Leo Rutledge - From Pack Dogs to Politics

Born in Boise Idaho, in 1911, Leo Rutledge spent his early life in Norway where his widowed mother ran a delicatessen in Christiana (Oslo), and every summer was spent at the grandparent's country home near Lindseth. Here was fostered a lifelong respect for the land and nature, which guided him throughout a long life. At the age of 10, his mother remarried and after a journey half way around the world, they found themselves on a homestead near Grande Prairie, Alberta. The young lad revelled in this frontier land, and while he walked or skied the 4 miles to school each day, he ran a trapline both ways, and weasel and coyote pelts were a welcome supplement to the family income.

At 18, he decided to head north and make his fortune trapping. At Peace River crossing the boat had just left for Fort Vermillion and the MacKenzie River country, but the paddlewheeler, D.A. Thomas was headed upstream, so Rutledge thought he would go have a look. At Fort St. John, Jack Thomas came aboard with his complete 22 horse packstring, just off a survey outfit, and by the time they made it to Hudson's Hope, the young lad had a job driving a team pulling a Fresno upgrading the Portage Road. It was a land of dreams and opportunity, and the many trappers hanging around the Hope were free with their advice.⁵⁶  Ted Boynton had a line up Kobes Creek way, and having had enough of trapping, Rutledge could have it "... for $100, and pay when you can". How could he lose, marten were bring up to $50, and with pack dog Slim they headed out on the line. Although the country was a little scarce on fur, they gathered up a few skins, but when they hit town that spring fur prices had crashed along with something back east called the stock market.⁵⁷

The skills learned on the farm came in handy, and Leo soon had a job driving teams over the Portage. The first Hudson's Bay boat of the year brought in young Miss Ethel Haines, not long out of England, and she created quite a stir in the community of bachelor trappers. The tall Norwegian eventually won out, and they were married as soon as trapping season was over that spring of 1931, and honeymooned in a tent while they built a lovely log home on the banks of the Peace in Hudson's Hope. The next fall, former Alberta Game commissioner Stan Clark had lined up a hunting party of 6 college students, and the Hudson's Hope crew that ran the trip included Rutledge, Bill Beckman, Fred Cassie, and wrangler Frank Cramer. With 46 head of horses, they hunted their way north into the Prophet-Muskwa river country; they all learned quite a bit about the dude wrangling business, and that $5.00 a day for the 42 days on the trail was welcome cash for the newlyweds.⁵⁸

A gift from one of those hunters was a collapsible 30:30 rifle, which broke down and could be carried on a pack dog. Rutledge was now trapping in the deep snow Clearwater county west of Hudson's Hope, and snowshoes and packdogs were the only way to get around. Two new dogs, Pat and Mike, joined Slim, and that first winter they had 16 marten to show for their efforts. At $8.00 a piece, "... not a lot but better than some". Over the next 15 years the Clearwater trapline fed the growing family back in Hudson's Hope; a daughter Valerie born in 1932, son Leo Jr., in 1938, and daughter Linnet in 1942. There weren't a lot of hunters around during the 1930s, and often Rutledge would work with Jack MacDougall on hunts across the Peace into the Ottertail (Nabesche) River country. Curly and Harry Philips, well known outfitters out of the Jasper area, used to run boat tours through the Peace River system, and if they wanted Stone's sheep they would stop and hunt with MacDougall and Rutledge.

There was "... not a ram under 40 inches on those early hunts", and then after one tough winter the big ones were all gone. There was a little surveying work as well, and the summer of 1942, Rutledge packed for a Dominion Topographic Survey near Mt. Sir Alexander at the head of the Narraway River. He ran into "Wapiti Brown" who was running a hunting show in that part of the world, and his hunters wanted Stone's sheep, and booked for the following fall. That was the summer of the Alaska Highway construction as well, and that cold winter found Rutledge running a crew for Phil Tompkins on a job to cut a million board feet of lumber near the bridge site on the Liard River. Living in a tent at temperatures that went to -70F, wasn't a lot of fun, but the trappers and bushman toughed it out a lot better that some of the US army troops from the south.⁵⁹

