By Canoe and Dog-train Among the Cree and Salteaux Indians

The Rev. Edgerton R. Young (1840-1909), for years a missionary to the Indians in the region of Winnipeg Lake and the Red River of the North, presents in the little volume first published in 1890 ‘By Canoe and Dog-train Among the Cree and Salteaux Indians’ some account of the Indians and sledge dogs he has known. Young had claimed that Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild (1903)” was taken from Young’s book “My Dogs in the Northland .” London later acknowledged using it as a source and claimed to have written a letter to Young thanking him. Young faced the hardships and privations of that little-known northland, traveling several thousands of miles each year, in winter with dog sleds and in the summers in a birch canoe. During these missionary tours by canoe and dog sledge he had ample opportunities for studying the Eskimo and St. Bernard dogs his experiences with which are here incorporated into story form. The many exciting incidents and thrilling adventures of this period of his life have been described in vivid detail of an experience and expert story-teller. He has a charming and at times a thrilling story-telling style. There is room for a book which shall tell us about dogs, harness, and sledges, and the art of transportation in a country without roads or artificial shelter for the traveller.