At a time when our last trip is beginning to date and the next one is unfortunately no longer on the agenda, a few great classics fortunately allow us to travel from our couch. The opportunity to dust off the books in his library or to order some ebooks on the Internet to pass the time while respecting the confinement. Le Petit Futé therefore offers you a dive into the works of authors who have made us travel. After following in the footsteps of Hergé and his famous reporter Tintin, of the late Albert Uderzo in Gaul, as in the rest of the world, accompanied by Jules Verne or Ernest Hemingway to the four corners of the planet, we now move on to the fifth author in our series: Jack London.
San Francisco, Oakland and California, the home port..
It is obviously in the United States that many of the works of Jack London (1876-1916), who was born in San Francisco, California, take place. But his home on 615 3rd Street burned down in the 1906 earthquake, which he described in several national newspapers, and his family moved to Oakland, across the bay shortly afterwards. After working in factories at 14 ans, being an oyster robber and cabin boy on a sailboat, he managed to study at the University of Berkeley. The news he published by the dozens on the living conditions of his time made him famous all over America, from the age of 25. He described the rural and working class conditions of the early 20th century in several books such as The Iron Heel and Martin Eden. He then takes pleasure in writing short stories of a thousand words, sometimes stopping in the middle of a sentence! Jack London's fame became worldwide after the publication of The Call of the Forest (1906) and The Wolf of the Seas (1904).
On the port of Oakland, Jack London Square is the main tourist attraction of the city. A tour in the footsteps of Jack London will take you on a short stroll through the area and will lead you to the life-size statue of the writer admiring the seaside. Under the palm trees is reconstituted the real log cabin he lived in for a few months in Henderson Creek, Canada. The logs were transported from the Yukon to here. Not far away, Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon still exists and houses the writer's work table. The walk around Jack London stops at the foot of another statue, that of the famous white wolf.
From Alaska to the Yukon, the Gold Rush
To walk in the footsteps of Jack London, direction Alaska, one of the last natural paradises on our beautiful planet. Snowy summits as far as the eye can see, immense forests, tundra vibrating under the hooves of caribou, otters wriggling among the whales at the foot of immense glaciers, bald eagles scanning the rivers, nature is strong and boundless
And when we think of Alaska in literature, we immediately think of Jack London, who captured the gold rush atmosphere of the Klondike region so well. Although the adventures took place in the nearby Canadian Yukon, Jack London travelled through part of Alaska
In 1897, he arrived in Alaska via the interior passage between British Columbia and Dyea. There, London prepared to cross the Chilcoot Pass with a ton of equipment on his back, which he carried in bundles over gruelling steps. Arriving at Bennett Lake in Canadian territory, London, along with fellow travellers, built two boats (Yukon Belle and Belle of Yukon) with which he would travel down the Yukon River to Dawson City, crossing the rapids and trying to gain speed in the coming winter. The Belle of Yukon arrives at Stewart River, with London on board. He delineates a claim, a "concession", at Henderson Creek. This claim does not appear to have yielded much gold. Jack then goes to live on Split-Up Island. In Dawson City, London had many conversations with the "old folks" in the bars. He then hears a host of stories that he will later use to write some of his most famous novels (The Call of the Forest, Croc-Blanc, The Children of the Cold, Belliou the Smoke, The Son of the Wolf, etc.). In the cabin where he lives, he even meets the dog Jack, the future model of Buck, the hero of L'Appel de la forêt. He also spends the winter at the Stewart River mining camp. Having developed scurvy, he then travels down the Yukon River to St. Michael, near Nome, Alaska, in order to return to San Francisco to escape the disease. He finally reached Frisco after embarking as a driver on a steamer, the Bartlett
Between reality and fiction, his books allow us to plunge into this fascinating era that has left such a mark on the state. Even today, Dawson City is a must-see stop on the way across the Yukon. You can visit the Jack London Museum, where a passionate historian recounts the life of the author. The log cabin you can see is a replica of the writer's cabin at Henderson Creek, 120 km south of Dawson City. The author had carved his name on it: "Jack London. Miner, author, Jan 27, 1898. »
Cruises to the ends of the world
Then, in 1902, Jack London will discover Europe. He will live for a few months in London in the East End, a poor district of the British capital, before embarking for Korea where he will make a report on the Russo-Japanese war.
The American author will also undertake a world tour on his ship, the Snark. He will cross the South Seas and make a story of it: The Cruise on the Snark (1911). He discovered Honolulu in Hawaii, Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, Bora-Bora, the Samoa Islands, before finishing his journey in Melanesia (Fiji Archipelago, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands). These islands will be the setting for stories and novels such as The Adventuress (1911), Jerry, Island Dog (1917), Michaël, Circus Dog (1917) or (partly) Martin Eden (1909).
Return to California and Wine Valley
North of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin County is the Valley of Wine which stretches between the Napa, Sonoma and Russian River valleys. Sonoma, the closest to San Francisco, is barely an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge and it is there, after several years of wandering, that Jack London decided to drop anchor at the end of his short life. He then isolates himself in a ranch in Glen Ellen, a peaceful village in the Moon Valley. He dies there at the age of 40 and is buried there.
We won't miss visiting the Jack London State Historic Park. A pilgrimage in the footsteps of the author, which takes us to the ruins of the house he built with his wife, but which they never lived in. The house of his dreams where he wanted to end his days, Jack London invested all his fortune in the construction of this villa. He called it Wolf House, after his own nickname from his first literary success, Croc-Blanc. Unfortunately, the house burned down just before he moved in. The Londoners did not have the strength to rebuild it, but decided to live in another cottage on the property. A museum recounts the writer's exciting life. Before leaving, we will visit the writer's grave, a simple rock on the ground, and of course we will enjoy one of the prettiest villages in the wine valley.
