STRIKING INCIDENTS
The White North was taking its toll of the men who were at the outposts
of Empire as exponents of British administration. When Fitzgerald left
Herschell Island on his last patrol, Sergeant Selig and Constable
Wissenden remained in charge of that remote and lonely point, but in
January, despite the efforts of his solitary white companion Wissenden,
Selig, after much suffering, passed over the Great Divide. Wissenden,
with the help of the natives, made a coffin and placed the body in a
storehouse to await Fitzgerald's expected return. Corporal Somers and
Constable Blake at Fort Macpherson heard through Hudson's Bay Company
men that Selig had died in January, and before they could take any steps
to go to Herschell Island, Dempster came from Dawson with the news of
the death of Fitzgerald and his comrades. One can imagine the strain
upon these men Somers and Blake at Macpherson, and Wissenden alone on
Herschell Island, where, besides suffering loss by the death of his
companion, he was so isolated from the civilized world that he did not
see the face of a white man from November, 1910, till March, 1911.
But as soon as Dempster's patrol left Macpherson for Dawson, Somers, who
throughout acted with a thorough sense of what was necessary and
fitting, left Macpherson for Herschell Island, where he arrived in
April. The body of Selig, as above stated, was awaiting the expected
return of Inspector Fitzgerald. Instead of that Wissenden received now
the news of the death of the members of that patrol, and not only he but
the natives of the Island were greatly shocked and grieved. Then the
funeral of Selig was held, Somers bringing Mr. Fry, of the Church of
England Mission, from Escape Reef for the service. The mourners were the
two Policemen and every Esquimaux on the Island, all following behind
the dog sled which carried the coffin to the bleak burial ground.
"Sergeant Selig," said Superintendent Sanders in his report of the
district, "was one of the best N.C.O.'s in the Force." And Fitzgerald,
who knew men in that country at first hand, said in his previous year's
report: "Sergeant Selig, S.E.A., is a most efficient N.C.O., and has
done excellent work in the North. Since he has been in this country he
has been on every patrol, both summer and winter. He is a most capable
man for any kind of work in the Northern country." He, too, fell like a
good soldier, dying at his post, in the swift illness brought on by the
terrific exposure of years in the Arctic. The passing of Selig at
Herschell Island and in Dawson of Sergeant E. Smith, who had done
notable work in the Yukon, as well as the Fitzgerald patrol, showed a
heavy casualty list in 1911 as the price of holding the North and
protecting its inhabitants. In some other ways that 1910-11 period was
quite notable. The years were beginning to tell upon the Force, which
was always popularly considered as a corps of young men. But in reality
it had travelled through time for wellnigh two score of years, and men
who had joined up while scarcely out of their teens had given a long
day's work and were entitled to go on the pension list. Most prominent
of these was Assistant Commissioner John H. McIlree, who was one of the
original group. He joined up when organization was first mooted in the
autumn of 1873, coming West over the difficult mud-and-water Dawson
Route to the historic Lower Fort Garry, where these pioneers who were to
lay the foundation of a famous corps were sworn in by Lieut.-Colonel
Osborne Smith, as already related. McIlree was then Sergeant, but in the
coming years, by reliable and distinguished service, worked his way up
to the Assistant-Commissionership. Before his retirement he received the
decoration of the Imperial Service Order in recognition of the
contribution he had made to the welfare of the country. Surgeon Pare,
Inspector Camies and Inspector A. M. Jarvis, who had won his C.M.G. in
the South African War, also retired to pension, as did a number of
well-known non-commissioned officers and men, Flintoff, McClelland,
Haslett, Nicholson, Butler, Smith, Thompson, Aylesworth and Carter. On
the other hand, several non-commissioned officers moved up to the
Inspectorship rank; Shoebotham, Telford and Newson, who had done good
service on the plains and the Northland; and Beyts, Field and French,
whose remarkable patrols on the Hudson's Bay, Athabasca and Mackenzie
River areas had attracted wide attention. In that period, also, a
detachment consisting of seven officers and seventy-five
non-commissioned officers and men, selected from all the divisions of
the Force, including the Hudson's Bay and Yukon areas, went over to the
King's Coronation. Commissioner Perry accompanied them, and was given a
very prominent place in connection with the Coronation ceremonies. The
whole contingent formed a special guard of honour on different
occasions, and won high appreciation for their splendid bearing and
gentlemanly character. For this highly creditable bearing and reputation
which reflected honour on Canada they were specially thanked in London
by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who took great pride in the corps all through
his public life.
