Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip

by Skip Pessl

In 1955 Arthur Moffatt led an expedition consisting of young college students and recent graduates to the Inuit lands of Nunavut, Canada, to follow the path of the 1893 Tyrrell expedition and to film and photograph the group’s progress. The expedition, a 900-mile epic journey across the Barren Lands of Arctic Canada, has stirred controversy and criticism for over fifty years. The trip has been variously described as “the pioneering venture in modern recreational canoe travel” and as “an excellent example of how not to conduct a canoe trip.” Delays took their toll on the adventurers, exhausted by the seemingly endless paddling through unknown rivers and lakes, the trek across the windswept tundra, and torment by voracious insects. Threatened with diminishing food reserves and increasingly harsh weather, the members of the expedition were forced to travel with greater speed and less caution, and ultimately a fatal mistake was made. Two of the canoes capsized, dumping four men into the frigid waters. Moffatt, the leader, died of exposure. It took the survivors ten days of arduous travel with minimum food and equipment to reach the safety of the Hudson’s Bay Company post. Barren Grounds features passages from the journals of two young Moffatt party members and excerpts about the 1893 expedition of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, along with entries from the journal of Art Moffatt himself. Part cautionary tale, part nail-biting adventure, the book will appeal to outdoorsmen and armchair adventurers alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good recollection of the Moffatt expedition into northern Canada. Great descriptions of day to day life while on the trip which ends in tragedy. Recommend it if you are a former canoe guide, strongly resonated with me.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip is one member of the ill-fated party's response to the book written several years ago by another member of the party. The Moffatt Canoe trip took place in 1955 and was an attempt to retrace J.B. Tyrell's 1893 trip through 900 miles of Canada's Great Northern Barrens. Art Moffatt was the leader of the expedition and sought to make a film of the adventure. The "Tragic" part of the canoe trip occurs when two of the three vessels overturn in the arctic rapids and Art Moffatt dies of exposure.

Skip Pessl was second-in-command on the trip and this book is his response to George Grinnell's 1996 book about the journey titled A Death on the Barrens. I haven't read Grinnell's book, but I'm curious to see how it differs from Pessl's account. The bulk of Pessl's book consists of his day-by-day journal of the trip along with selected journal entries from Peter Franck, another member of the expedition. I was fascinated as I read the journal entries and learned about what a canoe trip though the wilderness in 1955 was like. There are descriptions of what the travel itself was like, what the country side and wildlife was like, what the dynamics within the group of six adventurers were, as well as moments of individual introspection. I also couldn't help but feel an increasing sense of apprehension as I read each entry knowing that eventually things will go badly. I didn't want to put the book down.

I was ready to give the book five stars until I got to the epilogue that immediately follows the journal entries. I felt I had to take away a star at this point. Like another reviewer, I felt that this part of the book detracted from work's authority. I could have excused Pessl's refutation of specific incidents from Grinnel's book as a heartfelt defense of his friend and mentor, Art Moffatt, who Grinnell apparently accuses in his book of having a death wish. And I also could have overlooked Pessl's seemingly petty repeated references to Grinnell's own "tragic life." What I couldn't excuse was the section near the end of the book where Pessl celebrates his own anti war activities in the 60's and 70's as somehow an extension of Art Moffatt's pacifism.

Moffatt was a pacifist and served in WW II in the ambulance service. Pessl's, "experience within the antiwar movement included withholding federal tax dollars supporting the U.S. Vietnam War effort" and the "establishment, funding, and operation of the Common Sense Bookstore in Ayer, Massachusetts, a town outside the gates of Fort Devon, a training facility for the U.S. Army Special Forces and NSA surveillance teams." The bookstore was really a "front for activist support of dissenting GIs who tried either the legal pathway to attain conscientious objector status as an active soldier, or obtain AWOL support to DESERT and find sanctuary in foreign countries." So basically, Pessl is celebrating not paying his taxes and for helping solders to desert from the US army. And he was apparently drawing a paycheck from the government at the time as he was employed by the US Geological Survey.

I did not need to know about this part of the author's life. I wish I did not know this about the author, and in my eyes, it does diminish his credibility. I also don't think it has anything to do with the rest of the book despite his attempts to somehow link it to Art Moffatt's pacifism. However, the part of the book consisting of the journal entries does feel credible and if they are authentically from the 1955 journals, they would have been written before Pessl began aiding and abetting deserters.

Unless you're Jane Fonda, read the journal entries, but skip the epilogue.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barren Grounds is a true story of a group of young men who, in 1955, came together to attempt to retrace an epic canoe trip in the wild country of northern Canada. Mr. Pessl wanted to clear the air, to correct some ideas that were previously published in A Death in the Barrens by George Grinnell . Art Moffatt, the leader of the expedition, and the author, Skip Pessl were friends, so when A Death in the Barrens portrayed the trip as poorly planned and executed, and doomed from the start, the author felt that he had to tell his and Art’s side of the story.

