Review by Dean Littlepage
Alaska History
a publication ofthe Alaska Historical Society
Spring 2009
In October 1850, English physician and naturalist Edward Adams and two other members of the crew of the HMS Enterprise disembarked at the Russian post of St. Michael, Alaska. Their mission was to investigate a vague lead into the disappearance of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin, and the territory they were entering was still a Russian possession. From then until the ship returned for the party in July 1851, Edwards kept a journal, which is the core of this slim and engaging book.
The editor, anthropologist and explorer Ernest Sipes, provides an explanatory foreword, occasional notes, and numerous illustrations and color plates that help bring life to Adams' words. But the gem here is the journal itself. Much of it focuses on Yup'ik life along the Bering Sea coast at the time, and Adams' eye for detail on that score is impressive.
One of the journal's chief historical contributions is Adams' account of the Nulato Massacre of 1851. His companion, Lt. John Barnard, traveling up the Yukon River in search of traces of Franklin, had the incredible bad luck of arriving at Nulato just in time for the attack by Koyukuk River Native people on Nulato's Russian post and Athabaskan village. More than fifty people, including Barnard, were killed. Adams arrived shortly afterwards to view the scene and interview survivors.
Adam was curious and observant, knew his business as a naturalist, and best of all, was good with words. Describing life at St. Michael in the dead of winter, he writes that meadow mice (we call them voles these days) gallop about our rooms day and night in swarms (p.80). When he is lost miles from his snowy backcountry camp on a dark night, he wanders for several hours before the moon illuminates his tracks, revealing that I had walked twice round the mountain...and that I was on my way for another round (p. 67). His vivid description of a multi-colored, dancing aurora may be one of the best in print.
The journal...is a quick, illuminating read about life in western Alaska in the waning days of Russia's American empire.
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INTO THE SAVAGE LAND - BOOK REVIEW
---Article published on August 26, 2007
---By David James
---Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
British sailor's journal gives fascinating look at Alaska history
During the Age of Exploration it was common to include a naturalist in a ship's crew. This man was tasked with recording information about the flora, fauna, geology, climate, and indigenous residents found in the many places visited by the vessel.
A good naturalist combined a scientist's eye for details with strong writing and artistic skills. Hopefully his reports would offer a clear picture of the landscapes, plants, animals and people he encountered in his travels. His reward, if he was lucky , was a bestselling book when he returned to Europe, where an increasingly educated populace hungered for information about distant lands.
The British government wanted to know more about Alaska, and it couldn't have found a better man to aid in this quest than Adams. In the late fall of 1850, he and two of his fellow crewmen were put ashore at the Russian outpost of Michalaski (today's St. Michael) to investigate what ultimately proved to be a false lead that several survivors of the Franklin voyage had been spotted inland. Adams settled in for the winter and kept a richly detailed journal over the following eight months. His writings cover daily life in the Russian village, Native customs, trapping and hunting techniques, the various animals braving the winter cold, and his cantankerous relations with his Russian host.
This journal, which students of Alaska history and Native cultures should find deeply fascinating, went missing until 1959 when it was found among the papers of a British squire. From there it went to the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, where it remains today. Sipes accessed it from the archives at UAF and has recently published it in the nicely assembled volume.
Sipes is an anthropologist by training, so it's not surprising that he would be drawn to this journal. While Adams wrote about many topics during his stay, his descriptions of Native life are particularly vivid.
There are countless telling details packed into this short but highly edifying book. Adams could put a wealth of observations into a few short sentences and present it in language that readers more than 150 years later will find understandable and quite readable.
Into the Savage Land is informative enough that it will be essential for Alaska history students, yet sufficiently concise as to not put off the average reader.
Ernest Sipes deserves our gratitude for putting Edward Adams' journals into such an enjoyable format, making it possible for all of us to explore them.
David A James lives in Fairbanks. |
