Quinn the Eskimo

In 1964 I left New York City for Alaska.

Subsequently back in the late sixties, when Bob Dylan was sitting in a New York City basement singing about Quinn the Eskimo I was out hunting with him.

Henry Bailey an Eskimo from Noatak, was my friend and often hunting partner. The first time I hunted with him, on a high plateau above Haggard Creek, temperatures below -20 degrees, we were zooming across the snow on a Polaris snow machine (I still believe Eskimos know snow machines only have two speeds; full speed, thumb tight down on the throttle, or off). We'd stop once in a while, he'd hop off and study the snow ahead of us, hop back on and full speed again. At full speed he was tracking caribou.

After 10 or 15 miles following tracks in the snow at over 40 miles an hour , last stop, 5 caribou less than 50 yards ahead of us!

So! Come all without, come all within, you ain't seen nothing like the mighty Henry Bailey!


Watercolor on Canson's 150 pound cold pressed paper, 9 by 12 inches.