman John Jones.
That Remembrance Day weekend, representatives of the provincial museum, Colonist staff members, members of the provincial forest service, and volunteer university students began the arduous task of scouring Survey Mountain's southwest face. Assisted by a helicopter from Vancouver Island Helicopters, and walkie-talkies, the dozen hunters had worked diligently for three days, until defeated by fog and the season's first snowfall.
As they ruefully noted, it would take an army to find anything in this rugged terrain.
Upon their return to Victoria, the searchers had been in good spirits and optimistic. However, despite talk of returning the following year, the hunt was never resumed.
As far as is known, the situation remains unchanged to this day.
Several years ago, this writer interviewed a close friend of the late Ed Mullard, to hear a fascinating tale of lost treasure and a "curse".
About a year after Mr. Mullard died, he said, Mrs Mullard had informed him her husband had bequeathed him all his outdoor and mining gear. When he examined his inheritance, he made some intriguing discoveries -- discoveries which were to send him packing into Jordan Meadows time and again.
This is his story:
Unlike reporter Harris' information, he said, Mr. Mullard had not been alone on that momentous day, but had been accompanied by a man named McLaren. Upon stumbling onto the steps, both men had peered curiously into the tunnel. But only Mr. Mullard had had the courage to grope along the shaft, McLaren standing nervous watch at the entrance. Perhaps the unholy circumstances of their discovery, or the waning daylight, slightly unnerved the partner. Perhaps he simply maintained a healthy mistrust of tunnels and caves. Whatever, when Mullard explored the strange steps and galleries, he was alone.
Encountering water, he had returned to the entrance, cut come saplings, splitting the ends. Then, with these crude "chopsticks," he had returned to the shaft and groped about in the black waters. Despite the awkwardness of his saplings, he had succeeded in snaring several relics of interest.
These items were found in Mr. Mullard's effects, along with instructions as to how to reach the tunnel. Two of the recovered objects, shown this writer, were an old miner's pick and the head of a hammer. both hand-forged and badly corroded.
But far more interesting, was the third item which Mr. Mullard had retrieved from the shaft's flood floor -- a small gold bar. This I did not see.
According to Mr. Mullard's friend, the ingot -- "quite well make" - - had measured approximately three inches long, one and one-quarter inches wide, and an inch thick.
He had since returned the bar to Mrs. Mullard, he said.
A last oddity recovered by Mr Mullard had been some enormous, unidentified crystals.
Four days after Mr. Mullard amazing find, he was dead -- according to this source. As for McLaren, terrified by Mr. Mullard's sudden demise, and apparently connecting it with the evil tunnel, he had refused to discuss it with a soul, and, when continually questioned, had left town.
Following Mr. Mullard's instructions, the friend had tried several times to locate the tunnel, succeeding only in finding one of the prospector's markers, the initials "EM" in a stump.
Asked why he was willing to disclose so much, he had replied: "Why not? I've nothing to hide. I don' give a damn who finds it."
And there the story rests today. Rumors -- growing wilder with each telling -- circulate the city, articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and interest in the mystery tunnel has spread throughout the northwest. Yet, if anyone is on the right track, or has succeeded in finding Mullard's tunnel, he isn't saying.
Some of the rumors go even beyond the ridiculous. Such as the one told this writer -- in all seriousness -- of Communist Chinese agents making regular midnight trips in and out of the nearby Sooke Lake watershed, also reputed to have been visited by the Spanish.
As for the Spanish cannon, mentioned earlier, it has been local legend for years. Apparently, so the story goes, hunters have spotted it in the swamps of Jordan Meadows from time to time. It would seem the meadows shift like the oceans sands, for no one ever sees it twice.
Then there are the stories of a white light which "follows" a hunter in the meadows. We've heard several versions over the years.
The legends of a Spanish monastery are inspired by Sooke's Boneyard Lake, supposedly named after a massacre of Indians. As with other rumors, it has little apparent support.
Yet another tale of an oft-spotted but never-plucked relic is that of a bronze tablet or plaque in the fork of a tree which has grown around it.
Other reports are more credible -- and as interesting. One is the discovery of a "cave" on Survey Mountain's North side, in 1928. The cavern is said to be "quite spacious" and deep. The finding of a "Stores" cigarette package indicated it had been explored earlier. Would this cave have any connection with Mr. Mullard's story?
Somewhat farther afield, but of interest nevertheless, is the finding of a rusted cutlass (a short sword with a curved blade) near the Sooke Potholes, some years ago. When interviewed in March, 1967, its owner said he couldn't remember details of his find beyond the fact it had been lying in deep grass, about a mile from the potholes.
The pitted blade is two feet long, curved, and 1 1/4 inches at its widest point. No trace of the handle's covering remains. Despite its obvious age, and indicated exposure in Sooke grass, it is in good shape. One of its more interesting features is the fact the handle is too small for the "modern" male hand. A glance through reference books in the library would date the weapon at the late 18th century: it answers the description of both Spanish and British navel issue of this period.
Finally, the clearing where nothing grows around a cairn. The story dates back to the summer of 1930, when two men were "kind of prowling around" near Sooke Lake. Deciding to seek refuge from the blazing sun, they had pushed through undergrowth until one, ahead of his partner, had entered a clearing approximately 30 feet by 15.
He later described the clearing a s a "bald patch on the ground, with not even a blade of grass growing on it." At its far end was a strange monument of flat stones, piled atop each other.
Upon investigating, he found, resting on the top of the cairn, "the bones of some animal, which I thought then, and do now, that they were the bones of a horse.
"But what struck me as very peculiar was the fact that the horse seemed to have been killed in such a way that its body would gall right across the cairn."
In the very centre of the clearing, he had found a squat bottle, "five or six inches" tall. On the bottom were the figures, 1670. The bottle appeared to be hand-blown. Believing it to be very old, and possibly valuable, his partner had volunteered to sell it and share the proceeds. "But where my partner went (with the weird bottle) I have not the slightest knowledge."
Was "1670" a date? What of a clearing in which nothing grew? Does it have any relation to Mullard's tunnel?
The rumors go on. All are tempting, few can be verified. We asked on man who has done considerable research into the subject, including several field trips, if he really believed Mr. Mullard's tale. He had replied, "Where there's all that smoke, there just has to be some fire."
Do any of the members of the 1960 Colonist expedition still believe the story? One, at least, does. Some time after the news stories had appeared, he said, he had been contacted by a Saskatchewan dentist.
Years ago, the dentist told him, he had known a man on the Prairies, who had talked of a strange tunnel with steps carved into a mountain on Vancouver Island. From it, the man had said, he had recovered several Chinese artifacts, which he had sold to a Victoria second-hand dealer. A check of old city directories had disclosed that, yes there had been such a dealer in Victoria at that time.
Which opens up a whole new realm of conjecture!
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This story was originally printed in The Times Newspaper, Victoria, B.C. on Sept. 21, 1969 From Times
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