Trips in the rugged Urewera country provided a deeper understanding of a soldier who pursued elusive Maori leader Te Kooti, the author of a new book says.
Blenheim lawyer and author Ron Crosby has written a biography of Gilbert Mair, perhaps best known for exploits in the 1860s and early 1870s
when he commanded the Maori fighting unit, No 1 Arawa Flying Column.
But Mair was far more than a soldier.
He had a deep knowledge of Maori language and culture, acted as a Government interpreter, land purchase agent, taonga collector and was the first superintendent of the Maori Councils.
Crosby's interest in Mair started at the age of 15 when he began deerstalking in the Urewera country that Mair had searched for Te Kooti and his followers.
"You would hear about Mair and there was local knowledge about where he had been so I think that was when I first became aware of him," Crosby said.
Crosby's first book, The Musket Wars, detailed Maori conflicts until the 1840s, and brought him into the sphere of Mair and his exploits.
Sources for the book included Mair's diaries. However, the book is not a typical academic history. Crosby said that, as with The Musket Wars, he wanted to write a book anyone could read.
Crosby made eight trips into the Urewera region, retracing Mair's footsteps.
It was hard for people to imagine what life had been like for colonial New Zealanders - and the distances they travelled on foot, he said.
"I have found the process incredibly intriguing.
"I actually came to quite like the bloke. I always had to remind myself that I had to be objective - but I found it very intriguing."
* Gilbert Mair: Te Kooti's Nemesis, by Ron Crosby, is published by Reed.
