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Pilgrim's Wilderness

a True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier
Aug 17, 2014DorisWaggoner rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
When Papa Pilgrim appears in tiny McCarthy, Alaska, with his very pregnant wife and 15 kids, at first the neighbors are entranced. They seem the ideal of Christian homespun, and plan to homestead. McCarthy needs more people, so welcomes them. Within weeks, Pilgrim is bulldozing a road that may or may not be on his property line, his sons threaten the townspeople and Park Rangers (his property's in a National Park) who want to check the line and determine the health of the youngest children. Kizzia, a McCarthy native and journalist, digs into the past of the man who calls himself Pilgrim. His research discovers some highly disturbing details in "Pilgrim's" background that account for his retreat to a place where he believes he won't be followed. The story of domestic abuse finally has a happy ending, as one of the daughters has enormous courage, escapes, and tells, though the father has threatened death to any of them who do. Interestingly, Dana Stabenow used this true story in one of her Kate Shugak mysteries. A page turner, though sometimes so disturbing I had to put it down for a bit.