Yukon Journal

Selections from the Introduction by Lindy Cooper Wisdom

One day we were looking for a letter when we happened upon a folder in the bottom of the back of a drawer. With a torn cover and yellowed, brittle pages, it was a carefully organized and typed journal of my father's 1940 summer hunt in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The text was enhanced by small black and white photographs glued to the appropriate pages, and included all the accompanying brochures and extra notes he had tucked into the pages. It was a surprise to both my mother and me and we felt like we had discovered a bag of gold. What a treasure!

This journal chronicles my father's third big game hunt, undertaken in August of 1940, not long after his 20th birthday. It is a clear picture of a specific place in time and evocative of the kind of young man my father was.

What struck me most was his mature ability to absorb the experience--to relish the grandeur of the scene, aside from the goal of the hunt. His writing is boyish and wryly humorous. He had not yet learned to use adjectives sparingly. His enthusiasm for every aspect of this adventure is energizing. His meticulous attention to the details of each shot and the ballistics involved is not new, but it makes me wonder just where and when it began. He calls this hunt, "...one of the most magnificent adventures I ever expect to have." This journal allows the reader to participate in that adventure.

We have here reprinted the journal in its entirety for all to enjoy.