The capture of Almighty Voice

    

            Almighty Voice, a Swampy Cree mentioned in my novel “Cattle Business” was born in Duck Lake, District of Saskatchewan, North West Territories in 1875. In the autumn of 1895 he married a young woman from a neighbouring reserve. During the preparations for that event he discovered a cow wandering on the prairie which he butchered to feed his guests.

            Ownership of the cow is a question that can not be answered at the date of this writing. It has been said that it was loaned to the reserve for breeding purposes and was the property of the Canadian government. It has also been claimed as the property of a neighbouring ranch and had wandered onto the reserve. The one thing that is certain is that it did not belong to Almighty Voice, or as the white man had recorded his identity, Jean Baptiste. On October 22, 1895 he was arrested for butchering that cow.

            During his transport to NWM Police cells one of the officers, demonstrating that stupidity and poor taste are not confined to any particular time joked that the penalty for killing a cow was hanging. Later that very evening, during shift change at the Duck Lake jail, Almighty Voice walked off into the night. Undoubtedly he thought a penalty for escape was better than hanging for cattle theft.

            It is known that he went, that night at least, to his mother’s house but he did not stay there very long. He went from there to the John Smith reserve at Fort a La Corne and picked up his wife.

            Following a week of freedom the camp of Almighty Voice and his wife was discovered by Sergeant Colin Colebrook and his Métis guide/interpreter François Dumont. The Sergeant, sure of the protection inherent in his position as a policeman rode boldly into the camp demanding that Jean Baptiste surrender.

            Dumont translated the order.

            Almighty Voice raised his rifle, pointed it at the Sergeant and said, "Leave us. I must kill you if you don't turn back."

            Dumont translated the order in English for the Sergeant and added, "He's serious."

            Sergeant Colebrook continued his approach, although he did put his hand on his revolver.

            Almighty Voice repeated his demand.

            Sergeant Colebrook continued.

            Dumont translated again and repeated his warning.

            Almighty Voice fired killing the Sergeant with a bullet in his heart and driving him from the saddle.

            Dumont urged his horse out of the area as fast as possible.

            News of the Mounties death spread across the Territory. Within the NWMP force the news was followed by a demand for immediate action. Fewer than a thousand police officers trying to maintain order in an area larger than many continents with a population of a few hundred thousands can not afford to have their authority questioned. A $500.00 reward (more than $13,000.00 in 2010) was offered for the capture of Almighty Voice.

            Despite the best efforts of the Mounted Police it was 19 months before Almighty Voice was found and then it was because a civilian saw three Cree butchering another cow. It was later determined that the three rustlers were Almighty Voice, and his relatives, Going-up-to-the-sky and Tupean.

            On May 27, 1897 the owner of the butchered cow, Napoleon Venne and Mounted Police Corporal William Bowridge approached the beef carcass. In a nearby grove (locally called a "bluff" at that time) of willows and poplars they saw two men. However, when they tried to approach the men they were fired upon and Venne was hit. When they turned their mounts and attempted to flee the area another bullet drove the hat from Venne's head.

            Bowridge sent for back-up. On May 28^th the grove of trees was surrounded by a posse of Mounties and civilians lead by Assistant Commissioner John B. Allen, "Bronco Jack" to his friends.

            Several attempts where made to approach the concealed outlaws. Two sweeps through the trees where made. The result of these several offensive probes was the serious wounding of Sergeant Charles Raven and Assistant Commissioner Allen.

            Corporal Charles H. Hockin was now in command.

            Hockin attempted to smoke the fugitives from the trees, but the wet, green growth of spring didn't do much to help their efforts. However, they had spent so much time trying to light a fire that now dark was approaching. With the need to transport wounded back for treatment the Corporal's posse had been reduced in size and he was afraid the fugitives would slip away in the night.

            Corporal Hockin called for another assault. Nine men entered the trees on foot.

            The trouble was that they found the fugitives.

            Six men retreated carrying three. The dead where Batoche post master Ernest Grundy and Mounted Police Constable John Kerr. Corporal Hockin was mortally wounded and died a few hours later.

            Assistant Commissioner John McIllree and twenty four Mounties arrived on the scene. With them they dragged two cannon, a seven pounder from Prince Albert and a nine pounder from Regina.

            From late afternoon on May 29^th to mid morning of May 30^th the trees where bombarded.

            The bodies of the fugitives where found in a pit they had dug.

            One civilian and four Mounted Policemen had been killed. One civilian and two Mounties had been wounded.

