Drifting Home: A Family's Voyage of Discovery Down the Wild Yukon

by Pierre Berton

In the 1970s, Pierre Berton and his family recreated the trip down the Yukon made by his father, Francis George Berton, in 1898. This compelling story of the later journey is a valentine from son to father, a magical tale of a family adrift, and a poetic exploration of the region’s rich history. In experiencing this great wilderness, Berton and his family discover their deep connection to nature — and each other.

Genres: Canada, Nonfiction, Travel

Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 1972

About the author

From narrative histories and popular culture, to picture and coffee table books to anthologies, to stories for children to readable, historical works for youth, many of his books are now Canadian classics.

Born in 1920 and raised in the Yukon, Pierre Berton worked in Klondike mining camps during his university years. He spent four years in the army, rising from private to captain/instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. He spent his early newspaper career in Vancouver, where at 21 he was the youngest city editor on any Canadian daily. He wrote columns for and was editor of Maclean's magazine, appeared on CBC's public affairs program "Close-Up" and was a permanent fixture on "Front Page Challenge" for 39 years. He was a columnist and editor for the Toronto Star, and a writer and host of a series of CBC programs.

Pierre Berton has received over 30 literary awards including the Governor-General's Award for Creative Non-Fiction (three times), the Stephen Leacock Medal of Humour, and the Gabrielle Leger National Heritage Award. He received two Nellies for his work in broadcasting, two National Newspaper awards, and the National History Society's first award for "distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history." For his immense contribution to Canadian literature and history, he has been awarded more than a dozen honourary degrees, is a member of the Newsman's Hall of Fame and a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Jill Robbertze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly I enjoyed this book so much because I live in the Northwest and love this part of the world so much. This is not only a record of this family's adventure trip on the Yukon river in 1972 but also a look back into the interesting history of the area and at some of it's amazing characters. I sat with my book and my laptop and I followed the journey on Google Maps and visited these towns as they are today by looking at them on "Street View". I also enjoyed the scenery along the way by looking up some of the places mentioned. In reading this book we also get to know a little about a wonderful family and it's history written in a way that was never boring. This is one of those books that I didn't want to end.

[Ann-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Pierre Berton read and his style is ever so Canadian - the Canadiana setting, in his kind descriptions, in appreciation of nature and humanity of people - even the meals the family ate and how they interacted - such a Canadian approach. Story of an engaging Canadian family floating down the Yukon river and enjoying all the detours, bumps & weather...

[Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dude rides a motorized dingy (not as cool as a canoe) down the Yukon river and tells stories about his dad being cooler than him. Some decent history mixed in with tedious details of various picnics.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the early 1970s Berton took his young family down the Yukon in a recreation of his own father's 1898 journey during the Gold Rush. Studded with info about Berton Sr.'s life, Berton's own life with his children, and the choices both parents made this is a loving tribute to his father, and the country that helped shaped Pierre into one of the best Canadian writers. His father's decision to raise his family in the Yukon had a profound effect on Pierre's love of country and of nature. While Berton remembers his father and his own memories of a time gone by, Berton's children become deeply fascinated by the area.

A really great read if you are in need of a little Yukon adventure. Part history lesson, part love letter to the Yukon, part memoir, and part tribute to his Father, it is an interesting book....

Added to my reading pile (the continuously expanding reading pile!) is Klondike by Pierre, and I married the Klondike by his Mom Laura.

[Zuzana · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Drifting home, Canadian historian, Pierre Berton, tells a story of his family's voyage down the wild Yukon river in the summer of 1972. Born and raised in Dawson, he wanted to show his children the town and wilderness he dearly loved. They travel by boats for thirteen days and their story is mixed up with the author's father's stories, letters and Berton's own childhood memories.

I have always been strangely attracted to Canada, Yukon and the goldrush, so I suppose that my review may be a bit biased. To me, this books was captivating. I was sucked in the story, imagining the tranquil Yukon wilderness according to Berton's descriptions and wishing I could be there.
This was a wonderful and educative read, interesting from beginning to end and Yukon remains to be the image of my perfect vacation.

