The Last Of The Giants: How Christ Came To The Lumberjacks, by Harry Rimmer

[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Aneko Press in exchange for an honest review.]

This book, written in the late 1940’s, tells the story of three successive “sky pilots,” missionaries to the lumberjacks of the Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan woods based out of Duluth. The three men, Frank Higgins, John Sornberger, and Al Channer, are not famous to most audiences nowadays, but they have in Rimmer a writer who tells their stories and places them within a thought-provoking context. For one, the author is at pains to demonstrate that the calling of God does not necessarily find itself quickly or easily recognized by men. For example, the author quotes one Presbyterian minister as saying the following to Al Channer when there are some questions as to his acceptability as a minister: “Some men are ordained of God who are not called of man, nor recognized by formal church authorities. God has laid His hand on you, and in His own way and time, He will put you where you belong (177).” Another matter, and related to the reason why the author chooses to talk about three successive ‘sky pilots’ rather than one of them alone, each of whom has a compelling life story, is that the author believes in a Protestant form of apostolic succession where God does not let a noted leader depart this world without having worked to prepare his successor in his place.

In terms of its structure, the book is pretty straightforward and consistent in its approach. After giving a brief history of the development of Duluth and its surrounding area, the author discusses the life of Frank Higgins, a man of unusual tenacity and resolve who determined to preach the gospel as he knew it to the roughnecks of the lumber camps of Northern Minnesota and the surrounding areas. After describing his birth and early life and work after conversion in the camps, and then his death, the author backtracks to do the same thing with John Sornberger and Al Channer. Sornberger’s life story as a prize fighter turned outlaw turned rough but passionately sincere preacher, who was rejected by a common-law wife before marrying a passionate young woman half his age, is particularly dramatic, but all of the stories have a similar tone, emphasizing the passionate sincerity of these roughneck preachers to roughneck people who often rubbed the more refined leaders of the Presbyterian church in the area the wrong way.

What is particularly striking about this book, besides its unusual approach and its inability to accept any middle ground between alcoholism and total avoidance of alcohol, is the fact that it movingly portrays the way that the lumberjacks were constantly being taken advantage of by the wealthy land barons at every turn in low wages as well as cheating when it came to room and board. The tendency of lumberjacks to be continually exploited for their physical labor gave them a vulnerability that could be reached by ministers who shared their experiences, had worked with them, had been cheated with them and woken up drunk by them, and who had little to give them but love and the firm belief that God loved them as well. This book, in showing that passionate concern for the well-being of people often ignored and looked down upon, gives a good example in how missionary work can progress through seeking places where broken people long to be whole and to belong, and in showing honor and dignity to those whom the world little regards. Such opportunities for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ ought to be much better regarded than they are, and it is worthwhile that this book has been reprinted, even if it is about obscure people in an obscure place.