1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783756103321

Autore

Coates Kenneth <1956->

Titolo

Strange things done [[electronic resource] ] : murder in Yukon history / / Ken S. Coates, William R. Morrison

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Montreal ; ; Ithaca, : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2004

ISBN

1-282-86182-4

9786612861826

0-7735-7189-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (253 p.)

Collana

McGill-Queen's native and northern series ; ; 40

Altri autori (Persone)

MorrisonWilliam R <1942-> (William Robert)

Disciplina

364.152/3/097191

Soggetti

Murder - Yukon - History

Trials (Murder) - Yukon - History

Meurtre - Yukon - Histoire

ProceĢ€s (Meurtre) - Yukon - Histoire

Yukon Territory History

Yukon Histoire 1895-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-221) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Contents -- Illustrations and Maps -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- The Yukon -- In the Heat of the Rush: The Nantuck Brothers -- They Always Get Their Man: Fournier and Labelle -- Breaking the Faith: The Elfors Case -- The Foreign Madman: Alexander Gogoff -- "To Make These Tribes Understand": The Trial of Alikomiak and Tatamigana -- "A Drunken Impulse": The Paddy Duncan Case -- A Miscellany of Murder -- Conclusion -- Studying Violent Death: An Analysis of Historical Scholarship on Murder -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Klondike lore is full of accounts of the exploits of Dangerous Dan McGrew, Sergeant Preston of the Mounted, and the Mad Trapper of Rat River. The stories vary from outright fabrications to northern fantasies and, on occasion, real-life accounts. Strange Things Done investigates a series of murders in the pre-World War II Yukon, exploring the boundaries between myths and historical events. The book seeks to understand both the specific events, carefully reconstructed from court



evidence and police records, and the broader social and cultural context within which these violent deaths occurred. The murder case studies provide a unique and penetrating perspective on key aspects of Yukon history, such as Native-newcomer relations, mental illness and the folklore about cabin fever, the role of immigrants in northern society, violence in the gold fields, and the role of the police and courts in regulating social behaviour. The investigation of these capital cases also illustrates the fear and paranoia which gripped the territory in the aftermath of a murder, and the societys insistence on quick and retributive justice when offenders were caught and convicted. The Yukon experienced fewer murders than popular literature would suggest, and fewer than most would expect given the region's intense and dramatic history, but those that did occur illustrate the passions, frustrations, angers and human frailties that are present in all societies. The manner in which the murders occurred and the way in which Yukoners reacted also reveals specific and important aspects of territorial society.