00:00You'll find Harding County in northeastern New Mexico.
00:28It's here that our story begins. Over the plateaus and canyons near the village of Mosquero,
00:35the sound of an airplane can be heard, a single-motor ship, flying low.
00:46To many of the people here, this plane, the spirit of St. Joseph, has a special significance.
00:52It's the plane that brings their priest, the Reverend Fred Stottmiller.
00:57This is the story of two days, he'd call them two ordinary days, in his life.
01:03For six years, Father Stottmiller has been piloting his own plane. Today, he's on his way to Gallegos to conduct a funeral for a ranch hand.
01:09Two men wait for him at the tiny field he uses for an airstrip there.
01:15Although his eleven mission churches are spread out over a 4,000 square mile area, the Padre can overcome the handicap of distance by flying from his main parish, St. Joseph's in Mosquero, to wherever his duties take him.
01:25.
01:43his duties take him.
01:56Later Father Stottmiller officiates at solemn services for the deceased.
02:01Friends from nearby ranches join the family as the simple wooden coffin is carried to
02:06the tiny graveyard alongside the mission church.
02:36To the main parish in Mosquero, Father Stottmiller returns in his plane in the late afternoon
02:46to conduct evening devotions.
02:49Most of his parishioners are Spanish-Americans, the majority of them small farmers or ranchers.
02:54And he's been their priest now for eight years.
02:57So, let's go.
03:12So, let's go.
03:22Next morning, as he's eating breakfast in the parish house, a young girl from the village
03:32comes to see the Padre.
03:34She brings a very special and difficult problem.
03:42The wise and friendly counsel of the priest is always available to his flock, and he listens
03:47attentively as the girl tells her story.
03:50Her playmate, Pedro, is a bully.
03:52He teases her, fights with her, is cruel to her, won't father talk to him.
04:04The Padre says that he will, at once, and his questioning soon discloses that the girl is
04:09right, that Pedro's conduct in the matter leaves something to be desired.
04:13An amicable settlement, even though Pedro soon drops the arm around the shoulder.
04:31At any event, peace seems momentarily restored.
04:36But his work and studies permit, Father Stockmiller turns to his chief hobby, his birds.
04:42He raises canaries, occasionally sells them to members of his parish.
04:47He's also a crack shot, likes to hunt deer and other game.
04:55Much of his spare time is spent keeping his plane in constant readiness.
04:59He borrowed $2,000 from a friend to buy it, and it served him and his neighbors well.
05:06He's grown accustomed to emergency messages like this.
05:09A sick baby, a telephone call, a mother's plea for help.
05:21Padre talks to the young mother, husband away on business, baby sick, getting worse, no doctor
05:27nearby, please hurry, father.
05:30She's at an isolated ranch 50 miles away.
05:33He can get there in less than an hour.
05:51He starts crying for youth so badly.
06:18While the mother comforts the ailing baby, the priest heads for the ranch.
06:35He'll have to land in a nearby field, but he's used to that.
06:39He flies 12,000 miles a year, has more than 1,200 hours in the log.
06:45Thirty-five minutes after the phone call, the mother sees the spirit of St. Joseph bank over her house.
07:09Ten minutes later, Father Stockmiller prepares to take off with his precious cargo.
07:14His destination is Tucumcari, where an ambulance is waiting at the airport to rush the child to a hospital.
07:21This is the end of the journey. The airport at Tucumcari. The ambulance is waiting. The hospital is only minutes away.
07:28This is the end of the journey. The airport at Tucumcari. The ambulance is waiting. The hospital is only minutes away.
07:35There's no brass band here. No cheering crowds. No newspaper men clamoring for a hit.
07:42Just an ambulance driver, an anxious mother, a sick baby, and their priest.
07:49At the hospital, the baby will be treated and nursed back to health.
07:56And that, really, is the only reward ever asked by the spirit of St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:03St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:10St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:17St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:22St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:34St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
08:38St. Joseph's Flying Padre.
