In 2002 Robert “papa pilgrim” Hale would be caught in a legal battle with the National Park Service for his plans to bulldoze a road to 410-acre ranch in the Alaskans wilds known as Hillbilly Heaven. The pesky Wrangell-St. Elias National Park was in the way of easy access to the Hale family ranch.

It is illegal for any private citizen to in anyway modify federal lands. This did not bear well with Pilgrim, as he had an ego the size of Saturn and would let nothing stand in the way of his wants. Afterall, he was specially chosen by the (Christian) God as an earthly vessel. Obviously, federal government doesn’t recognize self-proclaimed messiahs and charged him and he lost the case both in the appeals court of San Francisco and with the U.S supreme court.

During his legal battles with the national park service, Pilgrim would see the vise of dominance over his family loosen. In 2005, the elder Hale children would flee their servitude, seeking refuge in welcoming arms of their neighbors. They would cautiously reveal the many tortures they were subjected to by their father. Mental, spiritual, emotional, physical, and sexual abuses. Though they felt as if they were betraying their patriarch, the need to escape the lifelong hell in which he ruled was stronger than the waning love they had for this devil.

He would be arrested and jailed in Sept 2007 for his crimes, succumbing to his poor health a short eight months later. Preacher Robert Bobby Butterfly Sunstar  Papa Pilgrim Hale would defend his actions to his dying breath.

Who was the tangled and tattered soul that was Robert Hale? I’m glad you asked.

For more on this case listen to Dontcha Know on any podcast streaming service.