Never have I been both so fascinated and disturbed by a book as I was by Pilgrim’s Wilderness, by Tom Kizzia.

I’ve categorized it as a biography in my library, but it is less the story of a life than it is the story of a crime.

Pilgrim’s Wilderness is the story of Robert Hale, also known as Papa Pilgrim, and his family as they traveled into the wild reaches of Alaska and settled away from society in the middle of a National Park.

Pilgrim’s past is jumbled. He was raised in Texas, married his teenage sweetheart, but her death just a few weeks later left him devastated, and the world confused. There are several interesting connections to the Kennedy assassination, and Pilgrim continued to have trouble almost everywhere he settled.

Eventually he married again, and began a family. He isolated himself in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico, where his family began to grow. By the time of the events in Alaska, he would have 15 children, ranging in age from 29 to 2.

Neighbors began to suspect Pilgrim of several inconsistencies. He claimed to be very religious, but items began to disappear from the neighbors ranches. Fences were cut. The children were bruised and neglected. But he was evasive, and had an answer for everything. However, it soon became clear that it was time to move on.

The Pilgrims chose Alaska as their new home, purchasing an old mine located in the midst of a National Park. Right off the bat, he endeared the local community of McCarthy to his family, and became a part of the scenery, living in a primitive fashion in one of the most primitive places in America.

It wasn’t long before the National Park began to see that he was overstepping his bounds, utilizing and destroying national property. Thus began the war. Before long, the town of McCarthy came to see him as he really is, a domineering, terrorizing man who abused his family, ignored the law, and was a megalomaniac in the most classic sense.

The story of this family, the fear they experienced, and the hold Papa Pilgrim held over them captured the attention of the nation in the early 2000s. The Pilgrims’ folksy demeanor garnered them a lot of sympathy, but as the reality was revealed, it turned out to be a dark madness.

As mentioned, I found the story of the Pilgrim family fascinating, and yet fearful and disturbing. By the end of the book, you will love the children and hate the father. By the end of the book, you will want to see the children rescued, and they are.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about this story is the faith that the family continues to hold as they begin to experience God apart from the domineering interpretation of their abusive father.

I was fascinated by the way this family held together. I was disturbed that this could happen right in front of people without being noticed. I couldn’t put the book down.

Pilgrim’s Wilderness is a story that needs to be heard, and I encourage you to read it. But be warned, it is dark. And though there is a light shining in that darkness, it is a tough story to take in fully, to understand just what this family experienced.

Question: I had never heard of the Pilgrim family when this occurred? Do you remember these events as they unfolded? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I received this book free from Waterbrook/Multnomah Media as part of their Blogging For Books blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.