Moses, Me, and Murder

by Ann Walsh

  Mr. Malanion

  Ted’s music teacher, Mr. J.B. Malanion, was a violinist who had played in the Paris Opera. He taught music in Barkerville, but his main income was from carpentry. His grave can be seen in the Barkerville cemetery.

  Madame Bendixen

  Madame Fannie Bendixen brought the first hurdy-gurdy girls to Barkerville in 1866. She was their chaperone or protector, as the hurdies were very often young German girls, lacking knowledge of English, and not very sophisticated. The hurdies were dancing girls, and were of “high moral character,” unlike many of the saloon girls who provided a different type of entertainment.

  Constable Sullivan

  Many officers of the law were involved with James Barry, but as Sullivan was the one who actually made the arrest, I chose to use him throughout. Most sources claim that he arrested Barry at Yale after telegraphing to the police there — the first recorded use of the telegraph in British Columbia police history. His trip back by stagecoach was made in record time. One report does use the story of the arrest at the swinging bridge at Alexandra, rather than at Yale. Other than his connection with James Barry, very little is known about him.

  Stephen Tingley

  Stephen Tingley drove Barnard’s stagecoaches for over thirty years beginning with the return journey of the first four-horse stage from Yale to Soda Creek in 1864. The information about the stages and travelling time is correct, but I have no idea whether or not Mr. Tingley was partial to licorice.

  Judge Begbie

  Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie was the first judge in British Columbia and travelled throughout the territory hearing cases. His title, The Hanging Judge, came not so much from his harshness in dispensing justice, but from his sharp tongue which he used freely on juries, witnesses, and criminals alike. He was a judge for thirty-six uninterrupted years during which time thirty-seven defendants were sentenced to hang. Twenty-six executions actually took place over those years. Many books claim that Begbie’s sternness and fairness were the main reasons that law and order was maintained in the gold fields, and one miner is reported to have said of him, “He was the biggest man, the smartest man, the best-looking man, and the damnedest man that ever came over the Cariboo Road.

  When he died, in 1894, he was Chief Justice of British Columbia.

  Blessing’s Grave

  Pinegrove Creek, where the murder occurred, is a few miles east of present-day Wingdam, or just before Troll Mountain ski resort. Blessing’s grave is well marked as a stop of interest. Parks workers who were resetting the headstone a few years ago inadvertently dug too deeply and found a long, human bone which they hastily replaced. Thus, we know for sure that Charles Blessing (or someone) is, in fact, buried there.

  For more information about her Barkerville books, visit Ann’s website, annwalsh.ca.

  Copyright © Ann Walsh, 2013

  Originally published by Pacific Educational Press in 1988

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

  Editor: Michael Carroll

  Copy-editor: Laura Harris

  Design: Courtney Horner

  Epub Design: Carmen Giraudy

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Walsh, Ann, 1942-

  Moses, me and murder [electronic resource] : a Barkerville mystery / Ann Walsh.

  Electronic monograph.

  Issued also in print format.

  ISBN 978-1-4597-0969-0

  I. Title.

  PS8595.A585M6 2013 jC813'.54 C2013-900781-4

  We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and Livres Canada Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

  Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

  J. Kirk Howard, President

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  Cover photo is of the noted Canadian actor, Alvin Sanders, who portrayed Moses on the streets of Barkerville for many years. Photo credit Ron Young, photographer.