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Harry Macfie, from Sweden.
"Finally I knew that I had to go to Canada, to make my dream come true, and make my living out of it ."
This was in 1897, he was only 18 years old. With a emigranticket at a price of $ 30, he stood on the steamer Orlando heading for Hull, England, and then further over the Atlantic to Halifax Canada. Before he could set his feet on Swedish ground again he was going to explore the wildest parts of Ontario and Manitoba, attend the goldrush in Nome Alaska, experience both the feeling of a rich find, and the hard and starving times on the goldfields in Northern Canada.
was born in Lysekil, Sweden on the 11th of February 1879. In 1843 his grandfather, William Andrew Macfie had left Scotland to seek a better future on the west coast of Sweden. He settled down on the beautiful estate Anfasteröd which was situated in Ljungs county.
In 1877 Robert Macfie, oldest son to William, and uncle to Harry founded a health resort called Lyckorna. Here, rich people came to take care of their health and breath the fresh air which came rollin´in from the North sea, scented by the conifers of the island Orust. Harrys father Andrew became a seacaptain and had his duties on different freights up and down the Swedish westcoast.
Harrys early years was very much influenced by his fathers travelling and also friends and relatives who experienced adventures which Harrys loved to hear about. He used to hang around in the harbor of Lysekil. Here, among the ships he could imagine how it would be to go to sea like his father had done.
This imaginary world of his soon gave a negative effect on his interest for studying. As soon as he saw a magnificent schooner or a pounding steamship heading for the ocean, he felt the great adventure flowing through his veins. Soon he was working fulltime and left school no attention at all. He tried different jobs both at shore and at sea.
Finally, he decided to seek his fortune in Canada. A train took him to Rat Portage Ontario, Kenora (today) he had read a lot about the Lake of the Woods region which he knew were a interesting area both for trapping and prospecting. Here he soon found out all the different skills which was essential for becoming a woodsman, how to survive a winter in the Canadian wilderness and how to look for gold and trap and hunt different games. It was at that time, in his first years in Canada that Harry met Sam Kilburn, who was to become his best friend and partner. They shared many joyful and adventurous moments on the following years in Canada and Alaska.
His first journey lasted for 5 years and during the following 25 years he spent as much as 10 years in Canada and Alaska. Harry and Sam were fortunate to live and experience the North American wilderness fairly untouched, before the automobile explosion, before commercial airplanes, and before the environmental problems. Although he spent a lot of time away from home, Harry manage to have a family, his wife Anna, and their children Tom, Allan, Gordon, and Ingrid.
On his last trip to Canada in 1938 he visited the area around Falcon Lake, Manitoba where he first came some 30 years before. But the return was a great disappointment for him, a big highway cut deep into his old huntingrounds, and the Indians had outboardmotors on factory made canoes.
Already in 1929 he had started to build some Wood and Canvas canoes which he wasn´t fully pleased with. He added to his new model influence from the birchbark canoes of the chippewa. In 1932 he was ready to meet the market with his newest creation. He called it "the Macfie Canoe" it was a masterpiece, length 5 meters, width 0,90 m, weight 35 kg. Made in Swedish pine or spruce with gunwhales and keels of ash or oak. The model was immediately accepted among the canoeexpertise, and became "the canoe" for every canoeist with the highest demand for durability and overall quality. Harry and his sons managed to build around 100 canoes in a small garage on his property in Lyckorna. They finished about 1 canoe each month and they could only build 2 at a time. All canoes were practically sold before the last layer of paint had dried. Paddles were made too, of whiteash and had the beavertail style.
On his drawingboard Harry had two more models of the Macfie canoe. One was a smaller 4,85 x 0,85 version weighing 33 kg.called the Colorado, and a even smaller one called Junior 4,40 x 0.75 weighing 27 kg. None of these canoes were made by the hands of Harry Macfie.
But in 1938 a young and ambitious carpenter called Mårten Gedda bought the construction rights for the Macfie Canoe. Mårten Gedda continued to build the Macfie canoe and also the Colorado and Junior canoes which now found a new buying potential in the sporty and adventurous youngsters of the early forties. With Gedda the production increased to impressive numbers. All in all in 1945 over 900 canoes of different models left the factory of Gedda.
Beside his canoemanufactoring, Harry was asked to write about his adventures from the North. First he rejected but gave way, and with help from a friend he published his first book in 1934 "Wasawasa" (chippewa means far, far away). The book was meant to be the the first and last, but it was such a success that Harry soon found himself busy in writing more about his memories from Canada and Alaska. Another 7 titles were published between the years 1934 - 1955. It ended with his memoirs in 1955. His books even found readers outside Sweden, and was published in 10 different languages.
The years went by, but Harry never gave up the dream of going back to his beloved North. On his 70th birthday a chronicle was written in one of the major morningpapers,
" Harry Macfie is without contradiction one of our best authentic adventure writers. He is also known as constructor of elegant Wood and Canvas canoes. Anyone who had laid his eyes one one of his magnificent canoes, understand that Harry Macfie is able to describe a canoetrip in the Canadian wilderness like nobody else.
Harry Macfie died on the 27th of October 1956, at the age of 77.
These are the books of Harry Macfie:
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WASAWASA Albert Bonniers förlag 1935. Adventures as trapper and gold- digger in Canada and Alaska. |
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Lägereldar längesen. Albert Bonniers förlag 1936. About a journey through the wilderness of Canada with dogs and canoe. Golddigging and trapperlife.. |
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Norrskenets män. Albert Bonniers förlag 1938. About Canadian mounted police and its problems with smugglers. |
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Farväl Falcon Lake. Albert Bonniers förlag 1943. |
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Drivved. Albert Bonniers förlag 1945. In Alaska, by Berings sound, around the village of Nome and the hard life in the arctic. |
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Vid regnbågens fot. Albert Bonniers förlag 1950. About Fred and the trapper Billy Wood who lives deep into the wilderness. |
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Alaskakust. Albert Bonniers förlag 1951 |
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Minnen med krut i. Albert Bonniers förlag 1955 |
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