An excellent biography of a noted figure in Canadian geology and the namesake of Dawson City, YK, and Dawson Creek, BC. The story is told almost entirely with Dawson's own journals and letters, which are extensive. (The author, Phil Jenkins, merely filled in a few blanks in Dawson's voice.) He was a prolific writer and faithfully chronicled his many expeditions, which included trips along the 49th parallel with the Boundary Commission, explorations of the BC interior, and a trip to the Yukon where he named Mount Logan. (Somebody else named Dawson City after him later on; he didn't do it himself.) The book covers Dawson's entire life and is interspersed with excerpts from his poetry, newspaper clippings and even a few early photos in black and white.

The sheer amount of detail in these books is impressive, and it's not all geology (although there's plenty of that, naturally). Dawson was extremely interested in Native culture and the book features a section about a dance he attends in BC, and his attempts to learn the Chinook language. His poetry also provides a more emotional description of the scenes he witnesses. It's a pity there aren't a few more photos, though, because while the written descriptions sound beautiful, a picture would really sell how utterly spectacular the scenery is, especially because at that time it was mostly untouched by white men and untainted by large settlements.

History marches on as the book progresses. Dawson makes note of the invention of the telephone, the Empress ships that would eventually provide fast steamship services across the Atlantic, Confederation, and the death of Queen Victoria. McGill University was also a new institution in Dawson's lifetime, with his father eventually serving as its principal. But even in history we find things that have not changed, such as not enough government funding for the sciences -- Dawson mentions that they don't have enough money to keep the best staff, and they desperately need a bigger museum to store all their artifacts. And of course the accounts of government bureaucracy would definitely ring true to public servants with the Government of Canada today.

One thing I would like to mention is that it is important to keep a map of Canada handy, if you are a visual person and/or are not familiar with the Canadian West. At times I found it difficult to figure out where they were, even with the one or two maps that were provided at various points. So the lesson is, bookmark those maps and look at them carefully! And while there were several major breaks in the book, a few smaller breaks within each section would have been appreciated, just to make the text more manageable.

But overall, this was a very good book and I enjoyed reading about how Canada was mapped and surveyed. Dawson's voice was engaging and filled with enthusiasm for his subject matter. He even makes a geology pun! (It involves the word "gneiss".) But he also had very poignant turns of phrase toward the end, with his father's death and his own impending demise. Especially the poem he (presumably) wrote about his father, which would definitely put a lump in anyone's throat:

Throughout the land the maples flame
The time has come, the leaf must fall
Though still the day is blue, serene
No storm nor wintry blast at all
The time is ripe, and leaf by leaf
The garb of life is shed away
Not by the tempest's stress, but in
The dreaming azure eye of day
So, ripe in knowledge, ripe in years,
The pulse beats low, the eye grows dim,
And we, though blinded still with tears,
We know the time has come for him.

If you have an interest in the Canadian West, memoirs or geology, pick up this book. It's an expedition worth making. ( )