And all the time, at the far-flung outposts of the King's Empire, the
Mounted Police at home in Canada were keeping the British peace and
looking after the administration of British law where the banner of
Britain flew. That versatile officer, Superintendent Deane, then in
command at Calgary, tells us of a peculiar case which arose out of the
disappearance of an eccentric old-time rancher, named Tucker Peach. He
had been known for years as "Old Tucker," and it is said that only the
postmaster at Gladys, where he got his mail, and an implement agent and
rancher, named Jack Fisk, knew the Peach part of it. But Peach had a big
roll of money, which had been seen by one or two when he was making
purchases, and this old recluse kept it about the shack he occupied, as
in his eccentricity he had no use for banks. No kith or kin had he in
the country, and he had mentioned to a neighbour that he was going to
sell his ranch and go back to England. One day he was absent from his
accustomed haunts, but as no one expected that he would say good-bye to
anyone his disappearance was not considered in any way odd, and it was
not reported to the Police. Some young fellow came to live on the ranch,
and he was supposed to be the purchaser or his agent. And as no one on
the frontier in those days cared whether his neighbour was a "duke's son
or a cook's son," as long as he "played fair," nothing unusual was
suspected and things resumed the even tenor of their way. The young man
on the ranch later said he was tenant in charge of the place for
Mitchell Robertson, who owned it, but who was then working on the train
as a brakesman out of Calgary. Robertson had left word with the
postmaster at Gladys that any mail coming for Peach should be forwarded
to Robertson's address in Calgary.
Some months later a body, headless, was found in the river, but it was
so decomposed that the Coroner, Dr. Revell, finding no trace of foul
play, ordered it buried. It might have been a drowning. Later still, a
skull was found near by with a hole in the centre, batting in one ear
and a dent on the forehead to one side of the centre. Then Dr. Revell
had the body exhumed and called an inquest. The Mounted Police took a
hand and Inspector Duffus watched the case. In the meantime, Robertson
vanished suddenly off the train, but was caught at MacLeod by the
Mounted Police there and brought back to the inquest at Okatoks.
Meanwhile, Inspector Duffus got hold of some strong evidence. Ranchers
had expressed the opinion that the skull was "Old Tucker's" by its shape
and by the batting, and one "old-timer" was found who said the dent in
the skull near the side was from a kick by a horse years before, and
that he knew it because he had helped "Old Tucker" bind up the wound at
the time.
Robertson was called to give evidence, and became so mixed in his
testimony that Inspector Duffus called his attention to the
discrepancies. Robertson would say nothing more and Duffus, with the
Coroner's permission, took him into another room, and after warning him
asked him if he had anything to say. The result was a full confession of
the murder. It appears that Fisk, who was disposed to terrorize people,
had told Robertson that he was going to do away with "Old Tucker," and
that Robertson must come with him. After it was over Robertson was to
have the land and Fisk the horses in the place. They went to Tucker's
shack early one morning and, knocking at the door, Robertson told who he
was. The old rancher got up and admitted them, and as he was dressing
Fisk shot him through the forehead, and putting the revolver into
Robertson's hand said, "Now you shoot also," which Robertson did. Then
they got the money, hitched up the team and drove to the river, where
they dumped the body. But the river again gave up its dead.
When the confession got this far word was wired to Calgary, from where
three Mounted Police went out in a motor in the night and arrested Fisk,
who was taken off guard or he might have made a fight. Both Fisk and
Robertson were convicted. Fisk was hanged, but Robertson, who had turned
"King's evidence," was given imprisonment for life. The community
breathed easier when Fisk was out of the way.
