CALL OF THE NORTHWESTERN GENRE: BEST BOOKS, ANIMAL STORIES & MOUNTIE FICTION
“Just you and the love of your life and a happy team of sled dogs, alone together in the Great White North — that’s the last act of pure Freedom still available on the planet.” – Brian Alan Burhoe
CALL OF THE NORTHWESTERN GENRE: BEST BOOKS, ANIMAL STORIES & MOUNTIE FICTION
The “Northwestern” was named after its locale: the Canadian Northwest and Arctic, as well as American territories that bordered and interacted with them, especially Alaska.
The American Western was a genre defined by publishers as being “set in the U.S. west of the Mississippi and before 1900” — generally covering a period of only a few decades.
The Northwestern, however, covered a greater area, being set in the northern half of North America, and a greater time period, from the days of the First Nations arrival to the beginning of the industrialisation of that area in the 20th Century.
The Northwestern exploded in popularity in 1903 with the publication of Jack London’s THE CALL OF THE WILD. Jack combined his love of Charles G D Roberts’ wild animal stories with his own hard experiences in the Canadian Klondike to create his literary masterpiece.
He followed with his second Northern Dog Story WHITE FANG.
The Genre (also known as “Northerns”) quickly spread from Magazines and Books to Stage and soon to Screen.
It’s a genre about the savage Northcountry and the Animals and Humans who fought to survive there.
A large number of these tales involved Husky Dogs, Wolves and Canadian Mounties.
Some of these yarns were written as romantic adventures.
Some of the bleaker dog and wolf stories fall into what we would now call the Horror Stories or Monster Hunter Stories categories.
It didn’t matter. The public loved ’em all.
Are you searching for Northwesterns?
To look for Northwesterns — (the literature of the the Great White North — the Northwest — Mountie fiction and Realistic Animal Stories) — you CAN find these books (many available as Free Kindle eBooks or as Project Gutenberg downloads — others as used books online and recent releases at your local bookstore).
Northwestern Authors A to K
Ian Anderson — The Scarlet Rider Series: CORPORAL CAVANNAGH, THE RETURN OF CAVANNAGH, BEYOND THE STONE HEAPS, SERGEANT O’REILLY, FORT TERROR, THE FLYING PATROL and DEAD OR ALIVE
Margaret Atwood — SURFACING
H Mortimer Batten — WHISPERS OF THE WILDERNESS, WILD AND FREE, DRAMAS OF THE WILD FOLK, THE SINGING FOREST, ROMANCES OF THE WILD, RED RUFF: The Life Story of a Fox and MUSKWA THE TRAIL MAKER. (You’ll find two of his short stories in Muriel Whitaker’s Animal Stories anthologies listed below.)
Rex Beach — THE SPOILERS
Henry Beissel — INUK AND THE SUN
Harold Bindloss — THE WILDERNESS PATROL
Ottwell Binns — A MATING IN THE WILDS
William D Blankenship — YUKON GOLD
Fred Bodsworth — LAST OF THE CURLEWS and THE SPARROW’S FALL
Max Brand — CHINOOK, MIGHTY LOBO, THE TYRANT, MOUNTAIN STORMS and THE MASTERMAN
William Brockie (Charles Victor Tench) — TALES OF THE MOUNTED
Sheila Burnford — THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY and ONE WOMAN’S ARCTIC
Robert Ormond Case — THE YUKON DRIVE, BUCCANEER OF THE BARRENS and WEST OF BARTER RIVER
William L Chester — HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS, KIOGA OF THE WILDERNESS, ONE AGAINST A WILDERNESS and KIOGA OF THE UNKNOWN LAND
Ralph Connor — CORPORAL CAMERON OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE (considered the First Masterpiece of Mountie Fiction) and THE PATROL OF THE SUNDANCE TRAIL
Ridgewell Cullum — THE HOUND OF THE NORTH, THE HEART OF UNAGA, IN THE BROODING WILD and THE WOLF PACK
James Oliver Curwood — PHILIP STEELE OF THE ROYAL NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE, KAZAN THE WOLF DOG, BAREE SON OF KAZAN, THE GRIZZLY KING, BACK TO GOD’S COUNTRY and THE FLAMING FOREST: A Novel of the Canadian Northwest
Danielle Daniel — DAUGHTERS OF THE DEER
Muriel Denison — SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES and SUSANNAH OF THE YUKON
Francis Dickie — UMINGMUK OF THE BARRENS and HUSKY OF THE MOUNTIES
Terrance Dicks — THE MOUNTIES: THE GREAT MARCH WEST.
