Northland : a 4,000-mile journey along America's forgotten border /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

America's northern border is the world's longest international boundary, yet it remains obscure even to Americans. The northern border was America's primary border for centuries--much of the early history of the United States took place there--and to the tens of millions who live and work near the line, the region even has its own name: the northland.

Travel writer Porter Fox spent three years exploring 4,000 miles of the border between Maine and Washington, traveling by canoe, freighter, car, and foot. In Northland, he blends a deeply reported and beautifully written story of the region's history with a riveting account of his travels. Setting out from the easternmost point in the mainland United States, Fox follows explorer Samuel de Champlain's adventures across the Northeast; recounts the rise and fall of the timber, iron, and rail industries; crosses the Great Lakes on a freighter; tracks America's fur traders through the Boundary Waters; and traces the forty-ninth parallel from Minnesota to the Pacific Ocean.

Fox, who grew up the son of a boat-builder in Maine's northland, packs his narrative with colorful characters (Captain Meriwether Lewis, railroad tycoon James J. Hill, Chief Red Cloud of the Lakota Sioux) and extraordinary landscapes (Glacier National Park, the Northwest Angle, Washington's North Cascades). He weaves in his encounters with residents, border guards, Indian activists, and militia leaders to give a dynamic portrait of the northland today, wracked by climate change, water wars, oil booms, and border security.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. xiii)
• Part I The Dawnland (p. 1)
• Part II The Sweet-Water Seas (p. 55)
• Part III Boundary Waters (p. 107)
• Part IV Seven Fires (p. 143)
• Part V The Medicine Line (p. 187)
• Acknowledgments (p. 227)
• A Note on Sources (p. 229)
• Index (p. 233)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this contemplative narrative, Fox (Deep) travels the United States' border with Canada, following the footsteps of pre-Columbus Native Americans, European explorers, mountain men, and 18th-century government surveyors. The narrative is more ruminative than eventful-aside from a red fox defecating on a lawn or some sidelong glances from patrol agents, there's not a whole lot that actually happens during Fox's three-year exploration; in ways, the inactivity itself reflects the stasis of this borderland area. Fox has a keen eye for flora, fauna, geology, and meteorology (North Dakota is equidistant between the North Pole and the equator, making it "the most extreme weather zone in the world"); he's also adept at conveying his knowledge and capturing the natural beauty and ancient landscapes of the borderlands ("Minnesota's Boundary Waters is still primitive, carved by nature and untouched by humans"). Fox's travels uncover a secret: this largely ignored border is key to the U.S. economy as it is home to an abundance of water, oil, and natural gas, and it will loom large if and when America's more easily accessible natural resources become depleted. This is a worthy travelogue that explores the beauty of America's untouched land. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Mention border security, and chances are Americans think of Mexico. But the only known terrorists to have sneaked across the border came through Canada. In this sweeping account of the northern boundary of the U.S., Fox travels from Maine to Washington State to trace the unique character of the land and its history. He moves seamlessly between geologic and human time scales, explaining the formation of the Great Lakes basin with the same ease with which he recounts the adventures of early European explorers like Champlain and La Salle. He narrates his own travels with keen observation, attuned to the special details that set each place apart, and speaks to fascinating people along the way who have shaped their lives, in one way or another, around the border. The border itself proved to be difficult to pin down, both geographically and historically (U.S. schemes to bring Canada into the Union lasted into the twentieth century). Although this boundary line is, for the most part, invisible, Fox finds that it still leaves an indelible mark on the places and people it touches.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The life and times of America's other border.The southern border of the United States gets all the attention, but it's barely half as long as the northern border; its story is "a tale of early mistakes, and more than two centuries of fixes." Fox (Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow, 2013), a Maine native (he now lives in New York) and editor of the travel journal Nowhere, took a coast-to-coast, two-year journey weaving in and out of a boundary that, "on paper, looks like a discarded threadtwisted and kinked in parts, tight as a bowstring in others," to see it firsthand and to recount its rich history. He didn't make an itinerary: "I packed a canoe, tent, maps, and books and headed for the line." He began one chilly October morning in Lubec, America's easternmost border town near Passamaquoddy Bay. In June 1604, writes the author, Frenchman Samuel de Champlain entered the bay with two large boats and a crew of 150 to begin his own exploring. Throughout, Fox chronicles in detail Champlain's adventures, good and bad, as well as those of many other explorers and adventurers from the border's past. This gives the book an added richness, providing helpful historical context to the places the author visits. Early on, Fox's trip almost ended when he nearly capsized a small outboard boat in high waves in below-freezing Sandy Bay. He recounts that in 1775, the Continental army attempted a doomed invasion of Canada, and in the 1920s and '30s, a U.S. planning committee even "drew up plans to seize Canada." In Montreal, Fox hitched a ride on a "moving skyscraper," the freighter Equinox, as he traversed the Great Lakes. In eastern North Dakota, he got caught up in Indian protests over the oil pipeline.Richly populated with fascinating northlanders, Native Americans, and many border patrol agents, this is highly entertaining and informative travel literature. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Porter Fox is the editor of Nowhere and the author of Deep. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Believer, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, and The Best American Travel Writing. Raised in Maine, he lives in New York.