It's April, which means we're in that strange in between time. To help pass the time, I like to read and listen to audiobooks.

I want to hear your best canoe country book recommendations. I know this topic has been discussed before, but I figured it would be fun to rehash.

I'll start:

Canoeing with the Cree - Eric Sevaried. This is a classic and must read. The story of two young men's canoe trip from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay

Cache Lake Country - John J. Rowlands. The ultimate book for anybody who's wished they could go back in time and live in the north woods.

Father Water, Mother Woods - Gary Paulsen. Great stories about growing up in the north woods.

The Company - Steven R. Brown. Incredible history of the Hudson Bay Company, the fur trade, and the area generally.

Hudson Bay Bound - Natalie Warren. The modern story of two young women who recreate Sevaried's trip.

Distant Fires? That's the book where the young guys retrace "Canoeing with the Cree." Pretty good.

"The River Why" by David James Duncan is about fishing, but not canoes. Still an all time favorite book.

"A Year in the Boundary Waters"

Love hearing about books.

Canoeing with the Cree is fantastic.

Another one is Undaunted Courage. The story of Lewis and Clark. You will never see the United States the same after you read it. Lots of accounts about what this place was like before colonial settlement west of the Mississippi.


Tom

Recently completed reading "Braving It" about a father and daughter in the Alaskan wilderness. Excellent read, from my perspective as a daughter dad.

tumblehome: "Canoeing with the Cree is fantastic.

Another one is Undaunted Courage. The story of Lewis and Clark. You will never see the United States the same after you read it. Lots of accounts about what this place was like before colonial settlement west of the Mississippi.

Tom"

I love Undaunted Courage, it was a great book and made history easy to absorb and fun to read. I also liked his book about the railroad construction, and Crazy Horse vs. Custer.

I'll add "Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods". It is a book with 2 stories of 2 different people who got lost in the BWCA; one on the Man chain of lakes in the Q and one on the Kek trail (if i remember correctly). This book has stood out to me for years because I brought it with me as my reading material only to realize, while in my tent one night, that I was not only camping on one of the lakes where one of the people were found, but possibly at the same campsite.

For some historical reading about the area:

Trapping the Boundary Waters: A Tenderfoot in the Border Country, 1919-1920 by Charles Ira Cook

The Voyageur’s Highway: Minnesota’s Border Lake Land by Grace Lee Nute

Sleeping Island: A Journey to the Edge of the Barrens by P.G. Downes. A fascinating man with a minimalist tripping style describing the changing north .

Alone Against the North. Good read about the first known expedition down a river in Alaska...solo, no less.

RT: "I'll add "Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods". It is a book with 2 stories of 2 different people who got lost in the BWCA; one on the Man chain of lakes in the Q and one on the Kek trail (if i remember correctly). This book has stood out to me for years because I brought it with me as my reading material only to realize, while in my tent one night, that I was not only camping on one of the lakes where one of the people were found, but possibly at the same campsite."

Agreed. Good read and powerful reminder of just how quickly things can get seriously dangerous even for experienced trippers. Not sure I would recommend it be read while tripping...but good for you!

This year I’ve read:

Paddling to Winter by julie buckles - a 3k mile journey from Wisconsin to the Arctic ocean

Canoeing with the Cree

The Lonely Land by Sigurd Olsen

The lure of the Labrador Wild

Dangerous river

All were fantastic!

The Grace of the Wild
-Paul Gruchow

ledhead: "The Grace of the Wild
-Paul Gruchow"

Very nice choice. I second it.

TaylorRN: "This year I’ve read: The Lure of the Labrador Wild "

Unbelievable story. I won’t give away the ending. :(

If you liked The Lure of the Labrador Wild, you should also read The Long Labrador Trail and A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. You may also be interested in Great Heart.

boonie: "If you liked The Lure of the Labrador Wild, you should also read The Long Labrador Trail and A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador. You may also be interested in Great Heart. "

+1!

YetiJedi: "

RT: "I'll add "Lost in the Wild: Danger and Survival in the North Woods". It is a book with 2 stories of 2 different people who got lost in the BWCA; one on the Man chain of lakes in the Q and one on the Kek trail (if i remember correctly). This book has stood out to me for years because I brought it with me as my reading material only to realize, while in my tent one night, that I was not only camping on one of the lakes where one of the people were found, but possibly at the same campsite."

