For Christmas, I got the EJ Dailey book by Scot Dahms. I was always fascinated with him, because of his involvement with Fur-Fish-Game magazine, and soon after I got a drivers license and a first ride, with my parents permission, I drove to visit him at his trappers supply shed, near Ogdensburg, NY. I was 17 or 18 at the time. While reading the book yesterday and today, I have figured out that EJ was about 75 when I met him. I remember that he was short, and walked in a stooped over position.
This book is very good. It's not a "how to" book like those of Mr. Dobbins and others, but more of a biography of his life. I am just truly amazed how EJ, and others from that era, did what they did and didn't lose their lives. I have now been several places in the Adirondacks where EJ trapped, and I know first hand how desolate, forbidding and cold it gets there. This was long before the modern day luxuries like Gortex, good rain wear, hand warmers, propane camp stoves, cell phones, GPS devices, ATV's, snowmobiles, etc., etc., etc.
EJ would hike miles to set traps, put up a pup tent, stay overnight and continue on the next day. Critters were skinned in the woods, for the most part, so only the pelts had to be carried out. According to the book, he would take as many as 500 traps in with him and set up his lines, all carried on a toboggan or a pack basket. He walked miles and miles.
As I dream back to my 20's or 30's, I realize that I could never done this. It is absolutely unbelievable what EJ, and other trappers like him, endured.
Another thing that really amazes me is the price he got for fur. In the early 1900's, he was getting $4 for Muskrats and $9 for Skunks. What would that be in today's dollars?? Here we are, a hundred years later and I don't think 'rats are even worth much more than $3.50.
This book is a true awakening as to the hardships and dedication that those early trappers had. It almost makes me wish that I was alive back then -- although, I would have insisted on having a side-by-side, a GPS, a warm skinning shed and a hot meal every night. On second thought--I never would have made it. I would have been one of those guys whose body was found, frozen solid, under a Spruce tree, the next morning!!
Ron