Albert Johnson 1896- 932. rode into Fort Mcpherson in Canada's Northern territories on July 9th 1931.  Fort mcPherson was on the Southern tip of the Mckenzie river and prime trapping country. When he arrived there Johnson was 35 years old, and  by all accounts an experienced trapper, having spent several winters in the North.  

His arrival at Fort Mcpherson was an uneventful affair and the heavily built stocky man, of a taciturn disposition, was grudgingly accepted into the community, though any social interaction with him was described as difficult given his insular bearing.

In late summer of that year he built and equiped a log cabin in a prime trapping location on the Rat River a tributary of the Mckenzie, and from that location in the Autumn of the year began setting traps , though no record is found of him ever having purchased a trapping licence.

In early December of that year his neighbours and fellow trappers began complaining at the RCMP station in McPherson that their traps had been sprung and supplies of fur pelts taken. Since nothing like this had happened in previous seasons, suspicion fell on Johnson.

By the end of December incidents were that numerous, that it became Imperitive the 'Mounties' act to quell threats of frontier justice being wreaked.

On December 31st 1931 constable Alfred 'Buns' King and special constable Joe Bernard, each with considerable experience of the North were despatched to Johnsons cabin to investigate. When they approached the cabin, they noticed smoke billowing from the chimney and assumed Johnson was at home.

After several attempts to engage him in conversation it was clear Johnson  was not in a talking mood, when a number of warning shots rang out from the cabin windows.The two policemen persisted for a while in temperature below 40 but in the end decided to return to Aklavik to get reinforcements.

two dayslater they returned with two more mounties and a civilian and again attempted to negotiate with the itinerant Johnson. As they knocked on the door a shot rang out and the bullet wounded Constable King in the leg, forcing an early retereat back to Aklavik  where urgent medical treatment saved Kings life.

The incident now took on a darker turn of events.

On Jan 4th 1932 the mounties returned with a fully sworn posse of 9 men, 42 dogs and 40 pound of dynamite. They were determined to bring the fugitive to justice and if neccessary would dynamite the cabin to secure his arrest.

Johnson had other ideas and in a slit trench dug a few yards away from the cabin door lay in wait, watching as two policemen approached the cabin and threw dynamite into the structure which on exploding blew the roof off.

The assailants assuming Johnson had perished in the blast approached the cabin again only to be met by a hail of bullets from the slit trench Johnson had dug. The bullets narrowly missed both officers and a hasty retreat was inevitable. The ensuing siege lasted for 15 hours after which the posse was forced to return to Aklavik to plot their next move  

Whilst the officers of the law decided what their best move was, Johnson made his getaway, as the rest of the American continent listened transfixed to the unfolding drama in the Canadian North courtesy of there radio stations.

It was the first time that such live reporting had been carried out in this manner and 'The mad trapper of Rat river Incident became national news across the whole of the Northern hemisphere.

On January 14th 1932 The RCMP dispatched a third patrol only to find Johnson had fled his fortress to bedevil  efforts to capture him once again.
For the next two weeks in temperatures 50 degrees below zero and through two massive blizzaeds Johnson managed to evade capture. It was not until 30th january that his persuers encountered him again.

There was a short yet violant shootout after which one of the Policemen Constable Edgar Millen lay dead from a bullet shot through his heart.

From that point on the hunt for Johnson took on a different purpose. It now became transformed from a hunt for a violant fugitive from justice into a - Death Hunt and was becoming the longest manhunt in Mounted police history, at the end of which, Johnson would either be in chains, or would be dead.

Yet Johnson once more evaded capture when on the night of 30th of January he made good his escape from the encircling posse by scaling a shear cliff face at the Dead of night, a feat which seemed to confirm the accolade of superhuman endurance the Mounted Police had visited upon him.

By now hundreds of men had joined in the hunt for Johnson and they included local Inuit trackers who informed the Mounties that their fugitive was covering on his snoww shoes two miles to every one they covered with dog teams. he was travelling at a terrific pace and by backtracking on himself in a circle he managed to leave his persuers behind.

His feat of endurance was amazing when we consider that during the whole of the month of January he had not been able to hunt or shoot for fear of his gunshots giving his position away'. like wise he was neither able to light a fire because of the likelihood of the smoke giving his position away.

Yet if outstanding  were his feats of endurance so far, there was one more feat Johnson would perform that  served him the accolade of superhuman in the eyes of the Mounted Police force and indeed the general public.
He had the burdonsome task of digging shelters into snow drifts, a task that would have rendered his clothing wet from perspiration. Thus where could he have built a fire to dry out his clothing to avoid the worst effects of the 50 below zero temperatures. How did he avoid frozen limbs?

No one knew. No one could have expected that after five weeks or so in open country Johnson would have the reserves to survive the harshest of climates, but he did and went on to prove himself the more So. 

To be Continued