The tale of the Dunn Lake recluse

Transcona

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/10/2023 (1066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back in the 1950s, I worked for CN Rail at a place called Boulder, on the North Thompson River, 60 miles north of Kamloops, B.C.

We were operating heavy equipment, loading rock into railway cars that was hauled off to reinforce an eroding riverbank. The rock gang that drilled, blasted, and scaled the rock was made up of recent arrivals from Italy and Portugal who were struggling to save enough to bring their families to Canada. Although they were somewhat difficult to communicate with, they were a cheerful bunch. Our cook, influenced by so many paisanos, served us lots of pasta along with many other innovative, nourishing and delicious meals.

There wasn’t much to do in the evenings, so when we heard about an interesting chap who lived at Dunn Lake, a couple of miles away, we decided to pay him a visit. He had a reputation for being ingenious and able to fix most anything.

One evening after supper we followed an indistinct trail to pay him a visit. As described, he was an interesting chap and he showed us some of his inventions, including a rifle with a unique and unusual mechanism he invented from scrap metal. He had built his log cabin, had a garden and, only when he needed them for food, he shot deer or moose and tanned the hides for later use.

Showing us around he talked loudly, non-stop, an indication he was starved for company. Since it was getting dark, we had to cut our visit short to be able to follow the trail back home. From the time we left, he continued talking non-stop until we were a third of a mile away and his voice slowly faded. We later heard he had hundreds of patents on firearms and related equipment and had been offered high paying jobs with the large arms manufacturers, but instead preferred the solitude of Dunn Lake.

Many years later, while browsing in a used bookstore I found a copy of The Wide World Magazine, a British publication featuring interesting and unusual stories. In this particular volume, I was surprised to find a story on my Dunn Lake friend. His name was Francis Wharton and the story explained how, when Wharton needed false choppers but found the price too high, he shot a deer and used its teeth to fashion a set for himself — with which he proceeded to eat the deer.