I <3 Books

1984

This is the last book in a four part series (sort of) by Berton about the opening up of Western Canada. He talks about how he never realized there was a unified story to the entire westward migration until he began writing about it. He soon saw that there were four major episodes, each one feeding into the next, that really moved the entire process along. A few of them, such as the Liberal policy of filling up the western plains with Eastern European immigrants (which was seriously opposed), and the giving away of land on he condition that it be cultivated, were deliberate. Others, like the gold rush were a bit more spontaneous.

Writing an interesting book about a process as slow as this one can't be easy. Berton somehow manages to make it nearly gripping. As usual, he focuses on the human. The characters are as interesting as the story. I can't imagine where he digs up all the anecdotes and side stories. I once saw him speak, and he said everything in his books can be found elsewhere, the writer just has to work hard to find it all.

Perseverance, resiliency, stubbornness, and pride are all vital qualities for any of the settlers in the remote west. The prairie winters were described, in the pamphlets distributed throughout Europe, as "invigorating". Freezing to the point of being deadly would have been more accurate. As said about books here before, this one really is essential reading for any passing study of Canadian history. The story is a good one, full hard work and a determination to succeed. The qualities demonstrated by these families, while so much of the rest of the world was, as always back then, in turmoil, can only be a source of pride today.

1958

Perhaps Berton at his best, and, as with many writers, Berton at his earliest. This, I think, is only his second or third book, and certainly the most ambitious he'd yet attempted. It is a logical starting point for Berton early in his career. For someone who was to go on to write stacks of books of Canadian history, his first major effort is on a topic very familiar to him. Berton grew up in Dawson, surrounded by the remains, both human and physical, of the gold rush. He grew up hearing old tales in the company of people with firsthand knowledge. It seems writing a history of the Klondike was perhaps a massive effort that could be commenced with relative ease. Berton knew enough to know where to start.

The book is brightened throughout by Berton's personal accounts and half-opinions on the topics. Rarely outright making a outright subjective statement, Berton's familiarity with the land and the history is impossible to hide. And, it's these personal accents that make the book one of his best. It is in no way a memoir, and there is no soft anecdotal takes on the events, but the language and attitude he takes towards the story are more authentic.

Gold was discovered near the Klondike river the fall of 1896. Through that winter, anyone already there made buckets of money. But they were all snowed in for the season. There was no going out to spend the money until spring. That winter food was so scarce, but everyone was millionaires. So much, that gold was tossed around and traded carelessly. Bar keepers would nightly sweep the floors of the salloon collecting a fortune in gold dust that fell from men's coats as they danced. Once spring came, so many left to live in luxury in the US, and as soon as the first men made it to civilisation, word spread and the rush was on. For the next 18 months, tens of thousands endured torturous conditions to make it to Dawson city, few realizing how remote and inaccessible it was. Many didn't make it, of those who did, few made much money, most all the good mining sites were already secured. But the pride all who made it felt upon succeeding lasted their entire lives, so that even if they arrived poor and left poorer, they were still, decades later looked at with awe for having been there. Maybe a bit like being in a great battle. Berton's history is a human one. He writes the individual stories, and the grand story comes through piece by piece. There are so many stories, and Berton crams so many in, that he captures the real hectic and frenzied feeling of the time.