Stories from the North, episode 1: How Jeff King died

    As promised, I have a story for you!
    I was told to ask Bill Cotter about the time he was running the Yukon Quest with Jeff King. Now, unfortunately I cannot reproduce the atmosphere or Bill's quiet telling of the tale - with laughter - but I hope you can enjoy it even so! I know musher stories change with time, so hopefully I'm getting all the facts correct...
  
    It was one of the first Yukon Quests, back before cookers and when mushers would stop to start a fire and cook their food and dry everything. Bill and Sonny Linder and a couple others were, therefore, stopped along the Yukon River and decided to cut up wood and make camp.
    Sonny was carrying wood to stack by the fire and Bill, having cut it, was tossing it down the bank to him. And then Jeff King entered the show. He decided to stop, but Bill didn't hear him - if anyone else did - and he walked over to where they were working. Again, Bill had no idea he was there. He tossed some more wood...and one ill-fated log hit Jeff on the head.
    Of course, the others saw this and told Bill. Jeff was knocked out and they moved him to the fire, trying to find a heartbeat and see if he was breathing. They couldn't find anything. At last, they decided he was, really, dead. After taking care of his dogs, they talked about what to do with Jeff's dogs, sled and the body.
    After some discussion, Bill suggested that they leave the sled, let the dogs loose to follow. He asked Sonny Linder if he would empty his sled (Bill would carry the gear) and carry Jeff's body to the next checkpoint.
    Now, I've never met Sonny Linder, but apparently he's a very quite person and when he speaks, Bill says, you'd better listen! And he spoke. "Bill, YOU KILLED him, YOU carry him!"
    So, they prepared to leave camp. At that moment, Jeff King said, "Be quiet!" Their discussion had disturbed him. Of course, everyone was overjoyed that he was alive and they kept him talking. He had a big headache.
    I'm not sure if Jeff finished that years Yukon Quest or not, but I wonder if Bill can claim some credit for Jeff's success because Jeff hadn't won a race until after he was knocked out...and he went on to win the Iditarod!