{"id":7608,"date":"2021-02-18T20:40:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T01:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7608"},"modified":"2021-02-18T20:45:35","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T01:45:35","slug":"episode-256-who-was-gerald-priest-he-found-or-stole-70-tons-of-silver-ore-story-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=7608","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 256 WHO WAS GERALD PRIEST? HE FOUND OR STOLE 70 TONS OF SILVER ORE (STORY 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gerald Priest took this  photo of his family\u2026powerful photo.  Yukon in June\u2026spring time.<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 256    WHO WAS GERALD PRIEST?   HE FOUND OR STOLE 70 TONS OF SILVER ORE, (Story 2)<\/div>\n
                            (subtitle  THING ONE AND THING TWO)<\/div>\n
alan  skeoch<\/div>\n
Feb. 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Gerald Priest was believed to have stollen 70 tons of silver ore worth upwards of $200,000 from  United Keno Hill Mine<\/div>\n
company.  Stollen from the  mine  and hidden various places. This was not some nickel \/ dime theft.  Big time.<\/div>\n
He  denied the charge stating that the ore came from a boulder  that had rolled onto the Moon claims which he<\/div>\n
and a partner owned.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Who was Gerald Priest?   No-one really knew much about him until his youngest daughter wrote A Rock  Fell on the<\/div>\n
Moon in 2013\u2026fifty years after the event;<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I think her description of her father reveals that Gerald Priest was quite a  normal guy.  Nice father.  Could have<\/div>\n
been.  Yet\u2026..<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
Gerald Priest on the right with the roll your own cigarette and rifle. Dark Glasses.<\/div>\n

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THING ONE  AND  THING TWO  (from Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, 1957)<\/div>\n

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\u201cRing\u2026Ring\u2026Ring! \u201c sounded  the newly installed telephone at the Priest home in Elsa.<\/div>\n
\u201cyes, yes\u2026Alicia is here.\u201d  said Alicia’s mother Helen.<\/div>\n
\u201cPhone call for you Alicia.\u201d , a little girl at the time.<\/div>\n
\u201cHello, who is this?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThis  is the BIG BAD WOLF, and I am coming to eat you up.\u201d, said Gerald Priest from  his<\/div>\n
assay office at United Keno Hill Mine in the company town of  Elsa, Yukon Territory, one of<\/div>\n
the largest silver mines in the world in the late 1950\u2019s and 1960\u2019s.  Alicia was either terrified<\/div>\n
or consumed by giggles and  laughter.  She never said which.  I prefer the latter.<\/div>\n

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Why tell you this story?  First, I found the story amusing.  The kind of story my dad might<\/div>\n
have told Eric and I when we were very small and  easily frightened.   Secondly, I want<\/div>\n
my readers  to try and understand  Jerry Priest, a man who changed  from an idyllic husband<\/div>\n
and father into a master criminal.<\/div>\n

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Alicia Priest, his youngest daughter, draws a  wonderful picture of  Jerry.  Her prose is faultless<\/div>\n
revealing, touching, sometimes  unforgiving, at other times warm and loving.  I think you need <\/div>\n
this biography.  It will help you understand his story.   Jerry was  a nice guy.   A little private but all the same a nice person to share<\/div>\n
a beer with if given the chance.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Jerry was born on August 27, 1927 in Edmonton.  His parents  dirt were poor and remained so  all<\/div>\n
their life.  They never owned a home but rented places  in communities  across  western Canada.<\/div>\n
Three boys.  Jerry was the middle child and resented his father\u2019s favouritism of his  older brother Bill.<\/div>\n
His mom, Alice, was  disowned  at 18 when she loved and married Bertrom, a  printer by trade.<\/div>\n
Out of sync with his times in that he remained wedded to cold type.<\/div>\n

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As I read these descriptive  words I thought of Steinbeck\u2019s Grapes of  Wrath families.<\/div>\n

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They moved around a lot.  Depression family\u2026dirt poor.  Powell River, Nelson, Prince Robert, Kimberley, <\/div>\n
 Kitimat, Williams Lake, Maple Ridge, Slocam City, and others. \u201cOccupational Nomads.\u201d Poor with no<\/div>\n
prospects of anything  better.<\/div>\n

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He finished  High School in Nelson, enrolled in the University of Alberta in chemistry for a short time<\/div>\n
then took a short course in assaying techniques\u2026i.e. determining the mineral content of<\/div>\n
ore samples.<\/div>\n

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\u201cDad grew into a  quiet, clever, well-read and well-spoken young man\u201d with all the attributes of a gentleman<\/div>\n
who could preside over business meetings.   Flip side \u2026 Jerry was at ease leading a string of<\/div>\n
pack horses through the Rocky mountain wilderness.  But when his guard was down \u201che squirmed<\/div>\n
in his own skin\u2026a fretter, a finger kneeder\u2026out of step with his times.\u201d  Shy in that he \u201cdisdained parties, <\/div>\n
crowds, and  gatherings of more than three or four and  was most at home when seated at a kitchen<\/div>\n
table with a dog at his feet, a cup of  coffee or a freshly rolled cigarette in hand and one agreeable<\/div>\n
companion across  the table, preferably female.\u201d  (P.16,17, A Rock Fell on the Moon)<\/div>\n

