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| The Cave |
Dec 14, 2008 - Update
I'm writing this report on the 97th anniversary of Roald Amundsen's achievement of being the first man to
reach the South Pole. I am in High Level right now, the far northwest corner of Alberta. Temperature outside
is a brutal minus 35 degrees. I can hardly stand to spend much time outside before going back in to get
warm. Yet, the mysterious Albert Johnson spent weeks on the run much further north in temperatures often
hitting minus 45 and lower. He had no opportunity to warm up. It never ceases to intrigue me. Why did he go
there?
If we go back to Volda, Norway in Jan 1912, the young man Sigvald Håskjold would be turning 17 when the
news of Norway's Roald Amundsen accomplishment finally got back. Amundsen was already a household
name in this Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Previously Amundsen had also been the first through the
Northwest Passage, realizing a dream that had taken many lives and hundreds of years. That occurred in
1906 when Sigvald was 9 years old. I remember being just 9. That was when a man first set foot on the moon,
but during Sigvald's childhood, man's greatest accomplishments were reaching the ends of the earth.
Why link these events? Well for me it all comes down to some old newspapers found in a cave on Digby
Island. This last summer I discovered that RAF veteran Colin Tree had found these newspapers in the cave.
The newspapers have since been misplaced. What Colin remembered was that the papers announced
Shackleton's return from Antarctica on the voyage when he had to temporarily leave his crew behind and
take one of the rowboats to South Georgia Island. This would date the papers to 1916 but Colin thinks they
may have been 1917. A Prince Rupert high school student subsequently wrote a paper about Colin's
discovery for one of her subjects.
I'm writing this report on the 97th anniversary of Roald Amundsen's achievement of being the first man to
reach the South Pole. I am in High Level right now, the far northwest corner of Alberta. Temperature outside
is a brutal minus 35 degrees. I can hardly stand to spend much time outside before going back in to get
warm. Yet, the mysterious Albert Johnson spent weeks on the run much further north in temperatures often
hitting minus 45 and lower. He had no opportunity to warm up. It never ceases to intrigue me. Why did he go
there?
If we go back to Volda, Norway in Jan 1912, the young man Sigvald Håskjold would be turning 17 when the
news of Norway's Roald Amundsen accomplishment finally got back. Amundsen was already a household
name in this Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Previously Amundsen had also been the first through the
Northwest Passage, realizing a dream that had taken many lives and hundreds of years. That occurred in
1906 when Sigvald was 9 years old. I remember being just 9. That was when a man first set foot on the moon,
but during Sigvald's childhood, man's greatest accomplishments were reaching the ends of the earth.
Why link these events? Well for me it all comes down to some old newspapers found in a cave on Digby
Island. This last summer I discovered that RAF veteran Colin Tree had found these newspapers in the cave.
The newspapers have since been misplaced. What Colin remembered was that the papers announced
Shackleton's return from Antarctica on the voyage when he had to temporarily leave his crew behind and
take one of the rowboats to South Georgia Island. This would date the papers to 1916 but Colin thinks they
may have been 1917. A Prince Rupert high school student subsequently wrote a paper about Colin's
discovery for one of her subjects.
Photo Courtesy of Colin Tree
To summarize: perhaps Sigvald Håskjold
-dreamed of going to polar regions as a child like the heroes of that era
-was traumatized in 1907 by his father taking the young man Albert Johannes from next door but leaving him
behind while his father and Albert went off to Canada
-started to follow his dreams by travelling to Canada in 1913
-was foiled in 1917 by the conscription to go back to fight in the extremely bloody campaigns of the World
War
-went into isolation for 10 years on Digby Island to save his own life from the military and police
-went 1000 miles farther north in the period 1928-1931, following his dreams of exploration but still
obsessed with the idea that the police were looking for him
-decided to use the alias Albert Johnson due to trauma he experienced as a child back (i.e. when neghbour
Albert Johannes left with Sigvald's dad for Canada in 1907) and in accordance with his desire to avoid
detection created this new identity.
-was enormously well prepared for survival in his final showdown with the police para- military group
-dreamed of going to polar regions as a child like the heroes of that era
-was traumatized in 1907 by his father taking the young man Albert Johannes from next door but leaving him
behind while his father and Albert went off to Canada
-started to follow his dreams by travelling to Canada in 1913
-was foiled in 1917 by the conscription to go back to fight in the extremely bloody campaigns of the World
War
-went into isolation for 10 years on Digby Island to save his own life from the military and police
-went 1000 miles farther north in the period 1928-1931, following his dreams of exploration but still
obsessed with the idea that the police were looking for him
-decided to use the alias Albert Johnson due to trauma he experienced as a child back (i.e. when neghbour
Albert Johannes left with Sigvald's dad for Canada in 1907) and in accordance with his desire to avoid
detection created this new identity.
-was enormously well prepared for survival in his final showdown with the police para- military group
< The Cave
Regardless of the exact date of the cave newspapers, Sigvald arrived at the remote bay where the cave
was located for the purpose of evading conscription in the army in 1917 (at the earliest). It is possible,
perhaps even likely that he was the one who left the newspapers there. The newspapers were then left
undisturbed for 70 years until Colin Tree found them in 1987.
The newspapers also described a battle campaign that was not going too well. One possibility which is
closely aligned timewise with Shackleton's return was the beginning of the Somme offensive officially known
as the Battle of Albert (that name Albert keeps popping up). On just the first day of this World War I battle
Britain recorded over 57,000 casualties.
So there we have Sigvald, looking at a world where on one hand if he went to war in Europe, he could be
one of thousands of lives expended for a few feet of ground. On the other hand he sees Shackleton's
completion of an incredible voyage to ensure the survival of all 28 members of his Antarctic expedition.
In the years of Sigvald's isolation that followed on Digby Island, I'm speculating that he himself dreamed of
going on a great journey, but he definitely did not want to go to jail or to die fighting in Europe. His dream
was perhaps to go where great explorers he had learned of back in his childhood had gone. This could
explain why he might leave the west coast and go 1000 miles north to the area where countryman Roald
Amundsen had completed his journey through the northwest passage in 1906.
Note: The news of Roald Amundsens famous achievement was first announced to the world from a wireless
at Eagle Alaska, just 200 miles from Albert Johnson's last stand on the Eagle River.
It's a lot of speculation, and maybe I'm wrong, but there must of been a reason if he would go so far north
and start using the alias Albert Johnson.
was located for the purpose of evading conscription in the army in 1917 (at the earliest). It is possible,
perhaps even likely that he was the one who left the newspapers there. The newspapers were then left
undisturbed for 70 years until Colin Tree found them in 1987.
The newspapers also described a battle campaign that was not going too well. One possibility which is
closely aligned timewise with Shackleton's return was the beginning of the Somme offensive officially known
as the Battle of Albert (that name Albert keeps popping up). On just the first day of this World War I battle
Britain recorded over 57,000 casualties.
So there we have Sigvald, looking at a world where on one hand if he went to war in Europe, he could be
one of thousands of lives expended for a few feet of ground. On the other hand he sees Shackleton's
completion of an incredible voyage to ensure the survival of all 28 members of his Antarctic expedition.
In the years of Sigvald's isolation that followed on Digby Island, I'm speculating that he himself dreamed of
going on a great journey, but he definitely did not want to go to jail or to die fighting in Europe. His dream
was perhaps to go where great explorers he had learned of back in his childhood had gone. This could
explain why he might leave the west coast and go 1000 miles north to the area where countryman Roald
Amundsen had completed his journey through the northwest passage in 1906.
Note: The news of Roald Amundsens famous achievement was first announced to the world from a wireless
at Eagle Alaska, just 200 miles from Albert Johnson's last stand on the Eagle River.
It's a lot of speculation, and maybe I'm wrong, but there must of been a reason if he would go so far north
and start using the alias Albert Johnson.
On May 23, 2009, the above theory may have been proven wrong through DNA testing. There
is still an inconclusive element included in the DNA report. However, it is still possible, even
likely, that Sigvald used the cave described and left those old newspapers there......but
where he went from there we may never know.
is still an inconclusive element included in the DNA report. However, it is still possible, even
likely, that Sigvald used the cave described and left those old newspapers there......but
where he went from there we may never know.