John Ford Clymer (1907-1989)

The present work was an illustration for the article "Return of a Viking" by Robert E. Pinkerton published in the June 1949 issue of True The Man's Magazine. "Return of a Viking" tells the story of Finnish-born Captain Victor Jacobson who made a fortune in seal hunting. He recognized that the skilled native seal hunters of the north west could only hunt close to shore in their dugout canoes, so he made a deal with them to take them in his schooner to areas offshore where the herds were larger. His first expedition in March 1879 took four dugouts and twelve Native Americans to the mouth of the Columbia River; it was "farther from land than Indians had dared to go and seals were thicker than they'd imagined." (R.E. Pinkerton, "Return of a Viking," True The Man's Magazine, June 1949, p. 88) The present work depicts the height of the hunt, the water thick with seals and Captain Jacobson's schooner on the horizon awaiting the day's bounty.

The late owner, the managing editor of True at the time, acquired the work directly from John Clymer.

A copy of the original June 1949 issue of True The Man’s Magazine accompanies this work.