A Rock Fell on the Moon: Dad and the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist

by Alicia Priest

In its heyday in the 1950s and '60s, the remote community of Elsa, 300 miles north of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, was the epicentre of one of the world's most lucrative silver mining operations--an enterprise that far surpassed the riches produced during the iconic Klondike gold rush. For twelve of those years, Gerald Priest was the chief assayer for United Keno Hill Mines (UKHM), the major player in the region. Priest was a clever man who could as easily carry the role of refined gentleman as he could rustic mountain man. As far as ten-year-old Alicia Priest was concerned, her father Gerry's life in Elsa was a home rich with music, books and pets where he never had to boil a kettle or wash a sock; a well-paying job; a beautiful and affectionate wife; and two daughters who revered him as only little girls can. But as Alicia grows older, she realizes that perhaps her dad saw things differently, with four female dependents, an ailing wife who couldn't give him the son he wanted, a religiously fanatical mother-in-law and a tedious, dead-end job.
Escape becomes possible when Gerry stakes the Moon Claims and discovers a phenomenal silver-rich boulder--enough silver to make him and his family rich and fund their relocation south. But when Gerry tries to smelt and sell the ore, UKHM calls the RCMP. Too many things don't add geologists find the former assayer's boulder story improbable, the manpower required to hand-mine and transport seventy tons of rock across the Yukon terrain is beyond Herculean and most suspiciously, Gerry's ore looks a lot like the ore found in UKHM's Elsa mine.
In A Rock Fell on the Moon , Alicia Priest consults letters, news stories, archived RCMP files and court documents, and interviews with former mine employees, litigators and police investigators, to piece together the full story of her father's infamous heist. The result is a lively, heart-rending account of a mysterious crime that came extraordinarily close to succeeding; a fascinating look into the small mining communities that once thrived in the Yukon; and the personal story of the Priest family, who could only watch aghast as the life they knew crumbled around them. As she uncovers more of the story, Alicia must reconcile two different versions of her the fun-loving, bush-savvy adventurer who raised her, and the man accused and convicted of the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist.

Genres: Memoir, True Crime

264 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 2014

Reviews

[Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing to me!
That is because I LIVE here! Well..a bit south from Elsa. I have lived in Tagish, YT for over 30 years..some of that time was in Mayo.
Most of the places in this book are known to me.
Bob Cathro died this year..August 26th/14 at the age of 79. The company that he and Al Archer formed is still strong in the territory (Archer, Cathro & Associates).
Thankx to Alicia Priest and family for this story. It can not have been an easy one to write!

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about kids growing up in some weird place. Mining towns in northern Canada qualify as being almost "other-worldly" — besides the vast wilderness, there is also the harshness of the weather and the deadening isolation. And yet kids can thrive anywhere, given half a chance.

This is an interesting family memoir which at its heart contains an unusual mystery — 70 tons of high grade ore, probably stolen. Imagine that, not a watch or a bracelet, but 70 TONS of ore! The descriptions of life in the Yukon in the 1950s and 1960s are evocative of a lost civilization (and are likely equally true of many small towns all over the continent).

Some of the legal discussions I found a little tedious, but overall a very rewarding read. Recommended!

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I'll admit my bias: I used to live in Elsa, where the "Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist" took place, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting memories of that beautiful, remote place (and it was fun seeing a few familiar names and many familiar places within the pages of this book). However, I'm pretty sure I would've loved it anyway. It's a fascinating story on two fronts: the crime and trial, and the effects on the accused's family (the author's father was the accused). Lots of historical info, geological facts, and family history, and all of it is compelling.

[Patir Hirs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really should have given this book five stars. It is fascinating and has a great (true) plot. The book is a family history told in the light of a crime committed by the father that tore the family apart on many levels. It is filled with interesting and colourful characters. I gave it a four as the writer is just learning her craft. She has great potential. I consider it to be a good history lesson written in a way that draws you in to the lives of a real set of people. If you live in the Yukon or B. C. Or Alberta, you will enjoy references to people, places and events that enhance the plot.

