The nature of adventure: outdoor-sportswriting and the American Northland, 1890–1910

As outdoor-sportswriters looked to the Arctic at the turn of the twentieth century, they shaped new ways of understanding a region that was far away from the everyday experiences of most of their readers. This article is a study of those writings and the complex ideas of the natural world that emerged from stories of northern adventure. In some cases, as writers followed in the footsteps of scientific expeditions and mining prospectors, they produced accounts that gave expression to the cultural impulse of imperialism. They often approached the Arctic environment as a challenge to human mastery–and yet the forbidding landscape often made clear the limits of conquest in the face of nature even as they struggled to impose themselves upon it. Others sought to reimagine the Arctic landscape as a land of romantic mystery and enchantment. Meanwhile, some writers attempted to adapt themselves to the environment, to seek accommodation with the unforgiving climate, and to come to terms with nature. Few readers would themselves ever set sight on the Arctic, and so these writings present historians with an opportunity to understand how outdoor sport, travel, and adventure shaped a nuanced appreciation of the natural world.