Alone in the Wilderness

In 1913 Joseph Knowles, a professional illustrator, set out into the wilderness of Maine to begin a two-month survival experiment - this book is his story, inclusive of his original illustrations.

Commissioned by the Boston Post to venture into the woodlands, Joseph Knowles was far from your typical survivalist. Middle-aged and quite portly, he was a newspaperman rapidly going to seed. However, a will to escape what he termed the 'sham side of modern life' led him to undertake a quest to live off the land for some two months, his quest constantly reported on by his own paper. 

In terms of writing, Knowles realist reflections upon his time in the woods represent a clear departure from the vaunting of the natural world so popular in American literature. Rather than admire nature's beauty, he combines his own thoughts on life with descriptions of the physical and mental effects of living in the great outdoors, while including elements of popular adventure stories such as Tarzan. 

Knowles' exploits attracted a public frenzy at the time. On emerging from the woods, he ventured into the city of Boston only to be honored by City Hall. For weeks prior, the locals had read story after story of Knowles' exploits, relayed to the newspaper by sketches drawn upon birch bark and deposited in a previously agreed place. A crowd of some 200,000 people gathered to hear a short speech, and comparisons were made to Davy Crockett. 

Today, among local historians and Bostonians Knowles adventures are a minor urban legend. While many doubt the veracity of part of Knowles' story, it is an undoubtedly intriguing tale. The author went on to enjoy a short-lived career in early Hollywood cinema, eventually settling in the state of Washington, where he resumed work as a drawer of sketches and died in 1942.