The Old Way North: Following the Oberholtzer-Magee Expedition

"Much has been written about the early exploration of the Northwest Passage and some of the overland routes used to map and explore the northern reaches of Canada. But the central travel corridor into what remains today the heart of Canada's northern wilderness - the old way north - remains shrouded in mystery and uncelebrated, its natural and cultural history largely unknown." "In the spring of 1912, Ernest Oberholtzer - largely responsible for the creation of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Ontario and Minnesota - and Billy Magee, an Anishinaabe companion, set off on a five-month canoe expedition following the old way north, a route that was still largely unmapped. Oberholtzer's observations provide us with a window into the way it was, before the changes that came shortly after his passage." "Using Oberholtzer's journals as a narrative thread, author David Pelly transports readers through the history of this wilderness and introduces them to the mapmakers, fur traders and trappers, missionaries, and Native peoples who relied on this corridor for trade and travel. Among the many surprises he explores is the contact, unique to this region, between the Dene and Inuit, who both lived and traveled here. Through journals, historical records, personal interviews with Dene and Inuit, and present-day canoeing accounts, Pelly reconstructs the many tales heretofore hidden in this land."--BOOK JACKET.Pelly, David F. is the author of 'The Old Way North: Following the Oberholtzer-Magee Expedition', published 2008 under ISBN 9780873516167 and ISBN 0873516168.