His family was starting to wonder who this fellow was who occasionally dropped in for the odd visit, and then headed back to the bush. Valerie was away in Edmonton at school, but Ethel, and the two younger children, plus 9 cases of canned milk took the boat up the Peace and joined their father on the trapline for the winter of 1943-44. Fisher were worth big money then ($100-200), and Rutledge took six that winter, as well as a good catch of marten. Somewhere in there a plan was hatched to sell the trapline, and buy land, which led to the acquisition of the ranch at Dry Creek, 10 miles down the Peace River from Hudson's Hope. This was to serve as a family home for the next 60 years, a base for their string of pack horses, and a number of successful farming ventures that included Hereford cattle and alfalfa seed. After the war, there were a few more hunters around, and Rutledge outfitting was building a reputation for quality Stone's sheep hunts. He was now hunting in the Prophet River and Richards Creek country, as old time outfitter Frank Golata had retired, and Bill Longhurst had headed north to the Cassiars. Client satisfaction was high, with many repeat customers, and word of mouth brought more. One of the more memorable trips was with a fellow named Logan, accompanied by his wife and a taxidermist, who collected a family group of stone sheep in 1968, which were displayed at the museum of Natural History in Los Angeles.

Rutledge always had a good crew, and some of the best guides were those from Moberly Lake, like Louis Desjarlais and his sons Marvin and Dan, as well as George Cryman and John Gauthier. Don Watson of Bear Flats and G.A. Cottom of Hudson's Hope guided for Rutledge in the late 1940s in the Ottertail/Ospika country, and when he moved north to the Prophet, Vern Peck from Hudson's Hope, and John Ardill from Farrell Creek were some of his early guides. May (McGarvery) Myatt was one of the better camp cooks on the Rutledge crew.⁶⁰

Guiding grew into an industry in Northeastern BC through the 1950s, and many of the early outfitters had Hudsons Hope roots. By 1961, there was a need for an "organization", and with Don Peck as its first President, and Leo Rutledge as its secretary, Northern Guides Association was formed. Keith Peck, Gary Powell, and Lynn Ross were the first directors. Their initial efforts led to the allotment of individual guide areas in the Northeast, which provided the security for investment and development. Rutledge became President of the Northern guides, and then during his term as President of Western Guides, the provincial organization, he was instrumental in obtaining tenure certification for guide outfitters across the province.⁶¹

By 1972, Rutledge had looked into a lot of sheep basins, and was thinking about his future. Always pragmatic, he made a list, which had 41 reasons why he should get out of the business, and only one why he should stay, so the decision to sell was easily made. However, he hadn't coiled his last block cinch, as the next summer he made an extensive trip through the Northern Rockies with young guide Pat Gillis, and used state of the art 16 mm film equipment to produce a classic wildlife film. Plans for a quiet retirement on the banks of the Peace were stymied by BC Hydro's plans to build the Site C dam, which would flood him out. After 10 years of lobbying and hearings, a reprieve was won and the project was put on the shelf. About then, the Guides association got the idea to get the history down before it was gone, and no one would do it better than Leo Rutledge. The next 5 years were spent travelling the length and breadth of British Columbia, talking to guides and getting their stories. The History of Guiding book was completed in 1989, and is now on its second printing.⁶²

Rutledge remained involved in many conservation issues throughout the years, was a director of the Sierra Club, the Peace Valley Environmental Association, and his input into processes like the Fort St. John Land and Resource Management plan was invaluable. He was honoured with many awards, including a Governor General's medal in 1992, BC Ministers Environmental Award in 1994, an Honorary Degree from Northern Lights College in 1996, and most recently the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal in 2002. Late in life, Leo embarked on his final project, a manuscript on his life and perspectives, entitled, "To each in his Time". Leo passed away at home in Hudson's Hope in June of 2005, with his loving wife Ethel at his side, and the beloved Peace River still flowing past his door.

There are many stories of Life on the Trail in northern British Columbia, and I trust that you have enjoyed this perspective of those days through the eyes of Hudson's Hope and its residents.

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