Agreed. Good read and powerful reminder of just how quickly things can get seriously dangerous even for experienced trippers. Not sure I would recommend it be read while tripping...but good for you!"

I agree. I couldn’t put it down because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. At first it bugged me that it kept bouncing back and forth between stores, but I ended up actually liking that.

It was the Pow Wow Trail where the hiker got lost.

The author was at the Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais for a book signing of another book one time when I was there. It was a lot of fun talking to him about Lost in the Wild.

+1 Especially given the fact these trips were taken more than 100 years ago.

While not in a canoe, instead in human powered, handmade rowing craft, The Doing of the Thing is filled with fascinating accounts of the first solo descent through the Grand Canyon as well as a trip across North America, from Oregon to NY City via rivers and the Eire Canal. A trip which cannot easily be replicated today given our past penchant for damming rivers.

YetiJedi: "Alone Against the North. Good read about the first known expedition down a river in Alaska...solo,
no less."

Actually it was about Adam Shoalts solo expedition down the Again river in Canada which flows into Hudson Bay. But yes, awsome read. And I'll throw these out there as well.
Beyond the trees - Adam Shoalts
Man and Dog - Justin Barbour
Alone on the Shield - Kirk Landers
River of Fire and Dance of the Deadmen - Hap Wilson

Mawson's Will.

Voices from the Rapids

Down from Basswood: Voices of the Boundary Waters

noahj

Canoeing with the Cree - Eric Sevaried. This is a classic and must read. The story of two young men's canoe trip from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay "

I have a first copy of the book with his real name of Arnold Sevareid. Eric is his middle name and stage name. Great book!

I highly recommend:

Her Island: The Story of Quetico's Longest Serving Interior Ranger

The life of Janice Matichuk, the longest serving interior ranger in the history of the Quetico.

Maiingan: "Voices from the Rapids


Down from Basswood: Voices of the Boundary Waters"

+1

Without a doubt, IMHO: Cache Lake Country. I first read it when I was 12, and have read it at least 10 times. A timber cruiser writes about his life in the woods. Lots of history about logging, logging camps, animals, the seasons, cabin life, and friendship. All told in 12 chapters: January through December. And...this guy was the original McGuyver...he could make what he needed out of what he had.

I tried his raspberry shrub recipe once. Not too bad.

And, I've adopted several simple woodscraft skills described by Mr. Rowlands.

Mike

+ 1 on Hudson Bay Bound, Canoeing with the Cree, and Lost in the Wild.

I’ll add to it Gunflint Burning, the story of the Ham Lake Fire. Really interesting. It’s by the same author as Lost in the Wild.

If you’re looking for fiction, any of the William Kent Krueger “Cork O’Conner” series books are super fun/easy to read.

HighnDry: "Mawson's Will."

Good cure for those inclined to whine about the slow passing of winter this time around. ;-)

The story of Jerry Pushcar's canoe trip from New Orleans up the Mississippi and winter in a dilapidated rental house in Minnesota, resume canoeing and winter in a cabin near native people before continuing the canoe adventure to Nome Alaska.

Wild and crazy trip done in the mid 1970's. Too bad it's not on audio.

Waters Beneath My Feet

Reviving this thread from last April to add a book just published by the Univ. of Minnesota Press. Thought it'd be my tripping read this spring/summer but I'm finding it difficult to put it down. Fascinating biography of John and Tchi-Ki-Wis Linklater.

Title: Making the Carry: The Lives of John and Tchi-Ki-Wis Linklater
Author: Timothy Cochrane

--------

John Linklater, of Anishinaabeg, Cree, and Scottish ancestry, and his wife, Tchi-Ki-Wis, of the Lac La Croix First Nation, lived in the canoe and border country of Ontario and Minnesota from the 1870s until the 1930s. During that time, the couple experienced radical upheavals in the Quetico–Superior region, including the cutting of white and red pine forests, the creation of Indian reserves/reservations and conservation areas, and the rise of towns, tourism, and mining. With broad geographical sweep, historical significance, and biographical depth, Making the Carry tells their story, overlooked for far too long.

John Linklater, a renowned game warden and skilled woodsman, was also the bearer of traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous heritage, both of which he was deeply committed to teaching others. He was sought by professors, newspaper reporters, museum personnel, and conservationists—among them Sigurd Olson, who considered Linklater a mentor. Tchi-Ki-Wis, an extraordinary craftswoman, made a sweeping array of necessary yet beautiful objects, from sled dog harnesses to moose calls to birch bark canoes. She was an expert weaver of large Anishinaabeg cedar bark mats with complicated geometric designs, a virtually lost art.

