Wanted   Do you have a passion for antiques and collectibles - and writing?   The Wayback Times invites you to submit freelance articles for use in print and on our new web site.   E-mail your text submissions to The Wayback Times.   Articles published in The Wayback Times since 1995 have covered a wide range of interests, from Golliwoggs to toy VW collecting, and from collecting insulators to hunting old books.   Most authors of our online selection of articles have included their e-mail addresses and they are always delighted to hear from other collectors.

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 2 The 90th Anniversary of Canada’s Most Historic Murder Mystery (Continued from Issue 70)   By Ted Currie If you decide to commence a mission to collect mementoes relating to the life and times of Tom Thomson, one of Canada’s most celebrated artists, it will be a long and expensive adventure.   You will probably need a warehouse to store all the neat stuff, and a second or third job to pay for the purchases. If you want to own an original art panel done by Mr. Thomson, well, you are going to need a wee bit more cash, and the luck of the Irish, to climb to that stratosphere of currently raging Canadian art prices.   There are Tom Thomson postage stamps, prints, books, folios of his work, vintage prints large and small, even adorned coffee cups and T-shirts. There is a newly released board game all about the Thomson mystery and souvenir posters of every size and description.   If you are an antique hunter, then you will be delighted to find a huge array of Thomson reproductions, some particularly valuable because of the printing companies involved. The reproduction issues released by a number of Canadian graphic publishers are coveted by some art admirers. Murals of his work can be found in communities such as Huntsville, which also has a large bronze sculpture of Thomson at work mounted on a pedestal outside the local theatre. It could be said there are tell-tale signs a Thomson mania might soon erupt in the marketplace.   How much of this has been generated from the enduring cultural and historic mystery of his legendary death?   In 1917. the folks living and working in the Canoe Lake neighborhood couldn't possibly have imagined that the death of one of its citizens would become one of Canada's best known and most researched cold cases.   Thomson, at the time of his death, was not a revered artist, except with his immediate colleagues. Around Canoe Lake, he was someone who would do any variety of jobs for a few bucks. Guiding, for example, or even gardening. In fact, he put in a garden at the rear of Mowat Lodge that spring of 1917 for hotelier Shannon Fraser and his wife.   There is considerable evidence this same duo had something to do with Thomson's unfortunate demise. I don't think it was because they were unhappy with the garden plot. The circumstances surrounding his death are clouded to this day by nagging inconsistencies; the characters involved had curious and even troubling recollections about his disappearance and the eventual recovery of his body.   It is accepted fact that Thomson died on or about July 8, 1917, while traversing Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake. His overturned canoe was found by a man who had threatened Thomson, during an argument the previous night.   When Thomson's body did rise to the surface, it was noticed there was a substantial length of metal line wrapped around an ankle which, incidentally, is believed to have been connected to a weight dropped into the lake with Thomson's body. Thomson was buried before the coroner arrived for the inquest. At the request of his brother, George, his body was removed from the Canoe Lake grave for reburial in the family plot in Leith, Ontario. In an impromptu exhumation in the 1950s of Thomson's Canoe Lake plot by a suspicious William T. Little and several others, (on word the artist's body had never been moved), the painter's coffin (exactly as described from 1917) was uncovered, and a skeleton found inside.   What, then, had the undertaker moved in the metal shipping coffin that he dug up single handedly and shipped out by rail to Leith for reburial? If the coroner at the time had insisted that Thomson's body be exhumed immediately for medical examination, he would have been able to see for himself the injuries to the body, such as the gash to the side of his head. This, presumably, had been caused by either a smack against the canoe's gunnel while tumbling into the lake, or from a knock on the head from an unknown assailant.   Even though friends and adversaries alike in that 1917 Canoe Lake community may have suspected Thomson met up with foul play, nobody raised anything contrary to the coroner's verdict of "death by accidental drowning.”   Some of the same folks, for example, who knew there had been an argument on the evening of July 7 between Martin Bletcher Jr., and Thomson, allowed an undertaker's attendants to embalm the body right on the island shore, where it had been pulled onto the sand awaiting a medical investigation.   