Podcasts · History · True Crime

Deadman's Curse: Volcanic Gold

Curiouscast

27 episodes · in order

In 1931 On a night cold enough to freeze your bones, a larger than life prospector, in search of a legendary lost gold mine in the wilderness of British Columbia, disappears without a trace. Known for his solid gold teeth and team of black stallions, he was a force of nature. So was he murdered? Did he fake his own death? Or was he the latest victim of a curse? 40 years earlier Slumach was accused of murder and from the gallows it is said that set a curse on anyone who searched for his hidden gold mine just before he was hanged. Since then many have sought his fortune and have met their demise. Deadman’s Curse: Volcanic Gold is a historical mystery podcast hosted by Kru Williams from History Television's hit original series Deadman's Curse: The Legend of the Lost Gold. Join Kru and the rest of the team from Deadman’s Curse, along with historians and experts as they investigate the life and disappearance of legendary prospector Volcanic Brown, and in doing so, retrace the steps of fortune-seekers through the 20th century who went looking for a motherlode worth billions… and never came back. It’s a gold-fevered expedition through time itself and straight into the heart…of a curse.

Episodes

  1. Trailer

    · 2:04 · Trailer

    Just before he was hanged, an indigenous prospector accused of murder set a curse on anyone who searched for his hidden gold. Over a century later, a prospector, a mountaineer, a truth-seeker and a way-shower band…

  2. The Crime | 1

    · 29 min · S1 E1

    On a cold January evening in 1891, a condemned man was led slowly back to his cell for the very last time the night before his execution. The next morning, the hangman arrived at the man’s cell and they headed toward…

  3. Trial and Execution | 2

    · 34 min · S1 E2

    When we last left off, a man named Slumach shot and killed a man named Louis Bee on September 8, 1890, along the reedy shores of what was then known as Lillooet Slough, near the vast expanse of Pitt Lake in southern…

  4. Trouble in Paradise | 3

    · 31 min · S1 E3

    Slumach, accused of shooting Louis Bee and then fleeing, was tried for murder. The trial took mere days and the jury reached a guilty verdict in just 15 minutes, even though no witnesses for the defence were called or…

  5. All That Glitters | 4

    · 32 min · S1 E4

    The legend of Slumach and his gold goes by many names: the Legend of the Lost Mine of Pitt Lake, the Legend of the Lost Creek Mine, the Legend of Slumach’s Gold. The story always starts with a variation on ‘a brash…

  6. Guilty? | 5

    · 28 min · S1 E5

    80 years after Slumach’s execution, exclusive information emerged as part of a family story passed down through history: Slumach’s story from his lips to only one person’s ears. In this episode, we hear the account of…

  7. True Believer | 6

    · 29 min · S1 E6

    We left off as we introduced you to Ms Amanda Charnley, a Katzie woman and Peter Pierre’s daughter. Pierre was a catechist for the Roman Catholic Order of Mary Immaculate. He was also a healer and leader within the…

  8. Full Circle | 7

    · 40 min · S1 E7

    Over the course of this podcast, we’ve discussed the ways in which Slumach and so many Indigenous peoples were at the mercy of an ongoing colonial enterprise that sought to extract wealth from a bountiful land no…

  9. Going for the Gold | 8

    · 33 min · S1 E8

    According to Amanda Charnley, Slumach went up into the canyons and above the clouds around Pitt Lake, and found chunks of gold he could carve out with a pen knife. Slumach told Peter Pierre that if he needed money, the…

  10. The Curse of El Dorado | 9

    · 30 min · S1 E9

    In the decades following Slumach’s execution, we see people injured–sometimes fatally–while going into the region looking for a gold mine without much proof of its existence. Gold represented wealth and power, freedom…

  11. Dead Man Walking | 10

    · 38 min · S1 E10

    Five years after Slumach died, on August 16, 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike region of Yukon, bordering Alaska to the far north of British Columbia. As it happened almost 40 years earlier with BC’s Fraser…

  12. Pulp Fiction | 11

    · 42 min · S1 E11

    60 years after Slumach’s death, in 1951, The Province newspaper, one of Vancouver’s major dailies that is still in existence, connected Slumach’s name to a curse. Up until that moment, the curse was nowhere to be found…

