Wolf Man Joe LaFlamme: The Legend of Gogama's Untamed Wilderness Icon

 

Wolf Man Joe LaFlamme - credit Toronto Star Archives

Canada's Forgotten Hero Who Tamed the Untamable

When we think of legendary Canadian figures, names like Laura Secord or Louis Riel might come to mind. But there's one extraordinary character whose story rivals any folklore hero—Joe LaFlamme, the Wolf Man of Gogama, Ontario. This is the tale of a man who mushed timber wolves through Manhattan, brought moose to Broadway, and became an international sensation while living in one of Northern Ontario's most remote communities.

From Montreal to the Wild Frontier

Born Télesphore Laflamme in 1889 in St-Télesphore, Quebec, Joe changed his name during the First World War to avoid conscription—a decision that stuck for the rest of his life. In 1920, the adventurous LaFlamme made a life-changing decision: he left the hustle and bustle of Montreal for Gogama, a tiny Northern Ontario settlement accessible only by train, 191 kilometers north of Sudbury.

He brought along his young wife Lillie, a former Parisian, to this wild frontier where roads didn't exist. The contrast couldn't have been starker—from the cafés of Paris and Montreal to the untamed boreal forest, where LaFlamme found work transporting goods to lumber camps by dogsled.

The Birth of a Legend: From Dogs to Wolves

LaFlamme's transformation into the "Wolf Man" began with disaster. In 1923, most of his husky dogs died from distemper, leaving him without his primary means of income. But Joe was nothing if not resourceful.

One day he caught a female wolf in one of his traps, and rather than killing the animal, he decided to keep her alive and train her to pull his sleigh. The experiment worked. LaFlamme began trapping more wolves, always using padded traps and releasing those he couldn't train. His unique insight was understanding that wolves could never truly be tamed—their wild instincts lay just beneath the surface, ready to emerge at any moment. Yet through careful study of their behavior and body language, he became the alpha of his pack, the one they feared and followed.

Taking Broadway by Storm

What happened next seems almost impossible to believe. LaFlamme's wolf team drew crowds in Toronto in 1925 that exceeded those at the Santa Claus Parade. The Toronto Star sponsored his appearance at their winter carnival, setting up a "bush camp" in High Park where thousands came to witness this northern wonder.

But Toronto was just the beginning. LaFlamme performed at sportsman shows across northeastern America—Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Indianapolis, Detroit, Windsor, Buffalo, and Hamilton. The pinnacle came when he brought his wolf team to New York City in 1926, mushing them down Broadway and even appearing at Madison Square Garden during the intermission of a hockey game between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.

A 1948 Life magazine photograph captured LaFlamme emerging from an elevator at Radio City Music Hall with both a wolf and a moose. The caption perfectly captured the absurdity and wonder of the moment. New Yorkers, typically hard to impress, watched in amazement as this bearded Canadian commanded his wild team through the heart of the city.

More Than Just Wolves: Enter the Moose

After more than fifteen years working with wolves, LaFlamme expanded his menagerie in the 1940s. He began training moose—an even more audacious endeavor. He taught them to be housebroken, eat at tables, and climb stairs. He became the first person on the continent to transport these massive cervids by airplane.

His moose appeared at the Canadian National Exhibition drinking tea, attended ABC radio shows in New York, joined him for meals at the Royal York Hotel's Rotary Club luncheons, and allegedly even accompanied him to his favorite Gogama drinking spot. The image of a moose sharing a beer with its owner captures the surreal yet genuine nature of LaFlamme's life.

A Hollywood Star and Forest Guardian

LaFlamme's adventures weren't confined to animal training. He worked as a bootlegger during Prohibition, a prospector during the 1930s gold rushes (delivering mail by airplane to prospectors' camps), a forest firefighter, and even a movie star. In 1946, he appeared in "The Forest Commandos," a Warner Brothers documentary filmed in Gogama, where he demonstrated his remarkable strength by lifting a 150-pound pump as if it weighed nothing.

Throughout his travels to major American cities, LaFlamme always carried postcards and brochures showcasing Northern Ontario's beauty. He was more than an entertainer—he was an ambassador for the region, promoting it as a tourist destination decades before modern marketing campaigns.

The Philosophy of the Wolf Man

What made LaFlamme truly exceptional wasn't just his ability to work with wild animals—it was his philosophy. He understood and respected the essential wildness of his creatures. He knew that despite all his training, a wolf remained a wolf, with instincts that could surface without warning. He survived several "wolf mutinies" and a dangerous wrestling match with his bull moose, but his passion never wavered.

LaFlamme became a conservationist ahead of his time, educating audiences about wildlife and the importance of preserving Canada's boreal forests. His shows weren't just spectacles; they were lessons in respecting nature's power and beauty.

