:. W. BICKLE—VETERAN OF 1898

| By CONST. W. H. DAVIDSON

THE YUKON TRAIL

On page 49 of the last issue of “The
Shoulder Strap’ we reproduced an old-
time picture of a group of Provincial Police
officers taken outside the police station at
Atlin, B. C., in 1898. Const. E. W. Bickle
formed one of the group, and now we can
report that Mr. Bickle, hale and hearty, is |
one of Cumberland’s prominent citizens. For |
the benefit of chee-chakos and sourdoughs |
alike, we are glad to give a few more
details of Constable Bickle’s experiences
on the “Trail of ‘98.”

MEASURED IN length of service or in
oint of outstanding achievement the record
f Constable Edward William Bickle in the
3ritish Columbia Police Force is a brief and
nsignificant one—he was in the force only
_ few short months. Historically, however,
\is association with the service is worthy of
nore than passing note, for it took him to
he storied Yukon in that most colourful of
Il eras in British Columbia police history —
he days of the great gold rush.

Mr. Bickle, now aged 72 and one of the
nost successful business men in the Comox
listrict, was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne,
Northumberland, England. By the time he
was 18 he had completed his schooling and
iad been successful in passing his civil serv-

ice examinations. But in those days appoint-
ments were scarce in the Old Country so
the ambitious young man decided to come
to British Columbia to try his luck. After
a short time on the coast he settled at the
old mining town of Wellington, and, as a
partner in the firm of Young, Bickle & Co.,
started in business as a merchant, operating
general stores in Northfield, Wellington and
Nanaimo. Mr. Bickle was also commissioned
as notary public and justice of the peace.

Early in 1899, Mr. Bickle joined the Pro-
vincial Police force, and on February 10,
1899, sailed out of Nanaimo on the steamer
Danube, skippered by Capt. John Irving.
A travelling companion on the trip was a
young lawyer, Fred McB. Young, who later
became county court judge at Prince Rup-
ert.

The steamer arrived at Skagway on Feb-
ruary 17, and Constable Bickle proceeded
as far as he could go by rail. He then mushed
over the summit of the White Pass into
Log Cabin, where he spent the night, and
went on to Lake Bennett. his destination,
the following day.

In those first days his duties included
patrolling the surrounding country, which
meant hundreds of square miles, by dog
team, checking up on the numerous food
caches which were so vital to storm-bound
travellers.

In June of the same year Constable
Bickle came back to Vancouver Island long

in this group, outside the B. C. Police district headquarters at Courtenay, are, left to right: Const.
W. H. Davidson, Mr. E. W. Bickle, and Sergt. A. Fairbairn. Mr. Bickle is showing the watch
presented to him at Atlin.

SUMMER EDITION

Submitted by Const. W. H. Davidson

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Page Thirty-three

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