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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Antiques and Collectibles Articles   Follow the arrows to other stories Tom Thomson: A lingering obsession Part 1   By Ted Currie There is an Algonquin Park legend that you can still find scrapings and gnarled, time-frozen globs of old paint, adorning the edges of old stumps and jagged rocks, left by one of Canada’s best known artists, Tom Thomson. While most of it has probably been scavenged by collectors or eroded by the Algonquin seasons, Tom Thomson is said to have made a practice of cleaning his painting brushes and art materials where he had stopped to work, using the abrasive surfaces of rocks and bark to remove the still wet colors. Several books written about Thomson make a brief reference to this curious habit which some claim to have witnessed first hand, and others by accidental discovery while traversing a portage or exploring a lakeshore the artist used to haunt. I confess that since reading this, I'm unable to paddle Canoe and Tea Lakes now without constantly scanning every tree and shoreline rock. As both an admirer of Thomson and a collector of research material about his life, a piece of bark or rock face painted by Tom Thomson, would be oh, so grand. Of course, it is against Park rules to remove such objects. I'd settle for a picture of a great find. About 10 years ago now, when I first began researching the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Tom Thomson in July of 1917, I did so as an historian looking to unwind onto an under-explored story for a future newspaper series. (My colleagues claim I will do anything for a byline.) What happened was totally unexpected. I've worked on hundreds of historical research projects that have a clear beginning and a final journalistic sign off when published. This story began in the usual way, but there is no final paragraph. No conclusion to be drawn. Rather, it is a story that is based on assumption, allegation, estimation and speculation. Did Tom Thomson die as the result of accidental drowning on Canoe Lake that summer of 1917? Or was he the victim of foul play? After reading Judge William Little’s well known text, “The Tom Thomson Mystery,” published around the turn of the year 1970, I decided that of all the material written about the case up to that point, his theory about the likelihood of foul play seemed the most convincing. The autographed first edition of Judge Little’s book was purchased at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop in Gravenhurst, one of my favorite bookfinding haunts. It's where this mission was seeded, I suppose; the bookshelf where the collector and historian had a merging of obsessions.   Since the mid-1990s, I have written many published column series (in print and on-line) regarding the Thomson mystery, in support of the work put into the public domain by the late William Little. His research offered a thorough, balanced examination that has assisted historians and biographers who continue to question the accidental death verdict cast that July day in an impromptu coroner’s inquest at Canoe Lake.   When I began collecting articles and books about Thomson, readers of the local press were asked if they had any information or documentation they wished to share. In a matter of months I went from a few pieces in a small binder to a full trunk. Book stores called wishing to donate old texts and magazines they had in retired stock hoping to help the cause of finally determining what had happened to Canada’s legendary painter. Every article published inspired further contributions, from magazine clippings to oral histories from folks who had ties to Algonquin Park. There were quite a few Canadians dissatisfied with the accidental drowning theory, and they wanted to invest in my ability to sleuth out the truth. Thomson was more than an adequate canoeist at the time of the unfortunate incident, when he was reportedly traversing Canoe Lake to the nearby Gill Lake portage. The weather on the day he was said to have gone missing was unremarkable and certainly not adverse enough to capsize a competent canoeist. What is known is that Thomson had several personal issues with a number of Canoe Lake residents including an American cottager by the name of Martin Bletcher Jr., and the hotelier at Mowat, Shannon Fraser. Information today suggests it was Fraser who most likely killed Thomson when a dispute over money owed generated a sudden violent altercation. Thomson is alleged to have hit his head on a hearth fixture, or rock. Fraser and his wife, deciding to adhere to the rule, “dead men tell no tales!” are said to have rowed the still-alive Thomson out into the lake, towing his boat, and then dumping his body overboard and capsizing his canoe to give the appearance of an accident.   What got hold of me (and won't let go) as a collector, and beyond my work as a researcher, has been the haunting of unfinished business. When I leave the project for awhile, it's as if Thomson, to avenge his death, will manifest something to remind me the work isn't done yet.You wouldn't believe how many coincidental encounters surface when I'm researching Thompson material. They defy explanation. If I have a simple run-of-the -mill daydream that somehow involves Thomson, or merely witness a windblown Thomson-esque pine while driving through Muskoka, that is often enough to spark another research jag. I'm not complaining. I enjoy being an historian surrounded by Thomson reference materials, and as a collector, well, I'm surrounded by beautiful images painted by a talented artist. Now if only someone would give me a Thomson original.Wouldn't that be swell? Yes, it's true. And readers routinely ask. I do not own a Thomson original. Although I have fantasized about that for decades, long before I began to research Thomson’s demise, I've had to satisfy myself by attending gallery exhibits and visiting Algonquin Park to see first hand, some of the spots where he holed-up to paint his most powerful landscapes. Over the years I have acquired many prints and framed reproductions, as well as books, articles, and images detailing most aspects of his rather short but prolific life.   (I have owned three George Thomson originals all purchased in Gravenhurst, Ontario. George, Tom’s brother, occasionally painted with Muskoka artist Robert Emerson Everett, capturing many autumn season landscapes in area of Milford Bay.)   I went into the Tom Thomson mystery as a writer-historian and have come out the other side a historian with a collection that I will pass down to my sons, Andrew and Robert. Thomson research is what led us to the shore of Canoe Lake in the first place, and a continuing love affair with Algonquin Park ever since. The boys have lived every moment of my obsession, residing in the midst of our half archives-half house. All their lives they have been surrounded by an inspiring clutter of Canadian art; a Thomson reprint hanging above the dinner table, or maybe a Thomson reference book topping the bookstand by the special chair they used when they were little. There is evidence of son Robert’s teething on the hardcover of a Group of Seven biography, and a chocolate milk ring left inadvertently on the dust jacket of Judge Little’s “Tom Thomson Mystery.” You can't go very far through the leaning piles of books and documents without touching at least one decade of the Tom Thomson mystery. My wife Suzanne has been tripping over research material and grumbling about my excesses for many years now. Maybe you have a similar tale of a project or mission that has grown into something greater for you, something just as unwieldy as the Thomson mystery research which has now evolved into a collection for me On the occasion of 2007 being the 90th anniversary of Thomson's death, I have once again found myself immersed in this famous Canadian mystery. In the next issue of the Wayback Times (July/August) I will follow up with any new information and/or acquisitions generated since this column. Perhaps new material will hold the facts required to solve the case once and for all. Ted Currie is a freelance writer-historian living in Gravenhurst, Ontario where he and his wife Suzanne operate Birch Hollow Antiques, an e-commerce enterprise specializing in old books, historic documents and art. Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2007 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster