If he was American there would be a movie because Matthew Begbie had hero written all over him. He stood six-five, and when on a horse with his handlebar moustache and van dyke, he looked even bigger. Cutting a commanding figure, he tamed the Old West.

A circuit judge who brought bandits and outlaws to justice, he travelled the highways, biways and rivers of British Columbia before it joined Confederation. He went on horse, on foot, or by canoe, carriage or steamship, and carried out the law in a log cabin, under an oak tree, or in the open wilderness.

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Begbie befriended the Native people and spoke Chinook, their trade language in the Pacific Northwest. In 1860 he declared that the Indians held aboriginal title to their land and this must be recognized by law. He force

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