While some argue it was not uncommon to handle the accidentally deceased in this hurried-up fashion in the wilds, it nonetheless has rightfully fueled the belief there was a concerted effort by a few citizens to "cover-up" critical evidence. To more than a few researchers, it appears the mission was to get rid of the body quickly, hoping the coroner would accept their observations as the only relevant facts. Would he insist the body be dug up for re-examination? He didn't! If all the points of order had been followed, as they should have, and the loose ends had all been neatly tucked away, Thomson biographer Blodwen Davies wouldn't have had reason to call in the police in the late 1920s when she uncovered glaring shortfalls in the conduct of the inquest and testimony, enough to cast public scrutiny on the validity of the accidental drowning theory.   Judge William T. Little, in his 1970s landmark book, "The Tom Thomson Mystery,” took the sleuthing work by Davies further, and concluded that not only had Thomson's body not been moved from the Canoe Lake plot, but that the artist's death had been anything but accidental. While now and again long-lost testimonials surface, validating "death by drowning,” from researchers with either a vested interest or a theory seriously lacking in fact, it is commonly accepted by many historians that Thomson had been murdered sometime on July 7 or early July 8 and unceremoniously dumped mid lake by the assailant.   There are many tales still emerging, handed down from families of Canoe Lake residents of 1917, stating confidently that Thomson never left the park that July, and still rests amidst the Algonquin forest he adored. That makes for a vacant casket in Leith, doesn't it?   If the demise of Thomson had been determined without doubt by the coroner's report of July 1917 and the mystery snuffed by that conclusive inquest's death certificate, would Thomson's art work be as prized as it is today? Most of the art critics and students of Thomson have argued for decades, as did his Group of Seven artist friends, that the "mystery" added a negative element to the study of his catalogue of finished paintings.   A few historians have profoundly disagreed, believing it is impossible, and disrespectful, to deny the truths of Thomson's life and demise even if it does conjure up thoughts of "cover up,” "mystery" and "murder" in the mind of the auction bidder making a play for an original work. For all those who confess to a great admiration for the man and his work, it has always seemed to this historian the very height of disrespect to dismiss the injustice of the crime committed against him as irrelevant.   The fascination about Thomson, and later the Group of Seven Artists, will always have, in part, that foothold in mystery. Thomson was the inspiration for the Group's eventual establishment. Among the collectors who love to find anything about Thomson, and who can't afford to own a million dollar original, you won't find admirers who are obsessed with his death. They are however, aware that the circumstances around his death are suspicious and suggest there is more to the story than what is penned neatly onto his death certificate. I've never once run into a collector who has claimed that it was Thomson's mysterious death that influenced them to begin acquiring his prints, published catalogues and biographies.   They all admire his art. They have an appreciation for the landscape he captured, and many have paddled the Algonquin lakes in particular, to immerse themselves into the world he painted. As both an historian who believes Thomson was murdered, and a collector who buys what he can afford of Thomson's books and prints (new and vintage), I have never once stared at a framed image attributed to him and thought about murder before the outright appreciation of the artist's talent; his ability to subtly immerse the viewer into the lakelands of Canada. And although I've worked on the story since the mid-1990s, and do believe he was murdered, I would never have followed along this trail so far and for so many years if I wasn't a true admirer of Tom Thomson – the artist. There are thousands of Thomson keepsakes available out there for a reasonable budget. My suggestion to anyone who has an interest in Thomson art is to take a trip to Algonquin Park, specifically to Canoe Lake, and get a first hand glimpse at some of the sources of inspiration he found in his bailiwick. Visit the Portage Store for lunch and enjoy a magnificent view over this historic, storied lake. Take a motor trip up to the Algonquin Visitor Centre and gallery where you can see a special Thomson tribute and find books in the museum shop dealing with his short but incredible life and times. If you want to see Thomson's vistas by canoe, there are rentals available from the Portage Store.   Did I mention that old timers have told stories about Thomson skipping small paint boards he didn't want into the lake? Although I doubt any still exist, if you did find one you would have to turn it in to the Algonquin Park authorities. It would still be an incredible find. It is a fascinating story that has no end. If you want to get a start on the Tom Thomson Mystery yourself, you can acquire a copy of "The Tom Thomson Mystery,” by William Little, as well as the biography by Blodwen Davies, "Tom Thomson,” by searching online either the Advanced Book Exchange or the out-of-print category of Barnes & Noble.   The original Davies book was privately printed in a small quantity in the early 1930s but there is a more affordable softcover edition, circa 1967, available online.   Thanks for reading this column in The Wayback Times. Enjoy your antiquing adventures this summer. 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