Grell, John William “Billy”

Variously known as: Billy Grell, William Grell, John Grell, Shorty Grell, William Dunn, Thomas William Dunn, Billy Dunn, Shorty Dunn

William Grell/Dunn came to this area from the United States. He had taken the last name of his step, or adoptive, father, Dunn. After he was released from BC Penitentiary, and headed north to Ootsa Lake, he returned to his birth name.

If William Grell/Shorty Dunn was the “W. Dunn” mentioned in the Similkameen Star on March 28, 1903 (page 1), then it appears he was in the Princeton area in March 1903. If so, at that time he was working on Luke Gibson’s Ranch at the head of Five Mile Creek. Before that time, it was reported that he had spent time in the Cariboo and Similkameen hunting, trapping, prospecting, and bronco-busting.

In May 1903, the Star reported that W. Dunn and J. Budd had recently returned from a trip to the United States. Jack Budd was a friend of George Edwards (Bill Miner) going back to their Texas school days.

In early 1904, he was trapping and hunting in the Ashnola Mountains. In 1905, he was showing good returns prospecting on Ashnola Creek.

Grell/Dunn was a participant in the Canadian Pacific Railway train robbery at Ducks, BC (near Kamloops at Monte Creek) on May 8, 1906, along with William (Bill) Miner and Louis Calquhoun. The three were tried and convicted in May-June 1906 and Grell received a life sentence at the BC Penitentiary for opening fire on the police during his capture. He was paroled in 1915.

While he was in the BC Penitentiary, George E. Winkler wrote regularly to Dunn (they had known each other in the Princeton area before 1906) and lobbied to have Grell/Dunn released. Other letter writers included: Reverend E.E. Hardwick, William Knight, Susan Allison, and Archie McKinley. There also was a petition circulated locally and in the Cariboo to have him released when King George travelled to India in 1911.

When he was paroled in 1915, he moved to Hope, and then Princeton. The Similkameen Star mentions a Wm. Dunn working with Wm. Allison and Mike Gaynor on a claim at the headwaters of the Tulameen River (September 21, 1917). In 1918, he bought supplies from Bill McKay and ventured out on a prospecting trip. In the winter of 1919, he was trapping in the Princeton area.

He worked in the store of A.L. White in the early 1920s. He was still corresponding with Jimmy Steve, J.C. Budd, and Harry Gordon.

He was also a foreman on the Allison Ranch.

On June 19, June 1922, he wrote a letter (published in the Princeton Star) to A.L. White, describing his life at Ootsa Lake.

He was also an artist and sometimes drew cartoons.

He was said to be quick-tempered and “as variable as the weather,” but kindly and likeable.

On Monday, July 27, 1921, he rented two automobiles and transported children up to the Princeton Dairy Ranch (Aldous Ranch, 1927) to enjoy ice cream and sweets as well as sports events with cash prizes for the winners. He left on Thursday, June 30, 1921 with William McHugh on a prospecting and trapping expedition for several months up in Cariboo country.

He drowned in the Tahtsa River near Ootsa Lake around June 28, 1927. He was buried on the ranch of George Henson, overlooking Ootsa Lake.

According to the oral history of Angie/Aurelia (Allison) McDiarmid, William (Billy) Dunn was originally born John Gorell [Grell] but was adopted by the Dunn family (USA). He worked as a farm hand for the Allison family for a considerable time until Mrs. Allison ran out of work for him. She remembers that he worked in the potato patch. Billy then went prospecting until meeting Bill Miner (alias George Edwards) and reluctantly joined with him in the train robbery at Ducks. She said no one here ever called him Shorty.

Further reading: See file Bill Miner July 1, 1921; Royal BC Museum http://staff.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/2015/04/02/and-the-infamous/; Interred with their Bones by Peter Grauer

See also, Miner, William (Bill); Calquhoun, Louis