Louis Charles Douthwaite — YELLERLEGS, WARDEN OF THE WILDS and YUKON PATROL
Harry Sinclair Drago — OUT OF THE SILENT NORTH and THE SNOW PATROL
Marian Engel — BEAR
Laurie York Erskine — RENFREW OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED
Tabor Evans — LONGARM AND THE MOUNTIES (by Lou Cameron) and LONGARM AND THE YUKON QUEEN (by James Reasoner)
Wade Everett (Giles A Lutz) — THE WHISKEY TRADERS
Elizabeth Faucher & David Fallon — WHITE FANG II: MYTH OF THE WHITE WOLF
W Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear — PEOPLE OF THE WOLF, PEOPLE OF THE RAVEN, PEOPLE OF THE SEA, PEOPLE OF THE NIGHTLAND, PEOPLE OF THE SONGTRAIL and CHILDREN OF THE DAWNLAND
Chief Dan George — MY HEART SOARS and MY SPIRIT SOARS
Jean Craighead George — JULIE OF THE WOLVES and SNOW BEAR
Graeme Gibson — PERPETUAL MOTION
George Goodchild — TROOPER O’NEILL: A Story of the Northwest Mounted Police, SASKATOON PATROL, COLORADO JIM, JIM GOES NORTH, THE MAN FROM PEACE RIVER, DOCTOR OF THE NORTH and KIT OF THE KLONDIKE SNOWS
Frederick Philip Grove — SETTLERS OF THE MARSH
Roderick Haig-Brown — MOUNTED POLICE PATROL, STARBUCK VALLEY WINTER, WOODS AND RIVER TALES, THE FARTHEST SHORE and THE WHALE PEOPLE
Lief Hansen — SOURDOUGH PRINCESS and WHITE GOLD
Dick Harrison — BEST MOUNTED POLICE STORIES (includes stories by James Oliver Curwood, James B Hendryx, Wallace Stegner, Ralph Connor, Harwood Steele, Norma Sluman, Gilbert Parker, Ken Mitchell, Rudy Wiebe…)
Cassie Hayes — RNWMP: Bride for Nolan
Tiffinie Helmer — MOOSED UP
James B Hendryx — DOWNEY OF THE MOUNTED, CORPORAL DOWNEY TAKES THE TRAIL, OAK AND IRON: Of These Be The Breed Of The North, OUTLAWS ON HALFADAY CREEK, THE WAY OF THE NORTH, GOLD — AND THE MOUNTED and BLOOD ON THE YUKON TRAIL
Will Henry — BLIND CANYON and THE NORTH STAR
Joe Holliday — DALE OF THE MOUNTED
Al Hunter — SPIRIT HORSES
Don Hutchison — SCARLET RIDERS: PULP FICTION TALES OF THE MOUNTIES (includes stories by Lester Dent, Hugh B Cave, Murray Leinster, Ryerson Johnson, Frederick Nebel, Talmage Powell, Harold F Cruickshank, Roger Daniels and A De Herries Smith writing as Dan O’Rourke…)
Michel Jean — ATUK and KUKUM
E Pauline Johnson — FLINT AND FEATHER, LEGENDS OF VANCOUVER, THE SHAGGANAPPI and THE MOCCASIN MAKERS
Ralph Kendall — BENTON OF THE MOUNTED
Jim Kjelgaard — SNOW DOG, KALAK OF THE ICE and WILD TREK
Michael Kusugak — THE LITTLEST SLED DOG
Northwestern Authors L to Q
Louis L’Amour — LONELY ON THE MOUNTAIN and SITKA
Cameron Langford – WINTER OF THE FISHER
R D Lawrence — CRY WILD
Suzann Ledbetter — KLONDIKE FEVER
Robert Leighton — SERGEANT SILK, THE PRAIRIE SCOUT
Jack London — THE CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG
J Paul Loomis — SALTO, A HORSE OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTIES
T Lund — WESTON OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE, UP NORTH: A Tale From Northern Canada and THE MURDER OF DAVE BRANDON: A Story of the Royal North-West Mounted Police
Giles A Lutz — THE MAGNIFICENT FAILURE
John Mackie — SINNERS TWAIN: A Romance of the Great Lone Land, THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND: A Story of the Wild Northwest, HIDDEN IN THE CANADIAN WILDS and CANADIAN JACK
Anne MacMillan — MOUNTIE PATROL
Robin Marshall — CAMPBELL OF THE MOUNTIES
Gray McClintock — THE WOLVES AT COOKING LAKE AND OTHER STORIES
Walt Morey — KAVIK THE WOLF DOG, SCRUB DOG OF ALASKA, GLOOMY GUS and GENTLE BEN
George Marsh — FLASH THE LEAD DOG, UNDER FROZEN STARS, HEART OF THE KING-DOG, WHITE SILENCE and WHELPS OF THE WOLF
James A Michener — ALASKA and JOURNEY
Alan Morris — The Guardians of the North Series: BY HONOR BOUND, HEART OF VALOR, BRIGHT SWORD OF JUSTICE, BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY and WINGS OF HEALING
Lawrence Mott — JULES OF THE GREAT HEART: Free Trapper and Outlaw in the Hudson Bay Area and THE WHITE DARKNESS AND OTHER STORIES OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST
Farley Mowat — LOST IN THE BARRENS and THE CURSE OF THE VIKING GRAVE
William Byron Mowery — SAGAS OF THE MOUNTED POLICE
Nadia Nichols — ACROSS A THOUSAND MILES and A SOLDIER’S PLEDGE
Jack O’Brien — SILVER CHIEF DOG OF THE NORTH, THE RETURN OF SILVER CHIEF and SILVER CHIEF’S REVENGE
Janette Oke — WHEN CALLS THE HEART
Frank Oppel — TALES OF THE CANADIAN WILDERNESS (includes stories by G H Lees, T C Evans, Herman Whitaker, Jack London, A Radclyffe Dugmore, Arthur Henning who illustrates his own article about the Abitibi Fur Brigade, Mary Knowles Bartlett, Mina B Hubbard, Lawrence Mott, Sir Charles G D Roberts, John Sidney Webb, Dillon Wallace…)
Frank Oppel — TALES OF THE CANADIAN NORTH (includes stories by Lawrence Mott, Sir Charles G D Roberts, A Hyatt Verrill, Rex Beach, Robert T Morris, Duncan Campbell Scott, Riley H Allen and Thérèse Guérin Randall — the nine stories by Lawrence Mott make this a collector’s dream!)
Herve Paniaq — TAKANNAALUK (illustrated by Germaine Arnaktauyok)
Roger Pocock — THE CHEERFUL BLACKGUARD
Bill Pronzini — STARVATION CAMP
Bill Pronzini and Martin H Greenberg — THE NORTHERNERS (includes stories by Jack London, Rex Beach, Samuel Alexander White, James Oliver Curwood, James B Hendryx, Ryerson Johnson…)
Rachel & Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley — SKRAELINGS: Clashes in the Old Arctic
Northwestern Authors R to Y
J R Roberts (Robert J Randisi) — THE CANADIAN PAYROLL
Sir Charles G D Roberts — HAUNTERS OF THE SILENCES: A Book of Animal Life, EARTH’S ENIGMAS, FEET OF THE FURTIVE, RED FOX, CHILDREN OF THE WILD, NEIGHBOURS UNKNOWN, HOOF AND CLAW, KINDRED OF THE WILD, HOUSE IN THE WATER: A Book of Animal Stories and WATCHERS OF THE TRAILS.
