TOM THOMSON by Ralph Bice Guest Columnist Part 1

Ralph penned this article when he was 77 years of age.

I never talked to Tom Thomson. I did see this now well remembered artist on a couple of occasions before his tragic end, but I did not realize until afterwards that it had been he who had been drowned.

I was in Algonquin Park that summer, 1917, but was working near Islet Lake at the time of the incident. I can recall the different views that almost everyone had, but many had not been near Canoe Lake, and only a very few had ever seen or known the man.

There have been many books written about not only his work, but about how he met his tragic end. I think I have seen most of them; in fact several are close by. Most of them written by persons who only came into the picture years after he was gone. Most of the material used in their writings had been obtained from other persons who were just passing along information which was hearsay at the beginning.

There was a story not long ago by a man who is becoming a popular writer about Thomson. Again he is using information supplied by others. He writes as if his statements must not be contradicted since he had been so many summers in the park. His grandparents were very personal friends of my family, as his own parents still are. But I could not help but find fault with some of his opinions. For one thing, he spoke not too kindly about Miss Winnifred Trainor, the lady who would have married Tom Thomson if he had been able to control his liking for alcohol. And this same failing was considered by many for the reason for his death following a heavy party the previous night. But about Miss Trainor.

She lived for many years in Kearney, where she worked in the office of the Shortreed Lumber Company. Though half a generation older than I, we were friends and I do not think that in our little town she had even one enemy. She always maintained that his death was the result of foul play, but never could come up with any real reason. During the years of her friendship with the now famous man he had given her a number of paintings, 13 in all. After she had retired and was living in Huntsville she made arrangements with Harold Briggs, the jeweller to have them put in frames. The pictures were loaned to a gallery in Toronto. When Miss Trainor died she left everything to a favorite nephew. When the paintings were returned there were only ten and noone seems to know what happened to the other three. These paintings were in a lawyer’s office in Huntsville for several months while the estate was settled. They are now in the possession of Terry McCormick, the nephew.

I did not see those pictures. I did see a number of Tom Thomson originals that were owned by the Shannon Fraser family. I guided at Mowat Lodge a few times during the summer of 1920, just three years after his death, and more than once Shannon would show those pictures. He also was of the opinion that in years to come these same pictures would be valuable. This did turn out to be true, only thing when Shannon Fraser died not even one of the paintings could be found. To this day it is not known if the pictures have been stolen, or if they had been quietly disposed of.

Speaking of paintings, it was quite the custom for the now famous artists to do a picture and then give it to a friend. Too, I believe, there was some table wear that he hand painted and are still in possession of the first owner. He spent part of one summer in the Kearney area. He stayed at McCann’s and these people kept the half-way house on the way into the lumber camps. Their house was the last one on the road that is now called the Butt Lake Road.

Some years back there was a film made of Tom Thomson. It was widely shown across Canada. Not long afterward there came a letter from Jim McCann who was living in Vancouver, to his niece, telling her that this artist had spent time at their place.

Last winter I wrote a column about the McCann’s and not long afterward I got a letter from Mrs. Jim McCann who said Jim had since “gone on” and she told me that Jim had been given a painting of a burned hillside. It was a prized possession and no doubt was a picture of Old Baldy which had been burned before World War 1. Only thing, early in the 1930’s (depression era – Ed.) they were having tough luck, sickness and no work, and the painting was sold for $75.

More about that T.V. film. Some of the actors were natives of the area. We were told very decisively that when the body was exhumed that the undertaker who did the work had been alone and worked all night. Then we were quietly told that records show that three or perhaps four men worked with him. Then later the desecration of the grave at Canoe Lake. I know there are some who still think that it was Thomson’s remains that were dug up, and perhaps we will never know for certain. Years before the grave was opened, and when the first controversy about his death began, there was a letter written by Roy Dixon, who then lived in Sprucedale, the undertaker who had prepared the body for burial after it surfaced one evening on Canoe Lake. In it he states that when he embalmed the body there was not a mark of physical violence on the body. He also told that he was assisted by Mark Robinson who was then the Ranger stationed at Joe Lake. TBC

Photo – Library & Archives Canada – Miss Winnifred Trainor.