The story of Leonidas Hubbard's doomed expedition into the Labrador interior, as recorded by his traveling companion Dillon Wallace.
By a campfire in southern New York in 1901, Leonidas Hubbard Jr. put the question to his friend: “How would you like to go to Labrador, Wallace?”
By 1903 the plans were laid and Hubbard confided: “It will be a big thing, Wallace. It ought to make my reputation.”
The two set out with their guide, George Elson, to canoe up the Nascapi River to Lake Michikamau in the interior of Labrador and make new maps, meet Indians, and run with caribou – all fodder for famous magazine articles Hubbard would write. But alas, they took the wrong river and Hubbard’s reputation was made instead through his death by starvation on the Susan River. A hundred years later the tale of his folly is no less poignant.
Three men set out to explore the interior of Canadian Labrador, looking for adventure and material for new maps and magazine articles. But a wrong turn proves perilous, and their quest ends in freezing and starvation. Jody Richardson brings an appropriate sense of melancholy to Wallace's first-person account. Richardson's even pacing and clear tone offer understanding, if not excitement, as the men move from anticipation through exhilaration, trepidation, and resignation. His unfamiliar pronunciation of Canadian place names and common camping terms gives the impression that the trip took place over a century ago. Without these reminders, the story might have taken place last week or last year. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
The Independent...
"We as listeners are wont to think that, literacy being so commonplace in our society, one reading is as good as another, but try listening to a lengthy narrative told to you by someone with a voice like a loose fan belt. Jody Richardson’s voice, by contrast, is rich, compelling and highly listenable. Nor does he diffuse this natural gift by overacting the part – his interpretation lies somewhere between a dramatic and a straight reading. Subtle modulations in the quality of his voice are more than enough to convey the sense of different characters speaking...Wallace’s Lure of the Labrador Wild is transformed by the aural medium; a hundred years after it was first published, it is given new life."
Che Mun: The Journal of Canadian Wilderness Canoeing...
"The story of the three Hubbard and Wallace expeditions have been well covered in these pages. And now along comes an audio recording of the book about that initial trip in 1903 with prose by Dillon Wallace - the same words that somehow riled his deceased traveling partner's wife to undertake her own epic journey to Ungava - and into the history books. Ready clearly and faithfully by Jody Richardson, this CD is a straightforward reading of Wallace's first book. It tells the tale of Wallace, Hubbard and legendary guide George Elson's futile attempt to cross Labrador after taking the wrong river. Though quite familiar with the work it seemed to have had fresh air pumped into it and was more eloquent that I recall from my own, silent, reading. At more than nine hours in length, the best likely place to enjoy it all would be a long canoe trip shuttle or car ride. Then again, it is probably not the sort of uplifting tale you might wish to hear before heading out into those same somber woods that claimed Leonidad Hubbard. There is something more searing about the words when read aloud. The brutal weather and unrelenting hard work is sobering to say the least. An incredible tale of an almost unbelievable canoe trip - that none of us would like to be on."
About the Author
Dillon Wallace was born in Craigsville, New York in 1863. In 1888 he moved to New York City where he became a lawyer. In 1900, Wallace became friends with Leonidas Hubbard, Jr. (1872-1903) the assistant-editor for Outing, an American nature magazine. Hubbard convinced the forty-year-old Wallace, to accompany him on the Labrador canoe trip of which Wallace wrote in Lure of the Labrador Wild.
Mistakenly taking the Susan River instead of the Naskaupi the trip ended in tragedy. Hubbard died of exhaustion and starvation before they were to escape the interior of Labrador in October 1903. Wallace returned to New York in 1904 with Hubbard's body and obtaining the rights to use Hubbard's field notes, maps and photographs from his widow wrote Lure Of The Labrador Wild. Released in 1905 the book became an instant best seller in the United States and Canada.
Mina Hubbard was not happy with the book. She thought it an unfair depiction of her late husband. Both Dillon Wallace and Mina Hubbard resolved to return to the Labrador to complete the unfulfilled objectives of the original expedition. The press depicted the two journeys as a race which Mina Hubbard won.
Wallace wrote up his second expedition in The Long Labrador Trail, released in 1907. He then turned to writing and exploring as a new career. In 1907 he published his first tale of fiction, Ungava Bob. Subsequent journeys in other parts of North America were published as Beyond The Mexican Sierras (1910) and Saddle And Camp In The Rockies (1911). He wrote twenty-eight books many of them wilderness adventures for young boys. In 1911, Wallace moved to Beacon, New York, resumed his law practice and became heavily involved in the Scouting movement. Wallace’s last published book, The Camper's Handbook, appeared in 1936. He died in 1939.
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