  13. The Legend Continues | 12

    · 28 min · S1 E12

    In the final episode of the season, we share our final findings into the investigation of Slumach’s story, the legend and the curse, and explore unanswered questions after walking the same path and sleeping under the…

  14. One-on-One with Kru Williams | 13

    · 31 min · S1 E13

    On this special episode of Deadman’s Curse, Kru Williams is joined by co-writer and executive producer, Ernest White II, to allow Kru to share his personal insights on what it was like contributing to the podcast,…

  15. Season 2 Trailer | Deadman's Curse: Volcanic Gold

    · 1:35 · Trailer

    In 1931, on a night cold enough to freeze your bones, a larger-than-life prospector, in search of a legendary lost gold mine in the wilderness of British Columbia, disappears without a trace. Known for his solid gold…

  16. A Mysterious Disappearance | 1

    · 24 min · S2 E1

    In 1931, a larger than life prospector, in search of Slumach’s legendary lost gold mine goes missing in the wilderness of British Columbia. In this episode, we retrace the epic search and rescue efforts that went into…

  17. Man of Mystery | 2

    · 24 min · S2 E2

    Legendary prospector Volcanic Brown had a talent for surviving incredibly harsh conditions and a résumé of achievements almost too unbelievable to be true. So who was this larger than life character who had a knack for…

  18. Volcanic Brown Goes West | 3

    · 26 min · S2 E3

    In our mission to to uncover the truth behind the curse of Slumach’s gold mine, a major piece to the puzzle lies with Volcanic Brown. Although some things have been lost to history, one thing we know for sure he had…

  19. Volcanic Boom | 4

    · 31 min · S2 E4

    On August 26, 1899, the name Volcanic City first appeared in the Cascade Record newspaper. It was said to be a city on a hill filled with wealth and abundance in the mineral richness of southern British Columbia. By…

  20. Rising from the Ashes | 5

    · 30 min · S2 E5

    Volcanic Brown makes a name for himself as a miner within Boundary Country in the early 20th century by making headlines for landing in jail for shooting a man in self defence - sound familiar? We continue our…

  21. The Saga of Doc Brown | 6

    · 31 min · S2 E6

    Volcanic Brown, known in some circles as ‘Doc Brown’, set his gold-fevered sights on finding Slumach’s legendary lost mine. Legend has it, he did it after he saved Slumach’s granddaughter’s life and was repaid with…

  22. The British Columbia Triangle | 7

    · 34 min · S2 E7

    Volcanic Brown vanished without a trace - but how? Why? Was he murdered? Did he fake his own death? Did he slip into another dimension? Articles have mentioned there have been at least 20 others who have also…

  23. Desperately Seeking Slumach | 8

    · 33 min · S2 E8

    Claiming to have found Slumach’s legendary motherlode, WWII veteran and German POW survivor, Stu Brown, allegedly hauls ten pounds of gold nuggets out of the Upper Pitt and spends the last three decades of his life…

  24. Jack Mould and Spanish Gold | 9

    · 35 min · S2 E9

    Passed down to a young Jack Mould by his father Charlie, were tales of Spanish explorers mining for gold in the mountains high above the icy waters of Bute Inlet. For decades father and son searched Bute Inlet and the…

  25. Charlie Mould and Spanish Gold | 10

    · 33 min · S2 E10

    Charlie Mould believed that Spanish explorers began mining and processing gold in the years before the British officially claimed what became British Columbia and that that gold was still out there…waiting to be found.…

  26. Jack Mould and Slumach’s Gold | 11

    · 35 min · S2 E11

    The Spanish were known for keeping records of their colonial exploits around the world, but they were also known for privateering, profiteering and piracy. What might have been aboard the legendary Spanish galleon the…

  27. Curses, Foiled Again | 12

    · 26 min · S2 E12

    Slumach’s lost mine isn’t the only tale of gold hidden in Western Canada with a dubious history. There is a trail of treasures in and around BC with wild stories, danger, and legendary paydirt attached to their…

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