Eighty years ago, on May 31, 1941, the Moose Jaw Times Herald reported on the mysterious death of Canadian Senator James Davis Taylor, a 77-year-old Publisher from New Westminster, B.C. The Senator’s badly bruised, pajama clad body was found along the CNR Main Line near Vera, Saskatchewan on May 11, 1941.
The CNR Main Line runs from the West Coast, through Edmonton, Vera and Saskatoon and eastward to Toronto.
Vera, Saskatchewan, now only a spot on a rural map, is north west of Unity and about 50 Km south west of Cut Knife. This is probably the first time Senator James Taylor was on the ground near Cut Knife since the North-West Rebellion of 1885.
On May 2, 1885, a young James Davis Taylor, a member of the Ottawa Sharpshooters Militia fought in the Battle of Cut Knife Hill during the North-West Rebellion. In the Battle, Canadian soldiers and Militia men attacked a camp of Cree and Assiniboine at Cut Knife Hill. In addition to many soldiers the Canadians had two cannons and a Gatling Gun. They made little headway. The battle lasted about six hours before the Canadian commander ordered his men to withdraw. The Units retreated to the safety of North Battleford.
Eight soldiers and Militia men were killed in the battle. Two of those killed, William Osgoode and John Rogers, were from the Ottawa Sharpshooters Militia.
Nineteen-year-old James Taylor was in the thick of the Battle.
The Cree and Assiniboine lost five killed and three wounded.
Is it karma that Taylor’s body was discovered in the vicinity of Cut Knife?
How did the Senator’s body end up on the CNR right-of-way at Vera?
Senator James Taylor. By submittedSenator Taylor lived in New Westminster B.C. where he was the publisher of the British Columbian newspaper. He was travelling East to attend to Senate business when he disappeared from the fast moving Canadian National Express passenger train on May 11, 1941.
Court of Inquiry
A Court of Inquiry was held into the cause of death of Senator Taylor at Unity, Saskatchewan on Thursday, May 30, 1941.
The question was, “How did the Senator get from the inside of a speeding passenger train and die on the railway right of way?”
His two daughters, Miss Dorothy and Miss Mary Taylor, along with Senator Taylor’s physician, Dr. W. A. Clark, of New Westminster, gave evidence.
The Times reported, “All three testified the senator had suffered a severe heart attack in January 1940 and that they had had several lesser attacks since that time.
“Dr. Clark suggested his patient had suffered an acute heart attack on the train, made an effort to rise from his bed and in doing so had pulled the light switch. He suggested Senator Taylor had used a foot rest to smash the window in his compartment in order to get air and, in a semi-conscious condition, had accidentally tumbled from the window when the train lurched.”
The explanation for the cause of death by Dr. W. A. Clark was accepted by the Court of Inquiry in Unity, Saskatchewan and the matter was closed.
But questions persist. Why would the train ‘lurch’ at Vera, Saskatchewan on a straight run toward Saskatoon? How did they know the light switch was turned on? And, did the Senator die from a heart attack or the fall from the train?
Was his death ‘bad karma’ related to the Battle of Cut knife Hill?
The reader is encouraged to take on the role of Agatha Christie.
Summary
Lt. Col., (131 Battalion CEF), Senator James Davis Taylor was born September 2, 1863 in Quebec. He is buried in the Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, Greater Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia, Canada in the Church of England Section, 2-16-C
