From the Author’s
Note
For “The Great
Liquor War”
There are some events related in the “The
Great Liquor War” that are recorded parts of history. Canada’s Transcontinental
Railway or Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885, and the state of
construction in 1884 is roughly as depicted. The last spike was driven at Craigellachie, November 7th, 1885 about two
weeks before the end of the story related here.
It is also true
that the section east of Farwell (present day Revelstoke) contained a steep
section of track known as Big Hill. Many people were killed and many trains
wrecked on this stretch before it was replaced by a system of tunnels in a
figure eight pattern inside the mountain shortly after the turn of the century.
Those tunnels were in turn replaced by shorter, straighter versions in the late
1980s.
The confiscation of liquor, the
confrontation between the two police forces, the jurisdictional disagreement
between the leaders, and the subsequent trial are very close to historical
accounts. This event is one of the primary reasons that today Canadian
provinces have jurisdiction over liquor licensing and sales. Roughly ten years
after this trial the Provincial Prime Minister of Ontario (now known as
“Premiers”) Sir Oliver Mowat sited it as support for assuring clarity in items
completely controlled by Provincial Governments.
I have also included other historical
events as well as a few names of real people which I will try to cover in the
order of appearance.
The British Columbia Provincial Police
were, until being absorbed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1950, the
oldest regional police force in western Canada. They were at the forefront of
those accepting innovation, with boats, automobiles, motor cycles, and aircraft
a regular part of their equipment. They
were also the first police force to establish their own radio communication
network in North America. However, they were tardy in adopting a uniform and only
did so in 1924.
The first Chief Inspector of Police
was Chartres Brew. He had been a Sub-Inspector with the Royal Irish
Constabulary, and at the age of 43, was dispatched by Britain’s Colonial
Secretary to assist Governor Douglas in the new Colony of British Columbia. This
colony was officially established at a ceremony held in Fort Langley on
Wherever gold was found or large
logging concerns established, it would not be long before a Provincial Police
presence was to be seen and felt. Maintaining order was no small task, for the
area of responsibility is larger than the States of Washington, Oregon, and
California combined. In the year of their birth, during the gold rush of 1858,
thirty thousand heavily armed miners arrived from the U.S. alone, and even by
the end of that year there were no more than thirty provincial officers.
The B.C. Police also had constables by
the names of Jack Kirkup, Arthur Hubbard and John (“Paddy”) Miles, all of whom
were involved in the disagreement with the Mounted Police at Farwell. It is
also recorded that Johnson attempted to arrest both Hubbard and Miles and that
the latter escaped.
Kirkup was also the referee for a
prize fight held in Rossland, and historical accounts relate that his charge to
the fighters – that the loser would go to jail – was pretty much as related.
More than one reference states that the two fighters were confidence men, and
that their subsequent efforts (following Kirkup’s “charge”) were very
entertaining, however I could find no record of the actual fight.
Gold was discovered in the Tulameen
River country in 1885 - a year after my fictional narrator left the Rossland
area. The man credited with making that first discovery called himself Johnny
Chance.
Near the end of railroad construction,
the Chief Engineer for the railroad was a man by the name of John Ross. It is
also recorded that Transcontinental management discouraged trade and freight
handling by anyone other than the railroad or its employees.
The strike by construction personnel
is also a part of history, and the legend that surrounds Sam Steele. The winter
of ‘84-’85 was mild, and in an effort to overcome the delay of completion
caused by the elements and terrain, Ross ordered work to continue through the
season. This delay was undoubtedly a matter of perception and earlier
expectations, for the average they achieved – five miles of track per day
through extremely rough conditions – was exceptional. Apparently, those in the
east in command of the purse strings were not prepared for this winter labor,
for the money earned was not forthcoming. The men stopped work, and when this
met with little response – or at least not the type they had expected – became
violent.
Inspector Steele, meanwhile, was very
ill (appendicitis) and confined to bed at the barracks in Donald. His men,
outnumbered by the mob (some accounts say a hundred to one) retreated, and one
of them informed Steele of the situation. Steele got out of bed, donned his
uniform, and approached the mob with a piece of paper and a shotgun. He fired
over their heads, read the riot act (which states at length that no more of
your foolishness will be tolerated or you will be shot), then returned to his
quarters and collapsed on his bunk. The strike was broken.
In the last few years of the century,
and on into the nineteen hundreds, Sam Steele was the officer in charge of
policing, immigration and tax collection for the Yukon Territory during that
area’s gold rush. It was policies administered by Steele and his men – some of
which he invented – that saved a great many lives in that hard and unforgiving
north land.
Sam Steele was called away to the Riel
Rebellion of 1885 and replaced, on a temporary basis by George Hope Johnson who
did indeed attempt to augment his meager force with civilian volunteers. This
didn’t work too well at the time, but in later years the “Dominion Police”
became a large and efficient force. They were absorbed by the Mounted Police in
the early nineteen hundreds and became the nucleus for the “External Security”
division of that force; that is officers working outside the physical boundaries
of Canada.
