I have read the reviews...here's my take on Norma's story

books:


	• Arctic Homestead: The True Story of One Family's Survival and Courage in the Alaskan Wilds Norma Cobb, Charles Sasser St. Martin's Griffin, 2003 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 48 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I have read the reviews...here's my take on Norma's story

Okay, so it's an imperfect family. True they started out with nothing and yes, they are uneducated. Norma probably bent the truth a hair or two. She's got a right to her own opinion, it's HER BOOK!

Les is probably a big brash dangerous guy, but she's still married to him. The kids ... well they grew up with the bears all around them and dogs to mush. Last I heard they are doing fine. How can we judge a family like this? They didn't exactly move to Alaska with a U-haul and a pocket full of change, but pretty close. To me, this story deserves respect because of the sheer magnitude of what they accomplished. These are poor uneducated Americans and I am very proud of them. I wish there were more people like the Cobbs.

My gut feeling about this story is that Norma is mostly telling the truth. She admits to many mistakes, in every chapter, and is open about them. The death of the dogs was pretty damn upsetting and I'd really like to know the truth about that one. Will someone speak up? How about a member of the family? Or maybe some of the Alaskans who were friends to the Cobbs? I'd like to know what happened. I tend to believe that the guy left in charge of the dogs allowed them to die. I do not believe the family killed their own dogs. They just don't strike me as the type. Now the man who stayed behind to "care" for the animals, him I blame. He probably did what she said and killed the dogs with neglect.

It happens. As an animal rescue person, I've seen animals die of neglect many times. I tend not to believe that Les shot all the dogs as inferred by one of their former friends. If there's disparagement about the book, it's not because of the storytelling, because this book is one of those that you just can't put down.

Suspend your disbelief, take what you will from the book, but READ IT!!! It's fantastic.

Jules Harrell

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Amazing they all survived!

I have read many true story accounts of wilderness "Alaska Bush" living, but this one truly had me wondering how this family kept avoided being killed or dying from the unbelievable danger they continued to put themselves in. I found it interesting to read, but at the same time, almost painful. Living in Alaska, I see many, many adventure seekers who think they can make it in the bush without the necessary skills and knowledge it takes to survive on their own. It is truly a miracle that this family, although brave, all survived their experience.

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Arctic Homestead

This is a great true story about a courageous family carving out their dream on America's last frontier. It is well written, easy to read with event details hard to imagine even during the mid 1970s. This is good reading for anyone planning a trip to Alaska.

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SHE WANTS TO SELL?

UNBELIEVABLE EFFORT!

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK BECAUSE THE COUPLE WAS FROM LONGMONT, COLORADO AND THEY WERE NOT FAR FROM MY ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOME.

THE BOOK WAS A GREAT LOOK INTO THE STRUGGLES OF HOMESTEADING. SOMETIMES I THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE ALL A FAMILY RIGHT OUT OF THE "GRAPES OF WRATH." EITHER TO STUPID TO QUIT OR JUST PLAIN BULLHEADED. I THINK IT TOOK BOTH TRAITS TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT THEY DID. I RESPECT THEIR FOCUS AND THEIR FAITH.

THE BOOK WAS A GOOD READ AND I RECOMMEND IT.

IT IS UNBELIEVABLE TO ME THAT THEY ARE LOOKING TO SELL SOMETHING THAT WAS SO DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN (TOWARDS THE END OF THE BOOK.)

MAYBE THEY ARE THE "GRAPES OF WRATH" BUNCH, BUT WHATEVER THEY ARE, THE BOOK IS REALLY WORTH READING AND THE COUPLE/FAMILY HAD TRUE GRIT. FOR THAT AND THEIR FAITH IN JESUS, I TAKE MY HAT OF TO THEM AND SAY, BRAVO!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

In 1973, Norma Cobb, her husband Lester, and the their five children, the oldest of whom was nine-years-old and the youngest, twins, barely one, pulled up stakes in the Lower Forty-eight and headed north to Alaska to follow a pioneer dream of claiming land under the Homestead Act. The only land available lay north of Fairbanks near the Arctic Circle where grizzlies outnumbered humans twenty to one. In addition to fierce winters and predatory animals, the Alaskan frontier drew the more unsavory elements of society?s fringes. From the beginning, the Cobbs found themselves pitted in a life or death feud with unscrupulous neighbors who would rob from new settlers, attempt to burn them out, shoot them, and jump their claim.

The Cobbs were chechakos, tenderfeet, in a lost land that consumed even toughened settlers. Everything, including their ?civilized? past, conspired to defeat them. They constructed a cabin and the first snow collapsed the roof. They built too close to the creek and spring breakup threatened to flood them out. Bears prowled the nearby woods, stalking the children, and Lester Cobb would leave for months at a time in search of work.

But through it all, they survived on the strength of Norma Cobb---a woman whose love for her family knew no bounds and whose courage in the face of mortal danger is an inspiration to us all. This is her story.

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