Sam O. White, Alaskan

Tales of a Legendary Wildlife Agent and Bush Pilot

Sam O. White was a tough, deep-voiced, six-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound former Maine lumberjack and guide. From 1922, for half a century he criss-crossed wild Alaska by foot, with packhorses, dog teams, canoe, riverboat, and airplane. He helped map the Territory. He trapped fur. He became the world’s first flying game warden. White wrote exciting tales about his Alaska adventures. Those writings make up the bulk of this volume. In 1927, he arrived at Fort Yukon as a game warden when millions of dollars worth of fine arctic furs annually arrived there. The hardy frontier trappers considered the new game warden a joke, but he quickly taught them to respect conservation laws. He was frustrated by the impossibility of adequately patrolling thousands of square miles by dog team, boat, and on foot. With his own money he bought an airplane. Pioneer pilots Noel and Ralph Wien taught him how to fly it. White then startled remote trappers and others by suddenly arriving from the sky. In 1941, lack of backing from Juneau headquarters caused him to resign as a wildlife agent. At Fairbanks, Noel Wien made him Chief Pilot for Wien Airlines. For the next two decades White flew as an Alaskan bush pilot, admired for his flying skill and the superior service he provided residents who flew with him, and who depended upon him for receiving mail and supplies. He had countless friends—one hundred arrived for his seventieth birthday party. His integrity and principles were of the highest. Decades after his death, he is still spoken of with awe by he lings-time Alaskans. White write exciting takes about his Alaska adventures. Those writings make up the bulk of this volume.