The manhunt

In March 1932, when most of the world was following the story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, residents of the Central Adirondacks were captivated by a manhunt reported by the Long Lake correspondent for The Adirondack Arrow, the newspaper of the time published in Old Forge.

Early Wednesday morning, March 2, 1932, John Blanchard and Lester Turner were taking in their traps near Blue Mountain Lake, according to the newspaper story, when they spotted a stranger who ordered them to leave and “emphasized his order with a shotgun.” The men returned to the area in the afternoon with the State Trooper stationed at Long Lake and two assistants, the game keepers from Long Lake and Indian Lake. They searched the area until dark that day and took shelter for the night in an old lumber camp.

The next day more troopers were sent from Malone and the search was resumed. They found it easy to track the stranger in the snow and determined that he was wearing deer skins bundled around his feet. They also noted that one of the skins became worn through and toe prints were visible in the snow. According to the reporter, the chase led into the triangle bounded by the roads leading from Long Lake to North Creek either by way of Indian Lake and North Creek or by Newcomb. The search party concluded that the man they were searching for was a good woodsman. They found evidence of his having built a fire, but found no signs of his having had food. On Friday morning about 11 a.m. they finally overtook the man, an Afro-American, surrounded him and asked why he was there.

The correspondent wrote: “He sprang behind a tree and opened fire. He was ordered to lay down his gun and surrender and told he would not be inured if he did so. He replied that he would never be taken alive and began shooting again. He was then shot in the leg by one of his pursuers. He sank to his knees and fired as rapidly as he was able. He was again wounded and overpowered. He refused to give any information about himself and died a little later.”

The victim had no identification on him, only $6 in Canadian coin and $1 in U.S., plus “a very good harmonica.” The reporter wrote that the man’s clothes were rotten from long wear and exposure, that he was between 30 and 40 years old, and “had a flat nose and projecting teeth, so that he resembled a gorilla.”

At this point the correspondent speculated that the Afro-American’s presence in the woods accounted for a hunter the previous season having been mysteriously shot in the leg and also accounts for minor thefts from several camps in the area. He wrote that during the winter, a hunting camp had been broken into and ammunition stolen, including rifle shells, and that the stranger was shooting pieces of rifle shell in his shotgun and that was thought to be a reason why his shots did not take effect.

The story ends with the report that the body was carried two miles to a lumber camp where it was left protected with a metal covering and “Sunday it was taken out on a sled to the Forest House in Blue Mountain Lake where it lay in state and many people from the surrounding towns viewed the remains.”

And a final sentence: “The woods are well rid of a menace so dangerous to life and property.”

One week later, in a letter to the newspaper, Duane LaFleche took issue with the story. Among his questions were these: “Was the posse organized to get the man dead or alive? What had he done to merit such drastic action as getting him dead? Was such a posse unable to wear down the resistance and capture alive an unprotected fugitive, weakened by hunger, cold and fatigue and wounded in the leg?”

Mr. LaFleche wrote: “The story shudders at the Negro’s teeth and beard. It believes he resembles a gorilla. If the posse thought it a man why were they so quick to take human life, why did they hold human life so cheap? If they thought it a gorilla, why didn’t they still take it alive as the only gorilla ever heard of in the Adirondacks?”