In the spring of 1912, Ojibwe guide Billy Magee received a letter from future conservationist Ernest Oberholtzer asking Magee to accompany him on a journey. Soon after, the two headed into the Canadian Barren Lands of upper Manitoba for a five-month canoe trip that would lead them to unmapped territory and test both their endurance and their friendship.

Tracing the route of the Oberholtzer-Magee expedition, The Old Way North transports readers through the history of this perilous wilderness and introduces them to the mapmakers, fur traders and trappers, missionaries, and native peoples who relied on this corridor for trade and travel. Through journals, historical records, personal interviews with Cree, Dene, and Inuit, and the account of a present-day canoeist, wilderness and conservation writer David Pelly reconstructs the many tales hidden in this land.

David Pelly has been traveling, living, and learning in the Arctic since the late 1970s. He is the author of several articles and books on wilderness expeditions and conservation.