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Three Against the Wilderness
Timeless tales about wilderness living.
Eric Collier's riveting recollections about the 26 years that he, his wife Lillian and son Veasy spent homesteading in the isolated Chilcotin wilderness made for an international bestseller and one of the most famous books ever written about British Columbia.
In the early 1930s, Collier and his family moved to Meldrum Creek, where the couple built their own log house and learned to live off the land. Fulfilling a promise to Lillian's grandmother to bring the beavers back to the area she knew as a child before the White man came, Collier was instrumental in the species' survival. Collier's timeless tales about roughing it in the bush and the resourcefulness inspired by this lifestyle's challenges will engage readers young and old.
Eric Collier's riveting recollections about the 26 years that he, his wife Lillian and son Veasy spent homesteading in the isolated Chilcotin wilderness made for an international bestseller and one of the most famous books ever written about British Columbia.
In the early 1930s, Collier and his family moved to Meldrum Creek, where the couple built their own log house and learned to live off the land. Fulfilling a promise to Lillian's grandmother to bring the beavers back to the area she knew as a child before the White man came, Collier was instrumental in the species' survival. Collier's timeless tales about roughing it in the bush and the resourcefulness inspired by this lifestyle's challenges will engage readers young and old.
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 24, 2013
I first found this book in the school library when I was in 8th grade, and devoured it. I bought my own copy when I was a young adult, and have probably read it 6 times over 30 years. The story is one of courage, ingenuity, fortitude and a love of nature. Eric Collier and his wife Lillian built a cabin in what was then wilderness in British Columbia, Canada. Their son, Veasy, was born and raised there, helping his father trap and hunt. The three of them helped restore the beaver population that had been trapped out before their time, which in turn helped restore ponds and marshes to the area. The return of water brought back the wildlife and the balance of nature was restored.
Below is a link to several interviews with Veasy, who is now retired and living in a town near where his parents homesteaded. I was a little disappointed that he claims that some of the stories in the book to be exaggerated or fictionalized. Perhaps they were, but I choose to believe that he was just too small to remember how things really happened.
EricCollier dot wordpress dot com (change the "dots" into periods and remove the spaces)
This book should be included in the collection of anyone who enjoys outdoor adventure, pioneer stories, or nature. It's right up there with Cache Lake Country (by James J. Rowlands) and Crusoe of Lonesome Lake (by Leland Stowe.
Below is a link to several interviews with Veasy, who is now retired and living in a town near where his parents homesteaded. I was a little disappointed that he claims that some of the stories in the book to be exaggerated or fictionalized. Perhaps they were, but I choose to believe that he was just too small to remember how things really happened.
EricCollier dot wordpress dot com (change the "dots" into periods and remove the spaces)
This book should be included in the collection of anyone who enjoys outdoor adventure, pioneer stories, or nature. It's right up there with Cache Lake Country (by James J. Rowlands) and Crusoe of Lonesome Lake (by Leland Stowe.
May 2, 2023
I enjoyed this book just as much the 2nd time as I did when I first read it about 15 years ago!
September 5, 2019
A forward thinking man when it comes to conservation and how everything is linked. Enjoyed this simple tale
April 2, 2025
Maybe the answer is a cabin in the woods.
Truly a wonderful book and I cannot wait to read again.
Truly a wonderful book and I cannot wait to read again.
January 16, 2025
I learned something and totally enjoyed this book about a man, woman and child ahead of their time in understanding conservation and how linked together we all are. They don’t make em like they used too. Talk about tough.
May 12, 2010
I'll never forget the story about the author's young son coming back from a little cross-country skiing jaunt to find a couple of wolves following him. The author sees what's happening, trains his gun on them, but they are still out of range. He's helpless, so he yells to his son to ski more slowly, to not look at the wolves or show any fear, and to come straight to him. His son does exactly as told, and as he gets closer to his father, the wolves drop back and finally slink away. The boy was 10 or under - I can't remember exactly.
Living in the country, you think about these kind of situations. As a kid I thought if I ever ran into a wolf, this is what I would do, too. Thankfully, that never happened. But I enjoyed the stories about life in the woods, and still remember them. This is a wilderness classic that should be up there with "Crusoe of Lonesome Lake" by Leland Stowe.
Living in the country, you think about these kind of situations. As a kid I thought if I ever ran into a wolf, this is what I would do, too. Thankfully, that never happened. But I enjoyed the stories about life in the woods, and still remember them. This is a wilderness classic that should be up there with "Crusoe of Lonesome Lake" by Leland Stowe.
September 20, 2015
Did you parents also read you fairy tales like 'They lived happily ever after'? This is the perfect example of the book which should be read to kids - adventurous and shpwing them that a marriage is a team work, and a different kind of love that one mentioned in Cinderella kinds of stories.
Absolutely love this book!
There's an interview of the authour's son on the Web, by the way - he's telling what it was like - to live there.
Absolutely love this book!
There's an interview of the authour's son on the Web, by the way - he's telling what it was like - to live there.