            The Almighty Voice story reached a conclusion that was a success for no one.

            During the many months of the Almighty Voice case there had been a strong feeling within the NWM Police and within some government circles that it might lead to a general uprising such as had taken place in 1885.

 

        

         

         

 

Boone Helm, killer and cannibal

Born in Kentucky in 1828 Boone Helm was the second youngest of five brothers who all died violently. It is well known that at least two of the brothers where homidical and perhaps all of them required quick separation from life as a means of protecting the rest of society. However it is doubtful that any of them where as dangerous to human kind as was Boone.

            His first victim was supposedly a friend, Littlebury Shoot who couldn’t decide fast enough, in Helm’s estimation at least, when they should leave Jefferson City Wyoming for the gold fields of California. Boone ended the discussion by plunging a knife into Shoot’s heart. The year was 1852.

            He was captured and returned to Missouri where he demonstrated his fine acting ability and convinced authorities that he was insane. Once he had established a back-ground as a model inmate he escaped and headed once again for California, killing several people in his travels. Familiarity breeds contempt it is said and such was demonstrated when Boone was careless enough to allow a witness to view him shoot a man in the back. Now he was wanted for murder in California.

            Avoiding a California lynching Helm appeared in The Dalles, Oregon where he attached himself to a group of gambling prospectors. There was gold just to the north in the British Colony of British Columbia but they also had a police force up there. The group decided to go east through the Wasatch Mountain Range to the gold strike at Camp Floyd, Utah.

            It was a poor decision for winter was closing in. In 1860 Helm made it to Salt Lake City where he had money to spend. When he left Oregon he had been broke. A great deal of evidence suggests that he survived the mountains and passes by consuming parts of at least one of those in the party that left Oregon; perhaps the very one who also supplied the money.

            After that it was a horse stealing operation where he found it more convenient to kill the two men guarding those horses. Later, in Lodi, Utah a soldier assigned to the US Quartermaster Corp recognized him in a crowded saloon. Helm solved that problem with a bullet through the soldier’s head.

            Back to California, where there were suspicions and then to Washington Territory where he had an argument with Dutch Fred a well known and popular gambler. Later, Helm won the argument by shooting Dutch in the back as he played poker.

            Dutch, as mentioned, was popular. Helm was quick and only escaped Dutch’s friends by going north across the 49^th parallel into the British Colony.

            In July, 1862 three bodies floated down the Quesnel (Kwe-nell) River. They where identified as three miners well known to fellow miners in the Williams Creek area. They where known to have $32,000 in gold. After several witness statements and police work by BC Colonial officers it was shown that Boone Helm was the culprit. A posse was formed but Helm had disappeared.

            Barely off the ship and in Victoria on the Vancouver Island Colony Helm was arrested October, 16, 1862 for stealing apples and refusing to pay for drinks in several saloons.

            He tried his acting abilities again. He told Judge Pemberton that he was “a stranger in a strange land” and that “if it wasn’t for the prison cell I occupied last night I would have had to walk the streets of this fair city as I am wholly alone, penniless and afraid, having neither chick nor child, kith or kin.”

            Pemberton said later that it was an excellent presentation. However, Helm had been bragging the night before in his prison cell of how dangerous he was and how he had killed a man in Washington country. He sentenced Helm to a month in jail hoping they could get word to US authorities and have a reception committee waiting for Helm when he stepped out of Victoria’s Square Bastion stockade.

            Perhaps the letter was lost. Perhaps the person who received the letter had never heard of Dutch Fred. Perhaps they had more pressing business that month. Whatever the reason, there was no response from the US and at the end of the thirty day sentence Helm was released.

            Three days after his release, Victoria Police Chief Horace Smith received a message from the Deputy US Marshall in Florence. However, Helm was already well across Georgia Straight and somewhere up the Fraser River in the Colony of BC.

            With Victoria Police, Vancouver Island Colonial Police, British Columbia Colonial Police and US Marshalls all looking for Helm, his travel plans where bound to change.

            Boone Helm was captured near Fort Yale on the Fraser River.

            Was he headed back up country to dig up the gold from the triple murder the year before? The amount missing would be the equivalent of more than a million dollars in early twenty first century. It was in gold, a product readily identifiable as to area. Two months after the murders when he appeared in Victoria Helm was broke.

            Or did one of the so-called witnesses have the gold?

            There is no record of anyone have that kind of money or of a sudden unexplained change in fortunes.

