The Mystery of Billy-Goat Smith

by Barbara Ann Lambert

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Summary

Billy-Goat Smith was a famous West Coast hermit. He came to Canada from the U.S. in 1910. He lived, until his death in 1958, in a remote area of Powell Lake. He never left his cabin, and relied on others to deliver his supplies, after his boat was wrecked in a storm in 1937. Rumours swirled around this man. He was a crack-shot. Some say he was the best shot on the West Coast. His real name was Robert Bonner Smith but he gained his nickname by his ability to shoot a mountain goat from halfa- mile away. It was not too long before his name was linked with the famous New York society murder in 1906 of architect Stanford White. There was speculation that a millionaire named Harvey Thaw had arranged for a hit man to kill Stanford White. An article in Collier's magazine implied a third man was involved. The West Coast newspaper suggested that the gunman had escaped to Canada by train. A movie, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing , first screened in the 1950's, was based on these stories. Cabins at Powell Lake were torched in 1915. Arsenic was found in the sugar of cabin owners. Rumours swirled. Billy-Goat, known to hate the intrusion of others in his wilderness retreat, became a prime suspect. Billy-Goat seemed to be afraid of something. He kept his money in quart glass jars in the dirt floor of his root house. It was rumoured that he lots of cash. Possibly he was a bank robber? Perhaps he had killed someone in a bank robbery in the U.S. and was hiding from the law in Canada? The notorious criminals Fawcett and Bagley blew up the safe at the Patricia Theatre in Powell River in March 1932. There was immediate speculation that Billy-Goat had supplied Fawcett and Bagley with information. In The Mystery of Billy-Goat Smith, Gramps tells the story to his two grandchildren, Jamie and Julie. Gramps, as a young boy, had met Billy-Goat when he came to the Lambert goat-diary farm in 1932 to buy some goats. Gramps is my late husband, Stuart Lambert. This is a true story. Tom Lambert, Stuart's father, speculates how a hobo, during the Great Depression, could afford to pay $60 in cash for three goats. Jamie and Julie listen to the rumours and stories about Billy-Goat Smith. They try to solve the mystery. At the end of the story the reader is left to decide if Billy-Goat is the prime suspect for murder, arson or robbery!

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