A tourist got lost and survived 67 days in the wilds of Alaska: a story that scares and inspires at the same time

William "Bill" Waters was lost while camping, spending 67 days in the wilds of Alaska. How he managed to survive and what his fate was, reports DNA.

Photo: IStock

In 1961, William "Bill" Waters, a postal clerk from Erlanger, Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati, had accumulated a significant amount of vacation time. Like any reasonable person, he took the opportunity to go to Alaska. He later said: “I went on a vacation to Alaska alone and decided to take a walk along the Steese Highway in Circle City on the banks of the Yukon River. When I got to Circle City, I decided to go camping." Sixty-seven days later he appeared, saved from death.

History in brief

Day One, June 20, 1961, Waters parked his car on the highway near Circle, 240 miles northeast of Fairbanks, and walked to Big Lake, nearly 5 miles west of Birch Creek. In connection with his long journey north, he packed a variety of camping equipment, most of which was left locked in the car.

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The car also contained the book How to Camp, by Civil War veteran John Mead Gould, originally published in 1877.

Although some parts are expectedly outdated, most of the book remains relevant. Gould wrote: “Don't rush to spend money on new inventions. Every year some patented satchel, folding stove, cooking utensils or camping suitcase and cot all come on the market… leave them alone.” Other wisdom was that "time spent making a bed is well spent" and "wear what you like as long as it's comfortable and durable." Gould noted relevant to Waters: “If you are going to travel where you have never been before, start studying the map in advance.”

That day, Waters made it to the lake with no problem. He fished for an hour, but was not satisfied. He told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: “I thought there must be a stream in the foothills and I went to it, but I never found it. I turned around to go back and walked along this stream, thinking that it would lead me back to the road.

Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn and went down the stream. If he had moved upstream—or if he had studied the map of the area according to Gould—Waters would have stumbled upon roads and people.

Start of search work

Day five, June 25, a Wien Alaska Airlines employee notified Fairbanks area authorities of a then-unidentified tourist walking on the highway near Circle. The tourist has not been seen for several days.

Day six, June 26, the search began in earnest. Members of the Fairbanks search and rescue team found a T-shirt attached to a pole about a mile from the lake. A civil air patrol flight found a makeshift canvas sleeping bag just north of the trail that Waters was supposed to be on.

Day seven, June 27, a team of sniffer dogs from Talkeetna, owned by CW Bradley, flew in to help in the search. Most of the people involved assumed that Waters was dead. By then, News-Miner called the operation "the search for the body of William S. Waters."

The bloodhounds caught a trail on the trail and followed it straight to the lake, where they repeatedly tried to jump into the water. Bradley was sure that Waters was dead and lying at the bottom of the lake. The diver searched for two and a half hours, but found no trace of human remains. On the same day, a state police officer discovered an abandoned camp 22 km from Circle in Birch Creek.

Day eight, June 28, the search continued on the lake. By now, authorities have assumed but not declared Waters dead.

Waters got lost

Meanwhile, Waters has just realized that he might be in trouble. “The first three or four days I heard the planes, but I didn’t think I was lost or thought little about them,” he said. Eventually a panic set in and he "began to move as fast as he could", unknowingly moving away from his saviors.

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From late June through July and into August, Waters wandered the Alaskan wilderness. Low trees jutted out from all sides, tearing his thin clothing to shreds. His moccasined feet were swollen. “Every day it got worse, my legs hurt and swollen and I could barely walk. I was afraid to take my shoes off for fear that I wouldn’t be able to put them back on,” he said. Swarms of mosquitoes injured his vulnerable wrists and ankles.

“At first it was hot, then it rained for two and a half days and it became cold and dreary,” he said.

He ate cranberries, raspberries and rose hips for more than two months. “I ate the berries before they were ripe,” Waters said. “And then, when the season ended and the berries began to spoil, I decided that this was the end.”

Vivid memories of food and hunger dominated his thoughts and dreams. “I dreamed of roast beef and gravy, hot mince pie with ice cream, buttered popcorn, boiled eggs and country ham. I was thinking how great it would be to make chili or vegetable soup,” Waters said.

Day 43, August 1, the coroner's jury convened in Fairbanks but concluded that it was too early to declare Waters dead. And his family, returning home, began to divide his property. After rescuing Waters, Alaska State Police Lieutenant William Trafton stated, "Now I have more faith in juries."

