{"id":7437,"date":"2021-01-30T20:55:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T01:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7437"},"modified":"2021-01-30T20:58:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T01:58:59","slug":"episode-239-yukon-diary-tuesday-sept-11-1962-to-sept-12-1962-i-had-to-steal-the-bus-with-passengers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7437","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 239 YUKON DIARY TUESDAY SEPT. 11, 1962 to Sep[t. 12, 1962 I HAD TO STEAL THE BUS…WITH PASSENGERS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 239   YUKON DIARY   TUESDAY SEPT 11, 1962 to Sept. 12, 1962   I HAD TO STEAL THE BUS\u2026WITH PASSENGERS<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\t<\/span>alan  skeoch<\/div>\n
January 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
www.uphere.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_masthead_mobile\/public\/p55-bus.jpg?h=cdef0258&itok=AOJN4q1k<\/a> 768w, www.uphere.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_masthead_tablet\/public\/p55-bus.jpg?h=cdef0258&itok=WYj9pkoI<\/a> 800w, www.uphere.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_masthead_desktop\/public\/p55-bus.jpg?h=cdef0258&itok=e8wK-wd4<\/a> 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 459px) 460px,(min-width: 460px) and (max-width: 767px) 768px,(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 999px) 800px,(min-width: 1000px) 1200px” alt=”” typeof=”foaf:Image” apple-inline=”yes” id=”E6B77FEB-4FF7-4E74-B932-44A9AA338171″ src=”https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/p55-bus.jpeg” class=””><\/div>\n
No yellow line\u2026no pitch black night\u2026this is not the bus I stole but it is the Mayo <\/div>\n
Road to Stewart Crossing.  And winter is coming a month from now…<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Did I have  to steal that bus? I really had no choice.  Bill Scott had already flown out to Toronto. Job is over.<\/div>\n
 Either I stay in Mayo Landing and then fly to Toronto via Whitehorse and  Edmonton or I steal<\/div>\n
the local bus and hightail it to Stewart Crossing, abandon the bus and board the White Pass bus to Whitehorse.  This<\/div>\n
was not an easy decision.  Not something I  would normally do.  But my intricate plans to see more of  the Yukon depended<\/div>\n
upon getting to the junction of the Alaska Highway  then southbound to Whitehorse.  Without this bus all  plans  would collapse.<\/div>\n
 I did  pay the bus fare\u2026maybe.  Here is how it<\/div>\n
happened.  Hard to forget.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Lazy day in Mayo Landing.  My last day.  Got all geophysical equipment crated and ready for  CPA  air freight to Toronto\u2026to be<\/div>\n
confirmed when I get to Whitehorse tomorrow.<\/div>\n
Tonight at 1a.m. I will board the local bus for the ride<\/div>\n
to Stewart Crossing.  Then catch the morning bus to Whitehorse.  Tight connection.  No time to spare.  Waiting<\/div>\n
for the next bus is  out of the question.  There is  only one bus leaving Mayo Landing.   Must get on it.<\/div>\n
Had farewell drinks with the boys\u2026walked  around  Mayo for last time\u2026then joined the boys in the<\/div>\n
Chateau Inn for another beer.  That should help me sleep on the night bus.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then I stood outside the Chateau Inn waiting for the bus.  Others were there.  Not many.  I waited  in the dark.  No bus.   Waited more.  No bus. ” Jesus, where the hell is the bus?  If I don\u2019t get<\/div>\n
it tonight all my plans are doomed   Where in hell\u2019s half acre is the bus?”  I asked Al, the bartender. We  had the same first name\u2026knew each other. By now it was  1.30 a.m.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere is the fucking bus?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cParked over on east side of town, I expect.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201chow in hell will I get to Stewart Crossing in the morning\u201d\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGo and wake the driver\u2026happens often.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So I walked a distance to the edge of town. And there was the bus..sitting<\/div>\n
there.  Doors open. Ready.  But no driver.  I went to knock on his <\/div>\n
cabin door but did not make it.  He had a bunch\u2026two or three\u2026of sled dogs<\/div>\n
on guard.  Alsations.  Big teeth and slathering mouths. They did not like me at all. Looked  hungry or protecting or both.<\/div>\n
Bottom line was that I could not awaken the bastard driver.  Could not get<\/div>\n
close to his house.  How in hell would I get out of Mayo Landing tonight.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I tried the bus horn.  The bastard would not wake up.  And there dangling beside<\/div>\n
the horn were the bus  keys.  Dare i do it?  Dare I steal the bus?  Bit of a dilemma.  Either<\/div>\n
I take the bus or I return to Toronto by air.  My intricate plans were in jeopardy.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(Readers will not believe my decision.  I cannot believed it even now 58 years later. Some<\/div>\n
readers will think the whole story is fabricated.  Busses are not easy to drive. And taking<\/div>\n
a bus without a special licence is  a crime.  But Al, the bartender, said the bus driver often<\/div>\n
misses his schedule.  Was Al also inferring that a passenger could take the bus to<\/div>\n
Stewart Crossing and  someone would drive it back to Mayo? About 53 km.)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I just have this one chance to get to Skagway.  Limited  funds.   Must get back<\/div>\n
to Toronto for new academic year.  Only a few days leeway.  I have already cashed in my<\/div>\n
