May 2016

MURDER ON THE S.S. OKANAGAN

Published on May 8, 2016 in Okanagan/Penticton by Brian Wilson

The tragic shooting of Constable Geoffrey Aston of the Provincial Police is a strange tale. Constable Aston was well liked in Penticton and beyond, having served in the Yukon and territories while a NWMP officer. He was a bachelor living on Ellis Street in downtown Penticton. He was a staunch Freemason and a member of the Greenwood Lodge.

Young George Aston while in the Yukon 1898 — Young Geoffrey Aston while in the Yukon 1898

This saga began with the armed robbery of the Okanagan Mission general store.
The characters in this drama are led by a desperado who deserted from the American army, Walter Boyd James. Through his many aliases he liked to emulate his folk hero “Jesse” James; and like Jesse, Walter was never without his guns. He had drifted about the Okanagan, working as a labourer for many of the large land-holders but never for very long. Then on Saturday evening, March 23, 1912; Walter James robbed the Okanagan Mission store at gunpoint. He burst into the store with a large pistol held high and yelled, “Hands up!” The young assistant, Roy Randall, complied quickly but a customer, Mr. Small laughed, thinking it was a prank and had the pistol placed at his temple. Mr. Taylor, the proprietor emerged from the back and was forced to the till but James found it empty. He pushed Taylor to the back and made him open the safe. As the bandit’s attention was at the safe, Randall made a dash out the door. James gave chase firing a round at the fleeing boy, missing him in the darkness. James hurried back to loot the safe and escaped into the night with a small booty.
Randall hurried to the Bellevue Hotel but lost precious time convincing patrons that the robbery was not a joke. Taylor finally reached the telephone to inform the authorities. James was identified even though he was disguised by a white handkerchief and large droopy hat, as he had been loitering about the Hotel most of the day.
Constable Tooth was informed of the robbery and he immediately informed authorities north and south to watch for anyone matching the description. Walter had headed south over the Wild Horse Canyon trail on the east side of Okanagan Lake. On this road he met with a drifter, Frank Wilson who decided to travel south with James. James made no indication that he was on the run from the authorities. Wilson must have been a little suspicious of a man carrying a Winchester repeater and two 44 caliber revolvers in a hip holster. They arrived at the BC Hotel in Penticton the next day but found it fully booked. After trying other hostelries with no luck they returned to the BC Hotel. As they entered the lounge, they found Chief Roche and Constable Aston waiting.

Needless to say, Wilson was very upset and set upon James for not informing him of the serious charge. Wilson insisted to the constable that he was just a bystander. They were both to be tr aston 2 ansported to aston 1 Kelowna to be charged. Chief Roche thought Aston should wait until morning to embark but Aston insisted on taking the prisoners onto the boat, the S.S. Okanagan, which was set to sail in the morning. Chief Roche again insisted that Aston not take on the task alone and he suggested Mr. Pope, a retired constable, travel along. Constable Aston did try a colleague, Mr. A.E. Paris, but he was engaged. Mr. Pope did return to the S.S. Okanagan at sailing time and looked in on the travelers and found them asleep in their stateroom.

The heinous deed took place while at sail between Penticton and Peachland. It seems from later testimony, that James had hidden a small 22 cal. pistol in bag under his arm. It had not been detected by the police search on his capture. While Aston slept, the small firearm was retrieved. As Aston awoke, James asked him for a glass of water. When offered he drew the pistol and demanded that the officer put his hands up. Aston refused and lept on James in an attempt to disarm him. The gun made a small ‘pop’ and the Constable fell to the floor.

James turned to Wilson, who was in a state of panic, and pushed the pistol in his face growling “If you cry out I will shoot you dead!” James offered to tie up Wilson and leave him with the dying officer, but in his fear, Wilson refused. The two retrieved the keys to the shackles and the weapons carried by the constable, covered him and then left by the deck door. Without raising any suspicion, they left the sternwheeler at Peachland dock.

As the ship left Peachland, the purser Alfred Watson searched his records and discovered that there had been no tickets issued for Peachland and became suspicious of the two men who left the ship. Just moments later a steward raised alarm with the purser as there was no reply at the constable’s stateroom door. They were able to enter from the deck and found Constable Aston still alive yet gravely wounded. Captain Estabrook was informed and the ship made haste to Gellatly Bay where he raised alarm with authorities north and south. The ship made way to Kelowna where the officer was transferred to hospital. Constable Geoffrey Aston was pronounced dead soon after arriving.

Before noon, the valley was alive with the news and the manhunt began. Magistrates made every available man a ‘special constable’ and they were ordered to join a posse in their community. The order went out to ‘shoot on sight’ if any resistance was offered. Well over 200 men set out to find the trail. Many hobos and vagrants were herded to the lakeshore for identification.

Then a break; tracks were discovered at the snow line at the Glen Robinson mine above Peachland, then a report that they had held up a shack in Westbank for food. The search continued through the night and it wasn’t until 4pm the following day that a report of their capture came through.
Special Constables Ramsey and Seely had been searching the waterfront at Wilson’s Landing and had spotted the two men sitting on a log near Ramsey’s ranch. The two officers covered the two with their rifles and, even though James seemed to reach for his weapon, he was disarmed without incident. (At the inquest, James asserted that he had seen the constables and could have easily shot them down.)

The two escapees were taken aboard the S.S. Okanagan and securely tied to the aston 3 mast and transported to Kelowna to await trial. At the inquest, Wilson offered testimony against James and, oddly, James corroborated Wilson’s testimony in every detail. Both were charged with the murder and transported to Kamloops to await trial. For his cooperation, Frank Wilson had all charges dropped and was released sometime later. Walter James was convicted and sent to the gallows September 9th.
James was defiant ‘til the end. On the day of his execution, he made a dash for the open door at mealtime, throwing pepper he had saved, into the face of the deathwatch officer. The officer quickly subdued James with his truncheon, knocking him unconscious. The 24 year old James went to the hangman with a large knot on his head.

