Themes, concepts, premises that are included in this story, in no particular order:
· The Wisconsin Public Trust Doctrine, established in the state constitution in 1848. It guarantees that the waters of Wisconsin shall be forever free.
· Environmental stewardship.
· The transition from boyhood to manhood.
· Struggle of good vs. evil.
· Responsibility to do what is right.
· How the coming of the railroads to remove timber resulted in Wisconsin's single, greatest economic boom of all time.
· The wasteful devastation of the greatest white pine forest on earth that took place in the late 19th century.
· Boom towns created by the timber trade that have since faded or completely disappeared.
· Industrial age innovations that changed how man worked and lived.
· Child labor abuse in the late nineteenth century.
· Railroads as a primary mode of transportation.
·
Nineteenth century logging practices, including terms, methods,
conditions of employment, dangers, and life in the northern Wisconsin lumber
camps. Fourteen hour workdays, six days a week.
· Graft, fraud, and deceitful dealings that were often employed by the big timber outfits to maximize profits, cheat the government and the lumberjacks.
· Gambling halls, taverns, and sporting houses, all designed to capture the earnings of the lumberjacks.
· Proper hunting ethics and practices.
· Respect for Nature.
· Contrast between Native American culture and philosophies and those of the immigrants.
· How northern Wisconsin people lived in the late 1880s.
Much, much more!