The Last Great West: The Agricultural Settlement of the Peace River Country to 1914 Book

The Peace River Country is the last region on the North American continent to have been thrown open for agricultural settlement on a broad scale. Between 1910, when the first surveyed townships were declared open, to the end of 1914, 6489 applications were made for public land in the region. With this, the agricultural hinterland of Canada was extended to its most northerly limit. Fittingly, the region was called by many, "The Last Great West" -- the last place in the country where settlers in large numbers could carve out farms. The success of these farms served to dispel the myth of Northwest Canada as nothing but a frozen wasteland with only the fur trade for an economy. This extensively illustrated book examines and illustrates the region to 1914, and details the plight of those settlers who made it their home.