Throughout their 92 years of existence
the BC Provincial Police also employed civilians but with markedly different
results. BC Police “Auxiliary Constables” were civilians with relatively
lengthy employment while “Assistant Constables” were unpaid volunteers for
short term situations. Of course, there was some training and oversite involved
rather than releasing them to run rampant.
Magistrate Malcolm Sproat was a
legendary pioneer in the development and growth of British Columbia. He was
responsible for many law reforms, and the conception of many early social
programs. He also officiated, along with James Macleod, at the trial of Inspector
Johnson and his men.
The enterprising individual who
managed to secure a liquor license and haul said product to Farwell was named
Jerry Hill. The booze actually did go missing, so even though he was proven to
be in the right, he had no way of repaying his investors. Those investors
forced his arrest, and he spent most of the winter of ‘85-’86 lodged in the
Kamloops lock-up – for the nights, at least. Following his disappearance from
those cells I can find no mention of him.
Colonel James Macleod was a legend in
his own time, and the general outline of his life with the Mounted Police is as
related. It is also probable that he is the single person most responsible for
the Mounted Police completing their tortuous march of 1874 across what was then
called the North West Territories (modern day Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and
Alberta) despite the fact that he was not in charge.
Much of our history has been compiled
from the official records, diaries, and letters of the leaders of those times.
Three examples are Governor Sir James Douglas, Judge Matthew Begbie, and
Inspector Brew. The problem with this is that their views were often far
removed from those held by the common man, and they had a vested interest in
convincing both their superiors and peers that they maintained strict control
of their areas of responsibility. Therefore, we are sometimes led to believe
that life for those who actually settled western Canada was far different- more
benign and civilized - than was actually the case.
It has been stated, for example that
there were no difficulties with the native population when European settlers
entered British Columbia. However, on two occasions Ft. Langley was attacked.
The second attack saw the community saved when members of another indigenous
nation joined the battle and soundly defeated the attackers. This second group
enjoyed the trade available at Langley, but were first and foremost enemies of
the first group. Around the same time several groups of miners were attacked
further up the Frazer River. This in turn was followed by an ill-conceived,
racist charge by an army of whites which may have wiped out several nations,
most of whom were friendly. Intervention by the Royal Engineers on the orders
of Governor Douglas undoubtedly saved many lives.
Several of those who came to British
Columbia wrote diaries, copies of which can still be found. By study of these
works we find that eighty percent of the gold hunters and loggers who arrived
in the province during those early years came from the United States, carrying
with them many of the attitudes and customs that had kept them alive during the
opening of their homeland. In one, the record left by a Lieutenant in the Royal
Army Engineers (they were surveying the 49th parallel), it is stated that “the miners
are all heavily armed. Many of them carry at least two pistols and a large
knife.” He also relates that his outfit was called out and armed to help quell
a jail break and subsequent riot.
Study of some of the newspapers of the
time can also be interesting. Whether from mining town, logging, or
construction, they all relate, and on a continuing basis how an unidentified
body was found, “cause of death unknown,” or “with what appeared to be knife
wounds,” or “apparently shot.” Many thefts were never reported, for the
independent people of the time often considered their own lack of vigilance had
led to the loss – or they sometimes knew the identity of the thief and were
intent on getting their property back.
This is not to suggest that the
British Columbia Colonial, and later (after joining the Confederation in 1871)
Provincial Police, or the North West Mounted Police were ineffectual. In
comparing frontier life in western Canada with life for any other settlers in
the world – any South American or African country, the ancient history to found
in Asia or the Middle East, and yes, even Australia – the two regional police
forces in Western Canada in the late eighteen hundreds can justly be rated as
the most effective and efficient to have existed at the time.
Finally, the stuff of legend. When the
outlaw brothers, Jesse and Frank James disappeared for two years, it was
reported that Frank was sighted in both Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.
There were also stories that the James family who lived in the Blue Mountain
country north of Toronto had visitors that winter; strangers that some people
saw but who were never introduced. Jesse James was thirty-five years old when,
on
The brief mention of the Coffeyville,
Kansas massacre of the Dalton Gang took place much later than is suggested
briefly in “The Great Liquor War”. It was on
The story related and the characters as depicted are all
figments of my imagination. That is to say, if I have shown a certain character
as mean, pompous, crazy, or less than intelligent, or attached any other
mannerism or quality to that individual, it is not meant to suggest that some
historical figure actually exhibited those traits. They have been depicted in a
way that will provide story continuity.
Two recorded excerpts from "The Great Liquor War", with pictures, can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlwT0xxQpPE
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOFtB5EzCA4&t=17s
There does exist a continuation of the story of Hank James and his search for his sweetheart. It is entitled “Homesteader: Finding Sharon” and, like “The Great Liquor War” is available in ebook, print and audio.
Or
www.amazon.com/author/dmmcgowan
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