The SARGENT and THE WOLF

[BRIAN]

Hey Matt,

I am presently emailing no fewer than 5 information resources (RCMP, Cdn. Archive sites, etc) about our Sgt Mcleish.

So far I have found the following:

-Sgt Mcleish- Who was he….we still don’t know and apparently the RCMP doesn’t either

- The RCMP has nothing on the WOLF or the "werewolf" calamity amongst the Nakina tribal residents.

-The wolf….. Other than May's reference to it (which seems like it taken almost verbatim from the books reference to it) ..we still don’t know about that.

- The link to a trapper murder (Mad Trapper?) which had brought Mcleish in a time before the wolf did, I did find this out. In 1932 there WAS a Mad Trapper wanted for killing an RCMP officer. He was hunted down and killed by RCMP. This however happened in the Yukon…2000 miles away from the area we are talking about. Is it possible Meader added this and changed it to meet the story as it must have been a headline somewhere in the day.


- Although I haven't specifically asked the question to the RCMP about regulations regarding a reference to their officers by name in works of Fiction/non-fiction. It seems the bet here would be that our "Sgt MacLeish or McLeish" is an alias. ( as in Joe Leake aka Tom Spence, which I think still has to be sorted out).

[traplines]

I first contacted the RCMP in Regina for Sgt Macleish and was referred to the RCMP archives in Ottawa. There the woman told me under no circumstance were they allowed to give out any names or info on past or present on members. When I told her about the book and why I was looking she became very interested and did some checking while I was on the line but couldn't find a Sgt Macleish. To be fair I thought he was from the Thunder Bay district. I'm not sure if it would have made a difference had we known he was dispatched from somewhere else say Winnipeg or Toronto. I still feel the way to find this story is in the newspaper microfilm library. I think a person should start looking say 1933 and work backward to say 1925. I think I told the story in the old comments about when I was checking for wolf killed in Nakina in 1933 on line in archived news paper there wasn't any hits but when I typed in 1932 in came up with 2 hit but the web page was from the US and you had to be a member. I was unable to ever find that web site again. Maybe it was something, maybe it wasn't.
Russ

[BRIAN]

Hey Russ,

I think we should go up to 35, just in case dates are smudged

I agree the microfiche is probably the best thing we have to give a chance to find something concrete. A wolf with a tale of this should of got some hype from somewhere.

Especially afterwards, the book being out and "maybe" wanting to talk to the boys or the family for a story.

[BRIAN]

HI all and Happy Easter

I had to take a couple o minutes and relate something.

In a reference to the "Mad Tapper" that MacLeish had came to the area previously to take care of...

TLN actually refers to a French Trapper that went Mad and killed a man "up on the Kowkash". Now how far away is the Kowkash River???. I wouldnt think this a big deal in finding our mountie due to the fact that those info people for the RCMP are telling us things like a Mad trapper in the yukon at the same time. I would figure it would come up on a query of Macleish.

This fact about the Kowkash may be more good ore in searching the microfiche. Either way, this mountie was appaerently involved.

Another obscure possible angle comes in the form of a "mike" who told Jim about Macleish coming in. Mike was the station lunch room guy.

Another and again going back to known persons in the backround of this story is the Largade guys. Have we ever turned up anything such as subsequent generation individuals.

well ok I hear ya, stop already and go eat some ham

[joannrotz]

The Kowkash River is north west of here but is accessible from Nakina and was in those times. The Legardes are all dead now....so that is going nowhere.

[traplines]

As you all know its very frustrating and discouraging trying to find information on the wolf and the mountie and coming up with nothing. Bob and Jo Ann’s article they received from David Tyson was very encouraging. I was ready to write off the mountie’s name as being Sgt MacLeish till I read that article. Still I have been unable to track him down. It’s almost like we need someone on the inside of the RCMP to find this out for us. Surely there must be a member of the RCMP who grew up with TLN like we all did. You might think that maybe May Round-Tyson may have taken that stuff she wrote from the book but some of the things she wrote weren’t in the book were they. I don’t remember anything about the wolf killing livestock. Bob and Jo Ann in the article where it mentions an RCMP officer ( Sgt. McLeish ) did you add in the Sgt McLeish or were those May’s words. I’m thinking those were May’s words. MacLeish is also spelled out McLeish. I think I’ve only researched it MacLeish. Don’t know if that would make a difference. What about you Brian.

