From War to Wilderness

Cyril Shelford believes there is a bright future for young people today-providing they develop clear goals and strive towards attaining them. Goals seldom come easily, which makes them all the more rewarding once achieved. From War to Wilderness is a true-life story of Cyril's Dad's life beginning in South Africa during the Boer War. He had such deep feelings about the the horrors of war that he wanted to get as far away as he could and chose the wilderness of Alaska. He landed in New York and worked his way across the continent, from Buffalo to Hayse City, Kansas, and on to San Francisco, by boat up to Vancouver, and then by coastal steamers to Nome, Alaska. The book is based on a "trail of letters" he wrote to his parents and other family members in England. Real history is the story of people such as Jack Shelford and his brother Arthur who left their homes in England to find a better and peaceful life far away from the clamour and ugliness of war. they had a sense of adventure and refused to let this vast and sometimes cruel land overwhelm them. They endured unbelievable hardships in order to acheive success-first building their homestead and then turning it into a productive farm.

Jack Shelford, the author's father, set out for North America in 1903 in search of a new life. From points across North America, Jack wrote long letters back to his parents and three siblings in England. His journey took him west to San Francisco, then Vancouver and in June, 1904, to Alaska. He north of Fairbanks for six veto and later homesteaded the BC interior with his brother Arthur, Discovered decades later in a trunk, Jack Shelford's letters helped the author round out the many stories of pioneer days in Alaska and northern BC that form the basis of this book.