A curious and interesting sequel was furnished by a handsome dog, which
had belonged to Fisk, and was with him when he murdered Peach. When Fisk
was arrested the human-hearted men of the scarlet tunic, who had pursued
the inhuman murderer, adopted his innocent dog and called him "Fisk."
The dog attached himself to Constable Davis, and was with him when he
was shot by "Running Wolf," a desperate Indian whom he was arresting.
Then the dog became attached to Corporal Watts, accompanied him for four
years on special duty, and was with him at Exshaw, when Watts narrowly
escaped death at the hands of a desperado there. Finally, when Watts
(now Sergeant, and a man who has seen much service) was moving to
Vancouver with the Division, "Fisk," who had become infirm and old, was
run over by a street car in Calgary. This star-witness of many crimes,
concerning which he could not speak, thus closed an exciting and
adventurous career.
Back further in the years another case of a somewhat similar type
occurred, and all these cases indicate not only the certain and deadly
precision of the Mounted Police methods in relation to the capture of
criminals, but they also suggest to the imagination what the lonely
prairie would have been to settlers without the presence of this
watchful corps. The case to which I now refer was one in which the body
of an evidently murdered man was found near Lacombe, in Alberta. There
was no clue to the murderer, but Superintendent Constantine, himself a
keen detective, put Sergeant Hetherington on the trail. Hetherington
proved to be a persistent sleuth. All he had to start on was a buckle on
the vest of the victim, indicating Kalamazoo as its place of origin. It
was a far cry from Michigan, but by process of investigation one James
Smith from that State came and identified the body as that of his
stepson, whose name was Leon Stainton. The young man, who had some
money, had left Kalamazoo, in company with a more or less chance
acquaintance, generally called "Bud" Bullock, though his right name was
Charles B. Bullock. But Bullock had disappeared, leaving not a trace
behind. He was known to be a miner, and Hetherington got on the track of
mining areas. He first went to Kalamazoo and got a sample of Bullock's
writing from an hotel register. Hetherington did not expect to find
Bullock's name on hotel registers after the date of the murder, but the
Sergeant studied handwriting and the formation of the letters in the
name. Then he came back to Calgary and searched the hotel registers till
he got a name where the same letters looked alike. Bullock had changed
his name, but he could not get away from the alphabet. Then Hetherington
haunted the mining districts all the way from Michigan to the mountains,
and searched hotel registers and pay rolls for three long months. That
took a lot of dogged determination, but though he was getting new names
all along the way the Sergeant detected similarity in letters, and by
mingling with the miners, found out where the man had gone from place to
place. Then the handwriting would be compared in that new locality.
Finally, in Montana, Hetherington found on a pay roll a new name where
similar letters corresponded, and the man was at work there. The
Sergeant went amongst the miners, recognized Bullock, and putting his
hand on his shoulder said, "Hello, Bullock." The man started and said,
"My name is not Bullock." "Oh yes, it is," said the Mounted Policeman,
"it is Charles B. Bullock, _alias_ Bud Bullock, and I am here to arrest
you for the murder of Leon Stainton, near Ponoka, in Alberta." Then the
man caved in and said, "I always felt that the red-coats would get me,
even if it took years." He owned up, and as it was useless to fight
extradition he came back with Hetherington and after trial paid the
penalty for his crime. But think of the endless patience and doggedness
of Hetherington, who, with only a scrap of handwriting on a fragment of
paper, searched for months, day and night, over half a continent for
similar letter formations till he landed his man. It was the Mounted
Police way.
[Illustration: INSPECTOR FITZGERALD. Died on Yukon Patrol. _Photo.
Rossie, Regina._]
[Illustration: SUPT. CHARLES CONSTANTINE. Pioneer Policeman in the
Yukon. _Photo. Steele & Co., Winnipeg._]
[Illustration: INSPECTOR LA NAUZE. With prisoners "Sinnisiak" and
"Uluksak," at Bernhard Harbour. June, 1916.]
