The Alaska daily empire., 1922-07-26
AVIATOR PRIEST
GIVES ACCOUNT
FATAL FLIGHT
Own Story Is Given to U. S.
Customs Collector Hill
lard Of Eagle.

Under a Dawson date line Of
July %, the Vancouver Province
of last Saturday prints the fol
lowing interesting account of Avia'
tor Priests attempted flight from
Eagle to Fairbanks:
Like a chapter of fiction reads
the story of the experiences oil
Aviator Clarence o. Prest, who
without a companion, attempted the
flight across the sub,Arctic EN-
pire of the Yukon and Alaska.
Prest flew with his moving pic
ture camera above great herd
of hundreds of caribou and was
forced to land in their midst, where
he slaughtered one to keep from
starving. The herd is part of the
vast multitude of caribou which
annually tricks across the region
near Dawson and Eagle.
Prest's own story of his re
markable exploit was told in the
following special from U. S. Gus.
toms Collector Jack Hillard OF
Eagle to the Dawson Daily News;
Thirty minutes out of Eagle
my engine bucked. I searched for
landing place and picked out what
looked like a level spot This. it
developed, was Niger Head Flat
at the head of Deer Creek, eight
miles from the mouth of Seventy
Mile River fixed the engine,
noticed couple of caribou and
set up my movie camera to get them
and the ship. | noticed that more
of them were coming, so ] walked
down a pier to see about taking
off.
Caribou Plentiful
Turning around | saw five or
six hundred caribou all around the
ship and the camera, and rushed
back expecting to find the camera
ruined. but it was not damaged. |
got ready to take off, but the ship
went up on her nose in the soft
going and broke her propeller.
81 had been debating killing one
of the caribou, but the debate ended
when the propeller broke, so |
killed one with .32 pistol, and
butchered him with pocket knife.
81 was overhaulng motor when
a puff of wind finished the Job by
turning the ship on her back, break
ing the radiator. i deserted the
ship. stripped off the instruments.
and magnetic, and started to pack
1t down to the river. I got down
with one load and saw wasn't
going to make it on the grub |
had, so cached everything, went
back to the ship and slept in the
tail Sunday night. I had left the
in. a cache at the mouth
of Barney Creek. so started for
town without it.
81 was further out than | sup
posed. On that account did not
pick up the trail as | expected. and
made a lot of unnecessary circles,
mountains for observations,
1t rained steadily, but had pro-
vided myself with a small can of
gasoline for starting fires.
Afraid to Sleep
MY shoes and feet were giving
out and I was afraid to lie down
to sleep. Finally on Wednesday !
struck the trail at Nimrod Bay
and shortly after the search party
hove in sight On Tuesday was
pretty sick of caribou cooked on the
end Of a stick ] had one steak
left when the party arrived and
promptly threw it out ! was tickled
when we ran into a cabin late
Thursday night. with my cigarettes
all gone | made one cigar last
three days by lighting it occas-
ionally. thought I was about
ten miles out when the search
party met m but was over twenty.
On account of lack OF sleep was
seeing cabins and people that did
not exist"
Prest followed the right bank
of the Seventy-Mile and the trail
is on the left bank. He was with
in a hundred yards OF it when he
cached his stuff at Barney Creek
but did not know it. Not knowing
the country and having no COM
mass. he tried to follow the air line
back to town and through hard
work succeeded. A pigeon sent out
with the search parts. brought back
first word OF his safety.