/ by Thea Augustina

I am reading a book about norwegian and danish trappers and the huts they built in Northeast Greenland from the early 1900's through mid 1950's called North-East Greenland 1908-60: The Trapper Era The author, Peter Schmidt Mikkelsen, assisted in forming a group, Nanok, to deem the huts historically relevant and to do upkeep on them. Some huts are still used for overnight stays by the danish Sirius sledge patrol, who keep watch over Northeast Greenland. The stories are very fascinating and include historical accounts of each hut or station and quotes from the various trappers' diaries who overwintered there. Most trappers didn't spend more than 2 or 3 seasons in Greenland. But as the diary entries reveal, Northeast Greenland left quite an impression upon them.

The book is full of old photographs and newly documented photographs of the same places. Let's just say there were quite a lot of trapper huts up there. And this includes the territorial wars between the norwegians and danes. And then the german nazis who secretly created a few weather stations during the WW2. The author includes charts of how many foxes, polar bear, walrus and wolves were trapped over the decades, number of huts that were built each year, number of trappers who died at each hut, and how much money was made each year from the catch.

The book is very well written and I highly recommend it!

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