This is a story about how I nearly got lost in a bad snow storm.

In the winter of 1949 I was in the Nuksuk country with Louis and Johnny George who were really experienced men in that country. We were out with our dog teams and we were checking our wire mink traps on the flats. It was our third trip out and it was real nice weather when we started except for a cloud bank up to the north. When I looked over there and saw it I was a little afraid to ask those guys about what that cloud bank might do, but I thought I may as well learn for myself.

While we were digging for my last trap it started to snow--just a little ground drift at first which I didn't think anything about because even if it got worse I knew I'd make it back with those guys along.

By the time I'd dug down through the thick snow to my trap it was starting to snow hard and Louis and Johnny decided to take off. They figured my leader would follow their tracks and find them.

After checking my trap I took off too, but about a half mile before this big lake it started snowing so hard I couldn't see anything. I figured then I'd probably have to tough it out by myself even though I didn't have any dog food.

As I started crossing the lake I couldn't even see my closest dogs. I thought then that I might get lost in the storm just like a lot of others had. Then all of a sudden my dogs stopped in their tracks, and I was wondering what was happening. So after putting my sled hook in the snow I walked up ahead to see what was going on. Well, there right on the edge of the big lake were Louis and Johnny waiting for me. They said they thought I wouldn't make it, so they waited for me. If I weren't there in ten minutes or so they were going to start hollering to make their dogs bark to lead me in.

That was my first lesson about what could happen in a bad storm.