Sandon is in the foothills of the Selkirk Mountains in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The near ghost town lies off BC Highway 31A, and is at the confluence of Sandon Creek into Carpenter Creek. By road, the place is about east of New Denver and west of Kaslo. Name origin The name derives from Sandon Creek, which acknowledges John Sandon. Among the prospectors who inundated the Slocan Valley in the fall of 1891, Sandon staked several claims, including the Slocan Star, registered as being on Sandon Creek. With partner Bruce White, he preempted land at the creek mouth. He sold his interest in the Slocan Star to White that December for $500, a property that would become extremely valuable. To help meet the demand from the surrounding mining camps, John Sandon's vegetable farm included seven acres in potatoes. In February 1893, Kenneth McLeod and Sandon were believed drowned in Kootenay Lake, though no bodies were recovered. Joseph Hetherington, who worked on Sandon's farm, produced a will. The document left the whole estate to Hetherington, despite Sandon having relatives in California, and the signature being a cross apparently inscribed by a fully literate man. These obstacles did not prevent Hetherington from obtaining probate of the contested will and inheriting the land. John (Johnny) Morgan Harris was a partner in the Ruecau galena claim, shortened to Rico or Reco. A single July 1892 newspaper report calls the townsite Reco. A May 1893 liquor licence application identifies a hotel as being at Sanden (sic). Early settlement Robert E. Lemon, a prominent merchant who owned the adjacent Blue Jay claim, laid out the Sandon townsite in July 1893. Lemon Creek would later link to this individual. In December 1895, Harris laid out an addition extending the southern perimeter onto his Loudon claim. East Sandon (1896 and 1900), Sunnyside (1898), and West Sandon (1900) were further additions. Harris owned hotels, office buildings, the power plant, waterworks, and other real estate throughout what was known as the Monte Carlo of North America. The town included 29 hotels, 28 saloons, three breweries, and one of the largest red-light districts in Western Canada. Drawing on neighbouring communities, especially along the railways, the town could be catering to 10,000 people on an 1890s Saturday night. However, actual residents peaked at around 5,000. Sandon incorporated as a city on January 1, 1898. Under Harris's oversight during