WALTER “YUKON” YATES — AUTHOR, ADVENTURER, FRONTIERSMAN
In his late eighties, Walter published his first book, Breakaway, chronicling his adventures in Alaska as a gold prospector, bush pilot, inventor, and helicopter crash survivor. In awe of his stories, I wrote an article about Walter in 2012 for an Austin magazine I was editing at the time. He loved that article and reached out to me in January of 2013 to ask if I’d help him finish his second book. As a lover of adventures and grandads, having been raised by my own, the answer was an endearing yes, beginning a friendship that lasted until Walter passed away at 90 in March of 2015. While we couldn’t finish the second book, we did work together to preserve his stories in other ways.
OUR TIME TOGETHER & THE MAKING OF A SHORT FILM
As Walter and I worked together on his story arc and organized his second book, which we titled Return to Post River | The Last True Frontier, he physically became more and more frail while simultaneously becoming more and more enlivened. He was energized by our days together as we finalized his title, designed his book cover, perused old photos to include in the text, and met with the publisher to talk through fonts and materials. But he was growing weaker. As was common with Walter, the enlivened remained his driving force, and he expressed that he had to go to his cabin one more time — the cabin he built by hand in the Kuskokwim Mountains along Alaska’s Post River, the cabin where he lived in solitude for a year. The cabin was one of his greatest loves. I knew he could hear the wolves howling from afar (I could almost hear them when Walter talked), and I encouraged him to go. On May 29, 2014, Walter wrote the excerpt below. And in July, he took a helicopter to the remote stretch of land along the Post River (this time as a passenger rather than pilot), spending his last 4th of July in the place that was the inspiration for and location of many of Walter’s stories.
“I will continue this story as time goes by and my visit to the cabin will be my last chapter in the book. I will have gone full circle. The departure date is now less than two weeks away. Pneumonia aside, I am convinced I will do this.
The question is always the same, 'Why at the age of 89 would you want to do this?'
I guess I just want to relive those exciting times one more time. I built that cabin deep in the vast wilderness of the Kuskokwim Mountains in Alaska with my bare hands, and I stayed there for an entire year, living in that cabin and off the land without aid...with a new adventure every day. The memories are strong. I know it will be different today, but I must live it again, before I die.”
Upon his return, Walter was overjoyed. The cabin, which he built in 1975 and last visited in 2004, was almost as he left it. And he encountered folks en route who knew of his legacy. He returned to Austin honored and fulfilled — complete in a sense. And I knew I wanted to preserve this essence of Walter — in motion. Something that captured his character and narrative in a medium we could watch long after he returned to his proverbial frontier. Walter was also eager to preserve his stories, so we developed a storyline and hired a filmmaker to help us bring our vision to life.
The final short includes interviews with Walter as well as footage from his 1978 documentary, Breakaway, produced by Warren Skaaren (Beetlejuice, Top Gun, Batman). The footage also includes my first ride in a single-engine plane above Lake Travis, thanks to one of Walter's neighbors who just happened to have his crimson and mustard 1946 J-5 Cub Cruiser on hand while we were filming. Walter loved watching and rewatching the trailer.
Sadly, just three months later and before we could finish his book, Walter passed away. Alas, these three short minutes remain an incredible treasure — an artifact of a genuine frontiersman and a bookend to an adventurous lifetime rich with stories.
Filmed and directed by: Alyson Landry
ALASKA MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018
After Walter passed away, I knew the book was a lost endeavor. So I decided to pitch his story to Alaska Magazine — a publication Walter would be honored to be featured in. I first pitched the magazine in August of 2015, but didn’t get a response. Two years later, on July 18, 2017, I tried once more. The next day, I received an enthusiastic response from an editor who loved Walter’s stories and commissioned the piece. The story ran in the following December/January issue, in which I was a featured author at the front of the book — and the short but powerful piece remains my proudest byline to date.
An excerpt from my own writings in the spring of 2014: “I had lunch with Walter today—at almost 90, his adventure tales are unreal; every time I leave our visits, I have daydreams of submarines and grizzlies and deserts and getting as lost as possible. We walked into the restaurant, and a man tipped his hat and whispered ‘Semper Fi.’ Walter thanked him, and I got teary eyed. Admiration comes across every face that crosses his path; the waitress thought he was my grandad, and remarked, ‘Y'all have the same eyes.’ Walter said, ‘That's because we see things the same way.’”
(Photos below courtesy of Walter’s collection, intended to be among the pages of Return to Post River.)
