From 1919 to 1970, Olaf Hanson was a trapper, trader, prospector, game guardian, fisherman, and road blasting expert in northeastern Saskatchewan. He told his life story to popular Saskatchewan author A. L. Karras, whose manuscript, written in the 1980s, only came to light after his death in 1999.

In an uncompromising, straightforward style, Karras and Hanson reveal the geography, wildlife, and natural history of the region as well as the business and social interactions between people. The book offers a look at the vanished subsistence and commercial economy of the boreal forest,...