Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
The Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation Limited fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on provenance of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1899-1960, predominant [ca. 1930-1949] (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
6,590 architectural drawings;0.13 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation Limited (Y.C.G.C.) was established in 1923 and operated in the Klondike gold fields until 1966. The company was originally established to acquire the interests of other dredging companies in the Klondike. Towards this end, Y.C.G.C. acquired Burrall and Baird Limited, New North West Corporation Limited and Canadian Klondyke Power in 1925. Two years later Y.C.G.C. acquired Yukon Gold Company's remaining assets in the Klondike. Treadgold was removed from managing the company by the Y.C.G.C. Board of Directors in 1930 after it became evident that under his management the company was slowly deteriorating. His association with the company was completely severed in 1932, following a court ruling which ordered his shares in Y.C.G.C. cancelled. Following Treadgold's removal as manager, the Company underwent a rebuilding process. In 1931, under the direction of Andrew Baird, Y.C.G.C. operated five dredges, and successfully met all of its obligations, as well as recording a cash surplus. The rebuilding process continued under W.H.S. McFarland who was appointed General Manager of Y.C.G.C. in 1934, and remained in that position until 1947. Throughout the 1930s McFarland embarked upon an expansion programme for Y.C.G.C. This programme included the construction of new support facilities, and the purchase of three new dredges. The growth and prosperity Y.C.G.C. experienced in the late 1930s was in large part due to the abundance of cheap labour and materials. These advantages were lost following the outbreak of the Second World War, and by 1941 Y.C.G.C. was faced with serious material and manpower shortages. During this period gold returns dropped from $2,617,277 in 1940 to $616,229 in 1944. Y.C.G.C. operations and production returned to pre-war levels in the period 1946-1949, however, this prosperity was short lived. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s the company was besieged by a growing number of difficulties. Labour and material costs continued to increase, while the company's profits decreased due to shrinking gold reserves and the fixed price of gold. On November 15, 1966 the gold dredging era in the Klondike was brought to a close when the last of the Y.C.G.C. dredges ceased operation. Function: The company was originally established to acquire the interests of other dredging companies in the Klondike and to consolidate a number of smaller companies originally incorporated by A.N.C. Treadgold.
Custodial history
The National Archives of Canada began negotiations to acquire the YCGC Corporate Records in 1967, and acquisition took place in 1972-1973. In 1975 Parks Canada acquired from the National Archives approximately 6,600 mechanical and architectural drawings of YCGC buildings, dredges, and dredge related machinery as well as some other corporate records. The Yukon Archives acquired these same mechanical and architectural drawings, along with a small body of other corporate records from Parks Canada in June, 1982.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of approximately 6,590 mechanical plans, blueprints, maps and survey plans of Yukon Consolidated Gold Company (YCGC) activity in the Yukon. The mechanical plans are of a broad range of components that comprise an operating dredge such as pumps, buckets, collars, steel riffles and pulleys. The fonds also consists of blueprints of the buildings at Bear Creek, North Fork Power Plant and Dawson Power Plant. These include floor plans, elevations, room fixtures and furniture. The predominant dates are 1930s-1940s. The fonds also consists of maps and survey plans of creeks, claims worked by the dredges and dredge progress on these claims. There are also Fire Insurance Plans for many of the camps on the creeks. There are also 0.13 m of textual records that are made up of correspondence, financial records, shift logs, maintenance records and internal reports.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no donor-imposed restrictions on this material. General copyright or institutional or legal restrictions may apply.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
A card file index of 3,758 plans exists at the Yukon Archives for plans 1-3,758. The remainder of the plan descriptions (3759-6590) are listed in four binders of the Y.C.G.C. Finding Aid at the Yukon Archives.
Associated materials
John Calam fonds; Yukon Archives has on microfilm the material that Parks Canada has in Dawson City.;Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation fonds at the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario; North Fork Power Plant fonds at Dawson City Museum and Historical Society in Dawson City, Yukon; Klondike National Historic Sites, Parks Canada in Dawson City, Yukon.