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Canoeing with the Cree | 
 enlarge | Author: Eric Sevareid
Creator: Ann Bancroft
Publisher: Borealis Books
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $8.21
You Save: $4.74 (37%)
New (14) Used (12) from $8.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 38278
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 248
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0873515331
Dewey Decimal Number: 797.122
EAN: 9780873515337
ASIN: 0873515331
Publication Date: April 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: GREAT BUY!Brand New From US Distributor! WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3,500,000 BOOKS SOLD!!! OVER ~ 600,000 FEEDBACKS ~ POSTED!!!
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Product Description
In 1930 two novice paddlers--Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port--launched a secondhand 18-foot canvas canoe into the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling for an ambitious summer-long journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Without benefit of radio, motor, or good maps, the teenagers made their way over 2,250 miles of rivers, lakes, and difficult portages. Nearly four months later, after shooting hundreds of sets of rapids and surviving exceedingly bad conditions and even worse advice, the ragged, hungry adventurers arrived in York Factory on Hudson Bay--with winter freeze-up on their heels. First published in 1935, Canoeing with the Cree is Sevareid's classic account of this youthful odyssey. The newspaper stories that Sevareid wrote on this trip launched his distinguished journalism career, which included more than a decade as a television correspondent and commentator on the CBS Evening News. Now with a new foreword by Arctic explorer, Ann Bancroft.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 And, They Said It Couldn't Be Done June 27, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
"Eric Sevareid made his name as a CBS news correspondent. But at a young age, Sevareid experienced an adventure most only dream of. Sevareid detailed the journey in his book "Canoeing with the Cree". Now to mark the 75th anniversary of Sevareid's journey, two Minnesota men plan to make the same trip." Tim Post
In 1930 two young men paddled their way from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada. A trip of 2200 miles. Everyone told them it could not be done. Eric Sevareid, then a 17 year old, fresh graduate of high school, and his best buddy, Walter Port, planned the entire trip. They garnered financial support, collected supplies and a canoe and paddles and off they went. Five months later after trials and tribulations, they made it to Hudson Bay. Their journey is documented by Eric Sevareid, who gathered the weekly diaries he sent to their local Minneapolis paper, and in 1935, he wrote this book.
I stepped back in time to the 1930's when life seemed to be more innocent and the world a safer place to be. Sevareid who went on to become one of the most revered journalists of our time, wrote in an unpretentious manner, and we can feel the excitement of their adventures. They traversed unknown land and water. No one, it seems, had ever accomplished this trek. Even the best canoeists in the country failed. How then, did these two young lads accomplish this journey? Intelligence and good luck, I'd say. They questioned everyone they met, took upon themselves to digest all of the information and made decisions based on their best judgement. And, most of the time they were correct. They had no radio, no maps( this was uncharted country), little preserved food except for hardtack, but they had their ingenuity and the assistance of all of the people they met.
The North Country was mostly woods. Camps, small towns and two larger towns had been established for hunting and trapping. Most of the humans they met were Indians who were kind and generous. As a matter of fact, most of the people they met were in awe of their journey and shared whatever food, equipment and conversation they were capable. The trip was amazing when we look at the obstacles they faced. Water, roaring cold water, sometimes rapids, sometimes falls, no maps, only the word of mouth of strangers, and cold brutal weather at times. Or hot humid weather with flies and gnats. They discovered all sorts of wild animals but were never in real danger. They had their tent, two paddles, food, water, ponchos and several blankets. This seems like a story of new adventurers discovering a new world, and in fact this is what they were. Two 17 year old lads set out on an adventure and one day after another they found one. Extraordinary when you think about it.
Since the time of Eric and Walter, several other duos have made the trip by canoe. However, they had maps, food that could be kept for months and the best of camping equipment. This is not to lessen these young men's courage, but to think 78 years ago, this was accomplished with such primitive arrangments and care.
This was an exciting read and one page after another flew by. The book was difficult to put down. Easy, simplistic writing. but some of the most important writing I have found. The boys parents and friends did not hear from them often and at times, I am sure the parents were worried. But the two lads persevered and the trip was taken.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 06-26-08
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How Did You Spend Your Summer Vacation? July 31, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
2250 miles in a canoe - a great adventure and a book worth reading. I can't add much that isn't already perfectly described in this book.
At the start of the trip during a brief stay in Fargo, North Dakota, a friend and doctor named Frederick Gronvold sets the boys on their journey in a proper frame of mind. "Don't let anyone, no matter who he is, convince you that your trip can't be completed. You have youth and strength, and courage too, I hope, and with a little common sense you can do it."
When the journey finally ends and the boys share their tale with the adults at York Factory, they are asked why? Bud responds simply, "Oh, for pleasure, I guess." A journey simply for the sake of the adventure. It is an idea lost on some of the adults listening to the boys. "Pleasure! What a jolly funny kind of pleasure!" Better yet, maybe the idea isn't lost. Colonel Reid continues, "Oh well, that's youth. Things look different when you're young, I suppose. My word, I almost believe I envy you."
Enjoy the beginning and the end; enjoy the pineapples and everything in between. Enjoy the journey simply for the journey; it's an adventure that is perfect for any reader of any age!
amazing recounting of a determined trip November 2, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Enough youthful daring and preparation on a wonderful journey which showed the better nature of people for the exploits of two tough and bright young men. A wonderful journey, with some historical photo's that help illustrate the accomplishment. A wonderful quick read.
A Must for Northern Woods Canoeists December 15, 2005
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
There's really only two things worth doing in Minnesota: One, canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Spring, Summer, and Fall; Two, THINKING about canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Winter. For the latter, this book is the gateway to paradise. Sevareid and Port have the true spirit of adventurers, the love-bug for the North Woods and her bevy of streams, rivers, and lakes, and Sevareid effectively tells his now-classic tale of how he and his friend drank deeply of all her treasures--complete with the axiomatic mistakes, mishaps, surfiet of discomfitures, and, alas, irresistible beauty that she provides to all who avail themselves of her wonders. Like St. Augustine, let us "Take up and read."
The Insanity and Necessity of Adventure September 8, 2004
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Walter Port and (Arnold) Eric Sevareid took an amazing trip that they started by skipping some of their high school finals so they could get the boat they could afford. Though the project appeared to have been Port's pet, it was Sevareid who came up with the way to fund it: writing about it for the Minneapolis Star. It was clear that once the project began both of them were truly enthralled by it and could not be put off. The tale is told simply, but with a clear affection for all of the people who helped them try to reach their goal, even though few of the people who helped were confident that these young men could make it or were even very encouraging.
The book is written from the journals that were kept along the trip. It is clear that this is a book of its times written by a man who was still quite young. While I would strongly encourage any teens to read this book to realize that they too can give themselves a goal that is worthwhile if only for being difficult, I would also encourage their parents to be ready to answer some questions about the wisdom and risks of such adventures and about some of the attitudes of the past. There is a casual acceptance of the bigotry against Native Americans that was common at the time and Sevareid was not yet the mature thoughtful man that we may remember from the CBS Evening News.
Still, the fact that a reasonably literate student was able to take, and appreciate, such a grand adventure while trying his best to bring it alive for us was a remarkable feat. Twain, at his best, gave us better feel for river adventure, but he had the advantage that he could embroider the story whenever necessary, while Sevareid was already writing and thinking as a journalist. This is a quick read that almost anyone, from a child in middle school to an adult whose days of imagined adventure are long past, can enjoy.
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