11-15-2004, 05:04 PM
So I just finished reading the 1970 book by William T. Little, the man who found Tom Thompson’s body in a grave where it shouldn’t have been. If this book didn’t inspire “Three Pistols” then I don’t know what did. Here’s five eye-openers and observations that made me think of the lyrics, and then a general run down of the myth for those who may not have heard it.
I’ve always had trouble reconciling what I thought was Wild West imagery with the Tom Thompson myth, until I read this: (I’m paraphrasing from the entire book)
“Three Pistols”
1) Tom had, on three separate occasions in (1915, 1916 and 1917) attempted to gain immediate deployment in the Canadian fusiliers for overseas service. He desperately wanted to fight in World War One. He even went so far as to travel 300km’s out of his way to register at a Western Ontario recruitment centre. Each time however, he was rejected on account of his “flat feet.” However, after the 1917 attempt, the Province agreed to make Tom an official park ranger (Which in those days was essentially a local police force) on account of only two rangers, Mark Robinson and Ed Godin, remained in Southern Algonquin Park due to the war. Although Tom didn’t live long enough to achieve this status, had he received his hat and gun, he would have been… the third… well, you get the idea.
“Three Pistol’s came and three people went, on their way
Two pistols strong and three people spent.”
2) After Tom’s murder (Yes, I’m doing away with all the silly pretense) Godin and Robinson, both friends of Thompson’s, began investigating three possible suspects. After Winnie Trainor’s (She plays an important role in another lyric below) father was ruled out, only two remained… as in the end, only “two pistols” remained. Robinson actually uses the term “all our efforts were spent” in an interview with the author. The term “spent” comes up again when the author and two locals on Canoe Lake eventually dig up Thompson’s bones. After the job was done, and Thompson was finally proven to be laying in an unmarked grave in Algonquin Park: the three men were said to be “spent” from their exhausted efforts.
“Well, he found his little lonely love
His bride of the northern woods.”
“Little girls come on Remembrance Day,
placing flowers on his grave
She waits in the shadows, till after dark,
to sweep them all away.”
3) Winnie Trainor, who was either “having relations with” or engaged to Thompson before his death (And whose father was the last to see Thompson alive, and forbid his daughter to visit the “empty” grave) was so convinced that Tom was still in the Park that she would wait until night-fall, sneak over to the Canoe Lake cemetery, and maintain his grave. She would sweep away old flowers and offerings left to the artist by tourists and ghost hunters, some of which she kept until her death.
“Tom Thompson came paddling past
I’m pretty sure it was him.
And he spoke so softly in accordance
To the glowing of the dim.”
4) Thompson was seen by everyone… before and after he died. Throughout the book, Thompson is described as quiet and the kind of guy who'd tip his hat instead of saying “Hello.” He was most often seen paddling at sunrise, either to meet tourists (As part of his job as a guide) or on his way to paint. Witnesses claimed to have seen Tom, although some couldn’t be sure, on the day of the accident, July 7 (Johnny’s birthday BTW) 1917. After his death, Thompson was reported seen by tourists, locals and summer-time cottage owners: he’d appear, paddle silently towards them and then vanish. Actually admitted as evidence in a later inquiry was the testimony of a spiritualist (This was at a time when this kinda thing had some credence) who said that a spirit known to have been taken pre-maturely would re-appear at the scene of his or her death.
“I’ve been shaking all night long,
but my hands are steady.”
5) Thompson was legendary for wanting to capture an entire event in one image. He would become anxious and antsy and begin to physically shake if he felt he was missing something he should be painting. For instance, Mark Robinson speaks of an incident where he was speaking to Tom, but the artist was obviously ignoring him, looking over his shoulder, out the window, at a winter storm commencing. Thompson began to nervously tap his fingers on the table before saying: “I’ve gotta get that!” He headed outdoors… where he spent all night painting the storm. While his body shook from the cold, he warmed his hand with a fire, and managed to paint with a steadiness that shocked Robinson.
Alright, now the myth in point form so that some of the above makes sense:
-Thompson was a commercial artist who hated his job in Toronto and escaped to Algonquin Park whenever he could.
-He fell in love with the park, and Winnie Trainor, and bought a cabin across the lake from her and her father.
-Fell in with a group of like minded artists who would eventually become known as the Group of Seven after Tom died.
-Martin Belcher, an American draft dodger living in his summer (Now permanent) home next to the Trainor’s on Canoe Lake. He and Tom often argued since Belcher was avoiding the US draft, and Tom wasn’t able to go overseas. Belcher was also known to have courted Winnie Trainor before taking a wife.
