Pilgrims of the Wild. Grey Evil Owl
VOYAGEUR CLASSICS
BOOKS THAT EXPLORE CANADA
Michael Gnarowski — Series Editor
The Dundurn Group presents the Voyageur Classics series, building on the tradition of exploration and rediscovery and bringing forward time-tested writing about the Canadian experience in all its varieties.
This series of original or translated works in the fields of literature, history, politics, and biography has been gathered to enrich and illuminate our understanding of a multi-faceted Canada. Through straightforward, knowledgeable, and reader-friendly introductions the Voyageur Classics series provides context and accessibility while breathing new life into these timeless Canadian masterpieces.
The Voyageur Classics series was designed with the widest possible readership in mind and sees a place for itself with the interested reader as well as in the classroom. Physically attractive and reset in a contemporary format, these books aim at an enlivened and updated sense of Canada’s written heritage.
OTHER VOYAGEUR CLASSICS TITLES
The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery, introduced by Dr. Collett Tracey 978-1-55002-666-5 Canadian Exploration Literature: An Anthology, edited and introduced by Germaine Warkentin 978-1-55002-661-0 Combat Journal for Place d’Armes: A Personal Narrative by Scott Symons, introduced by Christopher Elson 978-1-55488-457-5 The Donnellys by James Reaney, introduced by Alan Filewod 978-1-55002-832-4 Empire and Communications by Harold A. Innis, introduced by Alexander John Watson 978-1-55002-662-7 The Firebrand:William Lyon Mackenzie and the Rebellion in Upper Canada by William Kilbourn, introduced by Ronald Stagg 978-1-55002-800-3 In This Poem I Am: Selected Poetry of Robin Skelton, edited and introduced by Harold Rhenisch 978-1-55002-769-3 The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser 1806–1808, edited and introduced by W. Kaye Lamb, foreword by Michael Gnarowski 978-1-55002-713-6 Maria Chapdelaine: A Tale of French Canada by Louis Hémon, translated by W.H. Blake, introduction and notes by Michael Gnarowski 978-1-55002-712-9 Mrs. Simcoe’s Diary by Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, edited and introduced by Mary Quayle Innis, foreword by Michael Gnarowski 978-1-55002-768-6 The Refugee: Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada by Benjamin Drew, introduced by George Elliott Clarke 978-1-55002-801-0 The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Doctor Norman Bethune by Ted Allan and Sydney Ostrovsky, introduced by Julie Allan, Dr. Norman Allan, and Susan Ostrovsky 978-1-55488-402-5 Selected Writings by A.J.M. Smith, edited and introduced by Michael Gnarowski 978-1-55002-665-8 Self Condemned by Wyndham Lewis, introduced by Allan Pero 978-1-55548-735-4 Storm Below by Hugh Garner, introduced by Paul Stuewe 978-1-55488-456-8 A Tangled Web by Lucy Maud Montgomery, introduced by Benjamin Lefebvre 978-1-55488-403-2 The Yellow Briar: A Story of the Irish on the Canadian Countryside by Patrick Slater, introduced by Michael Gnarowski 978-1-55002-848-5
FORTHCOMING
The Men of the Last Frontier by Grey Owl, introduced by James Polk 978-1-55488-804-7 The Silence on the Shore by Hugh Garner, introduced by George etherling 978-1-55488-782-8
VOYAGEUR CLASSICS
BOOKS THAT EXPLORE CANADA
PILGRIMS
OF THE WILD
GREY OWL
EDITED AND INTRODUCED BY MICHAEL GNAROWSKI
Copyright © Dundurn Press, 2010
Originally published by Macmillan of Canada in 1934.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Project Editor: Michael Carroll
Copy Editor: Matt Baker
Design: Courtney Horner
Printer: Marquis
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Grey Owl, 1888-1938
Pilgrims of the wild / by Grey Owl.
ISBN 978-1-55488-734-7
1. Beavers--Biography. 2. Natural history--Canada.
3. Grey Owl, 1888-1938. I. Title.
QL737.R6G635 2010 599.37 C2009-907483-4
1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
Printed and bound in Canada.
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Dedicated to my friend and adviser, J.C. Campbell, whose vision and sympathy and understanding alone made possible the fulfillment of a long-cherished purpose
CONTENTS
Introduction by Michael Gnarowski
2 How We Undertook a New Responsibility