Wild Goose Bill wasn’t a model citizen
Last week’s article discussed some local “characters” — those individuals who are often labelled as such because of something that other people deemed to make them noteworthy or different.
One of these people, but I don’t use the label “character here, was William “Wild Goose Bill” McLaughlin, pre-1900 Central Okanagan resident. This article recounts some of the details of Wild Goose Bill’s life.
To learn about Wild Goose Bill’s life, I turned to records of his death. I found his online B.C. Death Registration and it provided some information.
William McLaughlin died on Dec. 31, 1915 at the reported age of 80 years. The place of his death was “Okanagan Lake.”
Unfortunately, this document has not been digitized and so the original is currently not available for closer examination. Normally, I would access the original of this record at the Kelowna Public Library, but this is currently not possible.
Knowing Wild Goose Bill died on Dec. 31, 1915, I consulted the Kelowna Cemetery burial records, which provide basic information: his name and the date of death, but not indicating McLaughlin’s age. The place of his death is recorded as “Westbank.” McLaughlin was buried on Jan. 6, 1916. A granite grave marker was installed on his previously-unmarked grave in 2005, part of Kelowna’s celebration of the centennial of incorporation as a city.
McLaughlin’s obituary — which is in next week’s article — provided some biographical information: “Very little is known of his history or family connections, beyond the fact that he originally came from Ontario, where it is supposed he has still one or more sons living.”
Believing that McLaughlin was born in Ontario about 1835 — since his reported age at his death in 1915 was 80 years — I checked various Ontario records. Unfortunately, “William McLaughlin” is a fairly common Ontario name. Not having a more precise date and place of his birth has prevented me from confidently linking Wild Goose Bill to any families in Ontario. Further research is definitely needed.
My plan is to eventually access government records — including British Columbia
land pre-emptions and wills – hoping they will provide additional information about this Okanagan pioneer. In the meantime, we can be comfortable in locating Wild Goose Bill in the Okanagan prior to 1900, possibly as early as 1885. By the late 1880s, Wild Goose Bill McLaughlin was living in the Central Okanagan, eventually settling on his preemption on the west side of Okanagan Lake.
The files of the Kelowna Public Archives provide more information about Wild Goose Bill. I am grateful to Tara Hurley, Kelowna Public Archivist, for her assistance with my research about Wild Goose Bill. A vintage Kelowna Public Archives photograph of what is now Kelowna City Park bears the following caption: “The shack (on the lake near what later was the Aquatic building) was the home of “Wild Goose Bill” McLaughlin, who, even in those days of “characters,” was known as quite a character. Wild Goose Bill was a familiar figure around the new townsite (Kelowna.)”
A short, typed biography — author and sources of information unknown — in the Kelowna Public Archives records the following:
“One well known character was a Mr. William McLaughlin. He lived on the edge of the law and was quick tempered, to the point where he was brought in on a charge of “shooting with intent to kill.” He somehow acquired the name ‘Wild Goose Bill’ and seemed to be a society misfit. On further checking, it would seem that Bill had at one time had a wife and family.... (after they died) he became a loner and in time a legend for his escapades.”
Well-known in the Central Okanagan, Wild Goose Bill’s name was in various local newspapers.
The Thursday, Dec. 9, 1909, edition of “The Orchard City Press” recorded that “Wild Goose Bill of Westbank was admitted into the Kelowna Hospital last week, suffering from a serious poisoning of the foot, caused by him coming in contact with poison ivy.”
Other newspaper entries are of a different tone, reflecting Will Goose Bill’s ongoing issues with the law. The Thursday, March 7, 1907, edition of “The Kelowna Courier and Okanagan Orchardist” reported that William McLaughlin appeared before Magistrate Burne, charged with “Shooting with intent to kill.” The purported victim of McLaughlin’s crime was “Joe,” a local Indigenous man. Fortunately, Joe survived this assault, but he sustained no less than 34 superficial wounds, caused by lead pellets from Wild Goose Bill’s gun. McLaughlin was committed to jail at Kamloops.
“The Ledge,” Greenwood’s newspaper reported in its Thursday, April 10, 1913, edition that “Wm. McLaughlin, better known as Wild Goose Bill, appeared in the police court at Kelowna for giving liquor to Indians...”
Two years later, the Thursday, Aug. 1, 1915, edition of “The Kelowna Record” reported that: “‘Wild-goose (Goose) Bill’ was up before Magistrate Weddell Monday last charged with shooting two horses, the property of Messrs. Childers and Dimmock. He was committed for trial and sent to Kamloops Tuesday in charge of Constable McDonald.
William Fletcher, who was born in Kelowna in 1898, recounted his memory of Wild Goose Bill, for a local radio station’s 1955 broadcast:
“I can remember when old Wild Goose Bill across at Westbank tried to shoot up the town (Kelowna) with a .22. I can remember that. I wasn’t very old then.”
But there was another side to Wild Goose Bill, as reported on page 40 of “A bit of Okanagan History: “Bill’s saving grace was his music, of which he was passionately fond. Seldom was he seen without his fiddle, and nothing made him happier than to have an audience.
Next week’s article continues the tumultuous story of Wild Goose Bill, including the graphic details of his Dec. 31, 1915 death.