            Since the murder of Dutch Fred preceded the others known at the time and US authorities where already on-site, Helm was extradited to Washington Territory. However, older brother “Old Tex” Helm bribed the main prosecution witness and the case fell apart. Once again Boon Helm walked and was no where to be found when Colonial authorities suggested he could now be tried for the triple murders on the Quesnel River.

            However, does anyone remember the story of Virginia City, Montana 1864? Miners where disappearing there in unknown numbers, along with their gold, until, under the strictest secrecy, a vigilante committee was formed. Henry Plummer and his band, the “Innocents” where, in most cases, caught and hung. On the morning of January 14^th, 1864 more than 5000 residents watched as Jack Gallagher, Clubfoot Lane, Frank Parrish, Hayer Lyons and, yes, Boone Helm were hanged.

The Need for Fiction!

 

I believe it was Dave White over at “Do Some Damage” who posted a piece asking if we are approaching the End of Fiction. Here is a short bit of his piece to help explain;

 

As many of you know, I'm a teacher, and I follow all the goings on in the educational world. Well, there's been a major shift in the expectations for an English class and what kids *should* read as they get older. You see, people want kids who are ready for business. When they graduate college, kids have to be ready for the *real world*, which-in a businessman's mind-is the business world.

 

Therefore by graduation students are encouraged to spend most of their time with “study” or that information text should constitute at least 90% of their reading.

If this is indeed true, and from what I see around me it certainly appears to be, this suggests a very scary future!

All of those who have been contributors in any major way to the development or growth of mankind and our societies have had knowledge outside their fields of expertise. This is true of Tesla, Einstein, Newton or anyone else you can think of. If one thinks about an acquaintance or neighbour who is a strong community supporter you will probably realize that person has a variety of interests and study areas.

Conversely, many of those who are considered the great fiction writers have studied in areas outside of the arts. For example, Lewis Carroll, David Wallace and Thomas Pynchon studied mathematics and it is reflected in their prose.

The success of all technological, scientific, sociological leaders or community leaders in general is their ability to think. Sometimes it is the result of a high degree of imaginative thinking. Sometimes it is the ability to borrow information from other fields and incorporate it within the person’s field of expertise. But it always results from an ability to think.

How did those people develop that ability to think? True, there may have been a certain inherent ability in this regard. However, in every case they developed their ability to think by exercising their brain. That exercise consisted of lifting the weights of contemplation, of repetitive, continuous action and a refusal to be distracted.

Such exercise is an inherent part of reading (and writing, for that matter) fiction. Is the story believable? Could it have happened that way? Can your imagination picture the events described? Is there another possibility that is more likely?

Those who read nothing but non-fiction don’t have the opportunity to exercise the brain. They learn to accept what they have been told by the “expert” who has written the journal … someone who may be an expert writer and know only what his research has told him of the subject matter. Someone who’s perception of the subject has perhaps been biased by something he was told by someone who knew less than he.

Of course, it is undoubtedly easier to believe what you are told. Believe what the politicians spout in their election ads. Believe what the Minister of Finance tells the “great unwashed” about the state of the countries economy. Believe what the Chiefs of Police tell you about the absence of crime and how safe they have made the world. Believe what the federal revenue agency says about the short-fall in funding being due strictly to tax-payer avoidance and fraud.

Don’t read any fiction and believe what you are told. It’s much easier. It might be expensive, but it’s easier.

Each of us, if we have the capability, has a responsibility to contribute to the development of society and the safety of our off-spring. If we don’t contribute we are helping to destroy it and reduce the chances of a safe life. We are responsible because society is US.

In short (yes, I’m aware it’s too late), read fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is Homesteader about?

I recently had a request for information on my available novels from Spirit River and thus found an interesting site. They have the names of several Peace River area authors, information and in some cases reviews of their works and its availability.

I spent several minutes, many more than I can actually afford, reading about immigrants, pioneers, the Alberta Provincial Police, Grande Prairie … the site is chock full of items to pique the interest of anyone regardless of location or age.

I spent several moments reading about the mass murder which occurred in June of 1918 North West of Grande Prairie. The late Wallace Lloyd Tansem spent several years compiling the facts of the multiple murders and they appear in his book, “Foulest of Murder” is coverage of that information.

Check out the blog at http://townspirit.wordpress.com

There is a link to Tansem’s work and to many others.

Town Spirit River also asked for information on Homesteader which I repeat here;

            What’s “Homesteader” about?

     Yes, the story “Homesteader” takes place in the Canadian West of the late 19^th century. However, that isn’t what it’s about

     Yes, the story relates how a horseman from west of the Rockies and his riding partner each take land under the Homesteader Act. However, that isn’t what the novel is about.