Making the Carry traces the routes by which the couple came to live on Basswood Lake on the international border. John’s Métis ancestors with deep Hudson’s Bay Company roots originally came from Orkney Islands, Scotland, by way of Hudson Bay and Red River, or what is now Winnipeg. His family lived in Manitoba, northwest Ontario, northern Minnesota, and, in the case of John and Tchi-Ki-Wis, on Isle Royale. A journey through little-known Canadian history, the book provides an intimate portrait of Métis people.

Complete with rarely seen photographs of activities from dog mushing to guiding to lumbering, as well as of many objects made by Tchi-Ki-Wis, such as canoes, moccasins, and cedar mats, Making the Carry is a window on a traditional way of life and a restoration of two fascinating Indigenous people to their rightful place in our collective past.

A few years back I was commuting and listened to more audio books. I really enjoyed "Fire Season: Notes from a Wilderness Lookout" by Phillip Connors.

Also my neighbor loaned me "A Place in the Woods" and that was good too.

Thanks for reviving this thread. Needed some new titles I haven't read for the upcoming paddling season.

One thing I can thank this extra-long winter for was some more time to read.
I read:

A Year in the Wilderness - Amy & Dave Freeman

Canoeing the Boundary Waters Wilderness: A Sawbill Log - Stephen Wilbers

The Grace of the Wild - Paul Gruchow

Paddle North: Canoeing the Boundary Waters-Quetico Wilderness - Greg Breining

White Indian Boy - Duane Lund

Maybe this is a bit too obvious, but "The streams and rivers of Minnesota" by Tom Waters is one of my faves. It was first published in the early 80's and offers great insight into the various waterways in Minnesota. Also pretty cool to see him predict certain issues, decades in advance.

I'm not going for another two months so looking to read some.
Right now i'm reading "North American Canoe Country" by Calvin Rutstrum.
Is anyone familiar with it. It has an inscription on the inside to "Tony" from "John Macbride" that says
"Calvin Rutstum knows a lot about things it's a lot of fun to know a lot about. I hope you agree."
It is interesting to go back before Kevlar hulls and synthetic fabrics.
Where an aluminum boat was considered ultra-light. it goes through the various canoes from solo up to the 20 person (not foot!) "Montreal Canoe". They even had a section on outboard motors. The provisions list for short trips calls for "4 lbs of food per man per day when using fresh, common, domestic, raw fresh food"


It's basically a guidebook from 1964. It's got some great illustrations too!

And while I got your attention, I'm going to the Man Lakes in The Q this trip. Are there any books on the history of that area? or who the men were?
Thanks

My post from 2022, and I still feel as strong about this book as I did when I was 12!:

Without a doubt, IMHO: Cache Lake Country. I first read it when I was 12, and have read it at least 10 times. A timber cruiser writes about his life in the woods. Lots of history about logging, logging camps, animals, the seasons, cabin life, and friendship. All told in 12 chapters: January through December. And...this guy was the original McGuyver...he could make what he needed out of what he had.

I tried his raspberry shrub recipe once. Not too bad.

And, I've adopted several simple woodscraft skills described by Mr. Rowlands.

Mike

I would strongly recommend the Sigurd Olson biography by David Backes.
A beautiful, enjoyable, book about the person and the place.
A Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson, By David Backes

BonzSF: "I'm not going for another two months so looking to read some.
Right now i'm reading "North American Canoe Country" by Calvin Rutstrum.
Is anyone familiar with it. It has an inscription on the inside to "Tony" from "John Macbride" that says
"Calvin Rutstum knows a lot about things it's a lot of fun to know a lot about. I hope you agree."
It is interesting to go back before Kevlar hulls and synthetic fabrics.
Where an aluminum boat was considered ultra-light. it goes through the various canoes from solo up to the 20 person (not foot!) "Montreal Canoe". They even had a section on outboard motors. The provisions list for short trips calls for "4 lbs of food per man per day when using fresh, common, domestic, raw fresh food"


It's basically a guidebook from 1964. It's got some great illustrations too!

And while I got your attention, I'm going to the Man Lakes in The Q this trip. Are there any books on the history of that area? or who the men were?
Thanks"

Calvin Rutstrum was a leading outdoor writer. His ”Paradise Below Zero” got me started on winter camping.