I’ve been thinking how big of news the shooting of a big wolf in northern Ontario would have been. For sure it would have made the Nakina news paper ( If they had one ) and maybe the Geralton Times Star but I’m not sure it would have made news anywhere else. Back in those day’s there were probably all kinds of wolves shot. A couple of years ago a man from Ontario was working in northern Saskatchewan was killed by a pack of wolves and that made national news. Do you know if there was a Nakina news paper in the 1930 Jo Ann.

[BRIAN]

When I have been making inquires, I have been presenting the MacLeish name both ways to see if we would get a hit on either.
So far, nil.

The wolf.....I just dont know.

In the preface of TLN, Meader tells of doing this book from the diaries, the stories of the Vanderbecks and other things that happened to their close friends. This is what bothers me about the book (of which I will always love and think of the same way mind you)

Thinking as a researcher, beginning with how Meader positioned the make-up of the book. Did he bring ALL of the excitement of the book and entwine them to the Vanderbeck's?

Was the wolf really Jim's or was it "a close friend" someone elses tale?

I think the Donation of the wolf to the museum has to be documented somewhere. Unless, it was hi-jacked once it was in the museum hands and never got mounted.


Then again.....I am sure there were many "HUGE" wolves in Ontario then. I may have been "local" news and never made it out o the settlement (Nakina).

The one thing is, when you do this (break down and research) you find out stuff you may not want to know.


For instance was it not for the wolf MacLeish was there BUT something more sinister, a crime Meader didnt want to reference in the book (due to the fact it was a childrens book).



THEN AGAIN HOWEVER.....stuff like this arises........

I repst from the old board:

WOLF
From: BRIAN
Date: 01 Nov 2005
Time: 14:16:38


Comments
Its obvious that the "metal" to the wolf in the story was Meader's building. However, I specifically had sought to find out the truth about this wolf. Meaders son, who I engaged in an email traffic about (how long have we been doing this guys) ...4 years ago. The link to his email doesnt work any longer. He said he remembered his father telling him about the wolf, showing him pictures of it!!!. Ok, this taken,.... how come they never made it into the book? I truly want to beleive this and I have to beleive that at least something is true of it. Hey the watch grave wasnt made up was it@!

[traplines]

Yeh Brian I don't know either. What we do know is [Jim's widow] say's it's true, [Jim's Daugher] say's she was alway's told it was true, Meader's son say's it was true and May Round makes you want to believe its true. I guess were just looking for some kind of physical proof and I'm not sure were going to find it.

[BRIAN]

I have checked the reference material we have in our collection. There is no mention of a Sgt Macleish or Mcleish in any material.

Of the three stories mentioned, the first about the wolf, I have never heard of or seen information on it.

The second, is possibly a true story, but I cannot find any reference to it.

The third one, about the Mad Trapper, is a real one. The term refers to an individual called Albert Johnson, who murdered an RCMP officer in 1932, and who was subsequently hunted down and killed by a 4 man RCMP group and an airplane. However, the incident happened in the Rat River Region in the Yukon, which is at least some 2,000 miles away from Northern Ontario.

I would guess that your observation that the Sgt Mcliesh is in fact a conglomerate of different officers or a purely fictional character. Likewise, the first two stories may be a mishmash or fictional recounting of events.

Hope this helps.

You could also try the RCMP Centennial Museum in Regina (I thing they have a website) or also the RCMP's website, putting the request to the attention of the historian for the RCMP. You may mention that you have been in contact with us, so that they do not make us duplicate the search we have done.

Gilles Lafreniere,
Information Specialist,
Canadian Police College Library.