-Thompson’s canoe was found overturned in Canoe Lake, by Mr. and Mrs. Belcher on July 7, 1917. The paddles had been tied to the sides as if he was about to portage, in a knotting method not known to Tom’s friends and family.
-Tom’s body was found eight days later, near the same spot, with a massive head wound on his left temple, and a fishing line tied tightly around his leg. (It was later determined that the way the line had snapped suggested something had been tied to it, thus explaining why Tom didn’t surface for eight days)
-An autopsy and inquiry was ordered. When the coroner arrived, he was greeted at the train station by Mr. Belcher, and within an hour had ruled the death an accidental drowning due to Tom hitting his head on something and falling in. Within three hours, Mr. Belcher had returned the coroner to the train station. The inquiry, consisting of a single North Bay judge, was held in Mr. Belcher’s home (Nobody can figure out why) and the head wound, the line around Tom’s leg, the fact that Tom’s lungs were empty (suggesting he was dead before he hit the water) and the fact that his paddles had been tied into the Canoe were all ignored. The inquiry ruled the death an accidental drowning and closed the case. The body was ordered buried.
-The body was buried in a canoe lake cemetery, without a marker, near two other graves.
-Tom’s family argued over whether or not he should be brought back to his home town near Owen Sound, Ontario. Eventually, an exhumation was ordered, and a single, portly undertaker showed up in Canoe Lake at 8pm, with a casket. Mark Robinson drove the undertaker to the cemetery, and was asked to return at midnight. When Robinson returned, the undertaker had made only a small “ground-hog sized hole in the general area of Thompson’s grave.” The undertaker claimed he was done, and was in fact soldering the casket closed as Robinson arrived. When the two men lifted the casket onto the back of Robinson’s truck, Robinson noticed how light the box was. The undertaker remarked: “There was nearly nothing left of him” even though Tom had been dead for less than two weeks. A full funeral was held in Owen Sound, Ontario. Thompson’s sister told the Globe and Mail in 1930: “Tom wanted to stay in Algonquin Park, and that’s where he is.”
-In 1969, the author: William T. Little and two friends; dug wildly for two-days-straight in the Canoe Lake cemetery before finally finding Tom Thompson.
-A coroner ruled the head wound was not caused by a fall, but by blunt force, perhaps even a bullet.
![[Image: tomthomson.jpg]](http://www.canadianartists.ca/bizpics/tomthomson.jpg)
I’ve always had trouble reconciling what I thought was Wild West imagery with the Tom Thompson myth, until I read this: (I’m paraphrasing from the entire book)
“Three Pistols”
1) Tom had, on three separate occasions in (1915, 1916 and 1917) attempted to gain immediate deployment in the Canadian fusiliers for overseas service. He desperately wanted to fight in World War One. He even went so far as to travel 300km’s out of his way to register at a Western Ontario recruitment centre. Each time however, he was rejected on account of his “flat feet.” However, after the 1917 attempt, the Province agreed to make Tom an official park ranger (Which in those days was essentially a local police force) on account of only two rangers, Mark Robinson and Ed Godin, remained in Southern Algonquin Park due to the war. Although Tom didn’t live long enough to achieve this status, had he received his hat and gun, he would have been… the third… well, you get the idea.
“Three Pistol’s came and three people went, on their way
Two pistols strong and three people spent.”
2) After Tom’s murder (Yes, I’m doing away with all the silly pretense) Godin and Robinson, both friends of Thompson’s, began investigating three possible suspects. After Winnie Trainor’s (She plays an important role in another lyric below) father was ruled out, only two remained… as in the end, only “two pistols” remained. Robinson actually uses the term “all our efforts were spent” in an interview with the author. The term “spent” comes up again when the author and two locals on Canoe Lake eventually dig up Thompson’s bones. After the job was done, and Thompson was finally proven to be laying in an unmarked grave in Algonquin Park: the three men were said to be “spent” from their exhausted efforts.
“Well, he found his little lonely love
His bride of the northern woods.”
“Little girls come on Remembrance Day,
placing flowers on his grave
She waits in the shadows, till after dark,
to sweep them all away.”
3) Winnie Trainor, who was either “having relations with” or engaged to Thompson before his death (And whose father was the last to see Thompson alive, and forbid his daughter to visit the “empty” grave) was so convinced that Tom was still in the Park that she would wait until night-fall, sneak over to the Canoe Lake cemetery, and maintain his grave. She would sweep away old flowers and offerings left to the artist by tourists and ghost hunters, some of which she kept until her death.