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He had a cruel streak. \u201che could trigger my tears by scowling in my direction\u201d  when Alicia was two  or three<\/div>\n
years old.  \u201cMom would say \u2018Stop it, Jerry\u2019 and he  would lean over and kiss me.\u201d  Jerry was witty,<\/div>\n
affectionate and  ” original\u201d most of the time.  He would give us the \u201cworks\u201d which entailed<\/div>\n
tickling us \u201cuntil we screamed  for mercy\u201d.  In winter, when the snow was deep he would throw us<\/div>\n
\u201cfull force into snowbanks.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Jerry loved practical jokes and  once persuaded his wife to drink a full spoonful of Tabasco sauce.  She<\/div>\n
choked and spat and did a full Ukrainian cossack dance then \u201ccollapsed in a fit of breathless giggles.\u201d<\/div>\n

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He pulled off the \u201clet  me put a string around the  tooth trick” successfully \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I won\u2019r pull<\/div>\n
the string.\u201d followed \u201cYank!\u201d  Tooth out.  I did this trick with my own brother.  String from his loose tooth<\/div>\n
to our bedroom doorknob. \u201cDon\u2019t want this done.\u201d  Eric said.  So I exited in a huff and  firmly closed the<\/div>\n
door.  Wham!  Tooth came out;  His trust in me however was another matter.   The story made me<\/div>\n
see  Gerald as a  normal person. No comment required from readers.<\/div>\n

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Helen\u2019s story is powerful.  A great mother\u2026seamstress.  She  made  clothes<\/div>\n
for the family\u2026in this case deerskin jackets.  Her story comes next.  Global<\/div>\n
in its reach.  Tragic in its consequences.  Loyal to the end.<\/div>\n

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He  was an outdoorsman. For four summers from  1958 to 1961 he ventured through  the Rocky <\/div>\n
Mountain wilderness on a horse  with a pack horse in tow.  Helen went with him on some of<\/div>\n
these jaunts while her mother babysat the kids.  A solid  marriage.  A camera buff, he photographed these<\/div>\n
trips with joy and  then turned  his  lens  of  his wife Helen and daughters Vona and Alicia both<\/div>\n
of whom were born in the Mayo Landing clinic, not far from Elsa.  They were children of the northland<\/div>\n
with a father that fitted into his  home and his surroundings.<\/div>\n

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Jerry loved sing cowboy songs while picking his guitar and puffing on a mouth organ strapped<\/div>\n
to his mouth.  The Priest\u2019s subscribed to Book Clubs.   Obviously the children were  up to date<\/div>\n
since Gerald called his girls \u2018Thing One and Thing Two\u2019 .  Names he took from Dr. Seuss\u2019s<\/div>\n
Cat in the Hat which had just been published.   <\/div>\n

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He was  indeed an ideal father.   How could Jerry become one of Canada\u2019s great con men?<\/div>\n
A mega thief?<\/div>\n

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I suppose the simple  answer is that people change.  Is greed our fatal flaw?<\/div>\n
I want you to know Jerry as we explore his heist.<\/div>\n

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What are facts about Cat in the hat?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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  • \n

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    <\/div>\n
    Dr. Seuss was asked to  write a children\u2019s story in 1957 using only<\/div>\n
    words  on a list that children \u2026new readers \u2026would be expected<\/div>\n
    to know.  He was given a list of 438 common words.  He wrote<\/div>\n
    The Cat in the Hat using 223 of those words\u2026which included<\/div>\n
    \u2019Thing One and Thing Two. (three words)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    THE CAT IN THE HAT<\/div>\n
    Dr. Seuss <\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    \u201cI think I will call them Thing One and  Thing Two”<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    excerpt<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    you will see something new. <\/span>
    two things. and i call them <\/span>
    Thing One and Thing Two. <\/span>
    these Things will not bite you. <\/span>
    they want to have fun.’ <\/span>
    then, out of the box <\/span>
    came Thing Two and Thing One! <\/span>
    and they ran to us fast. <\/span>
    they said, ‘how do you do? <\/span>
    would you like to shake hands <\/span>
    with Thing One and Thing Two?’ <\/span>

    and sally and i <\/span>
    did not know what to do. <\/span>
    so we had to shake hands <\/span>
    with Thing One and Thing Two. <\/span>
    we shook their two hands. <\/span>
    but our fish said, ‘no! no! <\/span>
    those Things should not be <\/span>
    in this house! make them go! <\/span>
    they should not be here <\/span>
    when your mother is not! <\/span>
    put them out! put them out!’ <\/span>
    said the fish in the pot. <\/span>

    ‘have no fear, little fish,’ <\/span>
    said the cat in the hat. <\/span>
    ‘these Things are good Things.’ <\/span>
    and he gave them a pat. <\/span>
    ‘they are tame. oh, so tame! <\/span>
    they have come here to play. <\/span>
    they will give you some fun <\/span>
    on this wet, wet, wet day.’ <\/span><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    Next Episode:   Helen Preist<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Gerald Priest took this  photo of his family\u2026powerful photo.  Yukon in June\u2026spring time. EPISODE 256    WHO WAS GERALD PRIEST?   HE FOUND OR STOLE 70 TONS OF SILVER ORE, (Story 2)                             (subtitle  THING ONE AND THING TWO) alan  skeoch Feb. […]<\/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-7608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7608","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=7608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}