Rockwell Kent "Wilderness" Centennial Journal

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Early Sept., 2018 "How the contemplation of nature as a whole does take the conceit out of us! How we dwindle to mere specks and our little lives to the span of a moment in the presence of the cosmic bodies and the interstellar spaces! How we hurry! How we husband our time. A year, a month, a day, an hour may man so much to us. Behold the infinite leisure of nature."       John Burroughs, "The Gospel of Nature," Century 84 (1912) 195-204. On Sept. 4th 100 years ago Kent wrote to his wife, “ It has rained incessantly… and Olson has not yet ventured to shore” and that weather continued throughout the month according to the old Swede’s journal. Olson did leave for Seward later that day, spent the night and returned the next day. Throughout the winter, Olson would leave off and on – once for several weeks – and Kent would be in charge of the animals, a job he hated....

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Late Aug. – Early Sept., 2018 Part 1 "Fire Wood" pen and ink from Wilderness On this day 100 years ago Rockwell Kent took a break from his work on Fox Island and wrote a letter to his friend Carl Zigrosser: “Robinson Crusoe Olson has just left us to return to his cabin and his goats so I can begin on the letter that I have planned to write tonight and send to Seward by Olson tomorrow – And I’m so utterly tired that I cannot, I know, write one.” The day before – August 31st – was the one-week anniversary of the artist finding Fox Island. He had discovered an “enchanted cabin” on a “pirate’s island” with an old pioneer. Kent tells Zigrosser of their meeting in Humpy Cove and how the old Swede “came along and carried us almost by force to his island. He loves us for it’s been mighty lonely for him here.” It’s probably evening as Kent writes this letter. He is sitting in his cabin ...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 These days 100 years ago Kent and his son were in Seward off and on between gathering supplies and making the Fox Island cabin livable. “Father laid a floor, cut window openings, mounted windows and roof, which he shingled, built shelves, a table and a bunk,” Rockie recalled. “I would like to report that we did all these things, but I believe I was of little help. I may have held the end of a board when so requested, but I think I was sent off to explore the woods, to get out of the way of flying nails and hammer.” And what a place to explore for an eight-year-old! Kent mentions the flat, odd-shaped stones on the pebbly beach but only a few times. I’ve always been surprised that he never commented on the flat, heart-shaped stones we sometimes find. As I’ve strolled the beach over many years, I’ve finally come to understand why. Kent was not looking down – the artist was looking up – at the sky, the ...