THE RECORD

October 04, 1995

BACK TO THE EGG

Suzanne Trevis

It was winter 1931 and Harry A. Linberg, a professional trapper with more than 14 years experience, and William Everett Macfarlane, a twenty-six year old bank clerk from Chilliwack, had just set sail for the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Linberg had advertised in the newspaper for a trapper's helper and chose Macfarlane from more than 300 replies, despite the fact that he had no previous experience. Macfarlane paid him $285, no small sum in those days, for a half share in the trapping outfit and to learn the trapping business.

August 3, 1932 saw the arrest of Harry Linberg on charges of manslaughter after the body of William Macfarlane was found at the junction of the Gold and Heber Rivers in June of that year.

According to Linberg the story began in November. Walter Royed, a Vancouver gasboat operator, transported the two men and more than a ton of supplies to the head of Tlupana Inlet. They were dropped at the mouth of the Conuma River.

The weather was less than perfect. After arranging for Linberg to telegraph him at the beginning of May to pick up the pair, Royed left. Snow was heavy and ice was beginning to form in the bay.

Linberg and Macfarlane decided to pitch a tent for the night. Then, the following day, they transported all their goods across the tidewater flats and more than a mile upriver before setting up a new, more permanent, camp.

Macfarlane was very discouraged by the snow. But despite his inexperience and lack of skill, he stuck it out and managed to pull his weight.

The two men set out along the trail. Usually making one trip in the morning and another in the afternoon, they traveled from one indian shack to the next.

Finally, shortly before Christmas, they reached the foot of the mountains. With snow getting deeper and deeper and weather extremely unfavorable (they were experiencing very bad blizzards nearly every day) they decided to make camp until the worst was over. They erected a snow cover for the tent with tree branches and stuck it out until nearly the end of January.

By this time they were well rested for the trip over the mountain range to Muchalat Lake. Unfortunately, the snow was still very deep and the men were forced to use snow shoes. Macfarlane, never having used them before, did not like them and ended up having to leave his pack behind.

Once across things did not get much better. The two spent the next month, trapping at the Muchalat Camp. Supplies got very low and things began to get very tough. They were still experiencing severe weather.

Near the end of February they returned to the Conuma River camp. Once they were there Macfarlane did not want to leave the tent again. He did not like being outside. They discussed their options and it was decided that he would stay and trap, while Linberg went back to Muchalat Lake.

By this time the season was too far advanced to turn over much profit. They agreed that Macfarlane would stay with the tent until April and go out by the West Coast route, unless things improved and he followed Linberg. Linberg would go across island to Campbell River.

Surprisingly, Macfarlane arrived at the Muchalat Camp on March 6th. With increasing cold the trail had frozen and snowshoes were no longer needed. He had trapped a Martin and seemed quite proud of himself. He told Linberg that he was heading back to Conuma and would return in three weeks. However, shortly after departing from Muchalat Lake, the weather turned again and the region was hit with more blizzards and severe storms.

Linberg continued to trap back and forth in the Muchalat area until the middle of April. On the 15th he returned to the mountain summit but saw no sign of Macfarlane. Linberg was confident that he had gone out by the West Coast route.

On the 23rd he left a note at the Muchalat Camp, just in case, then headed off. Down the Gold River to the government ferry crossing, then out via the Campbell River Trail and, eventually, to Vancouver. The weather was fine.

Once he had reached the Terminal City, Linberg inquired about Macfarlane, but heard nothing. He was not unduly alarmed about the safety of his partner. Eventually he spoke with Provincial Police and a search for the young man was organized.

William Macfarlane's body was discovered on the bank of the Gold River, thirty miles from the place he had last been seen by Linberg. He was lying on his back, a water bucket in one hand and his right leg drawn up as if in extreme pain. He had collapsed while getting water from the river.

A coroner's jury was convened on August 1st. Over the next two days Dr. E. C. Hart, coroner, and a jury panel of six men, heard testimony from Harry Linberg and Constable Adam Monk, who accompanied Linberg during the search for Macfarlane.

Monk told how they had traveled to the camp at Conuma River, where Linberg had last seen Macfarlane. How the two men then climbed a pass 3,000 feet high and followed clues left along the trail including food supplies a cache, clothing discarded by the dead man, and other evidence that he had camped at a number of points along the way.

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The jury also heard passages from Macfarlane's diary. Written only a few days before he died, it said:

"I have been a month without anything to eat . . . I have a little flour left, but no baking

powder or lard. The trail has come to an end . . .God, who has been with me so long, seems to have forsaken me . . . I have lost the trail . . . I still believe in God and I think it is time he called me home . . .But I would like to have seen my dear mother and kissed her first . . . I'm writing this while I'm still O.K. . . . Perhaps we'll write the finale to-morrow."

This was written on April 27th. On May 1st Macfarlane wrote his name and the date on a board of a shack, near which his body was found.

Mr. W. H. Bullock-Webster, who acted for the Attorney General's Department questioned Mr. Linberg about previous trapping expeditions.

In 1921 he took a man named Hubbard into the Columbia River country. They had not come out together. In the 1928-29 season he led a group of New Zealanders into the Gold River District under the name of "Harris." An arrangement made, according to Linberg, because of rivalry amongst trappers in the area. In 1929-30 Linberg's half-sister went out with him "for her health," but died when the two were caught in a storm.

Linberg also admitted having no license to trap on this last expedition. He denied that this was he reason for wanting to go out by the Campbell River route, explaining he did not have enough money.

In his charge to the jury the coroner pointed out that Linberg was a woodsman of experience, but that his fourteen years as a trapper appeared to have consisted in taking out parties of what may be termed "suckers." "The inexperience and money of this lad appear to have been factors in the selection. Linberg's letter as to the great profits to be made, would have warned any but a greenhorn that this man's object was not of the best."

Dr. J. H. Moore, who performed the postmortem on July 23rd said he could not give a cause of death. Although many of the joints and bones were disjointed, there were no signs of fractures or any marks on them.

Sgt. McBrayne, who also gave evidence regarding the search, believed the young man had died of starvation. "I was satisfied he had not been helped out of this world," he testified.

James Forman, J.P. in Provincial Police Court explained that the Attorney-General's Department would not proceed with the charge. Harry A. Linberg was released from custody August 9th, 1932.

The bulk of the source material for this article came from the VICTORIA DAILY TIMES of August 3, 1932 and August 9, 1932.