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Michael Furtman
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Magic on the Rocks : Canoe Country Pictographs Paperback – July 11, 2000

by Shawn Perich (Author), Michael Furtman (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Hundreds of enigmatic paintings are scattered across the Boundary Waters and Quetico, left by its native people. This book is a guide to the known pictographs, complete with maps, directions and accurate reproductions of pictographs.
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  1. Print length
    200 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Birch Portage Pr
  4. Publication date
    July 11, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    5.75 x 0.5 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0916691020
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0916691028
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Furtman is a writer and photographer who often takes as his subject matter the Minnesota wilderness. He is an active member of the Izaak Walton League and frequently works with the US Forest Service. He has written many other books, among them A Boundary Waters Fishing Guide (1984) and A Season For Wilderness (1989), as well as articles for Field and Stream, Sports Afield, Canoe, Wildfowl, Fly-Fisherman, and many other national and regional publications. A life-long resident of Duluth, Furtman lives with his wife, Mary Jo, and Labrador, Rascal.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Birch Portage Pr (July 11, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0916691020
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0916691028
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.5 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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Michael Furtman

Michael Furtman

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Lisa Jo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great info
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Wanted to learn more and this book is very informative
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Donaldo
5.0 out of 5 stars must read for wilderness trip
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015
Verified Purchase
Preparing and planning BWCA west to east trip
article in Boundary Waters Journal recommended this book
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J. Lockard
3.0 out of 5 stars The idea is nice, functionally useless however...
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
I really like the idea of this book. In use, however, it ended up being useless. The descriptions of where the pictographs actually are was incredibly lacking in precision. When some of these pictographs are quite faded and the area where the pictograph is (rock face) is, sometime, hundreds of meters long, your chance of finding these can statistically approach zero.

Also, the author has decided to show the pictures of the pictographs, with only the pictograph itself showing and none of the surrounding rock. So, of course, the images in the book stand out quite well, with the pictograph being rock and the background being a nice even grey. In the real world, there's no way to see how these pictographs stand out against the real rock they're on.

On our trip through Quetico we passed by 6 different pictograph sites and saw zero pictographs. One description was something like "on the rock, near the water, where the arrow is pointing on the map". In this instance, the island on the map was rather small and the real island was about 750m long and the whole east side of the island was rock face.

Again, I like the idea of the book but the descriptions of pictograph location could be greatly improved. Certainly, now, he could do GPS coordinates. I understand not putting the GPS coords in the book, as actually finding it myself with the crude description would have been a great treat, but heck, throw us a bone. Also, there has to be a better way of showing the pictograph so it might help others find it.

That said, some of the history and stories given are quite interesting. If it weren't for that and I didn't like the idea of this book so much it would have been 1-star.
3 people found this helpful
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Slsands
5.0 out of 5 stars Rock paintings
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2015
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I would very much enjoy canoeing to see these rock paintings.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars GPS coordinates would be nice, but are not included
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Interesting book with lots of information about the native Americans believed to have made the drawings. I plan to check out a few of the sites this summer.
GPS coordinates would be nice, but are not included.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic on the Rocks
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2017
Interesting information and descriptions about the Ojibway red ochre paintings and their meanings, and lore. It added greatly to my adventure observing these pictographs first-hand.
One person found this helpful
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J. Hope
3.0 out of 5 stars Magic on the Rocks
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
While I was somewhat disappointed with the format of this book, it was still fairly helpful to me. I had expected more photographs.
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Top reviews from other countries

Gord
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique approach to the Northwoods pictographs
Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2013
Verified Purchase
There are too few books on the subject of Pictographs. The ones that exist are fantastic but Furtman's method of depicting the rock paintings of the Quetico-Superior country is unique and quite a step forward in chronicling them. Having photographed many sites myself and then struggling with processing them so that other people can experience some of their mystery, I recognize how difficult this task is. He reveals the location of all the known and accessible sites in Quetico and the Boundary Waters and describes the discovery of a new set and a strange event that coincides with proper reverence for the mystery and resonance of such places. A must read for all Northwoods paddlers.
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