In 1931, a mysterious man of approximately 35-years-old arrived in Fort McPherson, Canada, claiming his name was Albert Johnson. He built a cabin in a remote location near the Rat River and began to make a living as a trapper. Later on in the year, other local trappers began to complain to the authorities that Johnson was sabotaging their traps. The authorities decided they would investigate this report and made their way to the secluded cabin; they weren’t expecting the relentless violence that would follow.
As the authorities arrived with a search warrant, Johnson shot through the wooden door and an almighty firefight ensued. Johnson kept the authorities at bay and remained inside his cabin for the next nine days, when an RCMP posse arrived to apprehend him on New Year’s Eve. A 15-hour standoff in below-freezing weather then took place. The RCMP used dynamite to blow the cabin up and upon entering to remove what they assumed would be his corpse, they were more than shocked to find Johnson still miraculously alive. He was standing among the wreckage, armed with two guns that he immediately began to fire, before escaping into the woods nearby the cabin.
On 30 January, 1932, authorities managed to catch up with Johnson, who shot and killed Constable Edgar Millen, before escaping once again. He crossed the Richardson Mountains in the middle of a blizzard and entered Yukon Territory. The news of this extreme manhunt had made it’s way into the media who dubbed him “The Mad Trapper of Rat River.” People were mystified as to how this man could have survived for so long in near 50 below zero weather and two extreme blizzards. It was evident that he wasn’t just your average trapper, that’s for sure.
On 17 February, the RCMP finally tracked Johnson down at the frozen Eagle River, where he was eventually killed with 9 bullets to the body in a firefight. Bizarrely, following his death it was revealed that Albert Johnson was not his real name. Despite numerous attempts to discover his true identity, he still remains unidentified.