The Horrible Misdeeds of Papa Pilgrim

Robert Hale’s life of crime and abuse

Alaska’s slogan is the “Last Frontier.” To some people, this means Alaska is the Wild West, a place with less law and order where they can live as they choose. The man who called himself Papa Pilgrim believed moving his family to the wilderness of Alaska would offer him the opportunity to do anything he wanted. Papa Pilgrim was the worst kind of hypocrite because he hid his crimes behind his religious zeal. Like a charismatic cult leader, Pilgrim could appear charming and persuasive in public, but there was another side to him, and this was the side his family saw all too often.

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In most wilderness areas in Alaska, you’re likely to find a few people who have chosen to live in such a remote place because they want to escape societal norms and public scrutiny. Most of them are good people who simply don’t want to be bothered by the government or be told how to raise their children, or they want to follow their own spiritual beliefs. Alaska does have laws, though. Alaska is not the wild west. Papa Pilgrim might have hidden off the grid in the Alaska wilderness and continued his horrible reign over his family had he not taken on the National Park Service and turned a spotlight on himself and his family.