[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 618 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 618

 Recognizing the importance of The Call of the Wild on the occasion of 
 the 101st anniversary of the publication of the novel by Jack London.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2004

   Mr. Young of Alaska submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the importance of The Call of the Wild on the occasion of 
 the 101st anniversary of the publication of the novel by Jack London.

Whereas Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, and by the time he was 29, he 
        had become one of the most popular and most widely read authors in the 
        United States;
Whereas Jack London was attracted to writing because he believed it could offer 
        him an alternative to a life as a factory worker or civil servant;
Whereas Jack London had a restless spirit and strong sense of adventure, and in 
        1897 he left his native California with his brother-in-law James Shepard 
        to explore the District of Alaska and the Yukon in Canada;
Whereas a lack of supplies caused them to delay their journey in the fall of 
        1897, and they set up camp overlooking Dawson;
Whereas their camp was near a cabin owned by Marshall and Louis Bond;
Whereas in the spring of 1898 Jack London obtained a log hauling contract for 
        the Dawson City Sawmill, and his new friends, the Bonds, lent him their 
        sled dog to help him fulfill his contract before the spring thaw;
Whereas the men became lifelong friends and conversations between the Bonds and 
        Jack London helped inspire much of the theme in The Call of the Wild, 
        and the sled dog that Jack London borrowed became the main character in 
        the novel;
Whereas Jack London began writing The Call of the Wild when he was 26;
Whereas The Call of the Wild was first published in the Saturday Evening Post in 
        installments from June 20 to July 18, 1903;
Whereas The Call of the Wild was quickly recognized as a uniquely American 
        narrative recounting the trials and tribulations surrounding the 
        Klondike Gold Rush to the Yukon, which had an enormous impact on the 
        District of Alaska and the State of Washington during the 1890s;
Whereas The Call of the Wild is one of the most widely translated and published 
        works by an American author and is considered a classic of world 
        literature;
Whereas The Call of the Wild has been made into numerous television movies and 
        motion pictures and has never been out-of-print during the past century; 
        and
Whereas The Call of the Wild helped develop the spirit of exploration and 
        adventure that swept the United States in the early part of the last 
        century and led others to explore what is now the State of Alaska: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes Jack London as a uniquely American author;
            (2) recognizes the 101st anniversary of the publication of 
        Jack London's The Call of the Wild; and
            (3) recognizes The Call of the Wild as a truly great 
        American novel.
                                 <all>