November 21, 2015
Tale of an adventurous family foregoing many of the conveniences of 20th-century life in favor of seeking a different kind of comfort in the wilderness. The author and his wife, Lillian, made it their life's mission to help restore the landscape and bring back beavers (which had been trapped to near-extinction for their valuable fur) to a remote portion of British Columbia. Excellent memoir, beautifully written. Recommended for those with an interest in outdoors and conservation.
March 23, 2014
This is one of my favourite books if not my favourite. It took me into the woods, and gave me a cup of hot chocolate by the fire... Well, that's how I felt. At home and happy. So much so, I was truly sad when it was done and knew I could never read it again for the first time.
September 16, 2014
Really enjoyed this book, an unexpected treasure of real life in my home province of BC and how one person 'can' make a difference.
To read more of what I had to say about this book, go to my blog: http://theblooksicarry.wordpress.com/...
To read more of what I had to say about this book, go to my blog: http://theblooksicarry.wordpress.com/...
August 5, 2011
...must be the third time I've read this wonderful book, and I could read it all over again!
March 18, 2025
I love this book.
Well-written, interesting, BC history and geography... and their cabin is now a historic site, so maybe one day I will get to visit it.
Will read again.
Well-written, interesting, BC history and geography... and their cabin is now a historic site, so maybe one day I will get to visit it.
Will read again.
July 1, 2024
Collier, while from an educated and well to do family, desired a life in the outdoors and emigrated to Clinton, British Columbia. While working as trader at the Riske Creek trading post he met an partially Indian woman, Lillian, and her elderly grandmother. Eventually, he married Lillian and homesteaded in the Meldrum Creek area.
The book tells the story of their building a homestead, and realizing that the ecosystem would be improved with the work of beavers. Eventually, Forestry delivered four beavers to them. They took to the creek as their home and created dams and reservoirs, improving not only the watershed but the diversity of animals living there.
In one example, a heavy storm breached a dam, leaving an irreparable gap. However, "... a single pair of beavers, in a single night, shut off a head of water that man could have shut off only with heavy earth-moving equipment.'
In another example, a forest fire was stopped by the beaver reservoirs.
Collier mentions muskrat houses and pushups, which are not generally recognized.
The book tells the story of their building a homestead, and realizing that the ecosystem would be improved with the work of beavers. Eventually, Forestry delivered four beavers to them. They took to the creek as their home and created dams and reservoirs, improving not only the watershed but the diversity of animals living there.
In one example, a heavy storm breached a dam, leaving an irreparable gap. However, "... a single pair of beavers, in a single night, shut off a head of water that man could have shut off only with heavy earth-moving equipment.'
In another example, a forest fire was stopped by the beaver reservoirs.
Collier mentions muskrat houses and pushups, which are not generally recognized.
March 12, 2025
A tremendous book.
Eric Collier's love for the wilderness shines through on every page of this well written account.
The Colliers were true pioneers who took what they needed from their Chilcotin homeland, subsisting mainly off of what it had to give through the depths of the Depression and WWII. But in the end they gave much more than they took. In a land that had become "sick" by drastic ecological changes, the Colliers recognized that they had to restore balance to restore the area to health. And so, as early conservationists, they worked tirelessly to mend beaver dams by hand, return water and wetlands, keep populations of various creatures in check, and finally repopulate a land without even one single beaver remaining into a veritable beaver paradise, resulting in hundreds of those clever, hard working animals to spread throughout the Chilcotin, and bringing other species back along with them.
This book was a favourite of my Grampa and my Papa and I can see why. I have lived alongside the Colliers now, within the pages, and I am better for it.
Eric Collier's love for the wilderness shines through on every page of this well written account.
The Colliers were true pioneers who took what they needed from their Chilcotin homeland, subsisting mainly off of what it had to give through the depths of the Depression and WWII. But in the end they gave much more than they took. In a land that had become "sick" by drastic ecological changes, the Colliers recognized that they had to restore balance to restore the area to health. And so, as early conservationists, they worked tirelessly to mend beaver dams by hand, return water and wetlands, keep populations of various creatures in check, and finally repopulate a land without even one single beaver remaining into a veritable beaver paradise, resulting in hundreds of those clever, hard working animals to spread throughout the Chilcotin, and bringing other species back along with them.
This book was a favourite of my Grampa and my Papa and I can see why. I have lived alongside the Colliers now, within the pages, and I am better for it.
September 3, 2024
I quite enjoyed this memoir about the author's life in a very remote area of central BC. At the start of the Great Depression, Eric Collier moved with his wife and young son to a remote trapline, a day's ride from the nearest town. They built their own cabin and made their living trapping and selling furs. They made it their mission to restore the wetlands in their area and return beavers to those wetlands, as the beavers had been trapped out during the fur trade era. His wife's indigenous grandmother could remember the time before the white men came, and told them how much healthier the ecosystem was when beavers were present. The Colliers were ahead of their time when it came to conservation, and I found this part of the story fascinating. I have great respect for the pioneers who built this country with the spirit of resourcefulness and independence, and this book is a great example of the pioneer experience.
