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Far from help, a safe camp and a well-read trail can matter as much as courage.
In The Young Alaskans in the Rockies, Emerson Hough follows teenage boys south and east into the mountains of western Canada. They bring skills learned on earlier journeys, but the Canadian Rockies set their own rules. Travel here calls for care, preparation, and trust in the people beside you.
The boys and their older guides share long days, hard work, and cold nights. Packing gear, caring for horses and boats, and making camp before dark all matter. Hough keeps the action clear and the outdoor details concrete, giving you a journey where practical choices help the party stay safe far from help.
What you’ll discover
- Mountains with their own rules Enter a landscape that shapes the journey and demands respect from every traveler.
- Wilderness craft in action Discover why reading the land and preparing well matter as much as boldness.
- Trust built through work Follow young travelers and older guides as shared hardships shape how they treat one another.
- Life around the camp Join the party during pauses when talk and planning become part of the adventure.
- The pull of open country Enjoy straightforward storytelling that makes room for travel, surprise, and the pleasures of camp.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy outdoor adventure, pack trains, river travel, fur trade history, and three bold boys who learn by doing.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The mountains call for practical skill
- A lesson becomes the boys' work
- Planning matters more than a dash
- Rivers carry the country's past
- Wonder belongs beside the danger
- The river decides the pace
- Learning means doing and thinking
- The wilderness is already changing
- The journey joins knowledge and change
Who’s who
- Rob McIntyreThe oldest and quietest of the three boys, he loves maps and mountains and hopes to become an engineer.
- John HardyA practical and always hungry boy who loves fishing, becomes the party's mapmaker, and grumbles about the hurry.
- Jesse WilcoxThe youngest, red-haired and curious, he asks the questions that bring out the history of the trails and passes.
- Uncle DickA tall, kindly railroad engineer who leads the trip, hurries to beat the flood, and teaches the boys by letting them do.
- Moise RichardA cheerful French and Cree packer and cook from the Peace River who jokes, sings and keeps the party fed.
- Leo TennesA grave Shuswap grizzly hunter and boatman from Tête Jaune Cache who knows every rapid and slide on the river.
- GeorgeLeo's silent cousin, a skilled boatman who paddles the lead boat and helps carry the hides.
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The Young Alaskans in the Rockies
by Emerson Hough · 1913
Three Alaskan boys, an engineer and a cook cross the Rockies by pack train, then journey along a flooding river.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Take your troubles as easily as you can on the trail.”
In short
What does it take to carry three boys, a dozen packhorses and a pile of flour across the Canadian Rockies in the spring flood? Emerson Hough sets that question at a muddy campfire near Wolf Creek, where Rob, John and Jesse first see the white line of the mountains.
The Young Alaskans in the Rockies at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 56,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1913by Emerson Hough
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The boys make camp on the old trail
The story opens at a camp near Wolf Creek, a hundred and thirty miles west of Edmonton. Jesse hauls wood, John fetches water, and Rob studies the map the three of them drew.
The trail beneath their feet is old. Fur traders wore it deep, and the Indians walked it before them. Uncle Dick arrives that evening in a wide white hat, a tall, lean engineer who has surveyed this ground for a railroad. Moise follows, singing, with the extra horses.
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Which edition is right for me
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Details
- First published
- 1913
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hough, Emerson. The Young Alaskans in the Rockies. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-young-alaskans-in-the-rockies.
Hough, E. (2026). The young Alaskans in the Rockies. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-young-alaskans-in-the-rockies (Original work published 1913)
Hough, Emerson. The Young Alaskans in the Rockies. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-young-alaskans-in-the-rockies.
@book{hough2026young,
author = {Hough, Emerson},
title = {The Young Alaskans in the Rockies},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-young-alaskans-in-the-rockies},
note = {First published 1913}
}
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What is The Young Alaskans in the Rockies about?
Three boys from Valdez, Alaska, travel with the engineer Uncle Dick and the cook Moise across the Canadian Rockies by pack train. They then go down the Canoe River and the Columbia by boat, hunting and fishing along the way.
Who are Rob, John and Jesse?
They are three friends from Valdez. Rob is the oldest and quiet, John is practical and always hungry, and Jesse is the youngest and curious. They made earlier wilderness trips together, including the Peace River trip.
Is The Young Alaskans in the Rockies a true story?
It is fiction by Emerson Hough, who died in 1923, but it uses real places such as Yellowhead Pass, Tête Jaune Cache and the Big Bend of the Columbia, along with real fur trade and railroad history.
The author
Emerson Hough
1857–1923 · American Western novelist
Emerson Hough was an American writer born in Newton, Iowa, in 1857. He worked as a journalist and lived in Chicago. He wrote novels and nonfiction about the American West. His books include The Mississippi Bubble, published in 1902, and The Covered Wagon, published in 1922. He died in Evanston, Illinois, in 1923.
“Take your troubles as easily as you can on the trail.”
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