B.C. gentleman train robber Bill Miner inspires art in all its forms | 24CA News
Bill Miner is a legendary identify in some elements of B.C. — notably within the province’s Interior, the place the infamous practice robber was apprehended by police greater than 115 years in the past.
His story impressed a number of books, an award-winning movie and even a couple of songs.
Known because the Grey Fox and the Gentleman Bandit, Miner’s lifetime of crime started within the U.S. within the 1800s. He was recognized for robbing stagecoaches, which typically carried packages on lengthy journeys and was caught and ultimately sentenced to 25 years in a California jail in 1881.
When he emerged from jail in 1902, trains had largely changed stagecoaches. And so, he changed his typical goal with a brand new one.
According to the federal authorities, Miner robbed CP Rail trains in B.C. in 1904 and 1906. In the spring of 1906, he was captured close to Kamloops, B.C., tried, convicted and given a life sentence at a federal maximum-security jail in New Westminster.
But, on Aug. 8, 1907, Miner escaped. He went again to the U.S., the place he continued to rob trains.
Miner was ultimately caught and died in jail.
Film, songs
A feature-length movie concerning the practice robber’s exploits was launched in 1982, starring Richard Farnsworth in the lead position.
The Grey Fox gained seven Genie Awards, honouring the perfect in Canadian movie from 1980 to 2012.
Farnsworth was nominated for a Golden Globe for his position.
“When [director Phillip] Borsos thought of the kind of mythical landscapes of British Columbia and the Canadian West, this figure of Bill Miner emerges … as a folk hero,” mentioned movie critic Tom McSorley.
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He was thought-about one thing of a Robin Hood-type. It’s type of that folks hero mythology that I believe surrounds him as a result of it is like sticking it to the person.”
The film explored how Miner’s switch from robbing stagecoaches to trains illustrated that particular time in technological history.
“As Bill Miner himself says, ‘A skilled at all times specializes,'” McSorley said.
Canadian folk singer Paul Valdemar Horsdal, known professionally as Valdy, also took an interest in the legend of Bill Miner. He partnered with songwriter Gary Fjellgaard, and within just two days of deciding to write a song honouring Miner, they had one.
“Billy was undoubtedly one in all my heroes for positive,” Fjellgaard said. “He simply represented freedom.”
The song appeared on a collaborative album by Valdy and Fjellgaard, Contenders Two: Still In The Running.
In 2017, the Kamloops Music Collective commissioned composer Robert Buckley to write a song about Miner for eventual use in teaching music students about both music and local history.
The result was an orchestral number entitled The Legend of Billy Miner.
