14 — Wednesday, August 25, 1993 - North Shore News

Norman Luxton’s
legacy of adventure

WHAT GREAT Canadian adventurer taught the Governor
of Samoa to play poker and ended up playing a major role
in saving the buffalo from extinction in Western Canada?’

Norman Luxton was a man of
many careers, travels and travails.
His father, William was one of the
founders of the Winnipeg Free
Press.
Young Luxton tried his hand at
-the newspaper business in Calgary
and Vancouver, and prospected
for gold in the Kootenay area of
British Columbia.
. Adventure beckoned when he
encountered a kindred spirit in a
Danish mariner, Captain F.C.

‘Voss. The pair made plans for a
south’. seas. expedition. Luxton
purchased a 100-year-old, nine-

. metre, red-cedar dugout canoe

‘made by” a2. Nuu-Chah-Nulth
craftsman. Its _ungginly renova-
tions included a small cabin, three
sails and an ancient Spanish can-
non: |

The: distinctive craft was
christened . Tilikum. — meaning
Friend. - The “adventurers departed
“Nootka, B.C. on July 6, 1901.

By the ‘time Luxton and Voss

“reached the south seas, their
friendship. was strained and they
‘ spent most of their time sitting at
opposite. ends. of the vessel clut-
ching ‘their guns, but they, were
’ determined to continue.

Fi inances - ran ‘thin: when they

Voss stopped at.

42 South Seas 7

f eveptions 7.

-feached” Samoa, so- Luxton’ set
‘himself up as a_professor of card
“games, specializing in poker _—
which became ‘the particular af-
; fection of the Governor.

All told, Luxton and Voss stov-

“ped at. 42. south seas ports to.a |

. Variety... “of: receptions. One king
“was so taken with Luxton that be
offered him a choice of daughters
for, marriage and a coconut grove
of his own. ~

On another island, a confronta-
- tion’ with hostile residents called
‘the ancient; cannon: to their
defense.

Luxton’ abandoned vthe expedi-
tion to recover‘ from’ injuries suf-
; fered in a shipwreck off Australia,
“but Voss. successfully guided the
. Tilikum ‘to. England, arriving in
September, 1904... -

When. Luxton returned to

- Canada he- ‘settled in . Banff,

Alberta, ‘where he began a
publishing business, a trading post
‘and a year-round hotel.

:Luxion: committed himself to
the! community, leading the biog-
raphers to nickname him ‘‘the

* oracle of Banff.’’ During a card
game, he helped conceive the
- Winter: Carniva! and.in the sum-
faer Luxton conducted the Annuai
indian Days Festival in conjunc-
. tion with the Stoney. - 3

When an influenza’ epidemic
struck near a trading post Luxton
operated in northerly. Morely, he
supplied much needed food and
medical supplies to’ the isolated
native population .without.: com-
pensation. The business failed, but

. Luxton was named an Honorary

* Chief. of both the Blackfoot and

_; the Stoney tribes.

’. In: 1909, Luxton suggested that
the Canadian’ government pur-

By Marsha Boulton
Contributing Writer

chase a herd of Montana buffalo
to replenish the prairie herds
which had been hunted almost to
the point of extinction. These
animals provided the foundation
stock for the herds at Wainwright
National Park.

Norman Luxton’s legacy of
adventure and open-hearted vision
of the true meaning of
“‘tilikum,’’ continues to thrive.

Today, the original dug-out

“Tilikum” is permanently berthed '

in Victoria, B.C. and every year
thousands of visitors enjoy the
spirit. of place and the spirit of
this unique Canadian adventurer
at the  Luxton Museum,
housed in a log building beside the
Bow River in Banff.

Club thanks

NORTH VANCOUVER City Mayor Jack Loucks accepts a cheque for just under $35, CCG. from
members of the North Shore Horseshoe Ciub. The group also presented the mayors with a pla-
que in appreciation tor the municipatity’s support.

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