Death in the Wild

In his lonely cabin near the Sikanni River in Northern British Columbia, Trapper John Pich, 38, lay abed. Two days before he had eaten tainted food. Now his belly was bloated and he was in mortal agony. Primitive John Pich thought he would die if the poison was not taken from his stomach.

Trapper Pich took up his eight-inch hunting knife, plunged it into his belly. He groped for his stomach, could not find it. Because he knew he must die unless he got help, he staggered across the cabin to his rifle, went to the door, fired three shots--the S 0 S of the wild.

Pich's nearest neighbor, Trapper George Farrel, miles away in the frozen forest, heard no shots. But Parrel's huskies sensed something wrong and grew restless, soon were howling. Farrel broke camp, set out for Pich's cabin. After struggling through a blizzard he got there in time to hear Pich gasp out his story before he died. Outside, Farrel found the bodies of Pich's huskies. To save them from starving, Pich had shot them.

After trekking 75 miles west to the Alaska Highway at Trutch, B.C., Farrel got the news through. Last week R.C.A.F. men flew north from Fort St. John to get Pich's body. Farrel had told them where to look for it: in a snowy tree's branches, safe from the wolves.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.