Books set at St. Lawrence River made a splash before WWI

    I glanced at the book probably 50 times in recent summers before I asked my sister to open her bookcase. The bookcover featured a young, wavy-haired woman, presumably sitting on a riverbank, before a giant orb – either the sun setting or the moon rising.

   My sister Maureen pulled out this vintage book entitled “Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence’’ by Alice B. Emerson, and I began to flip delicately through the browned pages.

   Whimsically, I expected to read about vivid sunsets over riverbanks, a mystery as a canoe drifted near a shadowy island, the moral fiber of a Thousand Islands hero, the love and loyalty among a family of river dwellers.

   I didn’t get there – immediately. Even before I could locate the 1922 copyright, Maureen bounded down the stairs with an armload of vintage river books:

• “The Border Boys along the St. Lawrence’’ by Fremont B. Deering (1914).
• “The Six River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence’’ by Harry Gordon (World War I era).
• “Motor Boat Boys’ on the St. Lawrence’’ by Louis Arundel (1912).

   Maureen finds books, signs, pennants, maps, collectibles, all things that relate to St. Lawrence River culture, to display at her waterside home in Morristown. So I imagined this Ruth Fielding book would be filled with local references to Chris-Craft or mahogany runabouts, or maybe places like Old Man Island or Boldt Castle. There was very little.

    Instead, I learned that “Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence’’ was the 18^th book in a series of 30 about a young orphan girl who grows into an accomplished screenwriter and moviemaker. From 1913-34, Alice B. Emerson was the pen name for three writers – W. Bert Foster (books 1-19), Elizabeth Duffield Ward (20-22) and Mildred Wirt Benson (23-30).

   Ruth grows up in the series, attending boarding school, visiting summer camp, going to college, assisting the Red Cross in World War I, then landing at the river in 1922 as a filmmaker. Throughout the series, she is settling conflicts and unlocking mysteries, a forerunner to Nancy Drew’s character.

    Ruth’s creator Edward Stratemeyer would outline the plots, then lateral them to his ghostwriters. By the time Foster undertook the St. Lawrence book, Ruth’s screenwriting/moviemaking career had led her to the Thousand Islands to fulfill a movie contract. During shooting, Ruth and friends encounter a weird recluse known as “Queer Old Man,’’ who is believed to hide a treasure. Ruth and her pals also confront a band of crooks (perhaps smugglers)  also seeking the riches.

  There are references to Redwood, Chippewa Bay and a large hotel ballroom at Alexandria Bay, but no specifics. It’s apparent the writers were working remotely long before it became standard business practice.

  This Ruth Fielding book might fetch up to $40 online, but one appraiser suggests paying no more than $10. I did notice that universal cover art – the woman backed by the orb — continued while the book title changed. However, there were alternate covers with detailed paintings.

  Maureen’s other vintage books reflected the popular teen-aged boy adventure tales of the era.

   “The Border Boys along the St. Lawrence’’
  Fremont B. Deering was a pen name for John Henry Goldfrap, a staff writer for Joseph Pulitzer’s The Evening World in New York. He also wrote under the names Captain James Carson, Marvin West, Howard Payson and Captain Wilbur Lawton.^[4]When Goldfrap wasn’t writing six books for the adventure series, he dabbled in screenwriting.

The Border Boys head down the St. Lawrence in “River Swallow,’’ a 60-foot motorboat with twin propellers, but they encounter rapids, a difficult crewmate and a mysterious ghost craft.

    “The Six River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence’’

  Harry Gordon wrote this juvenile adventure novel in 1913. The series included boys’ adventures on five other major rivers – Ohio, Mississippi, Colorado, Columbia and Amazon.

On the St. Lawrence, four boys are prepared to pilot their motorboat, the Rambler, to explore the water and uncover a mysterious channel when a canoe pulls alongside. A man gives the boys a package containing a map and cryptic instructions that might lead to a treasure.

“Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence River’’

  Louis Arundel and Gordon’s books are sometimes confused because of the similar titles.  Arundel wrote a series of seven books between 1912-1915 about teen boy adventures on Mississippi, Great Lakes, Florida Keys, Florida coast, a river chase, and lastly the Danube. His Thousand Islands entry was the third in the series (1912). It tells the tales of two rival gangs of boys who are intent on exploring the river but encounter rough currents, local mysteries and the rival gang.

   As I opened the books, I found dedications more than 100 years old. Two were given as Christmas gifts.

  The best surprise of all was Project Gutenberg. It’s a free service that offers downloads and allows you to read books online, but only titles in the public domain whose copyrights have lapsed. Click on the website — https://www.gutenberg.org/ — and you can search for digital editions of Ruth Fielding, Motor Boat Boys, and Six River Motor Boat Boys.

Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/