On the Night Table of Heather Robertson

Heather Robertson at Willow Creek.

River Horse: A Voyage Across America, by William Least Heat-Moon, published in 1999 in the United States, was recently given to me and I am just getting into it. The book is a dramatic, entertaining account of Heat-Moon and his pilot’s 1995 trip across the U.S.

They voyaged from the Atlantic to the Pacific via rivers and canals in a twenty-two-foot C-Dory named Nikawa, with ninety-horsepower outboard motors, and some portages via truck and trailer!

Heat-Moon is a present-day American counterpart to Alexander Mackenzie and David Thompson. His book offers a shocking revelation of the despoliation of these waterways, plus lots of historical references.

About the author

Heather Robertson’s latest book, Walking into Wilderness: The Toronto Carrying Place and Nine Mile Portage, won this year’s Fred Landon Award for the best book on regional history in Ontario.