Bradford Angier

Who was Bradford Angier?

Bradford Angier was a wilderness survivalist and proponent of back to earth living. He authored more than 35 books on how to survive in the wild and how to live minimalisticly off the land.

In 1947 Bradford and his new wife, Vena, were living in Boston Massachusetts. They had long romanticized the life of Thoreau and decided to move to Hudson's Hope, a small town in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, to live off the land. Once there, they found an old prospectors cabin. With the few tools and how-to books they brought with them, they were able to repair the cabin. Bradford then set about learning to hunt and gather wild food.

He eventually started writing survival books. Vena was artistic and hand illustrated several of his books. The couple lived in Canada until the building of the W.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace river near their home forced them to move. They moved to Cambria, California and built a house that was less than 1,000 square feet. For decades Angier and Calvin Rutstrum were the two most prominent "how to" authors on living in the wilderness.

In the 1970s Bradford and Vena returned to Hudson's Hope. In 1972 he wrote the book One Acre & Security in which he discusses how to live organically on only 1-acre of land. At this time he had become popular with the back-to-earth movement and was sought out by many people wishing to emulate his lifestyle. He was sometimes referred to as "Mr. Outdoors"