Outlaw Territory

My birthday is in April, and last year for my birthday Morningstar suggested that we celebrate it by going to lunch at our favorite local restaurant on the bank of the Skeena River in Old Hazelton. I enjoy Hazelton. At the turn of the last century it was a remarkable place. The meeting place of two rivers – the Skeena and the Bulkley, and the meeting place of many cultures: First Nations, Chinese, French, English, and American, among others. It was the farthest point that steamboats from the Pacific could navigate east up the Skeena, and the end point for the newly constructed railroad coming west across the continent from the Atlantic. It was the jumping off point for the pack trains heading north to the gold fields of Alaska and the Yukon, and the end of the line for the Western Union Telegraph.

Hazelton was the region’s first in many categories: The first Hudson’s Bay Trading Post, bank (and bank robbery), school, mining office, government agent, newspaper, and hospital (still there). Black Jack MacDonell ran the tavern. He provided liquor and prostitutes, and was known as the “King of Saloon Keepers” from San Francisco to the Yukon. He was also known for saying that he would “fire any honest man (that he) found in his employ.” The law such as it was, was represented by local police, the Mounties, and the Pinkertons.

Much of Old Hazelton has been preserved by benign neglect and many of the original buildings are still standing. It’s a pleasure to walk its streets as we did on my birthday. Two miles out of Hazelton is a small community called – well, “Two Mile.” It’s not so much a community as it is a cluster of houses and one service station. It’s the site of the place where the prostitutes lived who serviced Hazelton during its hey day. The sign for the site reads, “Two Mile – Historically Non-Conforming.”

Near Two Mile is the Kispiox Valley Road. We had never been to the valley and we had often heard how beautiful it was, so after lunch we took a left turn and headed out. Within a few kilometers was a sign that indicated that we were entering “Outlaw Territory.” This area has a long history of being home to people who chose to live outside the law. The most famous was probably Simon Peter Gunanoot. Gunanoot was a handsome, prosperous First Nations rancher and trapper who lived near the Kispiox village. In 1906, he was involved in a tavern fight with two white men who were later found shot to death. Gunanoot was suspected and a posse was sent out to capture him. While the posse stopped to question people in a remote village, their horses “somehow” got loose and the posse had to walk 40 kilometers back to Hazelton. Meanwhile Gunanoot had returned to his ranch, picked up his family and belongings, and disappeared into the wilderness. Despite searches by the British Columbia Provincial Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Pinkerton Agency and numerous bounty hunters, Gunanoot stayed hidden for 13 years. In 1919, he reappeared and surrendered in Hazelton, accompanied by Stewart Henderson, Canada’s leading criminal defense lawyer of that time. He was tried for the murders and found not guilty. After 13 years of running from the law, the jury took only 13 minutes to free him.

... Bob

Map showing the area of northern B.C. that we live in.

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