Many years ago, 29 to be exact, Travis, our 19-year-old gang-member nephew, called to see if he could work on one of our Northern Idaho survey crews. We have fond memories of his whole family from when, another 18 years before that, his father called us in Anchorage Alaska with the same request. Travis was a toddler then, long before he broke loose because a Bishop intervened in his romance, and long before his symbol of bondage was a three-foot length of iron chain looped around his neck. My brother, his wife and five children did come to Alaska and stayed in our home with us and our three children for a winter. Our station wagon broke down and for weeks we all (less one adult) rode, at minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, to church in a VW bug, constantly scraping more frost off the inside of the windows than the outside. My brother did work on a survey crew, and when their helicopter broke down, he therewith spent a frigid November night on a hillside at the site of the new State Capital at Willow. Trying for a warmer and safer occupation, Lief got robbed at gun point at a gas station.. Come spring, when the weather and economy improved, they all escaped back to the Tri-cities. However, all of us look back on the experience as good and we often recount the memories with fondness. So, our response to Travis’ request was not just “yes” but “hell yes.”
Travis Erickson as he appeared at the beginning of his survey career.
Travis and his omnipresent chain, wool stocking cap, denim jacket and neck collar, all studded with bulldog spikes, sat with Chad in the front seat as they drove home from the bus station. Finally, Chad said, “Umm, I don’t think that the family will know how to take the gang garb.” Travis never said anything, but when he came in from the bunkhouse for breakfast the next morning all the garb was gone, except for the cap. In the following years, Travis, known as Death Grip by then, would regale us with the meaning of gang symbols that he would see flashing even in our four small Idaho towns. Our toddler grandson loved him and was soon wearing his own wool stocking cap, even on hot summer days.
Some survey skills are universal, such as Travis listening for “anomalies” in Afganistan.
Travis didn’t have a driver’s license and didn’t know how to drive, so this was remedied with driving lessons from Chad. Once, on an icy road, the truck slipped a little and Travis death-gripped the wheel so hard that Chad could not turn it. They went over a bank and stood the pickup on its nose. Much the same thing happened on the four-wheelers. Thereafter Travis was known as Death Grip Erickson.
The Death Grip moniker served Travis well in the nearby Bo Gritz communities. Two militias had spun off from Bo’s Shangri-las, and when Death Grip was introduced to any member of one of these, they would take a step back in admiration.
A before picture of Travis Erickson and his crew’s RG-31 Nyala.
The Bo Gritz “Almost Heaven” movement spun off eight large subdivisions, one of which was only 300 yards from our home/survey office. After several years of Shangri-la, Cha-Cha Cain, one of the early adherents, dubbed the movement “Almost Hell.” We never surveyed for Bo, but we did respond to his first Request For Proposal with a preliminary design complete with contour lines and a completion price of $15,000. Remember, this was 28 years ago when $15,000 was real money. (I’ve always wanted to say that.) Bo’s administrator countered with the observation that another surveyor had quoted $35,000 and when presented with our proposal, lowered his price to $14,000. They then asked if we couldn’t beat the $14,000 price. Chad told them that they probably deserved each other, which proved to be prophetic. This first subdivision, “Almost Heaven I,” was built with our design, except for one road grade which they steepened and upon which they placed three very hazardous switchbacks. It is typical of these subdivisions that only ½ of the monuments can be found and blunders of two, five, eight and even twenty feet can be found. But then again, it was rumored that Bo’s contractors were often paid late or not at all.
So, Travis did not cut his teeth on subdivision surveys, but instead spent years surveying timber boundaries for Potlatch Timber and the State of Idaho. If these were scenic surveys, they were also hard, dangerous, and more cut-throat than the Bo Gritz surveys. One such project was in Lolo Creek, our backyard. Lolo Creek (Idaho, not Montana) is a pristine 1900 foot deep, heavily timbered, steep walled canyon. In the area of the survey, no trails or roads go more than 1/4 of the way to the bottom. Some stretches of the canyon have vertical walls of granite 900 feet tall on both sides and a creek bottom only 35 feet wide. Yet, in the State’s RFP, it was pointed out that the 2000’ elevation at the bottom of the canyon would allow for work during the wintertime! The project was awarded for about $24,000 to another surveyor, apparently someone who had never visited the site or even looked at topo maps. Our bid (yes, they were bids back in those days) was $112,000 and allowed for much rappelling. Several years later we were asked how much we would charge to complete the job. The answer was the same, “We think you deserve each other.”
