Albert Johnson: The Mad Trapper of Rat River | Morbid | Podcast

In late 1931, several Native trappers in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, reported to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that a newly arrived white man, Albert Johnson, had been tampering with their traps. The RCMP dispatched two officers to Johnson’s remote cabin, but he refused to speak with them, so they left to get a warrant to search his home. When the officers returned and tried to gain entry, Johnson fired a shotgun blast through the cabin door, wounding one of the RCMP officers.
The incident quickly escalated when a posse of RCMP officers returned and tossed dynamite into the cabin, initiating a firefight in which one officer was killed, and a manhunt that would last more than month and unfold across more than 150 miles of some of the roughest terrain in the world.
In the end, Albert Johnson would not be taken alive. And while his death may have ended the wild pursuit across the Yukon territory, it was just the beginning of another mystery that would endure into the twenty-first century.
Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!
References
Canadian Press. 1932. "Long chase of slayer." New York Times, February 18: 3.
Edmonton Journal. 1932. "Cornered by pursuers, wounded and fighting to last, Johnson slain." Edmonton Journal, February 18: 1.
-. 1932. "Think Mad Trapper hiding in Arctic wilderness cabin." Edmonton Journal, January 27: 1.
Journal, Edmonton. 1932. "Eyewittness tells story last desperate stand trapper Albert Johnson." Edmonston Journal, February 19: 1.
New York Times. 1932. "Mad, hunted trapper kills constable." New York Times, February 1: 38.
North, Dick. 2005. Mad Trapper of Rat River: A True Story Of Canada's Biggest Manhunt. New York, NY: Lyons Press.
Roden, Barbara. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part 3: Shootout on the Eagle River." North Thompson Times, December 8.
-. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part 5: The mystery of Albert Johnson endures to this day." North Thompson Times, December 22.
-. 2022. "The Mad Trapper part II: A tragic manhunt plays out." North Thompson Times, December 1.
-. 2022. "The Mad Trapper, Part I: a man of mystery arrives in the Arctic." North Thompson Times, November 24.
Thompson Reuters. 2021. "Scientists narrow search for mysterious Mad Trapper to Sweden." Comtex News Network, July 30.
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[@rebekakedrovsky9991]

Omg this is one of the best episodes I’ve listened to. Jaw on the flooooooor.

[@Kelapeno]

Listening to this gave me flashbacks of living in the Northwest Territories. It gets bloody cold and dark in the winter. People way up North are just built different. Now I live further south the coldest or gets is -30⁰C (-22⁰f)

[@jamzeez]

With the traplines, they're handed down through the blood line. My family's cabin is out at Deer River. Stashing food up in trees is so that bears can't get to it. Loving this episode!

[@acapulco214]

WHAT AN EXCITING STORY FOR WINTERTIME!!

[@MX_Long]

Another JLo movie is called "Enough" that one is a must!

[@iso3470]

We totally could find out the true identity of Albert Johnson today with genetic genealogy. They didn’t have the resources to do it in 2007 but in 2024 it would probably only take a few months

[@leighasaari5445]

Would you guys ever be willing to cover the Junko Furuta case?? I would really be interested to hear you two do an episode on it one day

[@edmcdonough1437]

Great,any more good stories?

[@philliphampton5183]

I live across the border in interior Alaska and am infatuated with all things that pertain to this remote and wild region because it gets so little documentation. Anyways I believe they heard him ONE time. They said he laughed maniacally as they retreated again to the river under fire after they blew up his cabin.

[@sydneyhutter6219]

I was 6 when The Cell came out. My mother worked at Holiday Inn and had gotten a room for a discounted price and her and her friend were watching that movie. I became VIOLENTLY ill with the stomach flu and was convinced that it was because of that weird @$$ movie lol.

[@pongxiong9147]

"That mf'er is not real!!!" Favorite part of the entire podcast lol

[@Raineyluwho]

I love the song Desert Miss the Rain, and I can't stand JaLo ( might be misspelled, that's how much I dont like her). But I love you two, my Queens!

[@KerrieKruegner]

Yes I don’t even think of her as an actress I watched The Cell but not because of her Other than that she’s Bernini other film I’ve ever been bothered to Watch Musically I couldn’t Name one Of her songs 😉

[@tarafogliasso7689]

Waiting for tonight... Is the jlo song you are thinking of. I think😂

[@byronpollard1415]

Think you got this story right, wrong area though. It was west coast of BC.

[@archstanton8126]

Wilfred May was the pilot, not William, he also went by Wop. He didn't shoot down the Red Baron, he was being chased by Red Baron when the Red Baron was shot down.

[@jaeturner6600]

Blue beard written by who??

[@donnavillegas8115]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@kellykubiak3522]

Waiting for tonight is the JLo song but I don’t like her either