A Life of Writing and Adventure
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William Bleasdell Cameron A Life of Writing and Adventure By Robert W. Hendriks A finding aid for the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron at the Thomas A. Edge Archives & Special Collections, Athabasca University William Bleasdell Cameron William Bleasdell Cameron A Life of Writing and Adventure Robert W. Hendriks A finding aid for the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron Copyright © 2008 by Athabasca University All rights reserved Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, Alberta T9S 3A3, Canada www.athabascau.ca Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Hendriks, Robert W., 1939- William Bleasdell Cameron : a life of writing and adventure / Robert W. Hendriks. Includes a finding aid of the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron held in the Thomas A. Edge Archives and Special Collections, Athabasca University. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-897425-32-9 1. Cameron, William Bleasdell, 1862-1951. 2. Frontier and pioneer life--Northwest, Canadian. 3. Northwest, Canadian--History--1870-1905. 4. Journalists--Northwest, Canadian--Biography. I. Thomas A. Edge Archives and Special Collections II. Title. PN4913.C35H45 2008 971.2’02092 C2008-906111-X The brief excerpts on pages 8, 17, 28, 68, 119 and 136 are from the contents of the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron. Printed and bound by Athabasca University Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University, is the nation’s leading provider of distance and online university education, serving more than 37,000 students in 87 countries worldwide. AU offers over 700 courses in more than 90 undergraduate and graduate degree, diploma and certificate programs. The university’s mission is to eliminate the geographical, financial, social and cultural barriers that traditionally limit access to post-secondary achievement. The flexibility of AU’s distance and online learning programs allows students to obtain a quality post-secondary education on their own terms—anywhere, anytime. AU provides the perfect opportunity to experience all the advantages of a traditional university education in a non-traditional setting: at home, at work or anywhere else people may decide to study. Contents Preface vii Acknowledgements xi Author’s Notes xv In Search of WB xix 1 Youthful Dreams, Liver Pills and a Pipe Bag, 1862–1881 1 2 Red River Carts, Pile Drivers and Pack Trains, 1881–1884 15 3 Company Man, War Paint and a Medal, 1885–1892 35 4 Ink, Copy and Deadlines, 1892–1905 63 5 Chickens, Politics and Irrigation, 1906–1910 71 6 A Second Taste of Fame and Glory, 1911–1932 93 7 Beef-Wine Tonic and the Movies, 1932–1940 115 8 The Museum and Those Cussed Animals, 1940–1947 129 9 Last Memories by the Lakes and the Fourth Edition, 1948–1951 145 10 Minnie, Marriage, Money and the Boys 165 11 The Fifth Edition and Eyewitness to History 175 Appendix 181 Notes 191 Bibliography 221 Index 225 The finding aid (DVD) for the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron can be found in the back cover sleeve. Preface MY WIFE made me do it. This may seem like a silly statement from a mature man with a mind of his own but it’s true: Shirley gave me the final push to begin writing this biography of William Bleasdell (WB) Cameron. Well into my research and exchanging notes with two fellow historians, the late Margaret Nelson and also Keith Davidson, I was delighted to learn that they had recently been in touch with one of Cameron’s daughters-in- law living in British Columbia, namely Elsie Cameron, asking for permission to reprint portions of Cameron’s material in a local history book. After the death of her husband, Douglas, Elsie became custodian of a precious collection of letters, photographs and other documents once belonging to Cameron that Douglas had gathered while tidying up the estate after his father’s death in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, in 1951. Douglas had placed this material into his father’s battered old steamer trunk and shipped it to Montreal, where he and Elsie lived at the time. Elsie later moved to Lantzville, BC, taking the trunk with her. She approached her family, asking them to go through the contents and take whatever was of interest to them in memory of Cameron. That done, she placed the trunk in her closet. However, as the years went by she found it increasingly difficult to properly manage the materials and to allow access to the growing number of curious outsiders who had learned of them. I was one of those outsiders, but with some major distinctions. First, Shirley and I live only five miles (eight kilometres) away from where Elsie’s father-in-law was