The Final Frontiersman : Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness
by James Campbell

Heimo is from Appleton, WI and one day in the 1970's he headed north to Alaska and never looked back.

The author (who just happens to be Heimo's cousin) claims Heimo lives more remotely than any other person in Alaska.  He is one of only seven hunter-trappers with a permit to live in the 19.5-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Korth lives with his wife and two daughters 130 miles above the Arctic Circle, the only settlers for more than 500 miles (250 miles from the nearest road).

This is a real page turner.  I always dreamed of giving it all up and moving North. Heimo did it and has a great story to share.

The Beav

Glad you liked it. I was/am surprised no one else responded to this thread...this book should be of interest to any paddler/outdoorsman.

I want to followup with James Campbell to see what Heimo is up to these days.

Yeah, it's a great book...Heimo is a bit older than me but a contemporary...growing up in Wisconsin....he had the 'nads to go up to Alaska and make a life...sometimes I wonder...

Beav

If you read the book I think you'd realize that Korth is not the kind of man to cash in....or drill for oil. Plus, I doubt he made much money...since he didn't write the book and it was not a bestseller.

The other book you reference is Canoeing with the Cree. Yes, one of the men was Eric Severeid. Another good read.

Beav

I found the book to be a great read.  Full of adventure.

Just ordered the book : The Final Frontiersman
from Amazon!
It sounds like just the kind of adventure I enjoy
Beaver,  I know what you mean by "sometimes I wonder"

In the late sixties I was living in Florida with a buddy, right out of high school and before he got drafted and I enlisted.
We met a British guy who had served in the Royal Navy, American Navy and finally the Australian Navy.
He had bought and was refurbishing a 50 ft sail boat and planned to sail it to Australia and homestead.
He was a certified diver and expert seaman. He wanted my buddy and I to be his crew but WE kind of thought he was a little to effeminate as he dressed like a 60's version of Rod Stewart
We passed on the trip, using being "homesick" as are excuse
He decided to go in a "different" direction and placed a ad in Miami Herald for an all WOMEN crew to sail with him!!!
He got 3 GORGEOUS women to be his crew!!
A marine biologist, a writer and MD
He had a going away party and when we saw his crew, we could of died
We lost touch with him after he sailed and always wondered IF he made it to Australia??
But like my buddy said, " With that crew, who cares"
He probably ended up on a island somewhere with his crew of Mary Ann's and/or Ginger's

I just ordered "The Final Frontiersman."  Looking forward to getting and reading it.

Reyn

Now that I've read the book and had a chance to think about it, I'm struck by how happy they were with so "little" in the way of physical possessions
It always amazes me that when the news programs show some of the poorest living conditions in the world that the people are still able to laugh and appreciate the smallest of kindness's
Meanwhile our daily news is filled with people who no matter what they have are never satisfied
People like to make all the cliché comments about money and possessions but without the peace that only comes from within your only fooling yourself.
Heimo and his family are "rich" in ways that a lot of people with money/power/possessions will never have and always long for

I thought of Heimo when watching the Into The Wild movie. Watching the McCandless character butcher the butchering of the moose he shot disturbed me. "Heimo would have known what to do to preserve that meat" I thought while watching the film. You probably couldn't find two more different men in Alaska.

I've emailed James Campbell, author of the book, to find out what/where Heimo is up to these days.

Any know his whereabouts?

solotripper wrote on Nov 15^th, 2007 at 5:55pm:

The_Beaver wrote on Nov 15^th, 2007 at 2:09pm:

Actually....I heard back from Mr. Campbell. He is working on a documentary of Heimo's life...and is not at liberty to discuss anything about Heimo's current life other than to tell me that  "all the Korths are doing well."

The Beaver

I just finished the book two nights ago...WOW!  It was so much more than I was expecting.  I was thinking it would be just about a guy who lives in the wilderness, which would have still interested me.  But it was so much more.  I won't reveal the parts that I'm talking about in case someone reads this post before they read the book.  It was very touching and so much deeper than I was expecting.

Really enjoyed it!  Thanks for the recommendation.

Reyn