Woodsmen of the West

WhenWoodsmen of the Westfirst appeared in 1908, most readers could not relate to its rendering of the rough edges of logging-camp life. M. Allerdale Grainger refused to sentimentalize the West he drew from life. While his dramatic and loosely structured tale is at heart a love story, it also tells of what happens when the novel's British narrator encounters a small-time logging operator whose obsession with lumber is matched by his lust for power over other men. Today the novel is recognized as marking a significant shift in fiction written in and about the Canadian West. The accuracy of its detail makes it one of the finest examples of local realism in Canadian writing. It is also a fascinating chronicle of conflicting personalities, and of the genius of British Columbia hand-loggers, the culture of camp life, and the intrigues and corruption of the lumber business at the turn of the century. The New Canadian Library edition is an unabridged reprint of the original text, complete with the original photographs.

Martin Allerdale Grainger was born in London, England, in 1874. When he was two years old, his family moved to Australia, where he spent his childhood. He returned to England following his early education abroad, eventually entering King’s College, Cambridge, in 1893.

After his graduation, Grainger set out for the Klondike, where he stayed briefly before volunteering to serve in the Boer War in 1899. After the war he fashioned a varied and colourful career which included logging and placer mining in the Canadian Northwest, tutoring students in England, and teaching mathematics on Vancouver Island.

Grainger began his career in the British Columbia forestry industry in 1909, first as chief of records, serving as a secretary of a royal commission on logging practices in the province, and writing most of the report that led to the Forestry Act of 1912 and the creation of the British Columbia Forest Service. In 1917 he was appointed chief forester, a position he held until he retired to his private lumber business in 1920.

Drawing extensively on his first-hand experience in the coastal forests, Grainger wrote his single literary work, Woodsmen of the West, in 1908, a highly original depiction of the frustrations and struggles of the West Coast logger at the turn of the century.

Martin Allerdale Grainger died in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1941.


From the Paperback edition.

1 In Vancouver
2 Going North
3 At Hanson Island Hotel
4 At Port Browning
5 At Carter’s Camp
6 Dave and Speculation
7 Carter’s Earlier Career
8 Carter as Railroad Foreman
9 Carter as Saloon Man
10 Carter the Hand-logger
11 From Working-man to Boss
12 The Employer of Men
13 Hazarding the Donk
14 Carter in Apotheosis
15 The Arrival of the New Gang
16 The Captain of the Sonora
17 The Grounding of the Sonora
18 The Spirit of the Thing
19 Steamboating on the Inlet
20 Steam and the Sonora
21 Hard Times Coming
22 Living on the Sonora at Port Browning
23 Voyaging Between Hotels
24 Dan Macdonnell
25 Last Voyage and Sinking of the Sonora
26 Christmas Day
27 A Ghost Story
28 Race Down the Inlet
29 Back to Carter
30 Nerves and Remorse
31 I Quit
32 To Oblivion – With Carter
 
Afterword