Hon. Fabian Manning: Honourable senators, today I’m pleased to present chapter 61 of “Telling Our Story.”

Senator Manning: Many country fans throughout the world believe they know the life story of Johnny Cash, known far and wide as the “man in black.” His is a life story filled with extremely high peaks and even deeper valleys that has been told and retold through various books, magazines, newspapers, and even an Oscar-winning movie titled Walk the Line.

The “Folsom Prison Blues” singer never shot a man in Reno, but, in October of 1961, Johnny Cash shot and bagged a 500‑pound moose in the Victoria Lake area, just south of Millertown in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A week or so before his trip to our province, Cash performed at a charity show at Toronto’s Massey Hall. At that particular time, the multi-talented singer was struggling. His career had hit a slump.

During that period, a fast-talking Canadian concert promoter by the name of Saul Holiff was organizing Canadian tours for Cash, and he knew that Cash loved to hunt. He asked the singer, “Have you ever hunted moose in Newfoundland?” Of course, Cash said, “No.” Holiff followed up with, “If I can set up a tour around a moose hunt in October, are you in?” Cash quickly replied, “Are you kidding? I am there.”

The tour made stops in Grand Falls-Windsor, Stephenville, Corner Brook, Argentia, Harbour Grace and St. John’s. When female singer Rose Maddox quit in the middle of the tour, Holiff hired June Carter as her replacement. Seven years later, Cash married June Carter after proposing to her on stage in London, Ontario.

At the end of the tour, Saul Holiff became Johnny Cash’s full‑time manager from 1961 to 1973, helping Cash grow into a country music legend. They sealed their partnership with a handshake at the airport in Gander on October 10, 1961.

With his Department of Mines, Agriculture and Resources moose licence numbered 20206, issued on October 11, 1961, Cash and his entourage headed out for the logging camp at Victoria Lake. Accompanying them as their trusted and capable guide was former wildlife officer Herman Whalen, who was 29 years old at the time — the same age as Cash himself — and both men had served in the Air Force.

Mr. Whalen said that they were never stuck for something to talk about, and Cash was very personable, talking mostly about his family. Whalen said Cash thought Newfoundland was a beautiful place and had dreams of coming back.

The first morning, just 20 minutes outside the logging camp, Whalen saw a moose in the distance. Whalen told Cash it was a female moose and did not have any antlers. Cash replied, “You can’t eat antlers.”

From 200 yards away, Johnny Cash felled the 500-pound moose, and another interesting chapter in Newfoundland’s history was unfolding. The moose was later sent to Grand Falls where the meat was packaged and sent on to Cash a few days later.

In 2012, following the passing of Cash’s manager Saul Holiff, his filmmaker son, Jonathan, discovered a box labelled “Johnny Cash.” It contained hundreds of photos, letters and audio recordings, and from those he produced the documentary My Father and the Man in Black.

A short time later, Jonathan was contacted by a collector from St. John’s who had 30 photos of Johnny Cash’s hunting trip to Newfoundland in 1961 and suggested that Holiff, Jr. tell the tale of the visit.

While I am confident that Johnny Cash was much more comfortable at the logging camp at Victoria Lake in Newfoundland than he was at San Quentin State Prison, there was no ring of fire. It was just a single shot that brought down a moose and went down in the history books of Newfoundland and Labrador.