October 29, 2023
I really enjoyed reading this book about a young couple who settle in a lakeside cabin near Meldrum Creek in British Columbia's Chilcotin region in the 1930's. The story follows their efforts at finding ways to support themselves in the often hostile environment, by re-shaping and reviving the landscape to build a fur-bearing business. Their efforts are challenged by frozen winters, travel difficulties, meagre supplies, etc. This is a book to curl up with under a warm blanket while you read about their adventures in learning to survive–and indeed thrive–on the edge of wilderness. It is a quintessential Canadian story.
December 8, 2017
I was recommended this book by an English teacher 40 years ago and have read it many times. The story has always been special for me. It is the reason I have developed a love for the raw power and beauty of Canada.
The story feels like a very personal and touching tale describing survival in the wilds and building up the beaver population, the benefits of which add a feel good factor.
If you like tales of the wild then this is for you. I understand why people take the trouble to go and find the old Collier cabin and I guess you might feel the same way after reading this book....!
The story feels like a very personal and touching tale describing survival in the wilds and building up the beaver population, the benefits of which add a feel good factor.
If you like tales of the wild then this is for you. I understand why people take the trouble to go and find the old Collier cabin and I guess you might feel the same way after reading this book....!
August 25, 2022
Great book. Eric collier was one of my grandmothers favorite authors. She gave this book to my uncle in 1971, and my uncle passed it down to me just last week. Three Against the Wilderness is well written account Eric Collier in the mountains of British Columbia living as a naturalist off the land. His conservation work of reintroducing beaver to that part of the country and other aspects of mountain life are truly riveting and held my attention; I could hardly put the book down and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys the outdoor lifestyle.
April 22, 2023
One of those books that I was sorry had to end. If you are a fan of The Last Alaskans, you will love this tale of what it was like to live in the backwoods of interior British Columbia in the first half of the 20th century. I was reminded that in Canada the elements have always been harsh and even more so when you are living off of the land but this is a tale of thriving not surviving. The industrious beavers that the Colliers reintroduced to Meldrum Creek, not only made their livelihood possible; they helped to avert the disasters of drought, fire and flood.
January 3, 2021
A surprisingly flowing read of reintroduction of beavers to a watershed and the families adventures in their harsh winters there. An interesting perspective of the time and place, though from the dominating culture, they took on a pioneering endeavor, inspired somewhat by native peoples understanding, to restore balance in the ecology.
I love reading books about extreme winter in the humdrum southern winters.
I love reading books about extreme winter in the humdrum southern winters.
July 8, 2025
This was a tough read due to all of the hunting, but I it was very informatative on the the ways of survival for some in the early 20th century, and how one mindful correction to human-caused habitat destruction can balance an ecosystem, restoring the natural world. Thankfully, Eric and his wife, Lillian, took to heart the advice that was given to them from her grandmother, who was Indigenous and knew what the natural landscape was missing. Beavers!
September 9, 2019
A delightful history
Warm hearted and well-written, a pleasure to read. A lifestyle that few have experienced or even really known of. Rugged individualism is scarce in our modern society. The creativity, courage, and willingness to go where the inner spirit guides is now relegated mostly to the inner life without the drama of unexplored wilderness.
Warm hearted and well-written, a pleasure to read. A lifestyle that few have experienced or even really known of. Rugged individualism is scarce in our modern society. The creativity, courage, and willingness to go where the inner spirit guides is now relegated mostly to the inner life without the drama of unexplored wilderness.
May 17, 2022
This is a really amazing book about the power of ecosystems and the effects of destroying and also restoring them. I couldn't imagine that I would enjoy a book about a family that trapped animals for living but this book was so engaging.
January 30, 2025
Gal ir kiek romantizuotas gyvenimas Amerikos miškuos (prieš daugmaž šimtą metelių), bet parašyta gerai - aiškiai, įdomiai, daug šiuolaikinių gamtos apsaugos žinučių, apie bebrų ir kitų „kenkėjų“ naudą. Įtraukiantis kūrinys, tinkamas ir jaunimui. Gal net ypač jaunimui.
August 5, 2020
Can’t wait to read after reading reviews!
I am giving 5 stars by reading comments!
I am giving 5 stars by reading comments!
November 1, 2021
This book was so good from the moment I picked it up. I cried, I laughed and I was fully of happy content. I did not want this book to end. It was so good.
August 22, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and picked it up when I was looking for some adventures into the wilderness.
January 5, 2026
Such a beautiful book! Makes one sit and think about all that is both good and cruel in nature. Would definitely recommend.
August 3, 2019
I read this during my 2007 bike trip and to this day it has really stuck with me as a great story on many levels. Family, wilderness living, animal respect and conservation.
December 23, 2013
This is a wonderful book. The author and his wife raised their young son literally in the wilderness, having many hair-raising and life-threatening adventures along the way. Their experiences give new meaning to the word "self-reliance." I'm so fortunate to have a battered old paperback signed by the author's wife Lillian Collier.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews