The Reverend H A Cody…
H A CODY: Author of THE LONG PATROL – A Tale of the Mounted Police
Frontiersman.
When I was a boy, the books of fellow New Brunswicker H A Cody were waiting to be found on the shelves of local libraries. Opening one took me to the mythic Heart of our Home and Native Land…
Creek, swish! Creek, swish! Hour after hour sounded forth the yielding snowshoes as Keith Steadman, hardy Northman and trailsman, strode rapidly forward. For days he had listened to their monotonous music, as he wound his devious way over valleys, plains, and mountain passes. Down toward the mighty Yukon River, pulsing on to the sea through the great white silence.
There was snow everywhere.
Snow on the river, sparkling like a million diamonds. Snow on the lakes, lying smooth and white. It was on the trees, hanging in beautiful, fairy-like clusters. Snow on the sun-kissed mountains, fleecy, golden, drifting. Snow, frosty, hard, surrounding the traveller, pouring into his lungs at every breath, clinging to his eyebrows, whitening his unkempt beard, and decorating the furry fringes of his loose parka.
“Cold night,” he muttered to himself, as he paused to readjust the rope of the small sled he was drawing, to the right shoulder.
Then he glanced back over the trail, and a dark object arrested his attention, drawing nearer and nearer.
“A wolf! and on my track, too! I expected as much in this desolate spot.” And the traveller unslung the small rifle from his back and stood ready for action…
From THE FRONTIERSMAN: A Tale of the Yukon by H A Cody, William Briggs, Toronto, 1910
Born in 1872 in the farming village of Codys, just north of Saint John City, New Brunswick, the Reverend Hiram Alfred Cody at one time matched fellow Canadian Ralph Connor in book sales. [1]
H A Cody later summed up his life and literature: “My ideal of life as a boy was one of adventure in which a married man and a clergyman had no part. I have long since found out my mistake. For I have learned by experience that married life, as well as the ministry, will supply adventures sufficient for one lifetime.”
Trailsman.
As a young Anglican priest, the blacksmith’s son had served in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, keeping copious journals. He returned home where he was eventually appointed Archdeacon of Saint John. And where he and his wife Jessie raised their three sons.
And where he would write and publish 25 books under the by-line H A Cody.
Although most of Cody’s actual writing — novels, short stories and poetry — was done at his favorite “Retreat,” their summer home at Oak Point, Kings County, New Brunswick.
While some of his later works were set in the Colonial East, his first works fell into the popular Northwestern Genre in the Jack London Tradition. Some dealt with the Northern adventures of the men and women, including Mounties, who inhabited that land. All dealt with the clean, strong spiritual values that grow with living and struggling in the hard wilderness.
Among his most popular were AN APOSTLE OF THE NORTH, THE CHIEF OF THE RANGES: A Tale of the Yukon, and THE FRONTIERSMAN. Also ROD OF THE LONE PATROL, GLEN OF THE HIGH NORTH, THE TRAIL OF THE GOLDEN HORN, THE TOUCH OF ABNER, IF ANY MAN SIN, THE RED RANGER…
…and his classic Mountie novel THE LONG PATROL: A Tale of the Mounted Police.
Constable Grey found himself alone with Madeline. For the trapper had remained in the outer room, where he was filling his pipe preparatory to his usual morning smoke.
Grey looked long and lovingly upon that white face embedded among the furs. Within him raged a fierce contest. He desired to stay by her side, to know how she would fare after her terrible experience. The love in his heart told him to remain. She was all he had in the world. In her was his life and hope. But, on the other hand, he was in duty bound to go forward as quickly as possible after that stolen child.
There was his duty.
And yet, why should he go? Did not love, the care of this helpless woman, have the first consideration? Suddenly Grey remembered that this was the day of his discharge from the Force. Was he not a free man? No longer bound by exacting, and at times galling, rules? On the other hand, was he free? That could not be until he returned, and received his discharge from his Commanding Officer. But, then, what was duty, when love stood in the way?
One voice whispered, “Stay with her whom you love. This is your first duty.”
But another voice, clear and distinct, could not be silenced. “You are in honour bound to carry out your Commander’s orders.
“He has intrusted you with a sacred commission.
“Will you relinquish the quest, bring disgrace upon yourself, and dishonour upon the Force? Hitherto no man has ever turned back when given such a command as yours until his object had been attained. Will you be the first? How can you return to Big Glen, face your Superior Officer, and your comrades? You, Norman Grey, have never shirked your duty before, and will you do it now?”
