In 1906, Nello Vernon-Wood (1882-1978) reinvented himself as Tex Wood, Banff hunting guide and writer of "yarns of the wilderness by a competent outdoorsman.” His homespun stories of a vanishing era, in periodicals of the day, have much to tell us about the west as envisioned by those who wanted to leave the industrialized world behind.

In 1906, Nello Vernon-Wood (1882–1978) reinvented himself as Tex Wood, Banff hunting guide and writer of “yarns of the wilderness by a competent outdoorsman.” His homespun stories of a vanishing era, in such periodicals as The Sportsman, Hunting and Fishing, and the
Canadian Alpine Journal, have much to tell us about the west as envisioned by those who wanted to leave the industrialized world behind. In the writings of his persona “ Tex,” Vernon-Wood created an image of the frontier that blended the West of his guiding experiences with the old West as imagined by those who flocked to the Canadian and American frontiers in search of adventure in an uncivilized wilderness. Editors Gow and Rak, guide the reader through this collection of Vernon-Wood's stories, providing a framework for both the writer and his alter ego, Tex.

Acknowledgements

Foreword - Ted Bishop

Introduction - Andrew Gow and Julie Rak



1. Fifth Avenue Pilgrims Amid the Goats


The Sportsman, February 1930, 63 and 102

2. This Guiding Game


The Sportsman, April 1930, 5859 and 78

3. The Last Great Buffalo Drive


The Sportsman, June 1930, 75, 86 and 88

4. William, Prepare My Barth


The Sportsman, July 1930, 55 and 78

5. Us Winter Sports


The Sportsman, January 1931, 4445

6. Rams


The Sportsman, April 1931, 6768

7. Tepee Tales


The Sportsman, September 1931, 5254 and 58

8. An Early Ski Attempt on Mt. Ptarmigan


Canadian Alpine Journal, vol. 21 (1932), 135137

9. Pipestone Letters No. 1


Hunting and Fishing, September 1932, 16

10. An All We Do Is Hunt


National Sportsman, March 1933, 1011

11. The Latest From Pipestone


Hunting and Fishing, February 1934, 11

12. Dried Spinach or Moose Steak?


Hunting and Fishing, June 1935, 11

13. Tex Reads His Permit


Hunting and Fishing, August 1935, 13

14. The Guide Knows Everything


National Sportsman, June 1936, 1415

15. Tex: Gentlemans Gentleman


Hunting and Fishing, August 1936, 14

16. Its Good to Be Alive


National Sportsman, September 1936, 1617

17. Tex Takes a Trophy


Hunting and Fishing, October 1936, 7

18. Sawback Cleans a Laker


Hunting and Fishing, December 1936, 12

19. Sawback Changes His Mind


Hunting and Fishing, April 1937, 9

20. Tex Tangles With Horribilis


Hunting and Fishing, May 1937, 15 and 46

21. Navigatin for Namaycush


National Sportsman, May 1937, 1415

22. Whats in a Name?


National Sportsman, February 1938, 67 and 21

23. Sawback and the Sporting Proposition


National Sportsman, May 1938, 14 and 26

24. The Wild Goose Chase by Ramon Chesson


National Sportsman, October 1938, 1011

25. It's a Woman's World


National Sportsman, October 1938, 13 and 26



APPENDIX A: Tex Vernon-Wood - Recollections by his grandson, John R. Gow

APPENDIX B: A Gift from Grandad Vernon-Wood - Recounted by his grandson, Harry W. Gow



Index