Chapter 14 - Duncan Flats
Before I recount some of the experiences I had, it seems only fitting to me that I give you a brief history of Duncan Flats. It had a population of only 400 people when I arrived. It had been settled seven years before by some Scottish people who came, like me, to start a new life. Their leader was a man by the name of Angus Duncan. They decided to start their homesteads here as it had a beautiful river and the soil appeared to be very fertile. They didn’t wish to go any further west as they were well aware of the Indian Wars that were occurring. They weren’t all that sure that they should have gone as far west as they did but they decided to stay since they were here already.
After a year and not experiencing any trouble from Indians nor outlaws, other people came to join them. What started out as thirty-five Pioneers soon came to be one hundred, then two hundred and as I have said, 400 by the time I arrived in 1867. Five years after I became Sheriff, silver was discovered in the hills just north of our town. Prospectors came in. A silver mine was opened up and our population grew to more than 1,000. Things were starting to get busy for me and it was then that I had to appoint a Deputy to help me out.
The town continued to grow and became a central trading point because it was so close to the Canadian border. Goods were coming and going all the time and by 1880, our town consisted of 4,000 permanent residents and another 1,000 who resided with us in the summer.
By the time I retired (in 1892) the town had a population of over 12,000, not counting the other 2,500 or so who came to stay in the warmer months. The silver mine was still running, there were two paper mills, a textile factory, three dairies and somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120 farms. There was work for everyone. The worst year for unemployment which I can remember was in 1890 when forty of the townsfolk weren’t working. It wasn’t because there was no work for them - they were just too damn lazy.