There are no roads or beaten trails other than the trails of the
caribou, the wild deer that make this their home. The nearest railroad
is half a thousand miles away. Automobiles are unknown and would be
quite useless here. Great rivers and innumerable emerald lakes render
the land impassable for horses. The traveler must make his own trails,
and he must depend in summer upon his canoe or boat, and in winter
upon his snowshoes and his sledge, hauled by great wolf dogs.
With his gun and traps and fishing gear he must glean his living from
the wilderness or from the sea. If he would have a shelter he must
fell trees with his axe and build it with his own skill. He has little
that his own hands and brain do not provide. He must be resourceful
and self-reliant.
I venture to say there is not a boy living--a real red-blooded boy or
red-blooded man either for that matter--who has not dreamed of the day
when he might experience the thrill of venturing into such a
wilderness as we have described. This was America as the discoverers
found it, and as it was before the great explorers and adventurers
opened it to civilization.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99