A hundred and fifteen years later, in August of 2000 I first learned of John Davidson’s demise in the Canadian Arctic. I was leading a tour for Quest Nature Tours and we stopped at Dundas Harbour, some hundred and sixty kilometers east of Fellfoot Point. I was a member of the R.C.M.P. at the time, posted at Arctic Bay, and the trip afforded me the opportunity to do the annual grave inspection of our cemetery at Dundas Harbour. The R.C.M.P had a detachment at Dundas Harbour from 1924-1931 and 1945 to 1951, and two of our members, Csts. Victor Maissoneuve and William Robert Stephens died and were buried there. The RCMP conducts annual inspections of the graves of members, to ensure that they are well maintained and well remembered.
The cemetery at Dundas lies up the hill behind the detachment surrounded by a white picket fence. I was surprised to see the headstone of the Scottish Whaler, resting against the fence, between the headstones of our members. I wondered how it came to be there, and assumed that he was buried there, and later when our members died they used the same spot as a cemetery.
I left Dundas Harbour captivated by the place and vowed to learn as much as I could of its history. It was during this search for its history that I learned something strange about Mr. Davidson’s headstone. For in 1935 it had been moved from Fellfoot Point to Dundas Harbour for some unknown reason. Not only was Mr. Davidson not buried there; his grave was apparently unmarked many miles away. Getting his headstone back to where it belonged would be the right thing to do. But how?
Enter the Canadian Coast Guard. Travel in the high Arctic can be problematic at times and the detachment at Arctic Bay relies on the good graces of the Coast Guard to get us to Dundas Harbour for our inspections. The CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent has been especially helpful to us, getting us to the site on numerous occasions, and doing their own cleanups of the site. One of the Captains of the Louis at that time, Captain Stewart Klebert, has a keen interest in the history of the area, and his crew shares this enthusiasm. The crew of the Louis has even posted a brief history of the Dundas Harbour Detachment there so visitors can better appreciate, and respect the site and it’s significance.
Late in the 2002 season, Constable Eric Ootoovak
of Arctic Bay Detachment accompanied the Louis to Dundas Harbour to do the annual Grave Inspection. When he returned to Arctic Bay he brought with him Mr. Davidson’s headstone. The headstone was to be stored at the RCMP Detachment in Arctic Bay until it could be returned the next season.
In the interim John’s grave would have to be located, and other than an RCMP memorandum from 1949 showing that the headstone had been moved to Dundas Harbour from Fellfoot Point in July of 1935, there was little to go on. So I began to contact archives in Dundee Scotland, and although I found some information about the Resolute, information about Mr. Davidson himself proved elusive. But the Dundee City Archives did provide a contact that was the key to finding out more about the man, or at least his death. Helen Chavez and Fiona Riddell of the Arbuthnot Museum in Peterhead were instrumental in finding out key information of John Davidson. They took a great interest in the life of John Davidson, as the story of “a Peterheid loon far awa’ fae hame” captivated them. It was through them that details of John’s demise emerged, but unfortunately there were no more details as to the location of his grave.
To be continued….
Photos courtesy of Capt. Stewart Klebert.
Comments
2 responses
I’m completely absorbed!
I’m fascinated by cemeteries – they hold so much history and one can imagine the stories. I remember one behind a motel in Eureka, CA that was divided into two – elaborately carved headstones with Italian names in in the northern section and plain headstones with Scandinavian names in southern section. I think it’s wonderful that the RCMP regularly check the resting places of their members – what a wonderful demonstration of dignity, pride and respect. I didn’t realize that this was going to be a first-hand mystery story – how exciting! I hope you’ll finish this before Sunday, Clare. I’m leaving for BC then, and I don’t want to miss a word of it.