R. M. Patterson (1898–1984)

R.M Patterson tells an engaging good adventure story which ranges from northern Alberta to the Rockies to the Nahanni with wit, bonhomie humour, and not a little bit of sheer terror. There aren’t too many men who would yearn for and be able to drop everything and head for the wilds damn the consequences. He’s an extremely capable outdoorsman whose yarns speak to a ranching life in Alberta that is long gone and won’t be back. His stories of trophy hunting clients are written in such a show more way a reader could wish lightening would strike those who hunt only for a head or antlers to hang on a wall or backstrap to be fried up. Some of the stories are corny and long winded but enjoyable nonetheless. show less

The author, a well-educated man from England, after a meeting with his father whom he hasn’t seen in 20+ years, is convinced to leave his job at a bank in England to seek adventure where he may find it. He drops tools, leaves his mother behind, and heads for Alberta to homestead. Ever a man to seek adventure, much like fellow countryman and author William Francis Butler, he heads out with partner Gordon Mathews for the Nahanni River to trap for furs, and perhaps look for gold. His show more descriptive writing is exemplary, evocative, humorous, and not without wit although his descriptions of hunting for meat and fur are dark and disturbing (“… the third one landed right where it would do most good and stretched him dead in the snow.”) It’s a great read. show less

The dangerous river gets all the talk and is the more crazy and earlier trip of Patterson's career--trip? *adventure*--but I prefer The trail to the Interior for its sadly redrawn map, the solo-ness of much of the trip, and for its beautiful prose. While the former was written in the 1940s about a 1920s adventure, this one was written in the 1960s about a 1940s trip (I may have to revise that!). There are so many fascinating aspects of this book, some of which one doubts the veracity of at show more first read: were there really that many moose chased by that many wolves, that organised, and did the moose REALLY stand within the glow of the campfire, choosing the company of sled dogs and man over wolves? It smacks of a fib--and it IS a retelling of someone else's tale. Did that First Nation "princess" really exist, and did she REALLY save those white travellers from certain murder (another twice-told tale)? But I do believe that that stick-and-bark bridge did exist over that treacherous river canyon of the Stikine. Those foolish hikes up that lonely mountain also happened--this time only once-told tales--and many other near-disasters, including the mundane one of being very ill the long solo canoe voyage, as well as the badly swollen wrist. I've now read it two or was that read last month the third? I just love it. show less

The author was a Brit of privileged background who went to a private school, WWI, Bank of England, then threw it all away to undertake a life of adventure in Alberta, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories in Canada. This particular book in his corpus of work narrates the story of his life on the Buffalo Head ranch outside High River, Alberta. He’s a nomad, a wanderer, a lover of lonely places with harsh conditions, strong, extremely capable, excellent hunter and trapper, a man show more who can’t be tied down, who’s like the bear who went over the mountain just to see what he could see, and having found another mountain, had to climb that one too. Of course, he couldn’t be contained so when a road was put through Kananaskis, it proved too much so he sold off his ranch, took his wife, the rest of the horses he was fond off, and rode off into the mountains in B.C. It is an engaging read for life was never dull for R.M. Patterson. show less