  In the mid-1920s Raymond M. Patterson left a comfortable position with the Bank of England for a life in with wilds of Canada. Here, he hunted, trapped, fished and prospected his way along the rivers he would later write about. This spellbinding book, his most famous account, chronicles his two journeys down the treacherous Nahanni River between the Yukon and the Mackenzie River, spurred on by his irrepressible lust for adventure and his quest for gold. The New Yorker called this "a truly enchanting book."  

Dangerous River

Travel

R.M. Patterson

Canada

Verulam Publishing Ltd

In Far Pastures, Raymond Patterson offers the rich spirit and vitality of the frontier; he lived, sweated and risked his life in the wildernesss. Homesteading in the Peace River country, ranching in the foothills, camping among the mountains, trapping up the Nahanni, Patterson's life in Canada was a far cry from his years in the mellow beauty of Oxford, and the formality of the Bank of England. This dashing adventurer became an expert outdoorsman and an outstanding writer.

Far Pastures

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Touchwood Editions

The wildest, loveliest and least-traveled region of Alberta was Raymond Patterson's home territory in the 1930s and '40s; the Buffalo Head ranch swept to the very frontier of the majestic Rocky Mountains. This land of untouched glory comes alive in vivid descriptions of ranching, exploring, and camping: the jostling excitement of cattle drives; the distant sparkle of a nameless alpine lake; brook trout sizzling over an open fire. The wilderness is different now, changed by development, tourism, and forest fires, but the magic of Patterson's time and place lives on in these entertaining pages.

The Buffalo Head

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

In Finlay's River, R. M. Patterson, whose style was described by noted author Bruce Hutchison as a "a mixture between Thoreau and Jack London," tells the story of his 1949 trip up this wild river in remote northern British Columbia. Patterson uses his own journey as a framework to recount the adventures of explorers who went there before; all had struggled up the Finlay for different reasons, and all left spirited accounts of that challenging, doomed river-accounts that Patterson brings to vivid life again. Much of the Finlay, a river of whitewater rapids that flowed through a magnificent country of dense forests and high mountains, disappeared forever under the waters of Williston Lake with the completion of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam in 1968. In this engaging book, Patterson preserves the memory of this wilderness and the long-gone adventurers who first told the world about its existence.

Finlay's River

Trail to the Interior is R. M. Patterson's rich account of exploration and personal adventure in the Cassiar district of British Columbia. The "trail" is the historic track from Wrangell, Alaska, along the Stikine and Dease rivers and across the height of the land into the valleys of the Liard and the Mackenzie. Explorers and traders of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Russian American Company had ventured this river route, and Raymond Patterson followed in their footsteps.Travelling by riverboat and canoe, camping by quiet water and hiking the rugged hills, Patterson came to know the people and the past of the Cassiar district, and the great wilderness stretches into the Yukon. Trail to the Interior is a classic to be savoured by outdoors adventurers and armchair explorers alike.

Trail to the Interior (Rm Patterson Collection)

Few men have been as set on isolated adventures and as passionate about the wild landscape of Canada as R.M. Patterson. He spent over 30 years in exploration, from the northern rivers such as the Nahanni and the Liard, to his foothills ranch in the Rockies, and he recorded his discoveries entertainingly in words and photographs along the way. TouchWood Editions now presents this collection of his articles from The Beaver, Canada's history magazine. He travelled to the edges of settled Canada, armed with little more than a canoe, tarp and tea pail, and his words are imbued with the spirit of first sight. In many a clearing or teetering on a hilltop, Patterson committed his experiences to the page, capturing the purity of space, and shaping our collective imagination of the Canadian wilderness.

Those Earlier Hills: Reminiscences 1928 to 1961

Literature & Fiction

Few men have been as set on isolated adventures and as passionate about the wild landscape of Canada as R.M. Patterson. He spent over 30 years in exploration, from northern rivers such as the Nahanni and the Liard, to the foothills of the Rockies, and he recorded his discoveries in vivid words and breathtaking photographs along the way. His memorable articles are presented as a collection by TouchWood Editions. Also available in hardcover.

World Literature

"A truly enchanting book."-The New Yorker"The excitement, anxiety and hardships are slipped naturally into a story whichconjures up pictures with the effortlessness of good and restrained writing."-The Times, LondonWritten with Patterson's characteristic sharp wit and observation, The Dangerous River chronicles the year he spent battling the frigid temperatures and wild waters along the Nahanni in 1927. Patterson originally traveled to Canada's Northwest Territories with hopes of finding gold in the river and clues to the mysterious murder of a prospector. Instead, he fell in love with the landscape and through his meticulously recorded journals and hauntingly beautiful photographs he introduced the now-famous Nahanni River to the world. Included in this printing are Patterson's own black-and-white photographs, including the first photos to be taken of the falls of the Nahanni.

The Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by R.M. Patterson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by R.M. Patterson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by R.M. Patterson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Dangerous River

Far Pastures

The Buffalo Head

Finlay's River

Trail to the Interior (Rm Patterson Collection)

Those Earlier Hills: Reminiscences 1928 to 1961

Those Earlier Hills: Reminiscences 1928 to 1961

The Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni