Haphazard History: A murder in the Cariboo goldfields
At the top (east) side of the historic old Quesnel Forks cemetery, just outside the original fence line, you can see a well-marked grave site. The headboard reads, "In memory of Jewish merchants D. Sokolosky & H. Leivin- murdered July 26, 1862." This burial site is a testament to one of the worst crimes of the gold rush.
David Sokolosky and Herman Leivin had come to Quesnel Forks from Victoria in the fall of 1861. They set up a mercantile store, and by the spring of 1862 were well known and well established in the community. The demand for merchandise in the goldfields was so great that in the early summer of that year, they decided to take a small pack train of goods up to the diggings at Antler Creek. They hired a French-Canadian packer, Charles Rochier, and the three of them made their way up to the new town of Antler City. It was a profitable venture for the merchants, and they sold virtually all of their wares, taking in between 800 and 2,000 ounces of gold. (No one really knows exactly how much gold they received in payment for their goods. Estimates range from $10,000 to $30,000, with gold at the time being worth $15.00 per ounce.)
On July 18, 1862, the three men joined up with two gold miners, W.T. Collinson and Tom Harvey, to make the return journey via Keithley Creek back to Quesnel Forks. At Keithley, Sokolsky and his two companions decided to stop for dinner and to stay the night at the stopping house there while the two miners chose to continue on towards the Forks and to camp overnight along the way.
Word had spread about the merchants' success, and when they resumed their journey the next morning, trouble was waiting for them. A notorious American criminal Boone Helm and a partner had been in the Antler Creek area looking for an easy score. Helm had been involved in armed robberies and murder in the California gold rush and had avoided capture by coming north. There was even good evidence that during his escape he had killed and cannibalized a different partner to avoid starvation.
Boone and his associate left Keithley Creek early in the morning and made their way down the trail to lie in wait for Sokolosky's party. Their ambush was quick and brutal. Although the merchants and their packer fought back (each man's pistol was empty) all three of them were shot several times, then finished off with a bullet to the head. In addition to taking all the gold and the horses, the perpetrators made off with their victim's personal effects, including their hats. Their bodies were dragged off to the side of the trail and covered with brush.
Helm had planned to go to Quesnel Forks and to lay low there until the excitement died down. Rather than taking the bags of gold with him he buried them somewhere alongside the trail, planning to return for them at a later date. What he didn't plan for was the uproar that the murders generated. When the three bodies were brought in the day after the killings, the townspeople quickly organized a meeting, issued a warrant for the arrest of the murderers who were identified by Colinson and Harvey, formed a posse, and raised $700 to pay its expenses. Helm knew that he would soon be discovered, and he beat a hasty retreat.
Despite being hunted by the posse, Helm managed to make his way down to Victoria, where he had some run-ins with the law there for petty crimes. Word had not yet reached the capitol about his involvement in the murders near Quesnel Forks, and before it did he made his way back across the border to the United States.
However, the lure of gold is strong, and in the spring of 1863, Helm crossed back into Canada, intending to travel back up to the Cariboo to dig up the bags of gold he had buried. Before that happened, however, he was tracked down and arrested by authorities just north of Yale. His arrest was not for the murder of the merchants, rather it was for an outstanding warrant for a murder had had committed some years previously in California.
When he was arrested, Helm was exhausted from hunger, fatigue, and the pursuit which had lasted for several weeks. He has started out with a travelling companion, but when Helm was captured there was no sign of this man. When he was asked about his whereabouts, Helm replied "Why, do you suppose that I'm a damn fool enough to starve to death when I can help it? I ate him up, of course!" This cemented Helm's reputation as "The Kentucky Cannibal."
Helm was handed over to the American authorities and he was incarcerated in the prison at Port Townsend, Washington. He didn't stay there long, however. He escaped and made his way to Idaho, then to Montana, continuing his lawless ways until he was captured by a committee of vigilantes. He was hanged at Bannock, Montana on Feb. 15, 1864.
But back to the grave site at Quesnel Forks. It was decided in a town meeting that Sokolosky and Leivin, because they were such respected citizens, should have a proper burial. A collection was taken up to cover the costs of a suitable funeral. There was a problem, however. The two merchants were Jewish, and thus they could not be buried in a Christian cemetery. That is why the grave site lies outside the original fence line. It's as close as possible to the cemetery, but not technically within its boundaries.
And the gold that Boone Helm and his unnamed partner hid or buried beside the trail from Keithley creek to Quesnel Forks? It was never found, or at least nobody ever claimed to have located it. It's probably still there.
For this I relied upon the writings of Marie Elliott, Dave Falconer, and s found on the internet.