Mr. Pessl uses excerpts from his journal along with journal entries from Peter Franck to describe the 900 mile canoe trip from Northern Saskatchewan to Hudson Bay. He also includes excerpts from Art’s journal, and some notes from J. B. Tyrrell’s account of his 1893 journey over the same route, published in the Geographical Journal, November 1894.

This was an interesting book told through journal pages that were written during the trip. The major problem with this trip was that Mr. Moffat wanted to film this adventure for a documentary movie, and asked Mr. Pessl to preserve it on 35mm film. This caused many delays. Nice weather was spent filming and therefore the time on the water was shortened. This, along with the kind of casual, ivy league college, attitude that this was a fun adventure and what could go wrong, This cavalier approach to the beginning of the trip led to tragic results as winter set in.

I liked this book, but wonder who the target audience is. I think that both books should be read together to get the complete picture of this trip. I have started to search for a copy of Death on the Barrens, and will see what Mr. Grinnell has to say.

I give Barren Grounds 4 Stars out of 5, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in outdoor adventures.

I received this Digital Review Copy for free from edelweiss.com.

[Kristi Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intimate true story of a group of young men on a canoe trip in Canada during the 1950's. It is told in journal form and much like a scrapbook with pictures on every other page. The author published this book to refute a previous book that seemed to attack the leader of the expedition, Art Moffatt, who tragically dies on the trip. In the Introduction and Epilogue Skip Pessl explains his position very clearly and succinctly. Otherwise the bulk of the book is the journal he and Peter Franck kept on the journey itself.

I believe this man's story. I am not a canoe expert, but his story rings true. Mr. George Grinnell may have truth in his story also, but per Mr. Pessl he also adds things that never happened or are simply not true.

I was immersed in this tale of being on your own in the wilderness and the different choices they had to make in a hurry to continue on their journey. I learned that when there is adequate fish and game to eat they should have included more sugar and fats. They had plenty to eat but they sometimes they fought over the sugar and became lethargic when they hadn't enough fat.

This is a beautiful hardcover book that I received from the First-Reads from Goodreads. The still pictures are a special part of the story and someday I would love to see the film developed and in a theater as it sounds like they had the experience of their lives when things went right.

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 STARS**

Skip Pessl has produced a gripping narrative of the ill-fated Moffatt expedition using his diaries and those of fellow traveler and friend, Peter Franck.

For those who aren't familiar with the history of this canoeing adventure, the time frame is 1955 and the idea was that Art Moffatt, an experienced adventurer, was going to guide five Ivy league boys on a summer long trek through the Great Northern Barrens.

The adventure began badly, and to some extent it never recovered. There were many things learned, many beautiful sites visited, but ultimately it was at the cost of one life, and much suffering.

Skip Pessl retells the story using journal entries, alternating his and Franck's perspectives. This works really well to give an immediacy to events and I expect most readers will get hooked.

The epilog at the end of the book will no doubt make for some controversy as the author addresses the sharp criticism that has been directed at Art Moffatt and his companions. Personally, I didn't like that section and thought it detracted from the 'authority' of this work; but most people will probably feel differently than I.

A VERY GOOD READ.
BARREN GROUNDS makes a wonderful companion reader to George Grinnell's earlier book. It confirms and clarifies some points, while still leaving plenty of room for vigorous debates.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book wrote it to clarify what happened on a canoe trip that ended in tragedy and to refute the accusations toward the group leader made in a book written by another member of the party. Despite this, the book really doesn't dwell on the tragic accident so much as describe their journey up into the barrens of northern Canada. It is a compilation of the journal entries of two of the members of the party, the author and another. Because of this it is a good description of wilderness canoeing and brought back a lot of memories of roughing it on family canoe trips when I was a kid. For anyone who loves being out in the wilderness and who appreciates being somewhere where they are surrounded by nature will enjoy reading this book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a group attempting to follow the route of Tyrrell's 1893 expedition as told through the diaries of two of the men who took part in the trip in all its beauty, harshness, mosquitos, black flies, cold and hazards that finally took the life of the group's leader. The author feels that what was utilized on canoe trips on the Albany didn't translate well to the Barrens that they were paddling and portaging through. Not something I would have done as I'm a major mosquito attraction. It does hold your attention throughout.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barren Grounds: The Story of the Tragic Moffatt Canoe Trip is a poignant read. I hadn't heard about this tragic event until reading this book. I think the most compelling aspect of this book is that Barren Grounds is written from the journals of Skip Pessi and Peter Franck. The book is a courageous memoir and incorporates the enormous adversities Skip and Peter experienced. The Moffatt Canoe trip was a prodigious adventure despite its tragic outcome.