No Easy Ride
On July 3, 1961, Ian Parsons reported to RCMP Depot Division in Regina as a raw recruit. It was the beginning of a 33-year adventure that took him from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island and many points between. By the time he retired with the rank of inspector, Parsons had a policeman’s trunk full of colourful stories and insightful observations t …
Sam Steele and the Northwest Rebellion
In the spring of 1885, it appeared that war was about to set the Canadian West aflame. Louis Riel had established a Metis provisional government at Batoche, and the Cree, led by war chief Wandering Spirit, had killed settlers, taken hostages and forced the capitulation of Fort Pitt. Among the forces marshalled to quell the unrest was an elite scout …
Barkerville and the Cariboo Goldfields
The stories of the men and women who dug for gold on Williams Creek are told in this revised and updated edition of a Canadian bestseller.
The legendary town of Barkerville is flourishing today, just as it did more than 150 years ago, but this time under the care of professional and amateur historians. Richard Thomas Wright peels back the pages of …
The Artist in the Cloister
Each year, visitors from all parts of the globe find their way to a sequestered Benedictine monastery in the hills of Mission, BC, and view the art and sculptures that beautify the abbey and its walls. But the man responsible for this work rarely ventures outside the monastery, never mind the province. He is an artist who has seen few of the master …
Finding Japan
In contrast to the widely known experiences of Asian immigrants who came to Canada, this book looks at movement in the opposite direction. Using text and images, it is a collection of stories about how Canadians “found Japan,” the first place they reached when travelling westward across the Pacific.
These connections began as early as 1848, wh …
George Littlechild
George Littlechild: The Spirit Giggles Within is a stunning retrospective of a career that has spanned nearly four decades. Featuring more than 150 of the Plains Cree artist’s mixed-media works, this sumptuous collection showcases the bold swaths of colour and subtle textures of Littlechild’s work.
Littlechild has never shied away from political …
Flying on Instinct
They were nicknamed Snow Eagle, Flying Knight, Bush Angel, Punch, Doc and Wop. They worked in open cockpits and flew through cold, snow and fog without the benefit of radios, maps or weather reports. They flew over the Barrens, frozen lakes, boreal forests and mountain ranges by dead reckoning and line of sight. They landed on makeshift runways, gl …
The Salmon Twins
In her third book inspired by First Nations’ stories, children’s author and illustrator Caroll Simpson explains the significance of community values. She introduces readers to a world of creatures like Sea Lion, Killer Whale, Dogfish and Kingfisher. Her dramatic tale of young twins and their transformation shows how working together keeps a com …
Whisky Wars of the Canadian West
In 1874, the newly formed North West Mounted Police marched west to shut down unscrupulous liquor traders who had devastated the lives of many First Nations people. The Mounties' famous trek heralded over 50 years of "whisky wars" in the Canadian West. Author Rich Mole traces the turbulent history of alcohol, temperance movements and prohibition be …
Code Name Habbakuk
In late 1942, Britain was desperate to win the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. German U-boats had sunk hundreds of Allied ships containing millions of tons of cargo that was needed to continue the war effort. Prime Minister Churchill had to find a solution to the carnage or the Nazis would be victorious. With the support of Churchill and Lord Louis …
Fire Canoes
Anson Northup, the first steamboat on the Canadian prairies, arrived in Fort Garry in 1859. Belching hot sparks and growling in fury, it was called "fire canoe" by the local Cree. The first steam-powered passenger vessel in Canada had begun service on the St. Lawrence River in 1809, and for the next 150 years, steamboats carried passengers and frei …
Medicine Paint
One of Canada's most evocative modern painters, Cree artist Dale Auger was a gifted interpreter of First Nations culture, using the cross-cultural medium of art to portray scenes from the everyday to the sacred and dissemble stereotypes about Indigenous peoples. Medicine Paint is a collection of Auger's best work, reproduced in glorious full colour …
Yip Sang
During the second half of the 19th century, thousands of Chinese men arrived on the west coast of North America, seeking to escape poverty and make their fortunes in the goldfields or working on the railroads. Among them was 36-year-old Yip Sang, a native of Guangdong province in southeast China, who arrived in Vancouver in 1881 after failing to st …
War on Our Doorstep
In June 1942, Japanese troops occupied the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska in Alaska, the first enemy occupation of US territory since the War of 1812. For the next year a bloody conflict raged that was nearly invisible to most North Americans as Canadian and American soldiers, airmen and sailors went north to hold the Japanese in check.