     Sure there are Colt, Remington and Smith & Wesson revolvers mentioned, along with a few rifles including two Winchester models. But that has little to do with the story.

     There are a diverse group of characters. There is a bully who, like most bullies thinks he is smarter than most and judges people by their appearance. There are some North West Mounted Police officers, some doing their jobs and others who only want the “Force” to look after them. There are hardworking, money-less families, widows, prospectors, Blackfoot, Sioux and the business people of Calgary.

     Several action scenes are included. There are bucking horses and broken legs, a stage coach robbery and murder. Fence posts turn to slivers from the impact of a 45-70 bullet and sculls that do little better.

     Let us not forget the weather. A horrendous winter is part of the story; a winter that eventually was responsible for changing the way the country handles livestock.

    What the story is actually about is a young man finding the woman he loves. About learning that what he has been taught all his life is not necessarily true; that what may appear on the surface may not be what is underneath. About keeping a good partner and gaining another even closer one.

And, of course, recovering.

     As with “Partners” there is a link to “Homesteader” on my blog and other sites listed below. Both are available as books and in a variety of digital formats. They can also be found at the following book stores or ordered from those that don’t have it in stock.

Audrie’s Books … Edmonton

Riverside Music and Books … Peace River

Beth’s Books … Grande Prairie

Read’s Books … Dawson Creek

Bills News … Dawson Creek

Online at my blog; (click on the images to the right)

www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com

or

www.strategicbookpublishing.com/Partners

www.strategicbookpublishing.com/Homesteader

or

www.amazon.com/books

 

 

 

Communication and Partners

            I was under the mistaken impression that most who read this blog or visit Facebook knew what my presently available novels are about. Apparently I have been mistaken. Therefore I will attempt to communicate that information.

 

Actually that is primarily what “Partners” is about; the inability of the young, physical and poorly educated to understand some one older, well educated, worldly and of a more mental inclination. Of course, there is a need for communication in the other direction as well.

Lack of communication is not a unique problem. The difficulty exists today between the young and old, educated and ignorant, men and woman. I believe that this is a problem that has existed that has existed since the dawn of time.

I also believe that we don’t do enough to overcome this lack of understanding. When we do make efforts to communicate we often make the problem worse. When we don’t make an effort to be understood this too may make the problem worse since a non-action may project a lack of concern.

Is it necessary that we do anything? Perhaps time and stable emotions on the part of both parties will solve the problem.

“Partners” explores this question and supplies a possible answer or result. The story begins in the Cyprus Hills of the North West Territories (we call it Saskatchewan these days) in 1866. Our two heroes (one young and one REALY old … well, half my age) try to stay alive as they travel west, through the Crows Nest Pass and end up in Barkerville.

Yes their most serious problem from the Prairies does catch up to them, but …. Well, things could always be better.

I try to have some actual history in my stories and novels. “Partners” and “Homesteader” are no exception. There are stories and small tidbits of information buried within the fiction, things that really happened or perhaps things that affect what we do today. Both these novels are also available for Kindle, iBook and Nook.

One can click on the cover images to the left and go to the SBP page or go to Amazon.com/books. At the later site it is also possible to read a few pages before purchase by using the “Look in the book” feature.

I’ll be back soon with another post with some information about “Homesteader”.

 

 

Dinner Concert wioth Matt Pattershuk

I'm looking forward to a concert we're about to have here at Diamond Willow Retreat. Matt Pattershuk is coming up to present some of the great material he has written and I'm sure he will also cover a few numbers that the audiance will recognize.
I'm very much looking forward to it.
Barbara Munro will open the evening's entertainment with a few songs, again, some of them will be her own.
And the singing will be hers, even if she's singing someone else's song.
Just so you know.
Of course I've heard Barb many times and always have and always will enjoy her work.
Matt, on the other hand, I've only heard once. However I was very greatly impressed during that one short evening and am looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to his appearance here.
Promisses to be a great evening with Karen's meal served at 6:00 and the entertainment to start at 7:00

"Partners" and "Homesteader" at Audrie's

 

Now didn’t I do a marvellous thing?

Well, perhaps not quite up to snuff, old boy!
The other night when I posted that I would be at Audrie’s Books I neglected one small little detail.
A time would help, perhaps?
I will be there on Wednesday, September 5 between noon and 1:30.
A little time like time and date does sometimes make a difference.
That’s, Audrie’s Books, 10702 Jasper Ave.,