[Gail Amendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pierre Berton's more serious books can be weighty tomes, requiring perseverance, but this one is a gentle float down the river of time. In the summer of 1972, Berton and his large family floated down the Yukon River, recreating the trip his father made in 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush. This book is part travelogue, part the story of Pierre's childhood in the Yukon, and part the story of his father's life. The three elements are woven so skillfully together that what could have been a disjointed tale flows beautifully. It is a wonderful tribute to his father. I have long dreamed of visiting the Klondike, and that dream just grew even stronger. My only complaint about this book is that I wish he had included pictures.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the huge success of The National Dream/The Last Spike, Pierre Berton wrote a gentler, more personal story, about his family's boat trip down the Yukon River to his boyhood home of Dawson City. 75 years after his father first joined thousands of others on the Gold Rush trail, Berton sees the Yukon through three sets of eyes; first his father's, who later stayed in Dawson as a civil servant. His father was there when it was the largest city north of San Francisco, when so much happened in so short a time. Secondly Berton himself, as a child in the 1920s and 1930s he grew up in a town where glory and excitement had faded but it was still a working town. Thirdly, his children, who on this trip saw an old town, almost a ghost town, but marveled at what it was in 1973. This place existed in the middle of nowhere!

Now, 50 years later, Dawson City exists as a museum I suppose. As a travelogue this is a readable book, although Berton, in his autobiography, cites reviewers as calling this book "Pierre Berton's summer family vacation". Yet it is the nostalgia and history that makes this an interesting book to read, two fields in which Pierre Berton excelled.

Worth a look for Canadian history fans.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Berton reminisces about his childhood and growing up in Dawson City Yukon. At the same time floating down the the same route as the gold prospectors took with his large family in rafts starting at Bennett Lake and ending in Dawson City. The spectacular descriptions would inspire me to to want to take the same rafting trip. I don't suppose that Skip still does that trip. I rate this a 3 and a half. Once again I find the 5 star rating system limiting.

[Ashley Saigeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a much for exciting “story”, but it was essentially just a journal of their travels down the Yukon River, with details irrelevant to the reader unless you’re very familiar with the area. The most interesting part of the book was the back cover, where I discovered he wrote one of my favourite kid books-The Secret World of Og!

[Hannah Wild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable. I see why Pierre Berton is such a beloved Canadian author. He’s a great story teller and you learn about many interesting pieces of Canadian history. You’ll be booking a flight to the Yukon after reading this.

[❀ Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

review pending

[Barbara Gard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion to Klondike.

[Lisa Kearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Pierre Burton takes his large family on a one week canoe trip down the Yukon river. They camp and cook over a campfire, and have a few funny and scary incidents as they float away the days. As he tells a little about each person's unique personality, you can tell how much he loves his family.

But the wonderful part of this book is the history of his own father and childhood. As his family progresses down the Yukon, he recounts his father's young years as an Alaskan miner, trapper, explorer, lovelorn suitor, and eventually family man with a desk job. He recalls fond memories of picnics with his mother, rascally playmates, faithful pets. He and his family explore ghost towns and cabins and places his father lived, and find the abandoned hulls of the mighty riverboats that dominated the Yukon of his youth. This book is more a tribute to his father and an extinct way of life than it is a diary of a family vacation.

He gives us just the right mix of nostalgia, natural beauty and family nonsense to make it a great book. I'll be looking for more of his writings.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vacation in condensed form...no mosquitoes, sunburn, or discomforts, but all the adventure of trekking through three levels of history seen through Berton, his father's recollections, and his family as they travel down a river of memories.

[Marc Chénier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book not only is about Dawson and a river trip to get there. It is also an hommage to Berton's father and a trip down memory lane for the author. It is beautifully written and captivating in it's depiction of the Yukon territory.

Next hardcover: Hollywood's Canada by Pierre Berton

[Lee Scoresby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stuff about his family's ride up the river was as bad as watching home movies, but his stories about his father's adventures in the north were great.

[Dominic Aquino]

i want to read