The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 2,975 ratings

Price: 13.62

Last update: 03-24-2025


About this item

The inspiration for The Last Alaskans - the eight-part documentary series on Animal Planet.

Hundreds of hardy people have tried to carve a living in the Alaskan bush, but few have succeeded as consistently as Heimo Korth. Originally from Wisconsin, Heimo traveled to the Arctic wilderness in his feverous 20s. Now, more than four decades later, Heimo lives with his wife approximately 200 miles from civilization - a sustainable, nomadic life bounded by the migrating caribou, the dangers of swollen rivers, and the very exigencies of daily existence.

In The Final Frontiersman, Heimo's cousin, James Campbell, chronicles the Korth family's amazing experience, their adventures, and the tragedy that continues to shape their lives. With a deft voice and in spectacular, at times unimaginable detail, Campbell invites us into Heimo's heartland and home. The Korths wait patiently for a small plane to deliver their provisions, listen to distant chatter on the radio, and go sledding at 44 degrees below zero - all the while cultivating the hard-learned survival skills that stand between them and a terrible fate. Awe inspiring and memorable, The Final Frontiersman is like a rustic version of the American dream and reveals for the first time a life most of us have never imagined: amid encroaching environmental pressures, apart from the herd, and alone in a stunning wilderness that - for now - remains the final frontier.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Bruce Peterson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wilderness Family Struggles
    Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2018
    I first saw the Last Alaskans reality series on TV. This book fills in all the details and much, much more. First it is one of the best accounts of how unbelievably difficult it is to LIVE in Alaska's wilderness all year, especially with a family! It's the hazardous and unpredictable weather, difficulty earning money to provide for supplies and transportation, dangerous animals and rivers/terrain and the unpredictable availability of meat and fur. But the most difficult is raising a family there. This true story is the struggle of one man to balance his powerful love for this kind of living off the land vs his love of family and providing the needs of his wife and children. Particularly, the children need contact with people and a good education to enable them to make a choice of how they want to live once on their own. The balancing of sacrifices of adults vs children's needs makes a familiar struggle, although in the extreme here to most families on the grid The author does a great job telling the story in a style that never bores. This story is for dreamers, outdoor couples, adventure lovers, parents, and has much in adventure and food for thought for anyone and everyone! Highly recommended!
  • LowJack
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love the book and I love this guys lifestyle.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2023
    I first order this book in paper back. I liked it so much I ordered another copy in hard cover. We all have a favorite movie we watch time and time again over the years. I have read this book three time and enjoy it every time. Heimo Korth is an amazing man and has enjoyed a lifestyle I have longed for, but life sent me off my course. I live vicariously through his adventures in an unspoiled land bathed in the beauty only Mother Nature can provide. Cold and dangerous, this book brings to life a real life adventure and visualizes and land unspoiled by man kind... j
  • Laura
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2022
    The story flows wonderfully and it's full of really good insights into Alaskan bush life and politics as well as a great peek into living in the bush. It appeals to me in a special way because I grew up in the Appleton area during Heimo's childhood. Heimo was probably at Appleton East High School when my husband attended there. Today our daughter is a sourdough living in Fairbanks working for the Bureau of Land Management. We've traveled up to Fairbanks a couple of times driving the AlCan highway. Reading the story, I could easily imagine so much of what James Campbell described. His book is wonderful!
  • Stephen Robbins
    4.0 out of 5 stars The Korths
    Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2024
    Liked learning more details concerning the lives of Heimo and Edna and their family!
  • Justin Vaughn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2025
    I wish I would have read this 15 years ago before ever watching the tv show The Last Alaskan`s
    Heimo what a legend!
  • Blackcat
    5.0 out of 5 stars A true frontiersman
    Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019
    I don’t ordinarily watch the Alaska reality shows, but have found The Last Alaskans a very thoughtfully and beautifully filmed show. I especially found Heimo Korth and his wife, Edna, to be very engaging and attractive personalities.

    So when I saw that the television show was derived from this book, I decided to read the book and was not disappointed. The book gives much background on Heimo and his family and the choices they have made to live a subsistence lifestyle in a very harsh and unforgiving environment. If you enjoy the television show, you will very much enjoy the book. And even if you haven’t seen the show, you will find the book to be an amazing documentary of people who have decided to live in the Alaskan bush.
  • Daniel C. Keffer
    5.0 out of 5 stars The last frontiersman
    Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2024
    James Campbell, who happens to be Heimo Korth’s cousin spent several months living with Heimo and Edna in the Artic national wildlife refuge. His writing does an excellent job in describing how Heimo lives with his wife. I’ve been reading numerous books about individuals living in the bush, and Heimo, without doubt, lives the most rustic lifestyle of anyone I’ve read about. I watched the show the last Alaskans and from reading this book, it just verifies the fact that these individuals really live in extreme conditions in Alaska, James Campbell, and his daughter later goes back to Alaska and canoes a river to the arctic ocean. That is also a very good Book to read.
  • WayOutThere
    5.0 out of 5 stars You've got to read this book!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2013
    A fascinating read about "the Final Frontiersman himself!
    I don't think most people really understand just how difficult it would be to live this kind of a lifestyle.....you'd literally have to work you butt off every day just to keep the cabin warm and the family fed. This lifestyle is not at all for the faint of heart...or mind. This guy is a true outdoorsman and a "learned" master at staying alive and relatively comfortable. I can only imagine the massive stockpiles of firewood you'd have to have just to make it through the winter in -30 to -50 below temperatures on the extreme remote plains of the south slopes of the Brooks Range. And without plenty of ammo, traps, and meat, you'd be dead in only a few weeks in such extremes. I would not at all mind living like this guy......for about three weeks in August. An excellent description of a "chosen" lifestyle.

    Update to my review 03/27/15

    I was lucky enough to be able to fly to Fairbanks just recently to work for a few days and something happened to me there that I'll not soon forget.
    On Saturday the 21st, I was able to attend an auction at Mushers Hall. This auction was put on by the Alaska Fur Trappers Association and was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!
    Even better was what happened while I was there!.....A guy I met and began talking to was showing me some furs he'd just purchased at the auction. One in particular was a fine raw wolf hide that he was quite proud of. As I was handling the hide, I happened to glance at the ID tag attached to it and was suddenly both shocked and elated at the same time! This wolf had been trapped and handled by none other than the Final Frontiersman himself, Heimo Korth! I immediately pointed this out to the guy who had just acquired the fur at auction (a long time Fairbanks resident) and he didn't even know who Heimo was.

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