On December 15, 1968, when Paul was 27 years old, he was coming home from Bethel by snow machine and decided to stop at Akiachak. People there told him that the weather was going to get worse, but he decided to try to make it home and continued on his way. When he got out on the tundra the weather got really bad. The snow was blowing so hard he couldn't even see the front of his snow machine. Soon he ran out of gas and started walking. After a day or so he came to the little hills on the south side of the Yukon. But there was really deep snow there and he had to go down on his knees and elbows and crawl. He had no snowshoes so crawling like this helped keep him from sinking in the deep snow. So far he had gone 3 days without food, water and sleep. So when he finally made it to a slough he stopped and fell asleep right on top of the snow. He doesn't know how long he slept but when he woke up it was morning. He also found he couldn't move most of his body. It was cold and he had almost frozen to death while he was sleeping. He started moving his arms around for a couple hours until they finally had feeling. While he was doing this he thought about dying. He wondered if he died there at that spot if that is where people would find him? Then he thought about his brother Charley and decided to keep on walking.

After walking for many more hours he finally got to the Yukon River. He saw he was above Ohogamiut a few miles probably near Kakamiut, so he started walking slowly down river, hoping to make it to Ohog before dark. When he got to Ohogamiut he went into one of the old cabins there and stayed the night. Since he didn't have any matches he couldn't build a fire, so he gathered lots of grass and stuffed it inside his clothes to keep warm while he slept. It was like sleeping in a warm house, he said.

In the morning he was more rested but still very hungry because there was no food in Ohog. He set out again anyway, heading downriver for Marshall which was still 30 miles or so away.

When he got down to a place called Agumalria he was really tired again, but in the distance he saw a snow machine and he waved it over. It was Vernon Evan. He told Vernon his story and asked him if he could bring him home to Marshall. But Vernon couldn't take him back, so Paul continued on down the river. When he reached Ingrihak he saw another snow machine, and he took off his coat and waved the snow machine over. It was Pete Williams. Pete asked him what happened and he told him he got lost and had been walking for seven days without food. Could he give him a ride home? Pete told Paul that he'd take him to Ohog first and then take him back to Marshall the next day. When they got to Ohog Pete gave Paul some food but told him not to eat too much because he hadn't eaten in a long time. The next day they both went back to Marshall. Paul said he would never forget Pete for what he did. If it wasn't for Pete, he said, he probably wouldn't be alive today. Pete gave him life. One thing he learned is never to travel in such bad weather again. He learned his lesson that year.

By: Paul Boots

Interview by: Theresa George