SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Merlyn Williams said he might have died of exposure, lost outside city limits, but sight of the Robertson Headframe helped him find his way back to Yellowknife about 10 years ago.

Merlyn Williams says the Robertson Headframe once saved his life, when the sight of it helped him find his way out of the forest after being lost outside city limits for five hours. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

Williams said he will miss the iconic structure which is slated for deconstruction in the coming weeks.

"It saved my life once," he said. "I walked into the bush near Dettah and I got lost."

Williams said he spent between four and five hours wandering helpless in the bush before he spotted the familiar structure.

"Bang, I saw the Robertson Headframe," he said. "I followed it, and found my way along the east shoreline to Yellowknife Bay. If I hadn't spotted that headframe, I could have died."

Williams said he misses the crowd who used to hang out at the mine before it closed in 2003. An electronics repairman by trade, Williams said he used to change the records in the jukebox at Con Mine's old cafeteria.

"It was an interesting community there," he said. "The very first Stanton Hospital used to be out there, just below where the rec hall used to be."

Williams said the mine used to be a little town of it's own. Driving around the old site on Wednesday, Williams pointed out the spot the rec hall - the old watering hole - used to stand next to the old hospital. The community had its own gardens, bowling alley, and homes for mine workers set across from Mosher Island, he said.

Williams said it will be a shame if the headframe is dismantled but unless a private investor comes forward to pay for its preservation, there aren't any other options.

"Nobody is going to save that thing," he said. "I don't know what they can do about it. It's sad. But there are millionaires out there, you know."

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