Ghost Canoe
Painted using a mixture of regular marine grey and an artist’s $2 tube of cobalt blue
There was little chance of mistaking Tom Thomson’s distinctive dove grey canoe
Yet when it was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake
Offshore and unattended, riding free in the wave’s wake
Little could anyone have realized the great mystery about to unfold
The legend and the lore of the man, the story that might never be told
Discovering Thomson’s body bobbing near Little Wapomeo Island
With a bruise over the temple, blood coming from the ear
Could this be the result of an argument that got out of hand?
At the very least finding Tom such had been the greatest fear
With so much talent and surely a prosperous future just ahead
It was sad that by July 1917, at age 39, Tom Thomson was dead
But would anybody ever know how he had met this terrible fate?
Over the years memories fade and facts become less than straight
What is to be made of the ankle wrapped around with fishing line?
Was Tom killed by a waterborne whirlwind or likewise divine?
And what ever became of the missing favourite paddle?
So much that is hard to fathom or begin to try to straddle
What of the two paddles lashed inside the canoe as if ready to carry
But apparently haphazardly tied in with less than an expert’s knot?
Had Thomson decided to head out west, to leave without further tarry?
Was a loan to Shannon Fraser involved, a debt for canoes recently bought?
Were harsh words over the war with Germany allowed to enflame?
Was Martin Blecher (or was it Bletcher?) that was the one to blame?
Would the truth ever come out of what had happened to the artist cum guide
Had he drowned standing up attempting to pee over the canoe’s side?
Was it a case of possible foul play or even suicide?
Had Tom Thomson gone missing due to a matter of family pride?
Had he promised Winnie Trainor that they would wed?
Or was his death the result of a fatal blow to the head?
Was there a baby that was soon to be due?
And who really last saw Tom in his canoe?
What is to be made of the report of the artist’s frequent swings in mood?
Was Thomson a gentleman, true in his word, or a drunkard sometimes crude?
Was he happy or sad? Was he bi-polar or even depressed?
So much remains unknown and never properly addressed
The coroner arrived after Tom had been embalmed and already buried
Holding a brief inquest that found death to have been accidental drowning
When to some such a finding seemed at the very least somewhat hurried
Even the coroner’s report becoming lost can only leave one frowning
What of the bruise on the temple? Was it on the left or the right?
Surely there must have been talk from the locals of a possible fight?
Accidental drowning may have been the official word
But this just seems far too simple and even absurd
Most thought Tom was more than adequate in the water; it was known he could swim
He was also considered a good enough paddler to keep any canoe reasonably trim
No water in his lungs? So long for the body to surface? Did something prevent it to rise?
Too many questions for such a quick report….too much unanswered to just surmise
What of the questions of the actual burial site? Is Tom in Leith or at Canoe Lake?
Was there really a body in that sealed metal casket? Or merely sand meant to fake?
Why has the family never allowed exhumation? Was undertaker Churchill sly as a fox?
Who was dug up in 1956? Thomson or someone of Native descent left in the same box?
Why did Miss Trainor continue to place flowers on a supposedly empty grave?
Baffling and puzzling to say the least….enough to make some even rant and rave.
Whatever we may know about Tom Thomson’s demise
And no matter that we may have to just simply surmise
Canoes do weave in and out of Thomson’s story; he often painted from a canoe
Canoes appear in his art, even that of his distinctive Chestnut, painted grey blue
A canoe was involved in his death and in the name of the lake where he lost his life
Maybe from a debt over the purchase of canoes, money he needed to take a wife?
Some even say a ghostly figure can be seen on misty mornings paddling a canoe on Canoe Lake
But supposedly a silent, even benign spirit, hardly scary enough to keep one up nights wide awake
So through much of the tale of Tom Thomson is the image, ghostly or not, of the canoe
But what became of his beloved Chestnut, with metal strip down the keel, and grey blue
Little is known where it ended up; maybe rotting at Mowat Lodge or on a portage trail?
Years after Tom’s death, a local camp even tried to locate this canoe, but alas to no avail
Painted using a mixture of regular marine grey and an artist’s $2 tube of cobalt blue
There was little chance of mistaking Tom Thomson’s distinctive dove grey canoe
Yet when it was found floating upside down in Canoe Lake
Offshore and unattended, riding free in the wave’s wake
Little could anyone have realized the great mystery about to unfold
The legend and the lore of the man, the story that might never be told – Mike Ormsby
