When John McPhee visited the Alaska’s upper Yukon River in the mid 1970’s, he was met with an eclectic group of individualists who had decided to make the rugged wilderness their home. They ranged from folks like John Borg, who settled in the village and ran most every part of it, to Dick Cook, who lived off the land in a remote cabin and relished self sufficiency. The Ulvi’s and friends were hippies from California. Brad Snow and Lilly Allen showed up from New Hampshire. They were all different, but all had something in common. They wanted to get away from the life they’d lived elsewhere, and they weren’t afraid of hard work and brutal conditions.
McPhee’s book “Coming into the Country” was powerful in its ability to captivate readers with the stories of its subjects. Each was a unique character, and as a friendly, unassuming observer, McPhee described them beautifully.
Mike Potts was one of McPhee’s many interesting subjects. They met while John was visiting the Indian Village of Eagle, a separate settlement a few miles from the main village. Unlike most of the white settlers who’d either moved to Eagle or settled on down the river in a cabin, Potts had immersed himself in the native village. Born in Iowa, Potts dreamed of being a mountain man and trapper as a boy. He left for Alaska the day after he graduated from high school.
After discovering Eagle, Alaska, Potts made friends in the Indian Village. He had a great respect for the natives and took every opportunity to learn from them. He built cabins in the mountains nearby, ran a trapline, and hunted and fished throughout the area for years. He married a native woman from the village and they started a family.
Once in a while I take an interest in learning what ever happened to different characters I read about. It’s human nature to want to hear ‘the rest of the story’. So when I wandered across a book written by the very same Mike Potts forty years after McPhee’s book came out, I had to pick up a copy.
“Tales of Trails in the Far North” is Mike Potts’ story of his life in Alaska. In 180 pages, Mike writes of his adventures, shares trapline journals and discusses the various life changes and pursuits he’s experienced through the decades. It isn’t exactly a literary masterpiece, but if you’re interested in hearing more from the young man McPhee introduced to the world back in the ‘70’s, check it out. For me, it’s another addition to my fast growing Alaska book collection.
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