Northland : : a 4,000-Mile Journey Along America's Forgotten Border

Locations
Call Number: 974 Fo, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Travel / United States / General / Fox, Porter
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	974 Fo	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Travel / United States / General / Fox, Porter	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024

The dawnland -- The sweet-water seas -- Boundary waters -- Seven Fires -- The medicine line.
"America's northern border is the world's longest international boundary, yet it remains obscure even to Americans. The northern border was America's primary border for centuries--much of the early history of the United States took place there--and to the tens of millions who live and work near the line, the region even has its own name: the northland. Travel writer Porter Fox spent three years exploring 4,000 miles of the border between Maine and Washington, traveling by canoe, freighter, car, and foot. In Northland, he blends a deeply reported and beautifully written story of the region's history with a riveting account of his travels. Setting out from the easternmost point in the mainland United States, Fox follows explorer Samuel de Champlain's adventures across the Northeast; recounts the rise and fall of the timber, iron, and rail industries; crosses the Great Lakes on a freighter; tracks America's fur traders through the Boundary Waters; and traces the forty-ninth parallel from Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean. Fox, who grew up the son of a boat-builder in Maine's northland, packs his narrative with colorful characters (Captain Meriwether Lewis, railroad tycoon James J. Hill, Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Sioux) and extraordinary landscapes (Glacier National Park, the Northwest Angle, Washington's North Cascades). He weaves in his encounters with residents, border guards, Indian activists, and militia leaders to give a dynamic portrait of the northland today, wracked by climate change, water wars, oil booms, and concerns over border security."--Dust jacket.

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Ok submitted by mowjac on August 31, 2020, 10:24am This begins well, in the author's home state of Maine, a nice blend of natural atmosphere, history, local color. After that, it speeds up, as Fox traverses the Great Lakes in a freighter, giving short shrift to the landscape. The narrative slows in the Boundary Waters, then speeds up again, so by the end its catalogued lists of expedition supplies, with smidges of the local color that makes it so intriguing. I finished it, so it's solid, but not enough.