The Mystery Of Father Goutier

Mysteries are always fun, and they are even more fun when we can solve them. One of the most famous mysteries in Canadian history is the fate of Henry Hudson. Back in 1611, his crew mutinied in Hudson Bay and left him adrift in a small boat with his son and several sick men.

We don’t know what happened to him after that.

Then there is the mystery of hockey player Bill Barilko (yes the one from the Tragically Hip song). He scored the winning goal to win the Maple Leafs the Stanley Cup in 1951. That summer, he went on a fishing trip to the coast of Hudson Bay with his dentist…Henry Hudson. Yes, that was his name.

The two men disappeared and their bodies were not found until their plane was discovered crashed in the Northern Ontario forest in 1962.

Another mystery that was solved after nearly a decade was what happened to Father Goutier.

Back in 1906, Father Goutier had arrived in the Vermilion area where he established the Roman Catholic Church in the new community. For the next 18 years, he was the parish priest and was very well liked. When people arrived in the community, he was often at the station with his friend Reverend C. Bishop of the Methodist Church to welcome them.

When he made the decision to leave, he was presented with a gold watch from the citizens of Vermilion. Many of his parishioners gathered to wish him well and he was visibly emotional about leaving the community. He stated his work with the church called him elsewhere, and he was now to be the new priest in Legal, Alberta.

He continued to do his work in Alberta until 1936 when it seemed that he had disappeared. No one knew what happened to him after he left Alberta.

In April 1945, the mystery was solved when it was revealed by his brother that they had finally heard from Father Goutier.

He was now living in Melun, just to the south of Paris. He had spent the Second World War working as the chaplain of a hospital there. It was a difficult time as the Nazis had invaded, but Goutier continued with his work.

The mystery was solved, and even in 1945, many people still remembered the kind priest who lived in their community for so many years.

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