witness to a horrifying event that would form the basis of his claim to fame, the uprising at Frog Lake during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Second, Shirley herself had heard Cameron speak at the official opening of the Elk Point Bridge. She could recall his voice, pitched high either from excitement or nervousness. Third, Shirley’s grandmother had bought Cameron’s old drugstore in Heinsburg for her home. Fourth, Shirley’s father, Chester, had helped Cameron carry freight from the railway station to this small drugstore. When the time came to demolish the building, Shirley and I helped to tear it down, carefully removing the fir tongue- and-groove floorboards. We thought that someday they might be reusable, and so it was that these same boards now cover two of our living room walls. I approached Elsie personally to see if she might have anything that would help me with the biography. Upon learning of our strong interest in her father-in-law, our connections to him and of how much progress we had made, she graciously bequeathed to us what material was left. This collection herein referred to as the Cameron collection granted me a highly detailed and sometimes personal look into vii Cameron’s life and formed the foundation for this work. In late 2007, Shirley and I were pleased to gift this material to Athabasca University as part of the Thomas A. Edge Archives & Special Collections. It is now called the Robert and Shirley Hendriks collection of William Bleasdell Cameron. I was introduced to William Bleasdell Cameron five decades ago by a young student of mine named Henry. “Hey, mister, you ever heard of the Frog Lake Massacre?” His polite question was refreshing and broke the afternoon classroom doldrums. “No, Henry, I’m sorry I haven’t.” I didn’t know where this was going to lead, because Henry thrived on storytelling, often pushing credibility into incredibility. “You know what? We’ve been there. Close to where we lived. And my dad knows the guy who was right there when all those people were killed at Frog Lake and he didn’t get shot so he wrote a book about it!” I learned later that the book he referred to was Cameron’s Blood Red the Sun. Henry’s father did indeed know him, and in 1937 had helped carry freight from the Heinsburg railroad station to Cameron’s newly opened drugstore perched partway up a North Saskatchewan River hill to which this small hamlet of Heinsburg clings. I then read the book with great interest, especially now that it had more relevance. (Henry, Shirley’s brother, had since become my brother-in-law). In 1991 I began intensive research, preparing to write an interpretive guidebook about the site at which nine settlers (some historians argue that it may have been more than nine), including two Oblate priests, were killed at the tiny settlement of Frog Lake on April 2, 1885, by militants within the band of Plains Cree Chief Big Bear. Located within easy reach of our home, we regularly explored the site. At the same time, I reviewed as much literature as I could get my hands on. In time, Cameron’s favourite Frog Lake haunts became mine and Shirley’s, but after reading R.H. (Rusty) Macdonald’s Eyewitness to History: William Bleasdell Cameron, Frontier Journalist, I began focusing on Cameron himself. I felt there was far more to him than existing literature revealed. I also realized that memories of this wonderful writer of the early Canadian West were slowly disappearing into the mists of time. My wish has been to thoroughly explore his life, delving deeper into his character than anyone has previously done. Calgary historian and writer Thomas Flanagan has said that “the scholar’s task is to discover human beings, not to create, debunk, or venerate icons.”1 This philosophy I have adopted. I wanted to know Cameron’s motives for doing things the way he did. I also wanted to learn more about the people and the world he interacted with, because in many instances it is his reaction to those individuals and what was taking place around him that provides clues to his character. For the most part I believe I have accomplished that. In a life history he wrote in 1948, Cameron’s philosophy of life is apparent. “I have viii ROBERT W. HENDRIKS never made a pile, never wanted to or expected to: there are things I consider much more valuable than money. Friendships for instance.”2 Who did he consider to be good friends? “Among my intimates have been many men and women, if not all famous, all at least notable—Sam Steele, former Inspector of the N.W.M.P. and later Major General Sir Sam; Owen Wister, famous author of The Virginian, book, stage and screen play; Pauline Johnson, the Canadian Indian poetess; Ernest Seton Thompson (or Thompson Seton if you prefer, famous naturalist and yarn spinner); Irvin S.