The Mad Trapper of Rat River: An Arctic Manhunt for a Nameless Man

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

On July 9, 1931, a clean-shaven stranger with a Scandinavian accent and plenty of cash arrived at Fort McPherson in the Northwest Territories. He told Constable Edgar Millen almost nothing, built an 8 by 10 foot cabin on the Rat River, and never took out a trapping license. The authorities called him Albert Johnson, almost certainly not his real name. That December, after local Indigenous trappers complained about him, two officers trekked 60 miles to his door. He ignored them. When they came back with a warrant on December 31, he fired through the wood and wounded Constable Alfred King.

This episode follows what came next: a 15-hour siege at 40 below with dynamite thawed inside the officers' coats, a cabin blown apart over a dugout he had carved from the permafrost, and a 33-day, 150-mile pursuit in which the fugitive never spoke a word. It ends on the frozen Eagle River on February 17, 1932, and then picks up decades later, when an exhumation and DNA work began to name the family of a man who died protecting his anonymity.

During a firefight on January 30 he shot and killed Millen, and the only sound the posse ever heard from him was a laugh.
With the two known passes blockaded, he crossed the Richardson Mountains by climbing a 7,000-foot peak in a blizzard.
To hide from pilot Wop May, a First World War flying ace, he took off his snowshoes and walked in caribou tracks on a frozen river. May found him on February 14 by scanning the banks.
His body carried more than $2,000 in cash, gold, a compass, a dead bird, and a dead squirrel, and he had expensive gold dental work.
A 2007 exhumation revealed scoliosis and a fractured femur, and in 2021 Othram traced his ancestry to a specific family in Sweden.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Marras 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Marras 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Marras 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Marras 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Marras 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Marras 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Marras 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Marras 21min