Wilderness Trails and a Dream

The story behind Olympic Game Farm, Inc., by Lloyd Beebe

    Pull up a chair and listen to your favorite relative or neighbor tell you about his or her growing up in the days when cars were scarce, movies were new and loggers and fisherman were kings.  That's what this book is about.

    More than just the story of Olympic Game Farm, Inc., this book is about Lloyd and Catherine Beebe, their lives and adventures.  You meet their friends, both people and animals.  You relive their experiences, suffer through their hardships and cheer when things turn out right.

    Picture the Olympic Peninsula before the wild animals were scarce and towns were small villages where everybody knew everybody else.  It was the Depression years, and life was hard for everyone.  Jobs were scarce; friends helped friends.   It was to the Olympic Peninsula that Lloyd moved with his parents in 1930.

    Long hours spent in the forest brought a love of the wilderness to Lloyd.  Whether working on a logging crew or hunting for food, he became an expert in the woods.  By being patient and persistent with wild animals, he developed an affinity for handling them.  Lloyd and Catherine were married in 1939 and settled in Forks.  Both of them wanted a farm, and in 1942, they bought 87 acres in Sequim.   Already collecting animals, they decided that when they had enough animals, they would call their new home "Olympic Game Farm."

    After seeing his first motion picture, Lloyd new that here was a way to get back into the wilderness.  Even though he did not know a thing about photography, he did feel that he knew animals, forest and mountains.  Borrowing money on their car, in 1945 he and Catherine bought a motion picture camera and began their dream of making wildlife films.  Their first movie, "The Little Archer," starred their son, Melvin, a young cougar, a deer fawn and a bear cub.  It was sold to Warner Brothers and started a career that eventually came to include making films for Walt Disney Studios and other big producers.

    Reading this book is a delight.  You meet all sorts of characters, from the old logger Ivor, who only liked the tough jobs, and who taught Lloyd some of the best things he learned about the woods and the mountains, to Tom the photographer, who kept track of every penny and in Lloyd's words, "would save one any way he could."  Along the way you are introduced to Walt Disney, Admiral Byrd, Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) and, of course, the animals: Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, Seeta the Mountain Lion, Lefty the Ding-a-ling Lynx and Boze, "Ben" of "Grizzly Adams."

    The Beebes' book is very entertaining.  The story of the wildcat in the suitcase (to teach thieves a lesson) and the episode of the fisherman in the river who was amazed when the water dried up and then came back, will tickle your funny bone.   Their adventures in Washington, Canada, South America, Antarctica and other places are told in a very unassuming manner, straight forward and without any hype or hullabaloo to them.  All in all, an excellent choice with which to spend an evening or two.

Book Price is $9.00

This price includes the cost of shipping and handling.

To receive a your copy of this book, please mail a check payable to Olympic Game Farm, Inc. for $9.00 (U.S) to the following address:

OLYMPIC GAME FARM, INC.

c/o BOOK OFFER

1423 WARD ROAD

SEQUIM WA 98382