From 1919 to 1970, Olaf Hanson was a trapper, fur trader, prospector, game guardian, fisherman, and road blasting expert in northeastern Saskatchewan. He told his life story to popular Saskatchewan author A. L. Karras, who wrote this historical memoir in the 1980s. In an uncompromising, straightforward style, Karras and Hanson reveal the geography, wildlife, and natural history of the region as well as the business and social interactions between people. Northern Rover offers a look at the vanishing subsistence and commercial economy of the boreal forest, wound around a fascinating personal story of courage and physical stamina.

Arthur L. Karras was born in Rosthern, SK. Following a seven-year sojourn in the North, described in his popular book North to Cree Lake: The Rugged Lives of the Trappers Who Leave Civilization Behind, he served in the army and then worked as a grain buyer, a town and a school administrator. He loved golfing, fishing, square dancing, poetry, and telling jokes, and maintained his love of the northern woods throughout his life.

A.L. Karras' profile page

Olaf Hanson's profile page

"...Hanson's reminiscences, which shift from heroic feats of strength over muskeg portages, to genuine wilderness survival tips, to partial remorse over the use of leg-hold traps and the selling of live bear cub, are fascinating in their description of a changing boreal culture and wilderness."