Northern Rover: The Life Story of Olaf HansonFrom 1919 to 1970, Olaf Hanson was a trapper, trader, prospector, game guardian, fisherman, and road blasting expert in northeastern Saskatchewan. He told his life story to popular Saskatchewan author A. L. Karras, whose manuscript, written in the 1980s, only came to light after his death in 1999. In an uncompromising, straightforward style, Karras and Hanson reveal the geography, wildlife, and natural history of the region as well as the business and social interactions between people. The book offers a look at the vanished subsistence and commercial economy of the boreal forest, wound around a fascinating personal story of courage and physical stamina. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
PREFACE | 7 |
ROAD TO LEARNING | 9 |
FOREST RANGER | 25 |
FROM POACHER TO GAME GUARDIAN | 35 |
BEAR CUBS | 49 |
HARDSHIPS AND HAPPY DAYS | 55 |
COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN | 67 |
THE WANDERING TRAPPERS | 121 |
NO POT OF GOLD | 137 |
AT THE RAINBOWS END | 143 |
IN ROCKBOUND COUNTRY | 159 |
REINDEER LAKE TO LYNN LAKE | 163 |
LADY PROSPECTOR | 173 |
THE HANSON LAKE ROAD | 181 |
EPILOGUE | 187 |
Common terms and phrases
arrived asked Ballantyne Beaver Lake beaver pelts began Big Sandy Lake Birch Portage brought cabin camp Candle Lake canoe commercial fishing Creek cubs dark Deschambault Lake dogs dollars Fairburn and Vessy feet fisher Flin Flon freight freighter Game Guardian groceries Gull Lake Hackens Hanson Lake haul Heinrichs brothers hole Holmes hundred island Jan Lake Johnson knew load locating looked lunch Lynn Lake Manitoba McDonald miles Mirond Lake moose morning Mosher muskeg muskrat night Nipawin Olaf Hanson Oulette outboard motor outfit pack packsack paddled Parker Pelican Narrows poles pounds Prince Albert prospecting prospector Quincey Reindeer Lake road shore sleigh snow spruce stay stove Sturgeon-weir River summer supplies tent told took Torch River trading trail Tramping Lake trapper trapping season trees trip Tulabi Lake walked Walker weather White wind winter