The Call of the North

The Cabin in the Woods The trapper’s cabin sat abandoned, stripped of its past by a lone trapper who had occupied this structure for twenty-five years. He had died while warming himself by the fire after a cold day on his trapline. His family, not hearing from him for an extended period of time, feared the worst. The cabin was located around two hundred miles from Yellowknife in the North West Territories and was accessible only by air. A bush pilot was hired and family members, armed with a GPS location, accompanied him on the trip. The young couple chosen were the great-niece of the trapper, Jean, and her new husband, John, their love of the bush making them willing volunteers for the trip. The plane circled, landing on the frozen surface of the lake without incident, and taxied toward the now visible cabin. John and Jean exited the aircraft along with the pilot, and with troubled thoughts made their way to the cabin, silence enveloping them. The pilot had made many trips like this before, none of them ending positively. The bodies of missing men were ordinarily never found, as they typically died in the bush, usually by accident. The cabin looked forlorn and empty. When they opened the door, they never expected to find the body of the trapper and his loyal dog frozen in place where they had last rested. A sense of sadness and mourning overtook them as they thought about the circumstances that surrounded this scene. The bodies were wrapped in blankets and taken to the plane. The trapper’s furs were collected and stored on board the aircraft. The sale of the furs back in Yellowknife would guarantee a proper burial for the man in the spring. Yellow Fever The prospectors lined the banks of the fast-flowing creeks, chasing a dream. Gold pans in hand, they were looking for that one nugget that would change the course of their lives. Unfortunately, for many it was just a dream, leaving most penniless and hungry. This was the beginning of the Yukon gold rush, a time when men would endure hardships beyond belief for a chance to find gold. Most were unprepared, succumbing to nature’s elements. Caught without proper shelter, they would die from exposure to cold and hunger. The north was an unforgiving place and showed no mercy. Jason was a prospector who would succeed. He came from Seattle, a long, hard journey away from Canada’s far north. Jason planned to travel to a little-known area where his grandfather had previously spent the summers, his cabin hopefully intact and able to provide shelter. Jason remembered his late grandfather’s stories of natural caves and streams flowing from higher elevations, finding nuggets, and panning gold from rich deposits near his cabin. The family never believed the old man’s stories, as not one gram of gold was ever seen. Suffering from dementia, there was uncertainty if there was any truth to his tales. The North West Mounted Police The year was eighteen hundred ninety-six, the place was Dawson City in the Yukon Territories, a boomtown created by the Klondike Gold Rush. These are the stories from the archives of the detachment of Mounties that was set up to police this new frontier. The North West Mounted Police was a law enforcement agency created to keep order in Canada’s far north. The government financed the building of a new police station here, which consisted of the main office, a holding area with six cells, and an additional room for sleeping. It was equipped with the latest furnishings, including new desks and chairs, a woodstove for heat, and a modern cookstove. The two new officers arrived in Dawson with little fanfare, their dog teams tired after the long mush from Fort Edmonton. Two assistants would arrive later to man this outpost when the constables were out on a call or routine patrol. These sub-constables would also help care for the dogs and complete other tasks that arose. The early days were uneventful, the populace accustomed to settling disputes on their own. This arrangement would soon fall, as the police would now handle such conflicts. The people were happy with this change of events, knowing that lives could be saved with law and order stepping in. The constables’ first law enforcement activity involved alcohol. A native woman came to the station and reported two men had recently arrived in town with a large quantity of liquor. They were trading it to the Indians for their valuable furs, often cheating them. These men were staying at the hotel where they peddled their demon spirits. The constables went to the hotel and confiscated the liquor, The bootleggers spent the night in jail, and were then banished from Dawson forever. Gambling and prostitution reigned in Dawson, as well as free-flowing liquor and beer. Many proprietors tried to make money off of the gold seekers coming to town. While on street patrol, the constables’ main duties were breaking up fights and answering complaints of petty thefts. The Mounties’ job also included building trust and establishing relationships. This was especially true for the Indians, who were distrustful of the white men. Policing was finally being established and the adventures would be many for these two men whose careers would become recognized as the North West Mounted Police, Canada’s newest police force.