From the Archives (1907): Mystery of disappearance of rancher from Sedgewick

This story pre-dates The Community Press and is courtesy of The Edmonton Bulletin – June 7, 1907 – A little package sent by express from Calgary containing all that was left of the body of Richard Gaud has just been received at Los Angeles, California.

Gaud, who was seventy years old and a man of powerful physique, left Southern California just twelve months ago to take over a section of land he had bought near Sedgewick, Alta. He had a good outfit of horses and wagons, and quite a sum of money when he left Sedgewick in June.

Having lived most of his life on a farm and being a man of strength and indomitable will, the tragedy which followed his journey to the ranch is a more than usual mystery, and one which it is feared, will never be explained.

A few days later a farmer found the outfit with which Gaud had gone into the wilderness. Everything was, apparently, just as the old man had left it – the horses were picketed, the wagons were in good order, nothing was missing except Mr. Gaud.

The Northwest Mounted police were notified and they with the aid of the ranchers made a systematic search, but found no clue to the missing man’s whereabouts. It was as though the earth opened and swallowed him.

Richard H. Gaud of Los Angeles, son of the missing farmer, was notified and made a record trip from here to Alberta where he organized another search party on a greater scale than before. The mounted police aided him in every way, but after several weeks of unrewarded effort the younger Gaud had to return with the mystery as far from being solved as it was when he left.

Late in the fall there swept over the prairie a terrible fire which did much damage. A month later, in November, a trooper of the Mounted Police, while riding over the prairie about twelve miles from where Gaud disappeared, came upon a little heap of human bones that had been scorched by fire. He had a clear description of Gaud, which included the fact that the man had nearly his entire set of teeth, all of gold.

These teeth were among the bones, together with pieces of clothing. From carbonized papers found among the remains, the identification of the old farmer was complete.
Very soon after the finding of the remains the snow began to fall and it was found impossible to send the remains out of the country till the trails were opened this spring. The mystery of the death of Gaud has been buried with him.

Speaking of this case, this morning Inspector Strickland of the R. N. W. M. P., Fort Saskatchewan, corroborated the above story. The man was lost during the first week of last July which, it will be remembered, was probably the hottest of last year. At the time, Gaud was out some distance from where his outfit was, looking for some land he purposed taking up and it is thought he either became lost in the broken country at that section and perished from starvation or died of sunstroke.

It is probable his body might not have been found for some time despite the energetic search of the mounted police and others, had it not been for the prairie fire that swept the country a short time after and made the finding of the body a much easier task.