Reviews for The Pioneers at Montreal

The average rating for The Pioneers at Montreal based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-05 00:00:00 Ramon Crespo Ugh. This book's capacity to be a five-star thriller was injured by the domineering and narcissistic personality of Shell Taylor. Such a shame. In short, he and a friend (Jeff Pope), both 24, left New York City canoeing on the Hudson River on April 25, 1936. They wintered at Fort Smith, on the border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The next spring they paddled and portaged across the Rocky Mountains, across the interior of Alaska to the Bering Sea. They arrived in Nome on August 11, 1937, having traveled 7,165 miles. In. a. canoe. Portaged approximately 150 miles. Amazing. Shell and Jeff had their share of close calls: with wildlife, people (crazy and criminal), supplies, other watercraft, etc. There were irritants: heat, mosquitoes, biting flies, sunburn, rain, snow, sleeping conditions, sore muscles, blisters, chapped skin, ice (Jeff had to break ice with his heels as they navigated freezing water). To be fair, Shell didn't complain or dramatize the difficulties. The largest source of tension was the relationship between Shell and Jeff. Think about how small a canoe is. How long one day is. Even though they set up 10 rules to govern their travels, their friendship distilled to animosity. It's not pretty. That, rough language, and some bad decisions, detracted from what should have been an epic adventure story. I loved the photos, maps, and illustrations. Rick Steber (author) and Don Gray (illustrator) live in the region of Eastern and Central Oregon. I bought this book 20 years ago for a birthday present, squirreled it away, and just recently rediscovered it. It always amuses me how my books talk to one another. Alexander MacKenzie is one of Taylor's heroes; I'm familiar with him because of two recent books: How the Scottish Invented the Modern World and Astoria. <-- Those books also introduced the word voyageur to me. And Robert Service's poetic reference to the Great Alone is the title of a Kristin Hannah novel I'm currently reading.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-06 00:00:00 Mark Sellan Somehow I'm just left unsatisfied with this book... As a kayaker, I rooted for Shell and Jeff the whole book through, imagining myself in their place with bewilderment. Unfortunately, I think their story may have been lost in the writing. As a Central Oregonian, I also root for Steber, but he just never quite hits the mark for me...