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One of the most remote mining sites in BC, the Taku Mine opened in 1935 and produced gold until 1954. Access to the site, near the junction of the Tulsequah and the Taku rivers, was by plane from Juno, Alaska and a six mile drive to Whitewater Creek in the northwest corner of the province.
The song begins with a description of a shift change, when a new crew arrives at the mine site carrying oil bottles to lubricate their compressed-air drills. They descend to the mine shaft in a cage and await instructions from the foreman, who tells them the job must be completed by the end of their shift. The chorus describes the process of drilling holes for explosives. The last verse indicates that the work has been done properly and the explosions are breaking the rock from the face of the mine shaft. The resulting muck can then be loaded on the ore cars.
A version of this song was found in Songs of the Pacific Northwest by Philip J. Thomas (UBC Website Link).
Taku Miners
Words: Traditional (unknown)
Music: John McLachlan
We are miners, Taku miners.
To the shaft house we must go.
With our oil bottles on our shoulders
We are marching to and fro.
On the line boys; on the line..
Catch the cage and stand in line,
Till the shifter comes and tells you,
“You must drill her off on time”
Loose the swing and jack the bar.
Come in on the arm; you’re out too far.
Way up to the dump and we call her a hole
It's a son of a gun, this mining for gold.
Watch that light, boys! Watch that light, boys!
The mine captain’s in the mine;
He will come along and ask you,
“Can you drill her off on time?”
Drill your holes; load them gently.
Light the first hole in the burn.
Light your cut holes and you kickers,
And the knee holes in their turn.
Light your breast holes, light your side holes.
Light your lifters, center line.
Light your back holes -- lets get going!
Make the corner boys, on time.
There’s your shots, boys; count them careful.
There’s the loud report in the burn.
There’s your cut holes and your kickers.
And the knee holes in their turn.
There’s your breast holes,there's your side holes,
There’s your back holes, we’re in luck!
There's your lifters softly going,
Soft explosion under muck.
Vocabulary
shaft – underground tunnel where ore is mined
cage – elevator that takes miners to and from the mine shaft
shifter – shift boss, foreman
loose the swing – angle the drill up or down
jack the bar – secure the vertical bar between the floor and ceiling of the mine shaft
dump – a nut located under the horizontal arm of the drill
cut holes, knee holes – names given to different kinds of drill holes
mine captain – mining superintendent
widow-makers – early type of compressed air drills
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