''Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea'' is a juvenile
adventure novel
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction.
History
In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedi ...
written by
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
, famous as the creator of the
Land of Oz
The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Country in the north, Quadli ...
. The book was Baum's first effort at writing specifically for an audience of adolescent boys, a market he pursued in the coming years of his career. The novel was first published in 1906, under the pen name "Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald", one of Baum's
pseudonyms
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
.
Audiences and markets
Around the turn of the twentieth century (1897–1905), Baum had succeeded in establishing himself as a popular author of children's books, most notably with ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'' (1900). By the middle of the twentieth century's first decade, he was working diligently to branch out into other markets. In 1905, he released his first adult novel, ''
The Fate of a Crown
''The Fate of a Crown'' is a 1905 adventure novel written by L. Frank Baum, the author best known for his Oz books. It was published under the pen name "Schuyler Staunton", one of Baum's several pseudonyms. (Baum arrived at the name by adding one ...
'' (as the work of "Schuyler Staunton"). In 1906, he issued his first books for adolescent girls, ''
Annabel'' (as by "Suzanne Metcalf") and ''
Aunt Jane's Nieces
''Aunt Jane's Nieces'' is the title of a juvenile novel published by Reilly & Britton in 1906, and written by L. Frank Baum under the pen name " Edith Van Dyne." Since the book was the first in a series of novels designed for adolescent girls, its ...
'' (by "Edith Van Dyne"), as well as his first book for boys. The 1906 ''Sam Steele'' title was the first book in a projected series; "Capt. Fitzgerald" followed up with ''Sam Steele's Adventures in Panama'' in 1907.
The story
Unusually for Baum, the tale of ''Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea'' is told in the first person, by the title character. Sam Steele "is a stereotyped ideal: a capable, brave, enterprising, likable, manly sixteen-year-old American". In 1897, Sam is informed that his father, a sea captain named Richard Steele, has been killed in a shipwreck, and Sam is quickly cheated of his inheritance. Now an orphan, he meets his maternal uncle, Naboth Perkins, another sea captain and ship-owner. Together, the two set sail in the Pacific trade.
From San Francisco, Sam and his uncle embark on Naboth's ship the ''Flipper'', carrying provisions north to open a general store in the boom towns of the
Klondike Gold Rush (referred to half-accurately as
"Alaska"). A storm casts them onto a remote island, occupied by stranded and desperate miners who have struck a rich goldfield. The crew of the ''Flipper'' reach an alliance with the miners, and have to cope with thieves and natural hazards before they can return with ample rewards for their trouble.
At home again, Sam and Naboth discover that Sam's father has survived his shipwreck, with only the loss of a leg. They win a legal battle to regain the lost patrimony.
Incidentally, the ''Flipper'' crew never reached Alaska. Oddly enough, despite the repeated references to the Klondike Gold Rush, there is no reference to its chief Canadian lawman
Sam Steele
Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele (5 January 1848 – 30 January 1919) was a distinguished Canadian soldier and police official. He was an officer of the North-West Mounted Police, most famously as head of the Yukon detachment during the ...
.
Baum's plot was influenced by
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
''. A subplot contains an allusion to
H. Rider Haggard's
''She''. In turn, Baum borrowed elements from his first Sam Steele book when he came to write ''
The Sea Fairies
''The Sea Fairies'' is a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John R. Neill, and published in 1911 by the Reilly & Britton Company, the publisher of Baum's series of Oz books.
Genre
As an underwater fantasy, Baum' ...
'' five years later. He turned his character Naboth Perkins into
Cap'n Bill
This is a list of characters in the original Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. The majority of characters listed here unless noted otherwise have appeared in multiple books under various plotlines. '' Oz'' is made up of four divisions ...
Weedles in the later book.
The bias question
As with other traditional authors and their books (
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's ''
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...
'' being probably the most famous example), the role of racism and other prejudices in Baum's books has been a
focus of attention
Attention is the behavioral and cognition, cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered Subjectivity, subjective or Objectivity (philosophy), objective, while ignoring other perceivable ...
from critics and readers. Baum repeatedly displays a resistance to, and rejection of, prejudice and xenophobia in his works, but he also exploits the stereotypes common in his era, usually for comic effect. (See: ''
Sky Island
Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...
'', ''
Daughters of Destiny'', ''
Father Goose: His Book'' and ''
Father Goose's Year Book
''Father Goose's Year Book: Quaint Quacks and Feathered Shafts for Mature Children'' is a collection of humorous nonsense poetry written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was published in 1907.
The book was illustrated by Walter J. E ...
''.)
Material in the first ''Sam Steele'' book bears upon this subject. Two key supporting characters are men from the
Sulu Archipelago nicknamed "Nux" and "Bryonia"; the gruffer characters in the book refer to them as "niggers". The two become friends and companions of Sam Steele, and are presented as unflinchingly loyal, reliable, courageous, caring, strong and resourceful. After one crisis in their adventures, Sam remarks, "I realized, with a grateful heart, that I owed all my good fortune and narrow escapes to the faithful Sulu men...;" Uncle Naboth expresses his satisfaction that the two men accompany Sam, for "Those men are as faithful and honest as any men on earth...."
(For a comparable affirmative portrayal of South Sea islanders, see Baum's short story "
The Tiger's Eye
''The Tiger's Eye: A Jungle Fairy Tale'' is a short story by L. Frank Baum, famous as the creator of the Land of Oz. The story was unpublished in its own era, but has attracted significant attention since its belated publication in 1962.
Baum wrot ...
".)
Later editions
The two ''Sam Steele'' books of 1906 and 1907 did not sell as well as their author and publisher had hoped. Reilly & Britton did not give up on the project, however. They re-issued both books with new titles in 1908, under yet another pen name, "Floyd Akers". (A possible derivation: "F. Akers" from "fakers".) The first book, ''Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea'', was re-titled ''The Boy Fortune Hunters in Alaska'' (though there is only one boy fortune hunter in it, and Alaska is not a setting). Its sequel was re-titled ''The Boy Fortune Hunters in Panama''. Baum wrote a third volume in the series, ''The Boy Fortune Hunters in Egypt'', also published in 1908. He added three more titles to the ''
Boy Fortune Hunters
The Boy Fortune Hunters is a series of adventure novels for adolescent boys. They were written by L. Frank Baum, using the pseudonym of Floyd Akers, and published by Reilly & Britton.Diane McClure Jones & Rosemary Jones, ''Boys' & Girls' Book S ...
'' series in the next three years, with more boys and, of course, more fortune hunting.
''Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea'' was reprinted in the first issue of the annual ''
Oz-story Magazine
''Oz-story Magazine'' was an annual periodical devoted to the literature and art of Oz, the fantasy land created by L. Frank Baum. It was published in six volumes between 1995 and 2000.
''Oz-story'' was published by Hungry Tiger Press, and edited ...
'' in 1995.
[''Oz-story Magazine'' No. 1, pp. 78–127.] There, Howard Heath's original illustrations were replaced with pictures culled from the large output of the veteran Baum illustrator
John R. Neill
John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 – September 19, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three o ...
. That the Neill illustrations were not meant to serve this story is obvious from certain details, most notably the internal inconsistency of the likenesses for Naboth Perkins and other characters.
References
{{L. Frank Baum
Books by L. Frank Baum
1906 American novels
Works published under a pseudonym
Novels set in Alaska
American young adult novels
Klondike Gold Rush in fiction
1906 children's books