In 1912 we find Commissioner Perry still battling to the end that the
services of all ranks in his command should receive recognition in the
form of higher remuneration for the good reasons that the cost of living
was going up; that men in civil life were getting much more for less
important and dangerous work, and that the enormously increasing
population of the West made ever larger calls upon the efforts and the
initiative powers of the officers and men. And the Commissioner, who is
always intent on keeping the Force on a high level, said that if the
increased pay was granted there would possibly be more applications than
vacancies. In such a case he would aim at constantly improving the
personnel of the corps by accepting recruits on probation only, by
discharging those lacking in energy, intelligence and character, and by
making dismissal the most severe punishment that could be handed out to
any member of the Force. The Commissioner's far-sighted policy in this
and other regards has always told favourably on the high prestige of the
Corps.
That year 1912 witnessed an unusual number of changes in the Force.
Chief amongst these changes was the loss sustained by the death, in
California, of Superintendent Charles Constantine, who had served in the
Force for twenty-six years, after having seen active duty in the
suppression of the two Riel Rebellions. I have already made special
reference to the work of this officer, with whom I served when he was
Adjutant of the Winnipeg Light Infantry. He never advertised or pushed
himself forward, but by sheer force of character his merits became known
increasingly throughout the years. His death was widely mourned, not
only by his comrades, but by the people of the vast country where he had
done so much foundation work. At the time of his passing out,
Commissioner Perry, who knew the Force so well, wrote: "Because of his
strength of character, sound judgment and physical strength, he was
selected for much of the pioneer work of the Force. He was the first to
command in the Yukon Territory, and in the early days of the gold rush
his tact and firmness established the reputation of that gold camp as
the most orderly in the world. Subsequently he was employed in the far
North, and in the strenuous work of the Peace-Yukon road-making,
contracted the disease which eventually caused his death." Constantine
had taken a large share in Western history, and his name will not be
forgotten on the roll of the makers of the country.
In that same year also two prominent officers who, as this record shows,
had done splendid service in very difficult places all over the
frontiers, and who had served with distinction in the Boer War,
Superintendents G. E. Sanders, D.S.O., and A. E. Snyder, retired to
pension. Others in recognition of merit were moved up to fill vacancies,
Inspectors T. A. Wroughton, F. J. A. Demers, F. J. Horrigan, all tried
men, becoming Superintendents, and such well-known non-commissioned
officers as F. A. Gordon, A. E. Acland, J. W. Spalding, T. Dann, and
G. W. Currie being promoted to the rank of Inspectors. Dr. S. M. Fraser
was raised to the full rank of Surgeon, and Drs. W. H. Mewburn and E. A.
Braithwaite, all of whom had been prominent on the frontiers, were made
honorary Surgeons. Thus were men coming and going. That year, over 200
recruits were added to the Force, which even then was less than 700 to
patrol a territory larger than half-a-dozen European kingdoms.
To illustrate how the Mounted Police always sprang in to help in
emergencies we recall at that time that a disastrous cyclone hit the
City of Regina, where the Mounted Police Headquarters were at that time.
Cyclones are rare occurrences in Canada, but after one sultry day this
black tempest arose on the prairie and tore through the city, leaving
death and destruction in its wake. The whole resources of the Mounted
Police were placed at the disposal of the city. Officers and men worked
with a will, unresting in their efforts to rescue the injured and make
the city safe for the living. Every night till the trouble was over they
kept guard over life and property, always in danger at such times, and
the following, in a letter from the Mayor of Regina to Commissioner
Perry, is a fine testimony. Referring to the work of the various
organizations that had been at work during that time of trial, Mayor
McAra says: "We have had so much reason to be satisfied with the working
of the various organizations that had in charge the different features
of the work in connection with this storm that it is difficult to
express oneself adequately as to the services rendered by these several
organizations. We believe, however, that the services of the various
organizations have only been made possible by the service rendered by
your Force. I believe that perhaps more was done to establish a sane
understanding of the situation by the officers and men of your patrol
than in any other way and, appreciating this, it is difficult for me on
behalf of the Committee in charge, to properly express the feeling of
gratitude we have." Herein did Mayor McAra, who knew the Force well,
express a truth that had application not only to the situation after the
Regina cyclone, but to the history of the West, namely, that the
presence of the Mounted Police made the country safe for those who
desired to develop its resources in the ways of industrious peace.
