Thomas Grant Hadwin (born October 25, 1949) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

forest engineer. In January 1997, he felled Kiidk'yaas (also known as "the Golden Spruce"), a Sitka Spruce tree located on the

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...

archipelago and considered sacred by the Haida people. Hadwin stated that he cut the tree down as a protest against the

logging industry Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. While facing criminal charges for the act, he disappeared en route to his

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

. His fate remains unknown. Hadwin is the subject of

John Vaillant John Vaillant (born June 4, 1962) is an American-Canadian writer and journalist whose work has appeared in ''The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic'', and '' Outside''. He has written both non-fiction and fiction books. Personal life ...

's 2004 book ''The Golden Spruce'' and Sasha Snow's 2015 documentary film ''

Hadwin's Judgement ''Hadwin's Judgement'' is a Canadian documentary film, released in 2015. Directed by Sasha Snow and based in part on John Vaillant's 2004 book ''The Golden Spruce'', the film is about Grant Hadwin, the logger who protested logging company practi ...

''. The film includes reenactments in which Hadwin is portrayed by actor Doug Chapman.

Early life

Hadwin was born in

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. His family was active in the logging industry. Hadwin himself became a logger and later a forest engineer. However, he became increasingly upset with the logging industry's methods and impacts, and exhibited signs of mental instability.

Cutting down of Kiidk'yaas

In January 1997, Hadwin traveled to

and purchased a

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pru ...

and other felling equipment. Early on the morning of January 20, 1997, he swam across the freezing

Yakoun River The Yakoun River is the largest river on Haida Gwaii, off the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Estimated to be in length, it is located on Graham Island, the northernmost and largest of the archipelago, and runs in a twisting course genera ...

with all of his equipment and made a series of strategic deep cuts in Kiidk'yaas (the Golden Spruce). The cuts were designed to leave Kiidk'yaas standing, but weakened, so that it would be knocked over by the next strong winds. The tree fell two days later. After cutting down the tree, Hadwin left the islands for

Prince Rupert, British Columbia Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12 ...

. He sent a

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

to the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

and the

Haida nation The Council of the Haida Nation ("CHN") (''X̱aaydaG̱a Waadlux̱an Naay'') is the elected government of the Haida Nation. The council consists of a president and vice-president elected by popular vote, twelve regional representatives from four el ...

claiming responsibility for the act, saying that he was motivated by "rage and hatred towards university trained professionals and their extremist supporters". The act outraged people throughout

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and received extensive media coverage. Hadwin was arrested, ordered to return to Haida Gwaii to stand trial, and released on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

Disappearance

Hadwin's court appearance was scheduled for February 18, 1997, in

Masset Masset , formerly ''Massett'', is a village in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Masset Sound on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Col ...

. Numerous people speculated that Hadwin would be killed before he could stand trial.Vaillant, p. 163 Hadwin stated that he feared for his safety if he were to travel from Prince Rupert to Masset by ferry or

plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * ''Planes' ...

, and decided to make the trip across the

Hecate Strait , image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island , image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = , caption ...

(a notoriously stormy and violent body of water) alone by kayak. On February 11, Hadwin set out from Prince Rupert, but turned back a day later after being caught in a storm. On February 13, Hadwin set out again. The next day he was spotted north of Prince Rupert, but he failed to appear in court as scheduled. There have been no confirmed sightings of Hadwin ever since. In June 1997, the wreckage of Hadwin's kayak and equipment was found on uninhabited Mary Island, an island about 4 miles long located northwest of Prince Rupert at the entrance to

Revillagigedo Channel Revillagigedo Channel (, , locally Revilla, ) is an ocean channel in the Alexander Archipelago of the U.S. state of Alaska. Extending 56 km (35 mi) northwest from the Dixon Entrance, it lies between the mainland to the east, Revillagige ...

. Because Hadwin was known to be an expert in

wilderness survival Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

and said to have an exceptional tolerance for the cold,Vaillant, p. 209 some people believe that Hadwin faked his own death and vanished into the wilderness. His ultimate fate is unknown.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadwin, Grant 1990s missing person cases 1949 births Haida Gwaii Missing people Missing person cases in Canada People from West Vancouver People lost at sea Canadian loggers 20th-century Canadian criminals

Early life

Cutting down of Kiidk'yaas

Disappearance

See also

References

External links