Mad Trapper of Rat River by Dick North

Author:Dick North
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781461749851
Publisher: Lyons Press

Scambella Jack scanned the enlargement for a minute, then said, “This taken long time ago.”

I nodded.

Jack then added simply, “Seen him headwaters of Ross River. Many years ago. Not sure when.”

This was another unassailable verification of the identity of the blond man. It left little doubt in my mind that this was indeed the man referred to as Arthur Nelson/Albert Johnson. This, then, was the only known photo taken of him alive.

I realized that the supreme test of the photo lay in sending it to Fort McPherson, and here I almost met my Waterloo. I first mailed copies of the photo to John Robert in Fort McPherson. John Robert had tried to sell Johnson an outboard motor after the trapper had purchased a canoe from Abe Francis in Fort McPherson. He had also waited on Johnson and sold him supplies when he worked for Bill Douglas’s trading post there. Robert wrote back and said, indeed, the snapshot was of Albert Johnson, the man he had met in 1931. Score another plus for me.

Now the bad news. I sent the photo to Abe Francis. Johnson had set up a little tent and lived across from Francis’camp for about two weeks in July of 1931, before setting out to build his cabin on the Rat River. Abe wrote back via a friend that he did not think the man in it was Albert Johnson. He contended that the morose Johnson would never be chatting with someone, as he appeared to be doing with John Martin.

The negative identification was a setback, but given the great preponderance of positive IDs, I let it go. Later I was to find out that Abes eyes weren’t too good, which tended to justify my dismissal of his verdict.

My research continued. I had met Peter Alexie’s son, Robert, in Dawson City. Peter Alexie had participated in the Johnson manhunt and his son was acquainted with the local lore about the case. I sent Robert a copy of the photo. He showed it around to several old-timers who concurred that it was of Johnson, but none of them was specific about names.

I also mailed a copy to Constable Alfred King, then retired and living in Petrolia, Ontario. King had had only a fleeting glimpse of Johnson through the cabin window before he was shot; and again afterwards, when Johnson’s body was brought into Aklavik. He said there was a strong resemblance but he was not sure. Photos were also mailed to Frank Riddell and Earl Hersey. Both Riddell and Hersey, officers in the Signal Corps of the Canadian Army, had taken part in the monthlong chase, and had seen Johnson close up after he was killed. However, the Mad Trapper was so wasted away by that time that comparison was difficult. They saw strong similarities, but neither could say for certain that the Ross River photo was that of the dead man.

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