Yukon who is who

Lucien Francis “Frank” Barr (1903 - 1983)

Francis Barr was born in Lawrence County, Illinois.¹⁾ He joined the United States calvary in 1919 and chased bandits on the Mexican border. In 1922 he switched to the Army Air Service and worked on payroll and airplane maintenance. The pilots bent the rules and taught him how to fly. In 1931, Barr signed on to the Eastman Expedition, organized to prove a proven gold strike in the Yukon. He flew a small supply plane from Atlin to Frances Lake. The proven strike proved to be nothing worthwhile and the organizer, Thomas Mitchell, left Atlin in disgrace. Most of the party left the north but Barr stayed in the north to work for Bill Strong who had a trading post at Telsequah, Alaska on the Taku River near Juneau.²⁾

In November 1932, Barr took off from Atlin on route to Sayea Creek on the Liard River with food and fuel for some prospectors. He stopped for gas at Teslin Lake but ran out of light before reaching his destination. He landed on Wolf Lake but a storm during the night put the plane upside down. Barr and some First Nations trappers turned the plane over. He splintered a wing strut with an axe handle and patched the damaged ribs with a flattened gas can. He laced the windshield together with Moosehide and whittled down the long blade of the prop to make the two pieces match. He spent more than a month fixing the plane and on Christmas Day he put on his snowshoes to stomp out a runway. He was down to his last bit of tea and rice. When Barr landed at Teslin Lake, his fuel tank was empty. His obituary had already been printed in the Whitehorse paper and this was an experience he was to have more than once. He developed the motto: If you want to get there in the worst way, fly with Barr. Despite several crashes and countless forced landings neither he nor any of his passengers were ever seriously injured.³⁾

After Strong closed his operation, Barr and mechanic Jess Rice bought a used Stinson and started a business called the North Canada Air Express. He connected to the White Pass Railroad in Carcross and flew to Whitehorse, Teslin, the Norgold Mine, and other places in northern British Columbia and Yukon. The business was a success, and they bought a bigger plane, a Pilgrim monoplane. In 1937, Barr went to work for Shell Simmons in Juneau and married Kate Sands of Atlin. He joked that the marriage might not be real because he paid for the license with a bad cheque. There was not enough work to keep his business in the air so over the years he alternated flying for himself and working for others. His Pilgrim monoplane was a common sight in Juneau, Atlin, Whitehorse, Fairbanks, Bethel, and places in-between.⁴⁾

Barr and his wife moved to Fairbanks in 1937. He worked for Alaska Airlines from 1946 to 1956 and served in the Alaska Territorial Senate from 1949 to 1953 as a Democrat. Barr was involved in the Alaska Constitutional Convention of 1955-56.⁵⁾ He was one of fifty-five Alaskans chosen to write the state constitution.⁶⁾