“Tom Thompson came paddling past
I’m pretty sure it was him.
And he spoke so softly in accordance
To the glowing of the dim.”
4) Thompson was seen by everyone… before and after he died. Throughout the book, Thompson is described as quiet and the kind of guy who'd tip his hat instead of saying “Hello.” He was most often seen paddling at sunrise, either to meet tourists (As part of his job as a guide) or on his way to paint. Witnesses claimed to have seen Tom, although some couldn’t be sure, on the day of the accident, July 7 (Johnny’s birthday BTW) 1917. After his death, Thompson was reported seen by tourists, locals and summer-time cottage owners: he’d appear, paddle silently towards them and then vanish. Actually admitted as evidence in a later inquiry was the testimony of a spiritualist (This was at a time when this kinda thing had some credence) who said that a spirit known to have been taken pre-maturely would re-appear at the scene of his or her death.
“I’ve been shaking all night long,
but my hands are steady.”
5) Thompson was legendary for wanting to capture an entire event in one image. He would become anxious and antsy and begin to physically shake if he felt he was missing something he should be painting. For instance, Mark Robinson speaks of an incident where he was speaking to Tom, but the artist was obviously ignoring him, looking over his shoulder, out the window, at a winter storm commencing. Thompson began to nervously tap his fingers on the table before saying: “I’ve gotta get that!” He headed outdoors… where he spent all night painting the storm. While his body shook from the cold, he warmed his hand with a fire, and managed to paint with a steadiness that shocked Robinson.
Alright, now the myth in point form so that some of the above makes sense:
-Thompson was a commercial artist who hated his job in Toronto and escaped to Algonquin Park whenever he could.
-He fell in love with the park, and Winnie Trainor, and bought a cabin across the lake from her and her father.
-Fell in with a group of like minded artists who would eventually become known as the Group of Seven after Tom died.
-Martin Belcher, an American draft dodger living in his summer (Now permanent) home next to the Trainor’s on Canoe Lake. He and Tom often argued since Belcher was avoiding the US draft, and Tom wasn’t able to go overseas. Belcher was also known to have courted Winnie Trainor before taking a wife.
-Thompson’s canoe was found overturned in Canoe Lake, by Mr. and Mrs. Belcher on July 7, 1917. The paddles had been tied to the sides as if he was about to portage, in a knotting method not known to Tom’s friends and family.
-Tom’s body was found eight days later, near the same spot, with a massive head wound on his left temple, and a fishing line tied tightly around his leg. (It was later determined that the way the line had snapped suggested something had been tied to it, thus explaining why Tom didn’t surface for eight days)
-An autopsy and inquiry was ordered. When the coroner arrived, he was greeted at the train station by Mr. Belcher, and within an hour had ruled the death an accidental drowning due to Tom hitting his head on something and falling in. Within three hours, Mr. Belcher had returned the coroner to the train station. The inquiry, consisting of a single North Bay judge, was held in Mr. Belcher’s home (Nobody can figure out why) and the head wound, the line around Tom’s leg, the fact that Tom’s lungs were empty (suggesting he was dead before he hit the water) and the fact that his paddles had been tied into the Canoe were all ignored. The inquiry ruled the death an accidental drowning and closed the case. The body was ordered buried.
-The body was buried in a canoe lake cemetery, without a marker, near two other graves.
-Tom’s family argued over whether or not he should be brought back to his home town near Owen Sound, Ontario. Eventually, an exhumation was ordered, and a single, portly undertaker showed up in Canoe Lake at 8pm, with a casket. Mark Robinson drove the undertaker to the cemetery, and was asked to return at midnight. When Robinson returned, the undertaker had made only a small “ground-hog sized hole in the general area of Thompson’s grave.” The undertaker claimed he was done, and was in fact soldering the casket closed as Robinson arrived. When the two men lifted the casket onto the back of Robinson’s truck, Robinson noticed how light the box was. The undertaker remarked: “There was nearly nothing left of him” even though Tom had been dead for less than two weeks. A full funeral was held in Owen Sound, Ontario. Thompson’s sister told the Globe and Mail in 1930: “Tom wanted to stay in Algonquin Park, and that’s where he is.”
-In 1969, the author: William T. Little and two friends; dug wildly for two-days-straight in the Canoe Lake cemetery before finally finding Tom Thompson.
-A coroner ruled the head wound was not caused by a fall, but by blunt force, perhaps even a bullet.
hock: I don't even know what to say.