This is …
The Mad Trapper
When Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper of Rat River, was gunned down in February 1932, he went to his death without anyone knowing who he really was—most people believed the name "Albert Johnson" was an alias. He'd eluded a well-organized, well-equipped posse for seven weeks, surviving solely on wits and determination in the bitter cold of a Canadi …
The Lost Lemon Mine
The legend of the Lost Lemon Mine is one of the most enduring unsolved mysteries of the Canadian West. In 1870, so the story goes, two prospectors named Lemon and Blackjack found gold in the rugged mountains of southwestern Alberta or southeastern British Columbia. Shortly after, Blackjack died at Lemon’s hand. The distraught Lemon left the scene …
Great Cat Stories
Great Cat Stories is about those who have shared their lives with a cat and have experienced first-hand the enchanting spell cast by our feline friends. Great Dogs Stories features the stories of nine incredible dogs and their owners. From seeing-eye dogs to tracking dogs, the bond formed with canine companions can be exceptionally rewarding. Wildl …
Raptors of the West
Winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Design and Artistic Merit
"Quite simply, it's among some of the best action bird photography ever published."
With their striking looks, keen vision and hunting prowess, birds of prey—eagles, hawks, falcons and owls—have long captured the human imagination. This book is a collection of some of the most r …
Treasure Under the Tundra
It is said that the sparkle from Canadian diamonds mimics the awesome and seductive radiance of the northern lights. Yet until 1991, no one thought diamonds could even be found in Canada—no one except Chuck Fipke and Stu Blusson, who uncovered diamond-rich kimberlite in the Barrens at Point Lake, near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
Their spe …
Dirty Thirties Desperadoes
In October 1935, three prairie farm boys embarked on a deadly trail of robbery and murder that stretched across three western Canadian provinces and made newspaper headlines from coast to coast and as far away as Los Angeles. By the end of the spree, seven people were dead, including the fugitives themselves and four law-enforcement officers. For t …
Hockey Night in Dixie
During the 1980s, the geography of minor-league professional hockey changed radically, moving from its roots in the Canadian Maritime provinces, New England and the Midwestern states into the American south. In addition to cities like Dallas, Charlotte, Norfolk and Oklahoma City, which had long traditions of minor-league hockey, unlikely places suc …
Ice Warriors
Technically it was a minor league, but for hockey fans west of the Mississippi, the Western Hockey League provided major-league entertainment for over 25 years.
The WHL was a determined and ambitious professional league, with some 22 teams based in major American and Canadian cities. Known as the Pacific Coast Hockey League prior to 1952, the WHL a …
Hoaxes and Hexes
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a “humorous or malicious deception,” and hex as “a magic spell.” In Hoaxes and Hexes, Barbara Smith explores these intriguing reflections of human nature, showing our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable.
