James Oliver Curwood, Disciple of the Wilds

by Hobart Donald Swiggett

Hundreds of miles from civilization the Curwood family would bury themselves in God’s Country. James Oliver Curwood’s feet have trod many unknown trails throughout the north. The stars, the heavens and the virgin forests came to be a living part of all of them. All the things which Jim had dreamed of as a boy were at last coming true.

Jim had roamed through the boundless prairies, the highest mountains, fought his way through deep Canadian snows and sub-zero temperatures all along the northern plains. He was now enjoying himself more than he ever dared dream.

James Oliver Curwood actually lived each story that he wrote.

He began to realize that the long and arduous struggle that he had had to go through to reach success had been worth it. He had fought and battled as few other men ever have in order to reach that pinnacle of success and fame that he desired. Fortunately enough, Jim was possessed of the spirit of everlasting perseverance.

About this time came the release of “Steele of the Royal Mounted.” At the outset its sales were rather disappointing as were the sales of “The Wolf Hunters.” Eventually, however, after the slow progress that his books had been making, they began to sell and sell fast. In fact his first three books sold as few others had ever sold before. Up to that year, 1911, James Oliver Curwood had three novels and one book of non-fiction to his credit: “The Wolf Hunters,” “The Courage of Captain Plum,” the book of non-fiction, “The Great Lakes,” and the sequel to “The Wolf Hunters,” “The Gold Hunters.” “The Danger Trail” was the last of Jim’s books for the year 1910. In 1911 Jim published two more works of fiction, namely: “Steele of the Royal Mounted” and “The Honor of the Big Snows.” Realizing that he now had a firm foothold on the ladder of success, Jim Curwood was prompted to write something of non-fiction that would fully express himself and his beliefs.

At last came that opportunity in the volume “God’s Country—The Trail to Happiness.” This book is the strangest that Curwood ever produced and one of the most wonderful messages of hope ever addressed to mankind. It was a rather small volume and the price was far below the usual price of Curwood books. “God’s Country—The Trail to Happiness” sold for $1.25.

“Philip Steele of the Royal Mounted” had, of course, been released in 1910, along with “The Honor of the Big Snows,” which was written the same year. This made a total of two novels and one volume of non-fiction for 1911, which was indeed a great output of words for that length of time. In 1912 Jim Curwood’s output was limited to one novel. This one was entitled, “The Flower of the North,” a saga of the wilderness country that was chock full of red-blooded adventure and romance. 1913 saw the arrival of another novel, “Isobel.” In 1914 Curwood wrote probably the greatest work of his entire career. That was when he turned out “Kazan,” which sold 500,000 copies. This story ranks with “The Call of the Wild,” and “White Fang,” by the famous Jack London. “Kazan” is the story of a wolf dog of the far north. The dog is three-quarters husky and one-quarter wolf strain. Kazan is torn between his wild mate and the man whom he loves most dearly. The story is so excellently woven about the dog and so wonderfully told that many thousands of people have reread it many times.

Although some of the so-called critics did not give this particular book as high a rating as Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild,” it is the belief of millions that “Kazan” is equally as good and as thrilling as Mr. London’s famous book.

After the publication of “Kazan” Jim and his family headed back to the north country. This time, however, they did not go back to the old cabin, but to a new one that Jim had built in the British Columbia mountains some months before. Here among the picturesque mountains of towering spruce and pine, James Oliver Curwood penned “God’s Country and the Woman,” a story so well written that it immediately sold better than one hundred thousand copies. The woman in the story was none other than his own dear wife, Ethel. Jim once said that he loved this country devoutly, but it was not God’s Country unless there was a woman. “No country is God’s Country without a woman.” This was in 1915.

The United States had already declared war on Germany when Jim completed “God’s Country and the Woman.” So he immediately returned to Owosso with his family to see if he could help his country. A great deal of time passed before Jim was eventually assigned to anything. Then, in 1917-1918 he was officially designated as a World War Correspondent. During the time he received this information and the time that he was to have sailed, something intervened and Jim did not get a chance to go to France. The government felt that since he had three children Mr. Curwood should remain behind. He was given an assignment to do propaganda. He wanted to go along with the rest of the boys and help protect our country’s liberty and freedom. Instead, however, he was forced to remain behind, and from his magazine articles flowed many words of truth and wisdom during those hectic months of war. Jim termed the war “the thrill of man killing man.”