As another piece of evidence for the truth of this general statement,
let me instance several letters of thanks and appreciation from
officials, engineers and contractors on the Hudson's Bay Railway in 1913
to Inspector French, who was in command of the Mounted Police in the
district. Vice-President Boyd wrote: "The services of the R.N.W.M.P.
have been most satisfactory, the conduct of the Force stationed here and
along our works being a credit to the honoured institution of which they
are members." Assistant Chief Engineer Garrow: "In my opinion the
general good conduct of the men in our employ and the prevention of
trouble usually caused by illicit whisky-peddling has been obtained by
the systematic campaign that you waged on the opening of this
construction. In my personal dealings with yourself, Sergeant Munday and
staff I found all courteous, always willing to co-operate and to take
prompt action in case of emergency." Mr. M. McMillan, the Chief
Sub-contractor, wrote: "I wish to compliment you and the members of the
Force under your command on the very efficient manner in which you and
they have policed the line of construction of the Hudson's Bay railway.
I have never had a gang of men on any contract where there was less
friction and less whisky on the work than on this job, and I realize
that it is to you and your Force that we owe this state of affairs. I
trust we shall all be together on the Nelson end of the steel." This, we
repeat, is another instance of the way in which the men in scarlet and
gold provided an environment and an atmosphere in which the industrial
development of the country could be carried on under conditions that
made for success. While never taking part with either employer or
employed, the firm, impartial and tactful Mounted Police Force often
became a living windbreak against social tempests, which without it
might, at times, have thrown both sides into confusion and have wrecked
projects that were vital to the progress of the Dominion.
While going through old annual reports of the work of the Police one is
struck by the frequency with which one comes across deeds of heroism,
which were only noted formally in a few lines at the time, and which
have lain buried out of sight ever since. But if they had been done on
other fields they would have won wide publicity and many decorations.
There is not much of a thrill playing on the surface of a report given
by Constable Wight, who was the whole detachment at a village in
Alberta. But one cannot read it in a short paragraph without finding
between the lines a lot of danger in small compass. A man named Winning,
who perhaps presumed on his name, decided at 1 a.m. that he did not like
the room the night clerk had given him at the hotel, and wanted it
changed. Rooms were not plentiful in these small places, and there was
no other to be had, on finding out which, Mr. Winning, after raising a
general disturbance to the discomfort of the other guests, went away and
came back shortly with several sticks of dynamite. He said he was going
to blow up the hotel, and this declaration did not add to the peace of
mind of the hotel clerk and the guests. The town constable was on hand,
but the gentleman with the sticks of dynamite flourished them, and said
he would blow the constable to fragments if he interfered. Mounted
Police-Constable Wight, who was some distance away, was awakened and
told of the situation. Meantime, Mr. Winning, who had not committed any
overt act, had retired to a camp near by with his high explosives. But
Constable Wight got an information sworn out against him for having an
explosive in his possession with intent to endanger life, which was
putting it mildly enough when he was in fact dealing with a man running
amuck with dynamite playthings. However, this served the purpose of
Constable Wight, who rode out to the camp and arrested the man,
explosives and all. It was not a very pleasant undertaking, but that did
not count for anything with a wearer of the scarlet tunic out on duty.
Several times in this book has come the necessity for expressing regret
that there is no decoration for valour in time of peace corresponding to
the Victoria Cross in times of war. Of the two we have good ground for
thinking that a gallant deed done in peace time in cold blood and with a
full sense of the danger, is at least as great as the same kind of deed
done when the blood is hot with battle and the risk is unknown or
unconsidered. Take, for instance, the case of Constable Moorehead, as
related not by himself (the Mounted Policeman's eleventh commandment is
not to talk), but in a letter to Superintendent Primrose from Dr.