Here are tales of swindlers, charlatans and imposters, …
The Amazing Foot Race of 1921
READ ALL ABOUT IT: Hikers to Walk From East Coast to Vancouver
Canadians have long been fascinated with trekkers who conquered this country sea to sea, from John Hugh Gillis in 1906 to Terry Fox in 1980 to Rick Hansen in 1985. This adventure tale celebrates five Canadians who hiked from Halifax to Vancouver in 1921. For a nation struggling with post …
A Long, Dangerous Coastline
On September 8, 1923, seven US Navy destroyers rammed into jagged rocks on the California coast. Twenty-three sailors died that night. Five years earlier, the Canadian Pacific passenger ship Princess Sophia steamed into Vanderbilt Reef in Alaska’s Lynn Canal. When she sank, she took 353 people to their deaths. From San Francisco’s fog-bound Gol …
Ghost Town Stories of Alberta
Today, many of the historic coal-mining communities of the Rocky Mountains are uninhabited ghost towns. Yet behind the crumbled ruins are tales of perseverance, danger and romance. A devastating mine explosion on Halloween shatters the lives of mining families in Nordegg. The miners of Mountain Park build a hockey rink still celebrated in local lor …
The Mounties
Since 1873, the Mounties have brought the law to the furthest reaches of the Canadian frontier. Sam Steele, the "Lion of the North," was involved in almost every significant event in the Canadian West; James Macleod and James Walsh negotiated peace with the First Nations peoples. Less famous, unsung heroes risked their lives enforcing justice in th …
Rescue Dogs
These stories of crime and rescue, by retired park warden and dog trainer Dale Portman, highlight the vital role dogs play in saving lives, upholding the law and recovering bodies. Portman describes the escapades of Canadian Rockies park warden Alfie Burstrom and his canine partner, Ginger—the first certified avalanche search team in North Americ …
Celebrated Pets
Canadian history is full of touching stories of animal companionship, and some relationships between people and their cherished companions are legendary. From Grey Owl and the Beaver People to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's "little angel dogs" to Emily Carr's menagerie, these stories describe notable people and their relationships wit …
Jack Whyte
Best known for his original series of Arthurian novels, A Dream of Eagles (called The Camulod Chronicles in the US), and his Knights Templar trilogy, Jack Whyte has authored 10 international bestsellers in the past 15 years. Jack's imagination and his passion for observing human nature shine through in both his prose and his verse in this uniquely …
Riding on the Wild Side
Retired park warden Dale Portman lived his dream of riding the range for a living in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. His exhilarating tales take us to an Old West world of wild horses and hair-raising roundups, youthful bravado and larger-than-life characters: Bert, the tough Millarville patriach; Donny and Faye, free-spirited children of the Alb …
Ghost Town Stories of the Red Coat Trail
The Red Coat Trail of southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta runs near the route of the North West Mounted Police’s famous 1874 March West. Today, this lonely highway passes through a windswept land of ghostly abandoned towns. Johnnie Bachusky takes readers back to the heyday of these towns, which sprang up as settlers travelled west duri …
Arctic Explorers
There is no saga in Canadian history as full of hardship, catastrophe and mystery as the search for the Northwest Passage. Since the 15th century, the ice-choked Arctic waterway has been sought and travelled by daring men seeking profit, glory or a chance to test themselves against the merciless North. Frances Hern takes us aboard ships with the ex …
Native Chiefs and Famous Mv©tis
These inspiring true stories illuminate the courage and wisdom of five 19th-century Native leaders and famous Métis who fought against impossible odds to preserve the culture and rights of their people. The visionary Cree leader Big Bear sought peace and a better life, only to be hunted mercilessly and imprisoned unjustly. Jerry Potts, the legenda …
Edward S. Curtis Above the Medicine Line
For almost three decades, Edward Curtis photographed the First Peoples of the North American West and studied their cultures. As part of his fieldwork, he cruised the Pacific Northwest coast and ventured into the lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy, both north and south of the Medicine Line.
Alarmed that the traditional Aboriginal ways of life seemed …
Classic Images of Canada's First Nations
This poignant and beautiful record of Canada's First Nations people and their culture, as seen through the eyes of talented photographers, is a fascinating glimpse into Canada's past. Of great historical and aesthetic interest, this collection of photographs captures the diversity and dignity of First Nations during a time of tumultuous change. Ass …
Mountie Makers
Bob Teather entered RCMP Basic Recruit Training three decades ago with no idea of what he was getting into. Along with 31 other confused young men, he found himself in Regina, Saskatchewan, as a lowly member of Troop 18. Bald, intimidated and soon to be bruised, Bob began a six-month ordeal that he candidly recalls in this engaging book.
Corporal T …
