A friend of mine, and an inspiration to me, was John Phillips. I worked with him in the early 70s up in Fairbanks, AK. He passed away 10 years ago and I wish I had been able to see him once more before he did.
When I knew him, he was known to us young sprats as "Preacher John". He had been a pastor in the town of Nenana, got crosswise with the local bar and liquor store owner who succeeded in having the men in the church vote him out. He was offered a church in Kansas, I believe it was, but John said "no thank you, my flock is here in the North." He then started working seasonal during the summers, then he would go to the villages to serve the Lord during the winters.
Preacher John always carried a Smith & Wesson large frame revolver (I don't know the model) .38 Special in his pack. One year the survey crew he was on was going up the Steese Highway North of Fairbanks. Suddenly John yells out "STOP!" The driver slammed on the brakes and John piled out the door, ran to the front of the truck, pulled out his revolver, sat down and took a shot down the road. Everyone was wondering what he was up to, when a caribou fell dead. They measured off the distance and it was a one shot kill of over 80 yards. The crew picked him up when they were heading back to town that evening, he had the 'bou all butchered out and packed up. Old John had his winter meat!
-Winter hawk-