Robert W Service — THE SPELL OF THE YUKON AND OTHER VERSES and THE TRAIL OF ’98
Ernest Thompson Seton — BANNERTAIL: The Story of a Grey Squirrel, JOHNNY BEAR, LOBO & OTHER STORIES, THE TRAIL OF THE SANDHILL STAG and WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN
Nell Shipman — NEEKA OF THE NORTH
Alfred Silver — RED RIVER STORY, LORD OF THE PLAINS and WHERE THE GHOST HORSE RUNS
Bertrand W Sinclair — BIG TIMBER, NORTH OF ’53 and THE LAND OF THE FROZEN SUNS
Constance L Skinner — ROSELLE OF THE NORTH
Harwood Steele — TO EFFECT AN ARREST, SPIRIT-OF-IRON, GHOSTS RETURNING, THE MARCHING CALL, THE RED SERGE and LAYS ON THE LONG, LONG TRAIL: Selected Poems and Drawings
Tom Stewart — IMMORTAL NORTH
Tanya Tagaq — SPLIT TOOTH
Albert M Treynor — THE TRAIL FROM DEVIL’S COUNTRY
Guy Vanderhaeghe — THE ENGLISHMAN’S BOY and THE LAST CROSSING
Aritha van Herk — THE TENT PEG
Muriel Whitaker — GREAT CANADIAN ADVENTURE STORIES (includes stories by Sinclair Ross, W O Mitchell, Roderick Haig-Brown, Rudy Wiebe, Harwood Steele, Pierre Berton, Jack London, Ethel Wilson, Will Bird and R M Ballantyne…)
Muriel Whitaker — GREAT CANADIAN ANIMAL STORIES (includes stories by Ernest Thompson Seton, Sir Charles G D Roberts, Christie Harris, H Mortimer Batten, Sheila Burnford, Grey Owl, Farley Mowat, Jack London, George Allan England…)
Muriel Whitaker — THE BEST CANADIAN ANIMAL STORIES: Classic Tales by Master Storytellers (Stories by Sir Charles G D Roberts, Ernest Thompson Seton, Emily Carr, Martha Brooks, Gladys Francis Lewis, Francis Dickie, Donald G Dodds, H Mortimer Batten, Hubert Evans, Kerry Wood, Peter Lum, Grey Owl, Alistair MacLeod, Gabrielle Roy, Barbara Grantmyre, Farley Mowat and Robertson Davies.) If you love Animal Stories and don’t have this one, it’s an essential…
Samuel Alexander White — MAN SCENT, MORGAN OF THE MOUNTED and THE CODE OF THE NORTHWEST
Stewart Edward White — CONJUROR’S HOUSE: A Romance of the Free Forest (retitled THE CALL OF THE NORTH, after two silent movie versions, one directed by Cecil B DeMille) and THE SILENT PLACES
Heather Woodhaven — ARCTIC WITNESS
Alissa York — FAUNA
Not a complete list, of course: the Creators of the genre and a bunch of Favourites. There are welcomed new Voices, especially in the Animal Stories half of the Northwestern. And from First Nations, Métis and Inuit writers…
And — To See My Original, Highly-Praised Animal Stories, You Have Gotta Go To CIVILIZED BEARS – ANIMAL STORIES By BRIAN ALAN BURHOE
“Sergeant Hugh O’Reilly legged the dark bay into a trot until a hundred yards of open grass stood between him and the side of the mountain.
“The next instant the mountainside erupted as three rifle shots fired in quick succession kicked up spurts of dust in front of his horse. Nostrils flaring, the dark bay reared up on its hind legs, its forelegs raking the air…”
See more at Greatest Writers of Mountie Fiction: Storytellers of the Canadian Mounted Police.
And you can click here for more Book Reviews: Brian’s Blog.
“There’s a land where the mountains are nameless, and the rivers all run God knows where; there are lives that are erring and aimless, and deaths that just hang by a hair; there are hardships that nobody reckons; there are valleys unpeopled and still; there’s a land — oh, it beckons and beckons, and I want to go back — and I will.” – Robert W Service, THE SPELL OF THE YUKON
CALL OF THE NORTHWESTERN GENRE: BEST BOOKS, ANIMAL STORIES & MOUNTIE FICTION