A Journey to the Northern Ocean: The Adventures of Samuel Hearne

by Samuel Hearne

Widely recognized as a classic of northern-exploration literature, A Journey to the Northern Ocean is Samuel Hearne's story of his three-year trek to seek a trade route across the Barrens in the Northwest Territories. Hearne was a superb reporter, from his anguished description of the massacre of helpless Eskimos by his Indian companions to his meticulous records of wildlife, flora and Indian manners and customs. As esteemed author Ken McGoogan points out in his foreword: "Hearne demonstrated that to thrive in the north, Europeans had to apprentice themselves to the Native peoples who had lived there for centuries-a lesson lost on many who followed." First published in 1795, more than two decades after Hearne had completed his trek, the memoir was originally called A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772. This Classics West edition brings a crucial piece of Canadian history back into print.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Canada, Adventure

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2007

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good and it should be required reading for everyone interested in Canada before any lines were drawn, little was mapped or recorded, and Native Americans governed the land as they'd been doing for who knows how long, but at least since the last migration over the Bering Strait estimated at 12,000 years. There is extensive detail into Samuel Hearne's expeditions and the book is as savage as it is beautiful, in the man's own words.

[Tracy Dunning]

Read this as my 18 yr old son canoed the Coppermine River for almost 7 weeks. It gave a remarkable description of the life of the tribes in the area and of the relations with the Hudson Bay Company. Surprised me with how interesting and perceptive it was as it opened my eyes to life in the late 1700s in northern Canada.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I liked Samuel Hearne. He was a gifted writer in spite of little education. He started life in the Navy as boy of 11 or 12 and stayed with the navy until he was about 20 years old when he joined the Hudson Bay Company. How he survived his time with the Dogribbed, (Dog Rib) Indians is amazing to me, a fussy eater. They were on the move constantly hunting for food and shelter was often a snow bank. It was a hard life and especially so for the young girls and woman which Hearne describes in detail. His descriptions of other people, the Copper Indians and the Esquimaux, was not detailed likely because he didn't live and travel with them. He also mentions the Southern Indians but if he gave their names I missed it. He also recorded details of the animals and their habits and the plants in the areas he lived and worked. He talked little of his life living in and managing the various forts. He died in England at the age of 47.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't normally read first person accounts - I prefer to view history through a lens but I first learned about Hearne in Adam Shoalts History of Canada in Ten Maps and wanted more. This was a fabulous account from an anthropological standpoint. It was fascinating to see how an 18th century man who lived with the indigenous population essentially as one of them )who wasn't there to proselytize) described them.

[Rodney97 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkably literate and thoughtful book, clearly written by a man who had received a classical education; yet often with very modern-sounding turns of phrase.