You've probably heard of him, Dr. Elmer Gaede. Prescription for Adventure: Bush Pilot Doctor is his story.
In 1955, fresh out of Kansas Medical School, he drove up the Alcan Highway to the Alaska Native Services Hospital in Anchorage. He left behind tractors in wheat fields and learned to fly a J-3 on Lake Hood — then he volunteered for mercy flights into remote villages.
Moose, grizzly bear, and polar bear hunting came next, along with bush flying house calls and forced landings in blizzards along the arctic coast.
Later, he homesteaded on the Kenai Peninsula, cleared a half-mile airstrip, crashed his Cessna 180 into the Gaede-Eighty chicken house, took on a monkey for a patient, and flew patients to the Seward Hospital in treacherous conditions.
If you were spell-bound, intrigued, and laughing through the first version of Prescription for Adventure: Bush Pilot Doctor, you'll love this revised version! The stories have been enhanced with supplementary photos, previously unwritten stories, and additional details. Footnotes identify real-time locations mentioned in the book. Go see for yourself what "was" then, and what "is" now.
- Chp 1 — Opening the Door to the Last Frontier
- Chp 2 — Tundra Taxi
- Chp 3 — Flying or Bust! (Read Free Chapter)
- Chp 4 — The Thanksgiving Day Moose
- Chp 5 — Lime Village Evacuation
- Chp 6 — Out to Get a Bear Rug
- Chp 7 — Assignment: Tanana
- Chp 8 — A Strange Village Welcome
- Chp 9 — House Calls Alaskan Style
- Chp 10 — A Simple Caribou Hunt (Read Free Chapter)
- Chp 11 — King of the Arctic
- Chp 12 — Break-up Takeoff
- Chp 13 — Hunting: Not For Men Only
- Chp 14 — Close Encounters of Many Kinds
- Chp 15 — Hospital Ward the Size of Kansas
- Chp 16 — Tooth-pullin' Time
- Chp 17 — Double-feature Drama (Read Free Chapter)
- Chp 18 — The Last Alaskan Nomads
- Chp 19 — 2000 Feet Above the Yukon River
- Chp 20 — The Top of Alaska
- Chp 21 — Outside
- Chp 22 — Back Home
- Chp 23 — The Day the Earth Broke Apart
- Chp 24 — Baby Won't Wait
- Chp 25 — Return to Point Hope
- Chp 26 — Flight by Faith
- Chp 27 — No Ordinary Day
- Chp 28 — The Valley of 10,000 Smokes Revisited
An Alaska Unit Study Guide, which meets the standards for a semester of credit in Alaska history is available along with the first edition of this book. Learn more...
Download a free Discussion Guide.
"Coming from both a physician and a pilot, I thought the book portrayed both endeavors very well. Moreover, as someone who just enjoys reading, I thought it was unbeatable. The book was full of adventure and great descriptions of exciting (and true) events. The writing style fit the topic and was pleasantly easy to read...I have shared the book with several friends."
"Many people romanticize the pioneer days of our country — the era of stagecoaches, of rugged individualism, of a time when any man could pursue a life-changing dream if he were willing to work hard. Perhaps you have looked back on those times with a mixture of awe and envy, and wondered if you could have succeeded as a pioneer. Doc Gaede is a man of recent times who lived that dream, albeit with a car and a plane. Join the Gaede family and pioneer with them as they become homesteaders in the wilds of Alaska."
Last Updated August 2010