From Hell to Purgatory

One day he collapsed on the ground, too tired to move. “I lay on my back, crossed my legs and pulled my hunting coat over me. Something was twisting my legs over and over again. I put them back, and something turned them over again. Finally, I pulled my coat off my head and saw there was a little bear,” Waters said.

Nearby he saw two larger bears, but they all ran away from his sudden movement.

In the midst of endless loneliness, he despaired and contemplated suicide. His hopes are long gone.

“Sometimes the planes would get close enough that I would go out and wave my hunting coat,” he said. “The planes were too far away and I thought they would never find me - not in a million years.” According to Waters, the worst part was the lack of sleep. “I would have lied down, but the tension was terrible. I couldn’t sleep and got up tired,” he said.

His path, coincidentally, led him to Purgatory in Alaska. Cartographer William Janert once lived in this place, who called this place Purgatory because "it was a hellish place to live!" As fellow geographer Tom Ely noted, "This place was more mosquito-infested than any other place I've ever seen on the Yukon River, which is saying something." News-Miner later speculated that Waters traveled "backwards through Hell to enter Purgatory".

Day 65, August 24th. Waters was 42 years old, although he did not know about it. By then he had lost count of the days. In his delirium, the days get longer and longer until they merge one with the other. He survived no longer from day to day, but from moment to moment. Every extra minute of life was a victory, every hour an almost immeasurable triumph. When he was rescued, he thought that only two or three weeks had passed.

accidental rescue

Day 66, August 25, he was at the limit of his physical limits. Preparing for the seemingly inevitable, he leaned against a sturdy log amidst a stock of rose hips. Then he heard the motor.

“One day I heard a boat coming up the river, but I fell as I approached the river. I was too weak and then they passed by. I thought I would never see them again,” he said.

Day 67, August 26, he again heard the sound of a boat passing by. “I went down to the river with my tackle box and waited there, and an hour later they came back,” he said.

Two elk hunters were shocked when they saw a thin hand stretched out from the bank of a stream, in the middle of nothing, 120 km from where Waters was last seen.

Hunters gave Waters sweetened vodka and water before moving him. They first took him to Circle Hot Springs Resort, where Waters enjoyed what he called the best meal of his life, a bowl of chicken noodle soup. He also sent a short, almost laconic telegram to Kentucky: “I'm going to the hospital. Someday I'll be home. Tell Mrs. Ruth and Budd. Bill Waters,” he wrote.

Healing and fame

When he arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks, his temperature was too low to be measured by any instrument on site. Waters lost 40 kg - from 80 kg he dropped to 41 kg. His emaciated body and sunken eyes reminded the staff of nothing but Holocaust survivors.

His story captured the attention of the whole country. In modest Fairbanks, he was a celebrity, which contributed to his recovery. Nurses and other staff doted on him. Residents of the area tried to give him food. After Waters told a reporter how much he missed chocolate on a failed camping trip, the Fairbanks couple immediately sent him a box. When people read about his missed birthday, a huge cake arrived from the grocery store.

Letters poured into the hospital from relatives, friends, and even from his favorite restaurant in Erlander. But most of the messages came from strangers who read the story and wanted to contact him or give him a compliment. Some women offered to marry him, and one offered to pay for her way to Alaska so she could accompany him back to Kentucky.

Thanks to a protein and dessert-rich diet, Waters weighed almost 5 kg by September 60, although his strength was restored more slowly. On September 21, he was discharged from the hospital. A friend flew in from Kentucky and they drove home. Ninety-six days into his journey to the lake, he left Fairbanks. “I screwed up a good fishing trip,” Waters joked.

In 1974, he somewhat corrected this error by making a short return trip to Alaska.

Unique experience

There are no suitable lessons to be learned from Waters' experience. The 67 days of suffering in Alaska were hard, but it is still remarkable that there were no dire health or financial consequences. He was reinstated, his pay increased, and Waters was given "all the time he wanted" to recuperate. In 25 years, Waters has not seen a single doctor since he returned home.

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Waters noted that by all laws he should have died. He suffered primarily because of his mistake and did not have any innate skill or determination. As he bluntly admitted, he possessed "not too big brains, but a good physique." It was to be a statistic, a cautionary tale told to visitors for decades. However, sometimes chance is more important than preparation.

Instead of dying before the Beatles released their first single in 1962, Waters survived two of the band members. He lived until 2003, died at the age of 84.

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