Nyblett, the coroner near Nanton, Alberta, where was a reducing plant of
the Natural Gas Company. The letter says, "It was reported to Constable
Moorehead that some men were suffocating in the high-pressure station
and he immediately rode over." He had no orders to go except from his
own conscience, but there was no hesitation, though he knew the supreme
danger. The letter goes on. "There was a disconnected four-inch pipe,
with a pressure of 125 pounds to the inch, in the building, and
Constable Moorehead could see one of the bodies moving and he thought
there was life." It was probably being moved by the terrific gas
pressure. "Moorehead placed his hat over his mouth and went in; on
getting near the bodies the jet of gas struck him and blew him to the
other side of the building; there he groped for the door, but was too
nearly unconscious to find it. Another man who had come up saw him and
was able to reach in and pull Moorehead out. When Moorehead recovered
consciousness he found a bar and prised off some of the corrugated iron
near the bodies. He then crawled in through the hole with the other man
holding his feet, and pulled out one of the bodies; he then went in
again and got another. He was so weak and exhausted by this time that he
had not strength to pull the third out, but crawled in and tied a rope
to it, and after it was pulled out did the same with the fourth."
"Unless one was actually there," says the coroner, "it would be very
difficult to realize just how plucky this act was. The pressure of the
escaping gas was so great that the caps of the men were held up against
the roof of the building, and the poisoning by this gas in large
quantities is instantaneous."
We have not read anywhere in the annals of war a finer tale of
gallantry. Constable Moorehead got another stripe for "conspicuous
bravery" and became Corporal, received a small grant from the fine fund,
and at a full-dress parade of the Division was presented by Judge
McNeill with the bronze medal of the Royal Canadian Humane Association.
All this was very suitable, but I still think there is room for a
peace-time decoration up to the level of the Victoria Cross.
During the year 1912 there was constant oversight exercised in the
Hudson's Bay and Mackenzie River districts, as well as in the Yukon. All
this involved much dangerous patrol work, but it was carried out without
any untoward happening. Superintendent Demers, Inspectors Beyts and
French were in the former districts with a small but excellent body of
men; Superintendent Moodie and Inspector Acland were in the Yukon and
White Horse districts. In the Yukon there was a serious case of
dynamiting dredges which Sergeant Mapley handled with great ability.
Patrols and general oversight by these non-commissioned officers and
constables may, to the superficial onlooker or reader, seem of no great
value, but these men, by tact and firm, friendly dealing with the
natives and traders, really introduced a new code of ethics in the
Northland. The questions at stake may not have been very large ones from
our standpoint, but the ownership of a sled-dog or the fairness of
values in exchange of furs, were as important to the children of the
wild as the possession of a province might be to people in Europe. And
in these local matters these patrolmen became recognized as fair and
impartial adjudicators whose word was law. Thus were new ideals as to
the rights of property and the sacredness of life being inculcated in
the vast spaces of the Arctic.
And these sturdy, courageous Policemen became so greatly interested in
their strenuous work that they were always ready for a larger venture.
It is interesting to find Corporal C. D. LaNauze, after returning from a
patrol of some fifty-two days and over 1,000 miles, writing: "I cannot
speak too highly of my dogs. I would like to see how far I could go with
this train." Well, he was to get his opportunity to find out shortly.
Whether with that train of dogs or not we cannot say, but when the
opportunity came he used it to the limit.
There were some lonely places. Sergeant Edgenton, a noted patrolman in
the Arctic, writes as to Cape Fullerton on Hudson Bay: "Fullerton during
the winter has been very lonely. Constable Conway and myself and two
natives were the only persons there." And it is rather a striking
instance of Police methods to find Edgenton putting in the usual
detachment report and, under the head of discipline, speaking highly of
Conway: "I have had to leave him alone during my patrols, and always
found everything in good order on returning. He is a good man for duty
in the North, and has made several patrols in very cold weather." Other
men well known in that district were non-commissioned officers like
Sergeants Handcock, Belcher, Currie, Mellor, LaNauze, Jones and several
Constables. And, like the army of Sparta, which was the wall around that
country, "every man was a brick."