Hi list Like many of you, I read extensively trying to understand history that would have influenced or impacted our ancestors and relatives. Perhaps if we shared briefly some of the books we read, we could help one another find new understanding. To that end, here is a book I just finished: Douglas Owram; PROMISE OF EDEN: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West, 1856-1900; ; University of Toronto Press, 1980; ISBN 0-8020-5483-8 bd or ISBN 0-8020-6385-3 pb This is not an easy read. It is a well written factual book with extensive quotes and a good index. Even if you only skim through it, you cannot walk away from the book and not gain at the very least a small idea of how and why people went to the Canadian West and what they found when they settled there. For example, in some instances the promoters of expansionism used settlers to gain control over the land; some promoters were motivated by greed and the misled settlers suffered intense hardship and starvation. Quoted from the intro: "This is a study of the changing ideas about the Canadian Northwest during the latter half of the nineteenth century. From being a 'far and distant corner of the Empire' it became in the minds of promoters of Confederation a frontier of great importance to the new nation. These 'expansionists' led the way in reshaping the image of a region which up to 1856 had been dismissed as an inhospitable wilderness suited only for the fur trade. Encouraged by the findings of a new generation of explorers, numbers of Canadians began to regard the West as a land of ideal opportunity for large-scale agricultural settlement. This belief, in turn, led Canada to insist on ownership of the region and on immediate development. Underlying the expansionist movement was the assumption that the West was to be a hinterland to central Canada, both in its economic relationship and in its cultural development. But settlers who accepted the extravagant promises of expansionism found it increasingly difficult to reconcile the assumption of eastern dominance with their own perceptions of the needs of the West and of Canada...." I recommend this book but I repeat that it is not an easy read. Be prepared to spend some time digesting it. Sue Visser

Thank you Sue. That paragraph has a lot to say....and some would say very relevant today. I think your idea of sharing book information is a good one. April in BC At 05:05 PM 2/25/2003 -0500, you wrote: >Hi list > >Like many of you, I read extensively trying to understand history that >would have influenced or impacted our ancestors and relatives. Perhaps if >we shared briefly some of the books we read, we could help one another >find new understanding. To that end, here is a book I just finished: > >Douglas Owram; PROMISE OF EDEN: The Canadian Expansionist Movement and >the Idea of the West, 1856-1900; ; University of Toronto Press, 1980; ISBN >0-8020-5483-8 bd or ISBN 0-8020-6385-3 pb > >This is not an easy read. It is a well written factual book with >extensive quotes and a good index. Even if you only skim through it, you >cannot walk away from the book and not gain at the very least a small idea >of how and why people went to the Canadian West and what they found when >they settled there. For example, in some instances the promoters of >expansionism used settlers to gain control over the land; some promoters >were motivated by greed and the misled settlers suffered intense hardship >and starvation. > >Quoted from the intro: "This is a study of the changing ideas about the >Canadian Northwest during the latter half of the nineteenth century. From >being a 'far and distant corner of the Empire' it became in the minds of >promoters of Confederation a frontier of great importance to the new >nation. These 'expansionists' led the way in reshaping the image of a >region which up to 1856 had been dismissed as an inhospitable wilderness >suited only for the fur trade. Encouraged by the findings of a new >generation of explorers, numbers of Canadians began to regard the West as >a land of ideal opportunity for large-scale agricultural settlement. This >belief, in turn, led Canada to insist on ownership of the region and on >immediate development. >Underlying the expansionist movement was the assumption that the West was >to be a hinterland to central Canada, both in its economic relationship >and in its cultural development. But settlers who accepted the >extravagant promises of expansionism found it increasingly difficult to >reconcile the assumption of eastern dominance with their own perceptions >of the needs of the West and of Canada...." > >I recommend this book but I repeat that it is not an easy read. Be >prepared to spend some time digesting it. >Sue Visser > > > > > > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237