White, Sam O., 1891-1976

Sam O. White (1891-1976) was born in Eustis, Maine. It was there, during his formative years, that his love for the great outdoors became evident. Following a grammar-school and correspondence-school education, he became a professional canoe and swift-water man, registered guide, lumberjack, and scaler. He left Maine in 1921 to work for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, and afterwards joined the International Boundary Survey as a signalman for three years. From the early 1920s, he lived in Alaska as a game warden and bush pilot, residing in Fairbanks until his death in 1976. Concurrently, he was a commercial pilot, organizing flying patrol for the Alaska Game Commission, and partnered with Steve Miskoff in "Yukon Bush Air Charter" until 1947, when the partnership was dissolved. During his flying years he covered many air miles in his Stinson, touching down in numerous bush villiages throughout Alaska.