Anchorage Daily News

Papa Pilgrim dies in jail, unrepentant and alone

He came to Alaska at the head of a sprawling, picturesque clan -- the last true wilderness family, as he put it when he battled the local park rangers. Robert Hale presented himself as a pious, Scripture-thumbing patriarch who just wanted to raise his 15 children far from the sin and temptations of the modern world. He settled in the mountains near McCarthy and called himself Papa Pilgrim.

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Hale clan details abuse by patriarch

The children of Robert Hale finally got the chance Monday to do something they'd waited for their whole lives: talk back to their father.

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High court considers access suit

Robert Hale may be going to prison, but his lawsuit is going to the Supreme Court.

After hellish abuse, one Hale daughter fled from 'Heaven'

The spark plugs had been removed. Papa Pilgrim headed down the mountain valley at first light toward McCarthy to pick up a barrel of fuel. He would be back before dark. He took the last good snowmachine.

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Papa Pilgrim sentencing rescheduled for Nov. 5

Sentencing for Robert Hale, the wilderness Christian patriarch sometimes known as Papa Pilgrim, has been rescheduled for Nov. 5 in Anchorage.

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Hale wants to change plea and go to trial

Robert Hale, the wilderness patriarch who calls himself Papa Pilgrim, wants to change his no-contest plea and face trial after all on charges of rape, kidnapping and incest.

Hale wants to change plea and go to trial

Robert Hale, the wilderness patriarch who calls himself Papa Pilgrim, wants to change his no-contest plea and face trial after all on charges of rape, kidnapping and incest.

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Hale denies sexual assault

Robert Hale, the patriarch of the big McCarthy-area homesteading family known as the Pilgrims, pleaded no contest to consolidated counts of rape, incest and coercion involving one of his daughters.

Hale pleads no contest

Robert Hale pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count each of rape, incest and coercion stemming from incidents involving one of his daughters.

Hale pleads no contest

Robert Hale pleaded no contest Tuesday to one count each of rape, incest and coercion stemming from incidents involving one of his daughters.

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Hale denies sexual assault

Robert Hale, the patriarch of the big McCarthy-area homesteading family known as the Pilgrims, pleaded no contest to consolidated counts of rape, incest and coercion involving one of his daughters.

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Homesteading Families Blend

Papa is in jail. The children have left the name "Pilgrim" behind. They have also left, for now, the remote mining camp in the Wrangell Mountains where they once fought a high-profile access battle against the National Park Service.

Homesteading Families Blend

Papa is in jail. The children have left the name "Pilgrim" behind. They have also left, for now, the remote mining camp in the Wrangell Mountains where they once fought a high-profile access battle against the National Park Service.

More Papa Pilgrim coverage

Hale says he'll plead no contest to incest

After more than a year in jail awaiting trial on charges of rape, assault and incest, the man known as Papa Pilgrim says he is ready to plead no contest and accept punishment.

Hale says he'll plead no contest to incest

After more than a year in jail awaiting trial on charges of rape, assault and incest, the man known as Papa Pilgrim says he is ready to plead no contest and accept punishment.

More Papa Pilgrim coverage

Pilgrim appears in court (10-07-2005)

Hale, who calls himself Papa Pilgrim, was the head of a 17-member family living in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. He is now in the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, charged with 30 felony counts of rape, assault and incest involving one of his da

Papa Pilgrim arrested (10-06-2005)

Robert Hale, the McCarthy-area patriarch known as Papa Pilgrim, was taken into custody in Eagle River Oct. 5.

Pilgrim hunt diminishes; leads urged (10-05-2005)

Alaska State Troopers have backed off their hunt for Robert Hale, the McCarthy-area patriarch known as Papa Pilgrim, 10 days after he slipped away from investigators coming to arrest him on charges of raping and assaulting one of his daughters.

Tips on Papa Pilgrim pour in across state (09-28-2005)

Four days after he disappeared from the settlement of McCarthy, the man known as Papa Pilgrim was still on the run Tuesday night from Alaska State Troopers seeking his arrest on sexual assault, kidnapping and incest charges.

Papa Pilgrim wanted on sex, assault charges (09-27-2005)

Robert Allan Hale, the McCarthy-area homesteading patriarch who calls himself Papa Pilgrim, has been indicted on 30 felony charges including sexual assault, kidnapping and incest. Hale slipped away before Alaska State Troopers could arrest him.

Papa's passage (10-06-2003)

McCARTHY -- Robert Allan Hale's father was a big football hero. In Texas the heroes don't come much bigger.