[Grazyna Nawrocka · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a good book to read. Author shows the era, which is not represented very well in literature, with sentiment, but also factual foundation. The characters are fascinating and very complex. I was never bored or tired reading, and the style in which story was told is very "smooth." If her father hasn't admitted to a scam, I would be forever wondering.

[Frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you believe as a child, and then what your adult world tells you are quite different things. How to meld these two realities, while still holding on to the rather idyllic childhood is the challenge . W ell researched, well written, a good read.

[Mary Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, local history. Dad may have gone to school with the author.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family memoir, which Priest wrote after she was diagnosed with ALS. She was a Vancouver Sun writer...sadly Priest died in January 2015.

[SeaShore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written narrative on the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist of 1953.

She describes how her parents met and how her mother became to be living in Elsa; the work, the community and the challenges that families faced while they worked the mines-
Life in the Yukon in the 1950's and 1960's are fully described with lots of detail. I skipped over a bit of it. But the community story of a small town is interesting. In the 1950s, Elsa was the 2nd largest producer of silver in Canada and the 4th largest in the world.

This is ... a heartrending account of a mysterious crime that came extraordinarily close to succeeding.

Tim Falconer wrote an article called, "That Summer in Elsa", where I found this excerpt:

They were escaping from relationships or debts or the cops. (One day, as we came out of the mine and into the dry to change out of our work clothes, two RCMP officers were waiting to hand a summons to my friend Tom, who'd missed a court date after a bust for a chunk of hash.)

And if they weren't actively running from something, some of my new pals just didn't seem to fit in where they came from.

Many of these refugees didn't stay long, though. Employees—almost exclusively male—came and went so frequently that by the end of August, I felt like a seasoned vet.

Sure, there were lots of lifers, men who had just stayed. Or who kept returning. But most came, made some money, split.

Working underground did mean good money. Plus, I loved it.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Through the story of a family, and an amazing yet flawed mineral heist committed by a flawed, complex father, the Yukon of the 50s and 60s became a bit more alive to me. Poignant, powerful work.

[Hernan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good story. The mix between research/journalism with trying to tie all the lose ends on the author's upbringing make for a very powerful read.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting memoir by the daughter of a man who tried to pull off a silver heist in a Yukon mine in the 1960s and almost got away with it.

[Myrtle Siebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

My introduction to this book was hearing an interview with the author on local radio CFAX. She spoke well but acknowledged her life-changing condition of ALS had certainly driven her to get the manuscript completed. When I got the book and read the afterward penned by husband, Ben Parfitt, who was well known as a writer on the UBC campus when I was there, it all made sense.
On the book itself- the story is riveting. There are several strains to the story line and a lot of characters playing their respective parts. For this reader, too many of them as I became bogged down. It may be my faulty memory and my forevor challenges with names. Given more time I believe the author could have streamlined the details of the story without loosing its essentials. To read a true story of BC's mining history was an all around treat.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale of the Great Yukon Silver Ore Heist of 1953, told from the perspective of the perpetrators daughter.

There is lots to like about this book. It provides an interesting insight into a period in time in the Yukon - the work, the community and the challenges facing families who worked the mines. It is a dogged detective novel that takes us through the details of how such a phenomenal heist could have happened right under the eyes of those who operated the Elsa mine. What makes the book really resonate though, is that it is fundamentally a tale about deception, and how the lies of the father impact and shatter a family.

A Rock Fell on the Moon isn't for everyone - it's level of detail may be considered by some a bit much - but if you're interested in the topic and are a bit of a Canadian history fan, it's informative and quite a good read.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a neighbourhood book club selection. I started out really liking it. It's well-written and well-researched but somehow it keeps itself at a distance. I got tired of the mining details and wanted more of the interpersonal connections. Her mother's (and grandmother's)experiences in the war are treated very perfunctorily. Labour camps and escapes and the mass slaughter of her family are almost waved aside. Her father's background is hinted at but never explored. Ho did he become such a fabulist? Her sister is given a very brief role and the trauma they experience is not truly resolved.The crime itself was intricate and she does explain it but I never got a sense of mystery. All in all - interesting but, in spite of all the research and exploration, it seems superficial.