Son of the North

“Certainly I have known fear, many a time, sometimes almost panic, either on a steep mountain side, or crawling on my stomach over a snow bridge across a crevasse, or alone in the fly-infested northern muskeg, or running the rapids of an unknown river, or going out into a blinding blizzard. These things have brought me fear, but, as Hilaire Belloc says, a fear “steeped in exhilaration” and I realize now if I did not do so at the time, that if they did bring me a temporary thrill they brought afterwards a deep sense of satisfaction that was much more lasting than the momentary fear of disaster. This, I think, will be the judgment of most men who have been engaged in northern travel, mountain climbing or any kind of exploratory work.”

Never before have the fascination and challenge of Canada's Northland found so authentic an expression as in this book by one of its most distinguished sons. Born in a remote outpost of the fur trade in the North West Territories, Charles Camsell spent his young manhood amongst traders, Indians, and prospectors in the days before the railroad, the steamboat, or the airplane. He taught in a mission school, was caught up in the Klondike gold rush, and as freighter, mail carrier, explorer and prospector travelled thousands of miles by canoe, scow, wagon and dog-team over the perilous rivers and barrens of a North that offered constant challenge to courage and endurance.

Later, as a member of the Canadian Geological Survey, Dr. Camsell was responsible for exploring and mapping the mineral resources in this unknown North. The story of his explorations and adventures brings before us in vivid detail the dangers and thrills of pioneer travel, and the richness and variety of human character that he encountered. It is written by a man who knows at first hand every aspect of the North, and who eventually, as a distinguished geologist and Deputy Minister of Mines and Resources and Commissioner of the North West Territories, was able to exercise an important influence on its development. In this book, Dr. Camsell has given us a Canadian classic that combines the merits of authentic biography and history with the suspense and excitement of adventure fiction.

In a very real sense Charles Camsell has been a maker of Canada. His monument in not merely in mountain, lake and river named after him; it is in all of us.

No Canadian is better equipped to recount and interpret the story of the Canadian North in our time... The Right Honorable Louis St Laurent, Canada Prime Minister 1947-1958