Ben Larson
"Legend of the Mad Trapper"
Yorkton This Week
Sept 24, 1980, p 23, Yorkton, Sask
Published with permission not denied.
In minus 40 degree temperatures a posse of trappers, Indians and RCMP officers engaged in the longest RCMP manhunt ever through more than 150 miles of the Arctic Circle, in pursuit of the legendary Mad Trapper.
With frozen hands and feet, skin draws tightly over bearded faces and starving features, the Mad Trapper kept doggedly laying out trail and counter-trail to confuse his pursuers.
But finally, after being tricked by Mother Nature, the Mad Trapper came face to face with his hunters only to be gunned down after a seemingly endless battle.
The Mad Trapper, alias Albert Johnson, has become a myth during the 48 years since his death. No one seems to know exactly who the man was, where he came from or what his motives were.
People have said he was actually Arthur Nelson, a trapper who vanished from sight about the time of the Trapper’s death. Others claim he was Bill Johnson, a trapper who drowned in the 1940s.
But it is known that he was responsible for the murder of Constable Edgar Millen, and the injuring of Constable Alfred King and Staff Sergeant Earle Hersey.
Helmer Domier and his wife Ida of Norquay are 99 per cent sure they know who the Mad Traper was. In fact, they think the Mad Trapper is indirectly related to them — the husband of Mrs. Domier’s cousin.
The man, Bennie Larson, was born in Norway around 1896 and immigrated to North Dakota later on. He was a soldier in the United States Army and discharged in 1919 or early 1920.
He married a Norwegian girl and moved to the Norquay area in the winter of 1920 to live with his mother-in-law.
Mr. Domier says the man did odd jobs for various farmers in the area, and worked often for his neighbor, Albert Johnson. Thus, assuming the false name later on.
Larson always carried a rifle and shot "at anything and everything along the road."
He also stole items from the farmers, and it wasn’t safe to leave a toolbox out in the open, Mr. Domier says. Larson was a hunter, a trapper and crack shot with a rifle, trailing a deer through the bush all day on snowshoes and shooting out-of-season.
Mr. Domier recalls once when Larson went north of Norquay hunting moose with a party of local men. They came across a camp by the road belonging to some Doukhobors and found bags of oats and a moose carcass hanging to dry.
Larson apparently took a bag of oats and quarter of meat. When the Doukobors returned to their camp they realized they had been robbed and took after the thief.
When they caught up to the party, Larson is reported to have picked up his rifle and planted a few well placed shots at the Doukhobor’s feet, scaring them away.
Larson used to visit Mr. Domier, and the two men would reminisce about the First World War (Mr. Domier was a Canadian soldier). Mr. Domier says he didn’t notice anything strange about Larson’s character, but he noticed that Larson liked to brag about how many German soldiers he had killed.
“He was a very bright boy,” Mr. Domier says.
In 1922 or 1923, Larson bought a team of mules and a wagon, loaded up his belongings and set off for Pine River, Manitoba where he build a log cabin and barn.
In the spring of 1927 he kissed his wife and children good-bye and left—they haven’t heard from him since. In 1943 one of Larson’s sons, Donald, worked for Mr. Domier and he said the family had no idea of their father’s whereabouts, although they had tried to locate him.
Larson’s wife, Mrs. Domier’s cousin, is living in a nursing home in Winnipeg and the four children live in different parts of Canada.
Mr Domier began wondering about the similarities between the Mad Trapper and Bennie Larson a few years ago, but didn’t make a firm decision until recently when a story written by western historian Frank W. Anderson appeared in the Edmonton Journal.
“This man is so much alike and when we saw the picture we were sure it was him.”
Both men were approximately five feet, 10 inches in height, weighed a sturdy 170 pounds, had light brown hair receding at the temples and crown, pale blue eyes, snubbed, upturned nose, moderately prominent cheek bones, and lobed ears set close to the head.
It is reported the Mad Trapper was 36 to 40 years of age, and Larson was born in 1896 which would have made him 36 years of age the time the Trapper was killed.
And, both men were of Norwegian decent and spoke with a Scandinavian accent.
The only doubt which Mr. Domier has in his mind of the Trapper’s true identity is a matter of one scar.
Larson’s brother-in-law, Herman Hansen of Norquay, says Larson was wounded in a bayonet fight during the war and carried a slight scar on his left hand near the index finger.
A physical examination of the corpse was conducted by Dr. Urquhart in 1933, and he stated the body was clean of scars, with only a small mole left of the spine.
But, Mr. Domier says the scar may have faded by the time of death, or hair acquired from living in the north for so long may have covered it. Benny Larson did have a mole on his back.
It is believed Johnson the trapper came from a large family and suffered some type of traumatic experience at one point in his life, forcing him to hate other human beings.
Mr. Domier says Larson came from a fair-sized family and knows of one incident which caused a great deal of suffering for the man. Mr. Domier doesn’t want to mention the incident in case it offends the person involved.
The Mad Trapper was very tight-lipped in his dealings with the RCMP when he arrived in the north. Little was known about him and he wouldn’t volunteer any information. Even when he was surrounded by a posse he didn’t make any noises.
Larson was also secretive about his background, talking mainly about the war, hunting and trapping.
Johnson’s presence in the northern district drew no unusual attention from the Mounted Police, until they received a complaint from some Loucoux Indians.
The Indians had set up their trap lines near Johnson’s and he slung them over the limb of a tree, almost like a warning. It was when the Trapper wounded Constable King, sent to his cabin to investigate the complaint, that the trouble began.
After that it was a six week manhunt, with the Trapper outwitting the RCMP ever time, until his death It is said Johnson climbed a tree on the river bank to survey the countryside around him.
He spotted his pursuers against the river bed. The river at that point circled back upon itself, and members of the posse believe Johnson thought the posse was actually ahead of him and heading away.
But, it was actually moving towards another bend in the river which would bring them northwards again. He returned to the river bed and began to backtrack southward to draw away from the posse.
He came running around a sharp bend in the river and found himself headed straight towards the dog sled of the posse, about 300 yards away.
Both parties exchanged gunfire, and it took 17 bullets to get the Trapper to the ground. It is believed a police bullet struck him in the hp pocked where it exploded some crtriges tearing a huge hole in his hip and forcing him to the ground.
The body of the Mad Trapper was buried in Aklavik cemetery. Years later someone dragged a large tree to the spot and erected it, marking an “A” on one limb and a “J” on the other.
The grave is untouched but the mystery has remained unsolved for 48 years. Was Albert Johnson really Bennie Larson?
“We may be wrong about this entire thing but I can’t see how two people could be so much alike and do the same things,” Mr. Domier states.