Ben Nelson and his horse

History / Biographical: Ben Nelson was a prospector, packer, and guide who was active in the Bulkley Valley and surrounding areas from at least 1914 until his death. In 1940, he embarked with Ralph Dieter and Pat Murray on a trip to Chuckachida Lake in northern B.C., where they hoped to find gold. His companions later returned to Smithers to retrieve supplies while Nelson stayed behind over the winter. He was encountered by a surveyor the following spring, then disappeared. "Caribou Hide Indians" found a note on the door of his cabin at Hyland Post, explaining that he had lost all his supplies when his raft overturned on the Spatsizi River. The mystery was solved in the mid-1980s, when an unidentified Indigenous man reported to Ralph Dieter that he and his father had met and assisted Nelson years before, then later found him dead and buried him beside the trail. (Interior News, "Nelson Mystery Retold," Dec. 13th 1989, pg. 17)