Kodiak Island and Its Bears

Kodiak Island and Its Bears start where history has not yet arrived and tells the Island's story through the eyes of paleontologists. The complete story of human-bear interaction is then told through accounts from early myth and legends, continuing until the arrival of the Russian Explorers. The crucial store of Kodiak Natives and their Russian overlords in the early fur trade is described in vivid detail, as only can be done by one who has actually lived a life resembling that of the earliest settlers. Mr. Dodge covers this era in a way that lets the reader actually grasp the feeling that men have when living the primitive way. 

Perhaps the richest portion of this work deals with the great Kodiak Brown Bear as it has successfully faced modern man for the last 200 years. Dodge tells this story with endless anecdotal accounts of human and bear encounters, many of which ended in human tragedy.

Despite centuries of hunting and, as times, calls for their eradication, Kodiak bears have always had their human allies. This alliance has allowed the Kodiak bear to persereve and ultimately flourish. It can only be hoped that future chapters in their history will allow for their continued prosperity.