CPA  flight \u2026 using that money to help me take this great adventure.  The dye is cast.  So I will take the bus\u2026car theft?  No.  I have<\/div>\n
a ticket.  Very lame excuse.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I  would just be  borrowing the bus\u2026doing  the bus driver’ route\u2026a favour…with his customers.<\/div>\n
Hardly  theft.  But deep down I knew these excuses were pretty lame.  Finally<\/div>\n
I justified my actions just Like a criminal would.  \u201cThere will be no one of the road<\/div>\n
to stop me or know what I was doing.\u201d Traffic on the night road was  about nil.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So I turned the key.  The motor fired smoothly.  I reached for the big handle that closed<\/div>\n
the  door,  slipped in the  clutch, shifted to first gear\u2026eased  out the clutch and the great<\/div>\n
big bus began to move.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The passengers were waiting at the hotel.  Same place I had been waiting.  I pulled up<\/div>\n
opened the door with the hand lever and said \u201cAnyone going to Stewart Crossing?\u201d  About <\/div>\n
four or five people\u2026I forget how many\u2026stepped up and found a  seat without comment<\/div>\n
or worry.  This must have happened before.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The is only one road from Mayo to Stewart Crossing.  I think there was  a nice yellow<\/div>\n
line for me to follow.   Not sure of that.  Once we got rolling there was no looking back.  I did not say<\/div>\n
good bye to my crew.  They were all  in bed.  We had said our farewells<\/div>\n
and they assumed I was on the road to where I  would meet the morning bus to Whitehorse<\/div>\n
at Stewart Crossing\u2026about two hours  away.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That was  a long time ago.  And my memory could be faulty..  Was I  nervous?  Probably<\/div>\n
but there was no time for worry.  I  had  to follow \u2026 to straddle at times\u2026that yellow  line.<\/div>\n
No  speeding  But no delay either.  If I was late at Stewart Crossing my morning bus<\/div>\n
to Whitehouse would be gone and then I would  really be in s pickle.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The night was black.  Traffic was nil I think.  Drivers preferred the Mayo road in<\/div>\n
daylight in case an errant moose got in the way at night.  That was a bit of a thought<\/div>\n
so I kept my foot ready to brake.  But nothing happened  Once in third gear I never<\/div>\n
changed  gears until I  geared down at Stewart Crossing.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My passengers disembarked without comment. Some nodded acknowledging the theft with<\/div>\n
amused gratitude,  I think some were First Natons<\/div>\n
people but unsure.  This  theft was  a non event.  It had happened  before.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was daylight when we pulled into Stewart Crossing So I must have driven<\/div>\n
very slowly.  Not as heroic I guess.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We met the southbound bus with a little time to spare but not much. I asked the<\/div>\n
garageman aT Stewart Crossing where to put he bus.  He shrugged and gave a <\/div>\n
laconic  \u201cOver there, out of the way.\u201d  So this must have happened  before.  My <\/div>\n
worry that the RCMP would nab me before I got to Whitehorse seemed less<\/div>\n
and  less likely.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Boarded the White Pass bus with my riders  and sank into a<\/div>\n
double seat to grab some shut eye.   Relief and fatigue.  We rolled  into<\/div>\n
Whitehorse around 11 a.m.   Arranged with the CPA agent to pick up<\/div>\n
our Turam  equipment in Mayo Landing and ship it to Dr. Paterson in Toronto.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Signed into he Capital Hotel and went to sleep.  Awoke at 3.30 pm and had a nice<\/div>\n
hot bath and then a roast beef dinner at the Taku Motel where I met Walter Malecky\u2026drunk<\/div>\n
but still a fascinating man.  One of the really famous old timers.  Extroverted close<\/div>\n
friend of Moses Lord.  We had  a drink.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Later in the evening Went to the movies to see \u2018All Fall Down\u2019\u2026good.  Then read<\/div>\n
a little more of \u2018To Kill a Mocking Bird\u2019  before dozing off.  Quite a day. I was now<\/div>\n
totally on my own.  Skagway here I come.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The strangest sensation settled over me.  Loneliness. Being alone is not too much<\/div>\n
fun.  I wonder how drunk the boys are now back in Mayo Landing.  Do I wish I was<\/div>\n
back there?  Time moves on.  I got the distinct feeling that my adventures would <\/div>\n
always be centred in Keno Hill.  Hell, that was one of the big reasons I wanted<\/div>\n
to get to Skagway, then Juneau.  Just opposite Juneau is Douglas Island where<\/div>\n
one of the great North American mining disasters happened.  The Treadwell Mine<\/div>\n
disaster. And that disaster<\/div>\n
cut Livinston Wernecke loose.  And he became a legend that cannot die.  Without him<\/div>\n
Keno City would never have had those boom years of hookers, alcohol,\u2026his story<\/div>\n
is still to come.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Expenses<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Hotel   $5.00<\/div>\n
Meals $5.50<\/div>\n
Taxi    $2.00<\/div>\n
Phone calls  .20<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 239   YUKON DIARY   TUESDAY SEPT 11, 1962 to Sept. 12, 1962   I HAD TO STEAL THE BUS\u2026WITH PASSENGERS alan  skeoch January 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}