Chris in the Wilderness

It is a rare and wonderful occasion when an unpublished manuscript of a much-loved author is discovered long after they are dead, and their voice is heard once again. Such is the case with Chris in the Wilderness by George Frederick Clarke (1883-1974).

Chris in the Wilderness is set in the great woods of central New Brunswick that lie to the north of the Howland Ridge settlement near the village of Millville. It is a sequel to Chris in Canada, published in 1925, but it remained in manuscript form until found in 2007 among Clarke’s papers that survived an attic fire.

Chris in Canada told the story of Chris Alison and his boyhood friendship with Noel Polchies, an Indigenous Elder. Chris is keen to learn the livelihood skills of wilderness living and Noel is his mentor.

Chris in the Wilderness is set three years later; Chris is now a young man who accompanies Noel on a winter trapping expedition into the heart of New Brunswick’s great woods, where they encounter conflict and serious danger from a competitor trying to take over Noel’s traditional hunting and trapping territory. Long standing issues of injustice and racial prejudice emerge. Strategic thinking and courageous action are required. Noel was a real person; one of the author’s best friends, whom he honours by making him the main character of this book.

With the publication of Chris in the Wilderness, the story of Noel and Chris delves further into the skills of a forest-based livelihood and deeper into the bonds of friendship.

Chris in the Wilderness is a wonderful tale, even better than Chris in Canada, chiefly because its principal character is Noel Polchies. Chris is the nominal hero, and we see most of the story through his eyes; but it is Noel’s book. He was a real person, a chief of the Wolastokwey below Woodstock. He was born about 1860 and died in 1927, two years after Chris in Canada was published. He is a character in several of George Frederick Clarke’s books, but this book is Clarke’s best portrait of his friend; here we learn as much about him as we may ever know.