The Great Discovery Gold Heist!

My family arrived in Discovery Mine, NWT in 1957.

Discovery from the air

Discovery Mine, NWT - Headframe

To read about my adventure click HERE and HERE

Three years before we arrived (1954) a miner by the name of Tony Gregson devised a plan to walk away with two gold bricks worth $54,000 (gold was only worth $32.00 an ounce at the time).

The Plan

He noticed that the canvas bags that contained the gold bricks where just tossed into the plane, usually under the seat by the loading door. Back in those days they were not guarded at all. In Yellowknife they were sent over to the post office and from there they would be shipped to Ottawa.
He had a seamstress in Edmonton make up heavy canvas bags, that looked the same as the originals, that he obtained from a foundry for $25.00.
Then he had a lead brick made up the same size and shape of a gold brick and later he made another brick himself made of lead which he had purchased from a watchman at a non operating gold property in Yellowknife. This cost him $30.00.

The Execution

By July 1st, when Discovery poured two gold bricks, he was ready to put his plan into action. He quit working for the company and left on the Saturday plane that carried the gold bricks. It had a stop at a bush camp and then on to Yellowknife.
At this stop, and unnoticed by the other two passengers, Tony quickly did the switcheroo with the lead bricks and put the gold bricks in his suitcase. When the plane arrived in Yellowknife, Tony picked up his suitcase and departed.
I heard that at the dock where the float plane tied up to, that a worker took his suitcase off the plane and noticed how heavy it was. He asked Tony if he was carrying gold bricks, to which he laughed and said yes. This may have been an embellishment from the miners that told me the story.
A few hours after landing in Yellowknife and with his prize in his suitcase he chartered a plane to take him to Hay River.
From there he travelled by bus to Peace River where he took another bus to Prince George. He took passage on a train to Prince Rupert and stayed there for four days.
He booked a berth on a ship and travelled to Vancouver. When he landed in Vancouver he walked off the ship under the name of Tony Johnson.

Meanwhile, back in Yellowknife, the bags containing the "Gold bricks" were sent over to a safe in a transport office where they would be kept until after the holiday weekend. On Monday they were sent to the post office where the post office clerk noticed that the numbers on the bags did not jive with the numbers on his documents.
He phoned the Discovery office and the manager, R.J. Kilgour, instructed him to weigh the bags. It was discovered that they weighed 48.2 and 43.2 pounds instead of the 72 and 52 pounds.
The search was on!
The two other passengers where located in Yellowknife and after talking with them the R.C.M.P. quickly came to the conclusion that Tony Gregson was their man.
Three years and $54,000 later Gregson was finally apprehended in Australia. He had stowed away aboard a ship headed for Australia and after four days with no food or water he showed himself to the crew. They tried several times to put him off at other ports of call on the way to Australia but none would take him.
He was sent back to Yellowknife to stand trial where he pleaded guilty and was given a 30 month prison sentence.
While on the "lamb" he would saw off pieces of gold and sell them, keeping the gold filings and dust in an aspirin bottle. He sold the gold all the way from Key West to Los Angeles to Havana and many places in between.
None of the gold was recovered and he had a great time partying on the mine's gold!

The Wanted Posters

There have been a couple of books written about Tony Gregson and you can check them out HERE and HERE

I hope you liked the post!