Calvin Rutstrum

"A Season for Wilderness", by Michael Furtman
It recounts a summer he and his wife spent as volunteers for the USFS in a cabin near Lower Basswood Falls on Crooked Lake. I found the book fascinating and made a point to find the cabin when I was camping one time near LBF. Unfortunately, the cabin had burned down due to some careless squatters a year or two before I came through and all I was able to find was the old foundation. On the other hand, I was able to encounter a couple of young USFS rangers there who were happy to show me around in the nearby USFS boathouse that still exists. They had not heard of the cabin and it was fun taking them to the remains and telling them about Furtman's book.

For young adults Mrs. Mike is a good read.

“Saving Quetico Superior: A Land Set Apart” by R.Newell Searle. This book tells the remarkable history of the struggle to preserve the boundary waters and Quetico from industrialization and commercialization.

I found this book to be fascinating and it made me appreciate even more the BW and Q. We’re lucky we didn’t lose out to those that wanted to exploit this area for profit, although the battle continues.

Per the recommendations of this thread and some other book threads on here, I picked up Lost in The Wild and Canoeing With The Cree over the weekend and I am pretty excited to read them both.

I recently read the 29th day, surviving a grizzly bear attack on a 42 day canoe trip in northern Canada. The people in the book are from Camp Menogyn, and the author currently lives in Duluth.

It is very good.

The 29th Day

I'll add "Portage into the past" by J. Arnold Bolz

bottomtothetap: ""A Season for Wilderness", by Michael Furtman
It recounts a summer he and his wife spent as volunteers for the USFS in a cabin near Lower Basswood Falls on Crooked Lake. I found the book fascinating and made a point to find the cabin when I was camping one time near LBF. Unfortunately, the cabin had burned down due to some careless squatters a year or two before I came through and all I was able to find was the old foundation. On the other hand, I was able to encounter a couple of young USFS rangers there who were happy to show me around in the nearby USFS boathouse that still exists. They had not heard of the cabin and it was fun taking them to the remains and telling them about Furtman's book."

I just finished "A Season for Wilderness" this week and really enjoyed it!

Sorry to hear that the cabin is gone.

I picked this up at the Ely Library Book Sale which happens twice per year... highly recommend this if you are in Ely on the day.

I'm curious if anyone has read "Justin Cody's Race to Survival" by Cliff Jacobson.

From what I understand it's been introduced to many younger students after teachers have read it. Is it more written toward teens in mind or an enjoyable read for all ages?

okinaw55: "I'm curious if anyone has read "Justin Cody's Race to Survival" by Cliff Jacobson."

I bought it for my kids (and me) and really wanted to enjoy it. None of us really did. Was long enough ago that I can’t recall the specific reasons. As they say, YMMV.

TuscaroraBorealis: "I'll add "Portage into the past" by J. Arnold Bolz"

+1

Maiingan: "Voices from the Rapids


Down from Basswood: Voices of the Boundary Waters"

Just read Down from Basswood. Totally not what I expected, yet totally riveting. Makes you think of that country in a whole different light. And maybe think of Sigurd Olsen in a whole different light too, lol.

A beautifully put together book is "Border Country: The Northwoods Canoe Journals of Howard Greene 1906-1916, by Martha Greene Phillips, U of M Press, 2017.

Disappointment River by Brian Castner.

Epic trip down the Deh Cho originally completed by Sir Alexander MacKenzie in 1789. Replicated by Castner in an effort to capture one of many struggles for HBC and NW fur traders to find a passage to the Pacific, i.e. the Nortwest Passage .

A wonderful country by Bill Maggie. It’s historic and hilarious.

"A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner (U.S. Interpreter at the Saut de Ste. Marie) ; During Thirty Years Residence Among the Indians in the Interior of North America"

John Tanner was kidnapped as a young boy by Native Americans and eventually came under the care of an Anishanaabe woman. He spent much of his life in locations within and adjacent to what eventually became the BWCAW and Voyageurs National Park. His firsthand accounts of finding daily sustenance (and not finding it), year-round travel and more make this an invaluable resource.

The book is available free of charge in various electronic versions and can be purchased in bound form as well.

Chieflonewatie: "A wonderful country by Bill Maggie. It’s historic and hilarious."

Agreed on that one. Good read. Bill's name shows up in Down from Basswood as well, but he isn't a main focus.