Journeys to the Far North

First published ten years after Olaus J. Murie’s death, here is an engaging firsthand description of the North American Arctic—from Hudson Bay and Labrador to the Yukon Territory in Canada and the Brooks Range of Alaska—as it was as seen by a perceptive naturalist whose adventures there spanned almost half a century.

Olaus J. Murie took his first field trip as a biologist to the Hudson Bay region in 1914, observing the land and the wildlife, and learning the ways of the native people of the North. Later expeditions took him to Labrador and many part of Alaska, a land he came to know well and love deeply.What Murie experienced on these travels was recorded in the sketchbooks and journal that he always carried with him. Along with his fascinating collection of photographs, they form the basis for a narrative that combines a scientist’s eye for detail and a naturalist’s reverence for wilderness.Whether dogsledding, shooting rapids in a canoe, or dancing with Aleut Eskimos, Murie had a passion for discovery and conservation that enlivens every page of JOURNEYS TO THE FAR NORTH.