The Mystery of the Golden Gumshoe Graves
Golden, British Columbia, Canada is a small town nestled in the Columbia Valley and located on the Trans-Canada Highway. The town's history is strongly linked to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the logging industry.
Law enforcement for Golden is the responsibility of the RCMP but sadly deaths sometimes occur within their jurisdiction as a result of accidents such as snow avalanches. But, there are other matters which linger in Golden and the following story has mysterious tenets which are yet unsolved.
An old friend of mine, retired RCMP Vet Alex Popovic was once posted at Golden Detachment. Alex opens the first chapter of "The Mystery of the Golden Gumshoe Graves". Later, our mystery deepens when another old friend Historian and Vet Jack White digs in to help.
But, does Jack solve the mystery or dig the hole deeper? Read on...
Alex begins; "Joe, I have searched your website for RNWMP graves in Golden BC. You might have one listed; however, I'm not sure that you have both of them in the National databank.
I recall there were two graves that we inspected on an annual basis when I was stationed in Golden between 1974 and 1976. The graves which I recall are located in two different spots along the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
The first grave was located in a site several miles from the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) and one had to access it via rail handcar. It was located about 2 to 3 miles west of Donald, BC. I'm not sure, but it may have been flooded by Kinbassket Lake after they created the Mica Dam on the Columbia River.
The other grave was in Golden and behind what was then the Golden Arms Hotel. The Hotel sat between the CPR line and the TCH just to the south of the bridge that comes off the TCH and leads into town. Perhaps there may still be some record of these two gravesites?
Then, as I recall there was also a third grave of an RCMP member who drowned in the Columbia River at Parsons, BC when a supply boat taking supplies to Ft. Steele floundered. I have no recolletion of where that particular gravesite was but I do recall it was in the area of Parsons, BC.
Joe, I hope this information is of some assistance to you".
Yours truly,
Alex Popovic
The Mystery of the Golden Gumshoe Graves catches the attention of Vet and Historian Jack White who picks up Alex Popovic's tale...
Jack says; "I was stationed at Golden 1953 to 1954 and there were no members' graves known or reported on in those two years.
In the fall of 1954 I found a NWMP grave on the hillside behind the CPR oil storage tanks of Reg. #760 Cst. William Ross who died on December 31, 1884 at Palliser, BC. I began correspondence with 'HQ' Ottawa to have the grave moved to an appropriate place and it was moved by Cpl Al Jensen to the Golden Cemetery in 1955.
Years later, when I became interested in this history hobby, I learned that Reg.#13 S/M Thomas Horatio Lake committed suicide at Golden July 7, 1887 so I began searching for his gravesite. The only references I have ever found were in Supt. Sam Steele's book Forty Years in Canada to the effect that "...we buried him [Lake] among the pines next to camp".
The open question was: Where were they camped?
From other references in the same book, it appeared to my logic that the camp was across or south of the Kicking Horse River from the CPR somewhere near the present day RCMP Detachment or the hospital. I concluded that he - (S/M Tom Lake) is probably buried somewhere under the present townsite. I tried searching for their cemetery records, but they were lost in a fire many years ago.
As the years have gone by, I have searched all my narrative research for any reference to a member's death at or near Donald and Parsons, but with negative results. I have no recollection of any event leading to death of a member at either location.
So, the mystery as I see it is whether it is possible that one of two graves taken care of by Alex Popovic in the 1970's is in fact the grave of the deceased member recorded in Sam Steele's book and has yet to be correctly identified?