Maggie Clay’s tragic fate

Maggie Clay loved the North.

She arrived in Chesterfield Inlet with her husband, RCMP Staff Sgt. Sidney Clay, in the summer of 1924.

They had already lived in the North for many years, at Fort Norman, Fort McPherson and Herschel Island, before coming to Hudson Bay to take charge of the post at Chesterfield, opened only two years earlier.

This was a four-man post; other than the Clays, the police that year were Cpl. Petty, Const. Robinson, and Const. Harry Stallworthy.

In the fall of the year, Staff Sgt. Clay left on a patrol by boat to Baker Lake.

Maggie — her real name was Agnes, but everyone called her Maggie — was used to his lengthy absences and unbothered by them. At home, she busied herself getting to know the few Inuit who lived in the community, and going for walks on the beach.

On Sept. 19, one of those walks turned tragic.

“A short time later,” wrote Harry Stallworthy, “Nouvia’s wife came running towards the house, screaming incoherently. I gathered it was something about the ‘white woman and the dogs,’ as she pointed to the beach. I could see a tangle of dogs seeming to be engaged in a massive dog fight.”

Harry ran to the beach to break up what he thought was a simple dog fight. But before he reached the shore, he realized that Maggie Clay was in the midst of the snarling melee, and that the dogs were biting her legs.

“She was on the ground in a sitting position and they were ripping at the flesh below her knee and biting at her arms and shoulders,” continued Stallworthy.

The archival record of the agreement about the amputation of Maggie Clay’s leg. (Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada)

“By this time, Petty was right on my heels and we quickly dispersed the dogs. We could then see the extent of the damage and were horrified and dismayed at the dreadful wounds and the amount of blood spurting from the severed arteries.”

Stallworthy picked up Mrs. Clay and carried her to the house. He tied off the arteries and cut away pieces of flesh. He bandaged her up as best he could and sedated her with ether, of which the post had a limited supply for emergencies.

Const. Stallworthy, with Norman Snow and Sandy McPherson, both of the Hudson’s Bay Co., left by whaleboat early the following day to try to reach a schooner operated by a rival trading company, Revillon Freres, perhaps to get medical assistance — the record is unclear. But bad weather prevented them from reaching the vessel and they returned.

Maggie calmly assessed her own injuries and told Stallworthy, “You will have to amputate my leg and it will have to be done as soon as possible.”

With their patient’s husband away, Harry Stallworthy, Cpl. Petty, Norman Snow, and the Catholic priest Father DuPlain drew up a document on Hudson’s Bay Co. stationery, stating their belief that amputation was necessary and that they believed such an operation would be successful.

All four men signed it.

Stallworthy’s account says Maggie Clay also signed it, but that is doubtful as the only archival copy does not bear her signature.

The document read:

1. We do not see any chance that the leg of Mrs. Clay can be saved. 
2. We seriously fear the gangrene will start in, the whole leg from the knee to the ankle being chewed up. 
3. Mrs. Clay is in intolerable pain. 
4. We seriously think that we can succeed, and we see in the amputation the only way to save the woman’s life. 
5. The person is quite willing to have her leg amputated, knowing perfectly well the existing conditions.

Stallworthy acted as anesthetist and was also in charge of cleaning the necessary instruments. That night, Norman Snow and Father DuPlain studied the section on amputation in Pye’s Surgery, a medical manual.

The next morning, they conducted the operation on the dining room table in Maggie’s home. After the arteries were tied, they sawed through the femur well above the knee.

Partway through the ordeal, Father DuPlain became woozy, and Harry Stallworthy had to take over his role.

Maria, an Inuk woman who was interpreter for the police, gave the priest a stiff shot of brandy, then took over Stallworthy’s role in administering ether to the patient.

Maria’s full name was Maria Theresa Kumaa’naaq Parker; she was married with two children and spoke English well. Stallworthy said she was “a great help to us” and that “it was a great blessing that she could speak English and that she was such an intelligent and able person.”

Maggie Clay’s first words when she came out from the anesthetic and heard that the operation was a success, were: “But I’ll never be able to dance again, will I? Not with one leg.”

No, Maggie Clay never danced again.

Two days after the operation, she was resting comfortably, in no pain. Still, Stallworthy could see she was “suffering from shock and loss of blood, and … losing ground.”

She was alert, able to eat and slept comfortably. The four men made sure she was attended round the clock.

Maggie may have been the first to realize she was about to die. She gave Stallworthy messages for her husband and her family. Then she fell asleep holding his hand.

Stallworthy wrote, “We had no further conversation, and she died quietly and without pain at midnight, just over two days after the accident.”

She was 32 years old.

Norman Snow made a coffin for Maggie and she was buried the next day.

Snow, Father DuPlain, Cpl. Petty and three Inuit women acted as pallbearers. Father DuPlain could not conduct the service as Maggie was Anglican, so Stallworthy read the required form of service from the prayer book.

Ten days later, Sidney Clay returned from his patrol to Baker Lake. On hearing of his wife’s death, he collapsed completely. But he pressed Stallworthy for details — he wanted to know everything that had happened.

As Stallworthy noted, “This was probably the worst part of the whole affair as far as I was concerned. How to tell the bare facts without any hope of comfort.”

An impressive headstone was eventually placed on Maggie Clay’s grave in Chesterfield Inlet. To this day, the RCMP maintain it and the white picket fence that surrounds it.

In 1961, Clay Island on the west coast of Hudson Bay was named in her memory.

Next Column: The Legacy of Maggie Clay

Taissumani is an occasional column that recalls events of historical interest. Kenn Harper is a historian and writer who lived in the Arctic for over 50 years. He is the author of Give Me Winter, Give Me Dogs: Knud Rasmussen and the Fifth Thule Expedition, and Thou Shalt Do No Murder, among other books. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.