Aston was placed in the Fairview Cemetery in Penticton with full Freemason honors. 100 years later, The Greenwood Lodge once again honoured Constable Aston with a remembrance ceremony attended by 75 people. Grand Master Bill Cave eulogized “I think it’s important to remember, not just a fallen brother, but a brother who was in the service of our police force.”
Led by a piper and honour guard of RCMP officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel, the Freemasons paid their formal respects to Geoffrey Aston.

© 2012 by Brian Wilson

BILL MINER REVISITED 30 YEARS LATER

Published on May 7, 2016 in Cariboo/Kamloops by Brian Wilson

Our fascination for colourful characters in our past is topped by the adventures of Bill Miner; Train Robber and Philanthropist. This text is from the 1937 anthology of the R.C.M.P., “The Scarlet and the Gold.”

miner, bill 2 copy

Had Courtesy For Victims

Thirty years ago, on May 14, 1906, Bill Miner, notorious train robber, was captured in the wilds of the interior of British Columbia, thereby adding to the laurels previously won by the Royal North West Mounted Police. This is the story of the capture of a modern Robin Hood – a man reputed to have
stolen more than $500,000 in his life time and who gave liberally to the poor.

Bill Miner was widely known early in the century, as a daring robber and enjoyed a distinction rivaling that of the legendary Robin Hood. He robbed the rich and gave money to the poor. To the recipient of his gifts, Miner was a kindhearted friend who went away prospecting at certain intervals and came back to spread happiness, leaving the laughter of happy children in his wake.
The late Staff Sergeant J.J. Wilson, of Calgary, led the detachment of seven Mounted Police from Calgary into the wilds, in pursuit of the bandits, headed by Miner, who held up a C.P.R. Train at Ducks (Pritchard), near Kamloops, B.C., on May 8, 1906. Prior to that, Miner was responsible for a holdup at Mission Junction, B.C., on September 2, 1904, and got a haul of $45,000 in bonds.

The neighbourhood had been terrorized.

Robbers bristling with guns; cool and calculating in their operations, had uncoupled the mail car from the rest of the train and left the passengers stalled in their cars on the main line, while the front section was run down the grade a few miles for the purpose of dynamiting the safe. But it was a faulty judgement on Miner’s part. He slipped up on information that the train carried $160,000 destined for the needy residents of San Francisco, following the earthquake. That train had passed a few hours before, and this daring coup turned out a hopeless failure.

A few days after the robbery instructions were received at Calgary R.N.W.M.P. Headquarters to send a detachment to join in the search for Miner and his two companions, Shorty Dunn and Louis Colquhoun. The party left Calgary; headed by Staff Sergeant Wilson, on May 10, 1906. Two days later the police party rode in the direction of Grande Prairie (Westwold); about 100 miles south of Kamloops, where they understood Miner and his men had been seen recently. Miner had worked on a ranch in this district and it was believed he would head for the vicinity after the job at Ducks.

The party was nearing Douglas Lake, about 85 miles south of Kamloops, when Constable Fernie of the B.C. Police was encountered. He said he had seen three men answering the description of the fugitives crossing a road not far down the trail.

The police found the men and surrounded them. Among them was Bill Miner. He was told that he and his men answered the description of the bandits responsible for the train holdup at Ducks. When told that they would be taken in for investigation, Shorty Dunn opened fire on Sergeant Wilson. The bullet just grazed his left side. Then all the policemen pulled their guns. Sergeant Wilson covered Miner, and one of the other policemen covered Colquhoun. Dunn fired again and bolted into the bush. Here he plunged into a ditch and sank waist-deep in the mud. He was stuck and gave up. He had been wounded in the leg.

Miner and Colquhoun were bound with rope around their waists and marched away. Dunn was carried. They were convicted and sentenced by Judge Hunter at Kamloops.
A year later, Miner and his companions escaped from New Westminster prison. He went to the United States and pulled another holdup which netted him enough to go on an extended tour of Europe.

Upon his return he engaged in a few more railway robberies in the United States. Then he encountered a widow with a large family. She was penniless and about to lose her home. Bill Miner cleared the mortgage with all the money he had left, telling her a story about having been an old friend of her late husband. Miner, in his earlier days, preyed upon stage coaches conveying gold to Denver, Colorado. He always apologized to the passengers for the inconvenience to which they were put.

One of the mounted squad responsible for the capture of the notorious outlaw was Sergeant P.G. Thomas of the R.N.W.M.P. For many years, Sergeant Thomas, now Magistrate P.G. Thomas; has been acting in a judicial capacity in the town of High River, Alberta. Corporal C.R. Peters, who also aided in the capture, is now an Inspector with the R.C.M.P., stationed at Ottawa.

Three other “Mounties” responsible for bringing Bill Miner to justice, at least temporarily, are now dead. Staff Sergeant J.J. Wilson, of Calgary, was killed in an automobile accident east of High River on March 13, 1933. Superintendent T.M. Shoebotham, a corporal at the time of the capture of Miner, died in Dawson City on January 27, 1927 while still with the force. He was stationed at Calgary and in Regina. Constable S. Steward died many years ago.

“There’s one thing. I never killed a man in my life,” Miner is reported to have said before he died. Shorty Dunn and Louis Colquhoun died many years ago.

© 2012 by Brian Wilson

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Our fascination for colourful characters in our past is topped by the adventures of Bill Miner; Train Robber and Philanthropist. This text is from the 1937 anthology of the R.C.M.P., “The Scarlet and the Gold.”

© 2012 by Brian Wilson