Yukon who is who

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Gerald Priest

Joe Riddell tells the story of the Elsa silver heist using fictitious names. Gerald Priest's daughter tells the story in her book //The Elsa Silver Heist// using the real names.

[Gerald Priest] was an assayer in the Elsa Assay Office in 1961. A couple of miners carried some native silver out of the Elsa mine and took it to [Priest] to be melted down. [Priest] was curious about the source and the miners told of an open portal at the 200 Level that anyone could access. In 1962, [Priest] called Joe Riddell, Chief Mine Engineer for United Keno based at Calumet. [Priest] had re-staked claims on Keno Hill and wanted to know if some sacks of ore he found legally belonged to him. Riddell told [Priest] he could sell the ore and keep the money.((Joe Riddell, "High-grading at United Keno" in Sam Holloway, editor, //The Yukon Reader,// Volume Two, 2024: 178-185.))

In early summer 1963, a flat-bed semi trailer loaded with ore sacks stopped at the Elsa Coffee Shop. The driver reported that the ore was from [Priest's] mine and that two trucks of ore had preceded him. United Keno's general manager [Al Pike] had noticed the truck and he sent two exploration geologists to visit [Priest's] claims and they returned to report no evidence of mining. The police were notified to stop the shipment at the smelter gate at Helena, Montana. In early August, [Priest] was charged with theft and later two others were charged with a similar offense. A preliminary hearing was held in Mayo in late November and thirty-one witness were called over the three-week hearing. Sophisticated tests proved that the ore came from about the 200 level of the Elsa Mine and did not show weathering - so recently mined. The investigation uncovered silver precipitate from the mill and pounds of silver beads from a fire assaying process. A trail got underway with three men charged in October 1964. One of the men charged pled guilty and told the tale of theft in exchange for a two-year suspended sentence. The trial lasted six weeks and [Anthony Bobcik] was found guilty of theft while [Priest] was found not guilty. The jury was hung on whether the men had sold the silver. A new trial started in March 1965 and [Priest] and [Bobcik] were charged with conspiracy and the unlawful sale of silver precipitate. Both men were found guilty.((Joe Riddell, "High-grading at United Keno" in Sam Holloway, editor, //The Yukon Reader,// Volume Two, 2024: 178-185.))