THREE AGAINST THE WILDERNESS

by Eric Collier ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The author of this current addition to ""back to the woods"" literature did not flee to the wilds to escape civilization but to make a living trapping -- on Meldrum Creek in the Chicotin District of British Columbia, 300 miles north of Vancouver on the Fraser River. Born in Nottingham, England,the author was 19 when in 1920 he first came to the Chicotin country to work for an English trader; some years later with his wife and infant son he moved to Meldrum Creek, with sole trapping rights over more than 150,000 acres of wilderness. Here they lived for 30 years, enduring blizzards and mosquitoes and danger, hobnobbing with wild animals, and working to restore prosperity to a region once rich in cattle, fur-bearers and game but falling to ruin by reason of the extermination of the beaver colonies and their dams and the consequent drying up of watercourses, meadows and forests. The most interesting part of the book tells how the author and his wife rebuilt dams and brought water back to lakes and streams, and how through the gift of two pairs of beaver they re-established the creatures in their former habitat, where they have multiplied and are now rigidly protected. A book to appeal primarily to nature-lovers, this unpretentious and curiously charming volume may also find an audience among sophisticated readers who know nothing of wilderness; its account of the beaver alone should make it a valuable addition to the wild-life lore of North America.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION