Canadian Prairies - History

Binnema, T. 1998

The Common and Contested Ground: A History of the Northwestern Plains from A.D. 200 to 1806. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 422 pages.
The Cypress Hills forms the hub of the region that Binnema discusses.

Brown, J. S. H. 1980

Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada xxiii + 255 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3207 B87 1980 Relevant mainly to the Manitoba and Saskatchewan study areas. Deals primarily with fur trade areas around the margin of the Prairies.

Dempsey, H. A. (editor) 1973

William Parker: Mounted Policeman. Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada xviii + 163 pages.
AEU HSS HV 7911 P24 A4 1973 Parker served with the Northwest Mounted Police, 1874-1912.

den Otter, A. A. 1982

Civilizing the West: The Galts and the Development of Western Canada. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada xiv + 395 pages.
AEU HSS FC 471 G3 D39 1982

Epp, H. (editor) 1993

Three Hundred Prairie Years: Henry Kelsey's "Inland Country of Good Report". Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada 238 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3511 T5315 1991

Francis, R. D. 1989

Images of the West: Changing Perceptions of the Prairies, 1690- 1960. Western Producer Prairie Books, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada xviii+ 268 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3237 F819 1989

Friesen, G. 1987

The Canadian Prairies: A History. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada xv + 534 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3237 F92 1987

Goldring, P. 1979a

The First Contingent: The North-West Mounted Police, 1873- 74, pp. 5-40. Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History 21. National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
AEU BARD FC 65 G621 1979

Jones, D. C. (editor) 1986

"We'll all be buried down here": The Prairie Dryland Disaster 1917-1926. Historical Society of Alberta Volume VI. Alberta Records Publication Board, Historical Society of Alberta, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 200 pages.
AEU HSS HD 1790 P6 W36 1986

Jones, D. C. 1987

Empire of Dust: Settling and Abandoning the Prairie Dry Belt. The University of Alberta Press, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 316 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3695 A8 J77 1987

Kelsey, H. 1994

The Kelsey Papers. Republication of 1929 edition edited by A. G. Doughty and C. Martin. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada xlvii + 88 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3211.1 K3 1994

McGrady, D. G. 2010

Living with Strangers: The Nineteenth-Century Sioux and the Canadian-American Borderlands. . University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 168 pp.
AEU HSS E 99 D1 M44 This book concentrates primarily on the nineteenth century history of the Sioux peoples on the northern Plains, the region that became transected by the Canada-US border. McGrady makes the point that this is a "forgotten" history because Canadian historians have concentrated largely on Aboriginal groups north of the border, and US historians have likewise mainly considered groups south of the border. So groups in the borderlands as their heartland have tended to be ignored or "fall through the cracks." He documents that Sioux peoples had complex inter-relationships - sometimes friendly, at other times hostile - with Aboriginal froups throughout the region, though relations with the Crow seem to have been uniformly hostlile. He also documents a longstanding and ongoing trading relationship with the Red River Métis and Métis groups from elsewhere, such as Montana, Wood Mountain, and later the Cypress Hills. Again, this relationship was marked by intervals of unease and hostility. The fact tha Sitting Bull crossed the border into Canada after the Battle of the Little Big Horn is well known (see Utley 1993, elsewhere in this list), but McGrady shows that this was simply part of a much longer term pattern of behaviour, with people freely moving throughout the borderlands. He also shows that Sioux groups became adept at using the border to their advantage, setting up camp on the Canadian side amd raiding or hunting into the American side. This activity was essentially shut down in the 1880s when both the US and Canadian governments restricted access to the border and made crossing more difficult. This is a complicated historical account (lots of names and different groups to keep track of) but it certainly enriches the historical perspective on this region. [Cover image is by William Armstrong (1822-1914), and is a painting called 'Sioux Buffalo Hunter, White Horse Plains, Red River', from the Glenbow collections (55.17.2). No date is given for the painting. The pose is interesting, a modern-looking relaxed pose, rather unlike the stiff 19th century portraits of Paul Kane or George Catlin.] (11/Jun/2010).

Owram, D. 1980

Promise of Eden: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West 1956-1900. Reprinted with new preface 1992. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 264 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3217 O97 1980

Ruggles, R. I. 1987

Exploration in the Far Northwest. In Historical Atlas of Canada, I: From the Beginning to 1800. Plate 67, edited by R. C. Harris, pp. 168-169. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
AEU SCI G 1116 S1 H673 1987 folio

Ruggles, R. I. 1993

Exploration to Mid-Century. In Historical Atlas of Canada, II: The Land Transformed, 1800- 1891. Plate 2, edited by R. L. Gentilcore, pp. 10-11. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
AEU SCI G 1116 S1 H673 1987 folio

Ruggles, R. I. 1993

Exploration and Assessment to 1891. In Historical Atlas of Canada, II: The Land Transformed, 1800- 1891. Plate 3, edited by R. L. Gentilcore, pp. 12-13. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
AEU SCI G 1116 S1 H673 1987 folio Provides a geographic definition of Palliser's Triangle.

Siggins, M. 1995

Riel: A Life of Revolution. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada xviii + 507 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3217.1 R53 S54 1995 A popular biography.

Spry, I. M. (editor) 1968

The Papers of the Palliser Expedition, 1857-1860. Champlain Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Spry, I. M. 1995

The Palliser Expedition: The Dramatic Story of Western Canadian Exploration 1857-1860. 2nd. Fifth House Ltd, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada 315 pages. Originally published 1963..
AEU HSS FC 3205.1 S68 1995 An excellent survey and summary of the expedition.

Stonechild, B., and B. Waiser 1997

Loyal till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion. Fifth House Ltd, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ix + 308 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3215 S85 1997

Thompson, J. H. 1998

Forging the Prairie West. The Illustrated History of Canada. Oxford University Press, Toronto, Ontario, Canada xii + 212 pages.
AEU HSS FC 3237 T45 1998