BS fide at Lith, Fort

—Photo by Wally West Studio.
Sub-Inspector Geo. H. Clark, M.C.

DURING 1907 Mort Teare and
his brother Henry had been engaged
in buying horses around Kamloops
and driving them up the trails along
the North Thompson River as far as
Blue River, thence north to Yellow-
head Pass. Yellowhead at this time
was the scene of much activity, as it
was a base for the construction camps
spread along the line to the West-
ward. Horses, particularly pack ani-
mals were in great demand by en-
gineers and surveyors.

Shortly after leaving Yellowhead
in October, on the return trip to
Kamloops they were overtaken and
joined by a man riding a buckskin
saddle horse, and followed by a
Hambletonian bay and a two-year-
old colt. The stranger gave his name
as Williams and said he came from
Alberta. He was a man of middle
age, about five feet five inches in
height and weighing about one hun-
dred thirty-five pounds. He had light
hair and a sandy complexion. What
impressed the Teares was the dead-
pan expression on his face heightened
by the cold grey eyes which stared
arrogantly at the world in general.
The newcomer volunteered little in-
formation regarding himself, but did
say that he had been in the South
African War, and later had come
from the States, and had traveled by
way of the Engineer Camps East of
the Yellowhead, and was heading for
the Bulkley Valley in Northwestern
British Columbia. Williams carried a
32.40 Savage rifle and a .22 rifle,

NINETEENTH EDITION

*
By
Sub-Inspr. GEO. H. CLARK, M.C

The construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian North-

ern Railways through the mountains and across the wilds of

northern British Columbia in the early years of this century brought
the usual quota of undesirable characters attracted by the oppor-
tunities for easy money and a desire to hide from the law. The

following narrative deals with one of such men.

——

also on a belt strapped around his
waist was a .445 Webley Service re-
volver in a holster. It was noticed by
the others that Williams invariably
placed this revolver beneath his
pillow when he lay down at night.
He seemed to be well supplied with
ammunition as he was constantly
shooting at objects as he rode along.

SENSELESS CRUELTY

The three men traveled on to-
gether and between Tete Juan Cache
and Blue River the buckskin horse
got stuck in a mud hole. Without the
slightest hesitation Williams dis-
mounted in a cold fury and in the
most cold-blooded manner drew his
hunting knife and cut its throat. This
action on the part of Williams
amazed the Teares, for in a country
where horses were highly valued,
they could see no reason for such
senseless cruelty.

Near Thunder River the party
met an engineer accompanied by an
Indian, and they stopped to talk.
The engineer was from the Nickle
Plate Mine at Hedley, and was headed
for Tete Juane to investigate a mica
deposit. He told them he had left
caches at Blue River and at Hells
Gate on the North Thompson River,
and the Indian said he had left two
horses at Blue River as one had gone
lame. After a cup of tea together the
parties separated and continued on
their respective ways.

On arriving at Blue River Wil-

liams wanted to take oats from the
Indians cache but was dissuaded by
the Teares. In those days caches
were held inviolate by the unwritten
law of the wilds and no decent man
would think of touching another's
cache unless forced by dire necessity.
That afternoon Mort Teare and Wil-
liams went up a nearby mountain and

Inspector W. L. Fernie, who organized posse
to track down killer, ts shown above with
the late Sgt. Dick Bowen.

Page Five