On August 15, 1866, Ontario Divisional Court clerk employee and part-time prospector Marcus Herbert Powell discovered gold while prospecting for copper[1] on an Ontario farm near Madoc owned by John Richardson's.

[2][3] Powell initially leased 19 acres the farm in exchange for 50% of what gold could be extracted.

[4] The cave contained pyrite and visible gold in the form of leaves, sheets, and nuggets as large as a walnut.

[2] Eighty hotels and accommodations were constructed to house the influx of 4,000 prospectors and tourists who travelled from as far away as British Columbia and California.

[4] The Deloro, Gilmour, Cordova, Feigle, Bannockburn, and Golden Fleece mines all opened.