The Later Years and Lasting Legacy

After 27 years in Gogama (1920-1947), LaFlamme and Lillie returned to Quebec, where he worked as a crossing guard and night watchman until his death in 1965 at age 76. His story might have been forgotten, relegated to a few yellowed newspaper clippings and fading memories, if not for Sudbury author Suzanne Charron.

Charron discovered LaFlamme's story when she visited his former home in Gogama at age 21. The tale captivated her for 35 years before she began serious research in 2007. She examined over 265 media articles, interviewed family members, and in 2013 published "Wolf Man Joe LaFlamme: Tamer Untamed" (with a second edition in 2017).

The book sparked renewed interest in LaFlamme's incredible life. In 2020, Charron collaborated with Sudbury artist Jacques-André Blouin to create a comic book series about the Wolf Man. And in a stunning 2018 discovery, LaFlamme's grandson Joby LaFlamme contacted Charron through Facebook, leading to a family reunion in Quebec in 2023—descendants who never knew each other existed finally meeting because of one man's extraordinary legacy.

Visiting LaFlamme's Gogama Today

Today, visitors to Gogama can explore LaFlamme's world through the Gogama Heritage Museum, which features photographs, recordings of his voice, the call of a bull moose, and footage from "The Forest Commandos." A self-guided walking tour takes visitors to LaFlamme's former home, the air base where he departed for prospecting camps, and other significant locations.

The town itself, whose Ojibway name means "jumping fish," remains a pristine wilderness destination offering fishing, berry picking, and some of the most brilliant night skies in Ontario—the same landscape that captured LaFlamme's heart over a century ago.

Why Joe LaFlamme Matters

In an era of manufactured celebrity, Joe LaFlamme's story reminds us of a time when genuine character, courage, and an extraordinary relationship with nature could make someone internationally famous. He was a man of contradictions—a bootlegger and conservationist, a showman and wilderness expert, someone who commanded wild beasts yet understood he could never truly control them.

LaFlamme's legacy teaches us about passion, perseverance, and the courage to pursue seemingly impossible dreams. He turned tragedy (losing his dogs) into opportunity, transformed a remote Ontario village into his stage, and brought the majesty of Canada's wilderness to audiences across North America.

As Charron noted in her biography, LaFlamme demonstrated remarkable courage in following through on his dreams—something many of us struggle with today. In our modern, cautious world, there's something profoundly inspiring about a man who said, "I'm going to train timber wolves to pull my sled," and then actually did it.

The Wolf Man of Gogama was real, his adventures verified by hundreds of period newspaper accounts, photographs, and film footage. His story deserves to stand alongside Canada's most celebrated legends—not as myth, but as documented history of one man's extraordinary life in the Northern Ontario wilderness.

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References

1. Northern Ontario Travel. (2024, April 25). Canadian Legend of Gogama Joe LaFlamme. https://northernontario.travel/northeastern-ontario/canadian-legend-gogama-joe-laflamme
2. CBC News. (2020, November 29). Northern Ontario 'Wolf Man' Joe LaFlamme reborn in comic book. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/joe-laflamme-suzanne-charron-wolf-man-comic-book-1.5805077
3. Latitude 46 Publishing. (2017). Wolf Man Joe Laflamme: Tamer Untamed [Book description]. https://store.latitude46publishing.com/products/copy-of-the-dependent-a-memoir-of-marriage-and-the-military-1
4. TimminsToday.com. (2025, May 31). BACK ROADS BILL: Meet the man who mushed wolves through New York City. https://www.timminstoday.com/column/back-roads-bill/back-roads-bill-meet-the-man-who-mushed-wolves-through-new-york-city-10730322
5. Charron, S. F. (2017). Wolf Man Joe Laflamme: Tamer Untamed (2nd ed.). Latitude 46 Publishing.
6. Puckstruck. (2018, June). Wolf Man: Gogama, Ontario's Joe LaFlamme [Blog post]. https://puckstruck.com/2018/06/
7. IMDb. (n.d.). The Forest Commandos (1946). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164030/
8. L'Express. (2019, April 2). Joe LaFlamme, l'homme qui domptait les loups et les orignaux. https://l-express.ca/joe-laflamme-lhomme-qui-domptait-les-loups-et-les-orignaux/
9. TimminsToday.com. (2014, March 6). Wolfman, Joe LaFlamme Biography Writer Visits Timmins. https://www.timminstoday.com/local-news/wolfman-joe-laflamme-biography-writer-visits-timmins-13261
10. Town of Gogama. (n.d.). The Legend of Joe LaFlamme. Historical archives and museum collections.