“But what about Madeline?” again insisted the first voice.
H A Cody begins this novel: “To that noble body of men, The Royal North-West Mounted Police, this book is affectionately dedicated by one, who for several years lived among them and shared their hospitality in the far-flung Canadian Northland.”
The picture on the cover of THE LONG PATROL to the left was printed courtesy of the Fox Film Corporation.
And, no, that’s not a Canadian soldier.
Though rarely shown on book and magazine covers, the early 20th Century saw this new Mounted Police uniform in use. The brown duck four-pocket Field Service tunic, cord breeches and Strathcona boots. The famous red serge jacket remained for full dress, the Musical Ride and routine Northern service.
Apostle of the North.
Although I didn’t know it at the time, Reverend Cody’s literary blend of the First Nation’s spiritual connection to their Sacred Land and our own fierce Celtic Christian beliefs in piety, love and loyalty passionately caught the Canadian Spirit. This especially applied to his THE CHIEF OF THE RANGES.
Some of his later works, such as THE FIGHTING-SLOGAN, THE STUMBLING SHEPHERD and THE RIVER FURY dealt intensely with the Post-WWI attacks on our Canadian and Christian culture by outside forces.
So the storing of these kegs of powder and bullets was but a part of the preparation in the general scheme of attack. Unexpectedly he had come across this cave. How was he to use the knowledge in his possession? To whom should he take that piece of paper? He looked at it again. His eyes rested upon the words, in big letters, On to Canada, followed by the doggerel lines,
“We are a Fenian Brotherhood, skilled in the arts of war,
And we’re going to fight for Ireland, the land that we adore,
Many battles we have fought, along with the boys in blue,
And we’ll go and capture Canada, for we’ve nothing else to do.”
From THE FIGHTING-SLOGAN, McLelland & Stewart Limited, Toronto, 1926
By the time of his passing at age 75, Cody’s work was being savaged by the Toronto CanLit elite as being “out of touch with the times.” But I found his work, even then, to be a fervent reflection of our own New Brunswick soul.
A long time ago now, I suppose — I was just a boy — but when reading the books of H A Cody I was never prouder to have been born in foggy old Saint John, New Brunswick.
Here’s a great writer — one of our own — worth tracking down.
Live Free, Mon Ami! – Brian Alan Burhoe
Did you like this Northwestern Writer Review?
THEN YOU’VE GOT TO SEE “THE WRITERS OF THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE” — MY MOST POPULAR LITERARY HISTORY POST:
“Thanks for a wonderful in-depth article on Mountie fiction. I’m a big fan of the Mounties and I really enjoyed the amount of details you provided and found many, many more books to put on my wish list.” Jack Wagner
“I just discovered your blog recently and need to dig deeper into it. That post on Mountie fiction is great!” Western writer James Reasoner
An extensive look at the writers who created the magnificent Mythology of our North-West Mounted Police. My Top 10 Mountie Fiction Writers in some detail, including SKY PILOT writer Ralph Connor — and a look at many other authors. Amply illustrated with marvelous magazine and book covers. FREE TO READ ==> The GREATEST AUTHORS OF NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE FICTION
To learn more about H A Cody’s Life and Works see Kevin Crannie’s excellent study HIRAM ALFRED CODY: A Life Remembered.
Frontier Footnotes:
[1] “I know your books! I could pass an examination in BLACK ROCK and SKY PILOT,” President Theodore Roosevelt told author Ralph Connor.
Canadian Ralph Connor (Rev Charles Gordon), whose first three novels — BLACK ROCK (1898), THE SKY PILOT (1899) and THE MAN FROM GLENGARRY (1901) — sold over five million copies, entered the 20th Century as the world’s best selling author. He was followed by American Rev Harold Bell Wright with books including THAT PRINTER OF UDELL’S (1903) and THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS (1907). Then came H A Cody with AN APOSTLE OF THE NORTH (1908) and THE FRONTIERSMAN: A Tale of the Yukon (1910). At one point, all three authors were matching in sales. They’re forgotten now by most but not by all.
H A CODY Frontiersman, Trailsman & Apostle of the North – Author of THE LONG PATROL: A Tale of the Mounted Police
Apostle of the North, A Tale of the Mounted Police, book review, Christian fiction, Jack London Tradition, Kevin Crannie, Mountie fiction, Northwestern genre, Ralph Connor, Reverend Hiram Alfred Cody, The Long Patrol, Trailsman, Western Writer.
