--- title: Canada Day 2017: Celebrate With LIFE's Most Canadian Photos description: In 1953, LIFE Magazine profiled a "strong man of the north" canonical: https://time.com/4823900/canada-day-woodsman/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-30T13:00:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:20.153Z og:title: Canada Day 2017: Celebrate With LIFE's Most Canadian Photos og:description: "Generally Rock's moods are sunny and his broad shoulders are put to practical and picturesque uses" og:url: https://time.com/4823900/canada-day-woodsman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b5755a85fbf4b19/6988d240ab6d77c9186ae9e8/canada-man-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Canadian Strong Man og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Canada Day 2017: Celebrate With LIFE's Most Canadian Photos twitter:description: "Generally Rock's moods are sunny and his broad shoulders are put to practical and picturesque uses" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b5755a85fbf4b19/6988d240ab6d77c9186ae9e8/canada-man-03.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Celebrate Canada Day With the 'Strong Man of the North' > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jun 30, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Caption from LIFE. Rock (right) and brother Harry strain as they test each other at Indian wrestling. After winning, Rock said, "He's good and I'm good." Caption from LIFE. Rock (right) and brother Harry strain as they test each other at Indian wrestling. After winning, Rock said, "He's good and I'm good."Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jun 30, 2017 1:00 PM UTC As Saturday’s [Canada Day](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/01/happy-canada-day-test-your-northern-knowledge-with-our-canadian-trivia-quiz/) holiday marks the 150th anniversary of the July 1, 1867, act that created the [dominion](http://time.com/4391217/justin-trudeau-canada-day-eh/), it’s an appropriate time to celebrate all things Canadian. Though TIME [once remarked](http://time.com/vault/issue/1967-05-05/page/36/) that Canada had sometimes suffered from something of an identity crisis, defining itself more by what it isn’t than by what it is, certain elements of the Canadian character have long stood out. The stereotypical Northern woodsman captures one side of that national idea. And, back in 1953, photographer Wallace Kirkland explored that archetype for LIFE Magazine, with a photo profile of the perfectly named Rock Robertson — “Strong Man of the North,” [per the article’s headline.](https://books.google.com/books?id=JUgEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA171&dq=strong%20man%20of%20the%20north&pg=PA170#v=onepage&q=strong%20man%20of%20the%20north&f=false) Rock, at 31, six feet tall and 205 lbs., got his name from a grandfather who, in turn, acquired the nickname thanks to his strength. As a professional hunting and fishing guide, he regularly carried 300 pounds at a time for miles and could pull off a moose mating call good enough to draw in the bulls that hunters wanted most. He once went more than a week without food, thanks to a storm, before walking 48 miles in snowshoes to get out of the woods. He faced the forest with a smile and a shrug, embracing the outdoors lifestyle his ancestors — whether the French-Canadian, First Nations or Scottish ones — had likewise lived.  LIFE photographer Wallace Kirkland and Canadian woodsman Robert Rock, as he cleans a trout. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images “He has been known, when the mood takes him, to pick up a stove and heave it through a cook-shack wall,” the article noted. “But generally Rock’s moods are sunny and his broad shoulders are put to practical and picturesque uses as a woodsman and as a guide.”  Caption from LIFE. Out camping deep in the Canadian north woods Rock Robertson grins through the doorway of trapper's birchbark tepee. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Canadian woodsman, Rock Robertson, smoking some fish. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Rock (right) and brother Harry strain as they test each other at Indian wrestling. After winning, Rock said, "He's good and I'm good." Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. On a portage Rock packs 300 pounds. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Moosecall got answering grunts from an amorous bull who came up from half a mile away. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Moose haunch rides on Rock's shoulder after kill. North woodsman prefer moose to beef, venison. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Battered canoe leaking furiously but still afloat after the perilous venture, is patched up with spruce gum and boughs to carry Rock back to camp. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Snared partridge futilely flaps wings after Rock pulls it from tree. Sometimes five or six of them will sit and be picked from same tree. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Broiling partridge held over the flames by a stick fixed in the ground, sizzles over campfire which also dries out a pair of wet socks dangling from box. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Cataching black bear in the water, Rock pauses with poised paddle to determine size of quarry and to which shore he will try to herd it. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. As the bear nears shore, Rock raises rifle. when the bear reached water's edge he brought it down. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Rocak approached bear warily. Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Brinding back the bear with aid of tumpline, Rock easily balances the canoe on his head. There is no closed season on bear which are considered pests because they kill small moose and raid camps. Rock can walk for hours with this kind of load. "I sweat like hell," he says. "Man who don't sweat get tired." Wallace Kirkland—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Canadian woodsman Rock Robertson and his wife and child. 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