Travis Erickson’s shadow box showing the ribbons and citation earned during his service in the Army and Marines in Afghanistan.
So, one day we were running timber lines in a remote area of Clearwater County when Chad instructed Death Grip to go that-a-way to a road and Chad would then instruct him what to do when he got there. Now, Chad could see the road, about 300 feet away, so they did not dig out the clunky radios. However, Travis never arrived. Hollering didn’t help because of the heavy timber and brush in that direction. So, Chad walked to the top of a clear cut where he could see unimpeded in many directions, including across a timbered canyon to another clearcut about ½ mile away. A half hour later, through binoculars, Chad spotted a tiny figure carrying a long walking stick, trucking away on one of the logging roads that was running about 45° to “that-a-way”. Chad let out one of his rebel yells that curdles blood at a full mile. The figure stopped, turned, and Chad yelled, “Is your name Death Grip?” Now, when Travis first arrived he had never yelled in his life and could not. Like the neophyte ball player in the movie “Sandlot,” he would walk back to the yeller and mumble his reply. But by then Death Grip was finding his voice, but it still took a couple of “Whats” before we could make out “yes” in his reply. At such a distance it is best not to try to yell the Gettysburg Address, so Chad just yelled, “Come back.” It took another half an hour but eventually Death Grip did again grace us with his presence. Actually, we were all relieved because that tiny figure had been really picking them up and putting them down, had broken loose again and was heading towards some very remote country. Death Grip didn’t know where he was going but he was making really good time and wasn’t going to slow down until he heard “stop.” It occurred to us that he had the makings of a good soldier.
Travis Erickson and his ARCOM Medal awarded for “exceptionally meritorious service.” Oh, never be slow to give a young man a chance.
Years passed and Death Grip did join the U.S. Army and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan as a Combat Engineer with the 204th EN CO (MAC). There were Marines in the same area, doing road patrols. Death Grip broke loose from the infantry by volunteering to assist the Marines. Upon hearing his handle, the Marines immediately accepted him. One of the assignments of Death Grip’s patrol was to provide fire cover whenever the column of vehicles was disrupted and delayed by an Improvised Explosive Devise. Twenty plus times Death Grip assisted with “interrogating and disarming” Improvised Explosive Devises. Twice his RG-31 vehicle and its occupants were damaged by such IED’s. Death Grip suffered injuries and returned with 90% disability, the ARCOM medal and the G.I. Bill.
Neither Death Grip nor Chad are anymore in a physical shape to make good timber boundary surveyors; Travis because he keeps running into roadside I.E.D.s and Chad because he keeps running into roadside taco stands*.
Using his G.I. bill, Travis kept on trucking until he had three college degrees and a sweet wife.
Chad Erickson PS has been surveying since 1970; using chain and transit for the first four of those. After his Land Surveying degree he performed original G.L.O. township surveys in Alaska. He is licensed and operates boundary survey firms in Idaho and Arizona.
Sidebar:
Surveyors Love Food
We presume it is caused by the hard work and outside air. Chad’s weakness is for fish tacos from roadside stands near the Mexican border. Fortunately, Linda, in a past life, was a Weight Watchers Lecturer. However, when we make it to Louisiana, I’m warning you, don’t get between Linda and her crab meat Po’ Boy!
Did you know that southern Florida is not “Southern”? You will find Cajun Boudin Balls in Northern Florida, but in Southern Florida you will be back in the land of Enchiladas and Tortillerias, heavy on garlic and minus the chili peppers. If you make it to Homestead Florida, be sure to have some real Cuban sandwiches, cooked in a press looking for all the world like Mom’s old Ironrite Mangle.
Always eschew mainstream restaurants. Real food adventure is at gas stations and country kitchens with names like “Mama Jack’s,” “Rinconcito Cubano,” “Rascal’s Cajun,” or “Dianas’ Tortilleria.”