Pages of the Past
I have unquenchable thirst for family history. Give me a mystery and I’ll dig to all corners of the earth for the answers. The hunt--full of timelines, relationships, questions and "trying on” possibilities. The rewards, so satisfying or suspended in mystery.
Often, I go looking so hard for one person and find another person or path.
I was contacted by a genealogist that was working for a family, a descendent of a common ancestor. He wanted to know if I want to research with him. So, the magnifying glass went to this branch of the tree and it’s descendants….Ben Olson is my Great Great Grandfather on my maternal side. I won’t geek out too hard on you, I’ll keep to basic information. Ben and Clara married in MN and for unknown reasons Ben left and lived in a nearby town as a bartender (listed single) while Clara (listed as married) lived with his family and their baby Hilda. I don’t know what happened to Clara. Hilda was given to family in Lake Preston, SD to be raised. I was hoping that tracking Ben would give me more information about Clara and Hilda but, instead I learned about Ben’s suicide and his brother Eugene’s murder.
Ben moved from Minnesota to North Dakota and then to Canada where he joined his brother Eugene fur trapping. For unknown reasons they split up and trapped different areas. In 1930, Eugene and his partner were murdered in their cabin on the Thelon River, in the Northwest Territories.
Fascinated by this life of solitude and harsh conditions, I found a book on Ebay that was written about a man interviewing a Canadian trapper that would’ve been alive during the same time period. I got to better understand the landscape, the trade, the beauty and the intensity of this chosen career. I let out a scream when the author mentioned the known murder of my great great uncle and his partner. I got ahold of newspaper articles, Canadian Mounted Police reports and death certificates. I found a kayaking company that does excursions up the river where they died. They wanted to know all the facts so they could honor and correctly pass on their history to their tours. They blessed me with photos of the man-made grave. There were theories about who murdered them—Albert Johnson AKA the Mad Trapper of Rat River or Inuk Tekaluk. The trappers left a journal that was an important part of the investigation. I recently contacted the RCMP Historical Collections Department to see if any items, including the journal are at a museum or available to view. I love inscriptions of books, sometimes more than the book itself. To see handwriting, dates, dedications…Can you imagine getting the opportunity to see the handwriting of my ancestors and learn more about their lives? It’s on my bucket list to go on that kayak trip, too. To see the land and to feel the stories of my ancestors.
At the age of 58, Ben committed suicide (1935) near Beaver River, N. British Columbia. He was found by a visiting friend and fellow trapper. No journal, no explanation. I can only imagine that it was a hard life and that the isolation and remoteness got to him. A newspaper article shows there was a 300 mile trek by Provincial Police to investigate. So many questions...
I continue to research this part of my family. I search for postcards, photos, trapping books, maps and objects of the time to learn, understand and remember them. I honor them by passing on their stories and having these objects around in my home. My home is my nest of memories, family history and inspiring objects.
The new suicide and crisis lifeline can be reached by texting or calling 988