>>> "Schweikert, Brian CONT" <[e-mail]> 2007-04-02 8:25
>>> AM >>>
Hi

I am doing research on a book that was written in the 1930's.
"Trap-Lines North". Along with no less than 4 other folks who are trying to dissect this book's information, tracing the origins and stories of the book's true characters.

I understand that your library is listed as an RCMP tool. There is a reference to students also. We are students by effect of what we are trying to resolve. With this matter our goal is to uncover what is not known and to be able to show how effective the RCMP was even as far back as the 1920's and 30's. We want to set the record as accurate as we can get it. ANY information would be appreciated.


I respectfully submit the following request for information:

We are presently looking into a reference in the book about an RCMP officer, a Sgt. McLeish or MacLeish who investigated the reports of a large wolf that had bothered the town of Nakina in the 1930-35 timeframe. Due to the native superstitions (it was said to be one of the largest wolves taken in Ontario at the time) had grown into what appears to be a lynching situation of a local (Wababimiga) Eskimo woman (the officer was called for to calm this situation).
(This wolf that was subsequently shot then apparently donated and mounted in a museum in Toronto) .

In addition, there is reference found that there was a prior visit to Nakina by this officer in the 1923-1932 time frame to investigate a shooting of a trapper by another trapper, dubbed stereotypically "mad trapper".

It is becoming apparent to us, This Sgt Mcleish may have been a cover of the real name of this individual (one thought is that maybe the author couldn't use the real RCMP officer's name in the book due to regulations). We know he was either dispatched from either Winnepeg or Toronto to Nakina.
Is it possible for you to find out if there was such a Sgt. Macleish
(McLeish?) during that time, if so is there any documentation surviving supporting the above incidents?

Or maybe you have documentation of the incident under the real officers name (who is...?)


Very Respectfully

Brian J Schweikert

[BRIAN]

Thank you for your interest. I am sorry but at this time the Curator is unable to answer any questions or requests. We are currently moving the new RCMP Heritage Centre, opening May 2007. She has advised me to respond to any inquiries that she will be able to answer these about June 1, 2007. This will give her the time she needs for the move.

Thank you for your understanding and please email again at a later time.

Janita Blanchard, Manager
Scarlet & Gold Gift Shop
Treasurer/Event Coordinator
Equitation Program
Friends of the Mounted Police Museum

----- Original Message -----
From: Schweikert, Brian CONT <mailto:[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 5:41 AM
Subject: INFORMATION REGARDING RCMP INVOLVEMENT IN NAKINA, ONT.1923-1936




-----You could also try the RCMP Centennial Museum in Regina (I thing they have a website) or also the RCMP's website, putting the request to the attention of the historian for the RCMP. You may mention that you have been in contact with us, so that they do not make us duplicate the search we have done.

Gilles Lafreniere,
Information Specialist,
Canadian Police College Library.

[BRIAN]

I received this today, from another source, same answer.


2007-2008/Q2-654

Dear Mr. Schweikert:

Thank you for your email request of 3 April 2007 asking if we have information on a RCMP Sgt. MacLeish/McLeish or/and an investigation that would have taken placed in Nakina regarding the killing of a large wolf, c. 1930-1935. This Sgt. would also have been involved in the investigation of the murder of a trapper by another trapper. In reply, I have to inform you that a search of the RCMP fonds (Record Group 18) in our custody has failed to reveal any service file for a Sgt. Macleish/McLeish that would have been active at that time period or on an investigation file regarding the killing of a large wolf or the killing of a trapper by another trapper, also in the Nakina area. For investigation files, it is not unusual, since we have very few RCMP investigation files for that time period. On the other hand, we should have most if not all the service files of former RCMP personnel.


For your information, I am enclosing a web link to a "Mad Trapper" story en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Johnson_(criminal) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Johnson_(criminal)> which probably has no relation to your "mad trapper" in Nakina.


I am sorry that I cannot be of more help at this time.

Thank you for your interest in Library and Archives Canada. Please do not hesitate to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Ghislain Malette
Client Services Division

Library and Archives Canada