This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan History Moment. Owasso native author and conservationist James Oliver Curwood was one of the world's highest paid and most widely read authors of the early 20th century, but he never lost his love for his home state of Michigan. Born on June 12, 1878, Kirk Curwood spent his childhood in Owasso, where his father was a cobbler. Though he never completed high school, Curwood entered the University of Michigan in 1898 to study English and journalism, but he left college after two years to work as a reporter for the Detroit News Tribune. He remained with the newspaper until 1907, leaving to pursue a career in writing fiction. Possessing a fondness for nature and the outdoors, Curwood often traveled to Alaska and the Canadian Northwest to hunt, explore the region cabins, and write stories. Those trips provided him with inspiration to write wilderness adventure stories such as Kazan in 1914, the Grizzly King in 1916, and the River's End in 1919. Many of Curwood's novels are set in the American Northwest and include animals as main characters. Curwood's career spanned two decades during which he wrote more than 35 novels and contributed hundreds of stories and articles to magazines. His most successful book, the River's End, sold more than 100,000 copies in its first edition and became the fourth best selling work in the United States in 1920. Several of his books were translated into different languages and a number of films have been based on or inspired by his works. By 1922, Curwood's success as a writer and remarkable wealth allowed him to build an 18th century French style chateau in his hometown of Owasso, which he named Curwood Castle. Overlooking the Shiawassee river, the castle served as both Curwood's writing studio and a space to entertain guests. At first an avid hunter, Curwood gradually became a conservationist as a result of his travels through the American Northwest. His infatuation with the environment and a desire to preserve Michigan's natural resources led to his appointment to the Michigan conservation commission in 1927. While on a fishing trip in Venice, Florida, in 1927, Curwood was bitten by what he thought was a spider. Within months, the Michigan writer was dead, succumbing to an infection at his home in Owasso and being buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in town. He was just 49 years old. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.