Taissumani: June 7

In 1925 Captain Pearson of the Sabellum Company took the little vessel Rosie once again to Baffin Island where he tried to reach Hector Pitchforth’s lonely outpost at Tikiqqat on Cape Henry Kater.

He was unsuccessful. Ice conditions were terrible, and Pearson had no alternative but to leave the Inuk, Naujarvik, who had spent the winter in England and Scotland, at Cape Haven, and abandon his attempts to forge farther north.

The company’s manager back in London, W. P. Jobson described that season’s voyage as having “met with disaster.” The ship had failed to re-supply Pitchforth, and the Inuit traders and customers were left without ammunition.

Sabellum had always relied on native traders, but their loyalty was sorely tested under these circumstances. Moreover, it was really their old friend, James Mutch, to whom they were loyal, but Mutch had retired three years earlier. The company was on shaky financial terms. To add to the woes, Jobson was ill.

When the Pitchforth family in England heard that Rosie had not reached Cape Henry Kater, they were extremely concerned. They tried to meet with Jobson, but he refused to see them.

Imagine, then, their consternation when they received a letter from the company in 1926, saying, “Unfortunately, we are not sending Rosie out this year, but we have made other arrangements…” In fact, no other arrangements were made.

A company employee wrote to the Pitchforths, “We have not the slightest fear on account of your brother. We sent some thousands of pounds worth of goods out last year, which were landed at Singiyah [Cape Haven], but the ship could not get to your brother’s station, and we have not the slightest doubt that he will have moved to Singiyah, and taken charge there.”

Inuit recall that there was a change in the lonely trader in 1926. Perhaps he had simply been isolated from his own people for too long.

But now he began to mistrust his only companions, the Inuit. This would result in further isolation. They recall that he used to scan the horizon in a complete 360 degree sweep, fearing the police or rival traders, whom he had decided were his enemies.

In an unexplained action, he took all his dishes, utensils, pans, cups and saucers, and went alone in his outboard motor boat to an unknown location where he cached them beneath some rocks. Later, wanting to retrieve them, he told an Inuk, Qilliq, where they were, but the man was unable to find them.

He began to build a stone wall completely around his shack, covering all areas but the window. The Inuit believed that he was doing this out of fear that the Inuit would kill him.

The rocks he was using were quite large. During construction, he slipped and fell on his back. The rock he was carrying fell on his stomach and injured him badly. He was forced to spend much of the time from then on in bed.

The Inuit believed that he noted his injuries in the diary that he kept. It is a tribute to the easy-going manner in which he had formerly gotten along with them, that they thought these writings were to document his injuries so that the Inuit would not be blamed in the event of his death.

Then things got even worse. He began using pups for target practice, and killed quite a number of them, as well as full-grown dogs. He had an argument with an old woman who periodically acted as his housekeeper, and ended up shooting even more dogs.

The Inuit needed their dogs, and so they decided to flee. They left Tikiqqat en masse. As they left, Pitchforth fired at them. They were quite grateful that his eyes were bad, and felt that he would have been a very dangerous man were he able to see better. After they left, Pitchforth destroyed all their shacks, and even inexplicably destroyed his own boat.

Still, the Inuit were concerned for him. After some time, two men, Qilliq and Atakaalik, returned to see how he was faring. He greeted them in anger, and ordered them away again. They were the last humans he was ever to see.

The last entry in Hector Pitchforth’s diary is dated Christmas Day, 1926. It reads, “Sky a bit clearer to the Southward, a beautiful ruddy flash tinted the ice and snow most beautifully. Not in the least like Xmas to myself and I feel so ill as to be nearly helpless.”

Shortly after New Year’s Day, a woman saw him standing outside his shack, silhouetted against his doorway. The next time anyone passed by, they noted that snow had blown against the door. It was obvious that no-one had left the building for some time.

Inuit reported this to the Hudson’s Bay Co. manager at Clyde River, who reported it to the RCMP. An officer, Constable Murray, travelled to Tikiqqat to investigate.

In his report he wrote about finding the building locked from the inside. He forced the door open. “I entered,” he wrote, “and found Mr. Hector Pitchforth lying dead in bed with every appearance of having died peacefully.”

Constable Murray took Pitchforth’s body to Pond Inlet where he was buried. He remains there today.

In 1927, the government steamer, Beothic, reached Pond Inlet. The ship’s radio provided the first opportunity to notify the outside world that Hector Pitchforth was dead. British newspapers featured the story with sensational headlines. One read, “World’s Loneliest Man Starved to Death in Arctic.”

Deaf, virtually blind, alone, feared by the only people who could have helped him, the Inuit, Hector Pitchforth died a tragic death, and with him effectively died the Sabellum Company. The Hudson’s Bay Co. now reigned supreme in matters of trade in the eastern Arctic.

Taissumani recounts a specific event of historic interest. Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.