CONSTANTIN, ALPHONSE - (362 - ENGLISH)

CONSTANTIN, ALPHONSE  -  (362 - ENGLISH)

Alphonse Constantin, originally from Saint-Eustache, PQ, worked in the Canadian West before trying his luck in the Klondike in 1898.  He left with Fernand Turcotte, a Beauceron (a native of  La Beauce) whom he'd met in Alberta.  Travelling by dog-sled, Constantin went by way of  the Chilkoot Trail. Along the way he acquired various mining concessions situated about a dozen miles (25 km) from Dawson City.  In September 1901, he sold his mining concessions and returned to his native village.
On June 4, 1902, Constantin decided to return to Dawson City.  He brought with him Guy Beaudoin, a Beauceron aged 23 and the nephew of his former companion, Turcotte.

At the beginning of June 1902, the two new partners took the train for Vancouver

During their stay in Vancouver, they met Leon Bouthillette, and another Beauceron; the latter had decided to leave for the Klondike after the death of his wife.

The three men decided to leave for the Klondike together.  On June 12, they took the S.S. Amur towards Skagway (Alaska), then they took the train for Whitehorse.

At Whitehorse, Victor Fournier went to them under the false name of de La Forest and suggested to share a canoe with him up to Dawson City, and Louis Ladouceur (also under a false name as Edouard Labelle.). On June 17, 1902, the group stopped for the night about a dozen miles (15 km) from the Stewart River. This stopping spot is now known as l'ile aux Meurtres (Island of the Murders).

Constantin, Beaudoin et Bouthilette were assassinated in cold blood and stripped of all their goods by Fournier and Labelle. The two murderers bound the bodies, tied a rock to them and threw them into the water. Fournier was arrested very soon after, but it wasn't until one of the most extraordinary manhunts in the country that Agent Welsh retraced Labelle to Wadsworth. Nevada, US,.  The two murderers finally confessed their crime and were hanged in Dawson City in January 1903.

About one month after the murder on July 17, 1903 Bouthillette's body was the first to be found.  The cadaver was identified by a small ring with the following inscription: Bouthillette, East Broughton, PQ.  On July 31,1902 Beaudoin's body was found near Ogilvie, then on May 18, 1903, the body of Alphonse Constantin was found near the "Ile aux Meutres" (Island of the Murders). In one of Constantin's pant pockets two pieces of paper were found; on one was a prayer in French and  on the other one could read the name of Alphonse Constantin written in large letters. His body rests in the cemetery in Dawson City.

NOTE: I read Victor Fournier's witnessing in the archives in Whitehorse. It seems that he confessed everything, absolutely everything without any emotions, adding all the details.  A very sorry affair.

Ref. Empreinte, vol. 11, pages 85-86