A Rear View Mirror : A History of the Austin and Surrounding Districts

Hardcover, 382 pages, 5.50x8.75 in - 14x22 cm, B&W illustrations and photographs. Lengthy inscription by the author on the ffep.

Covers worn at edges and corners, boards bumped at fore edges. Spine bumped at head and heel. Pages edge-tanned but clean. One map has small stain on back.

Anne Marie Collier Whitehead was a Manitoba historian who lived in – and wrote about – the Portage La Prairie region. In this volume, Collier presents a history of the area surrounding Austin and Sidney (west of Portage la Prairie) by weaving together family histories, anecdotes, recollections, letters, and newspaper articles. The book starts by describing the region’s early First Nations population and the arrival of Europeans. Collier then chronicles changes and developments in the area throughout the early/mid-1900s, as well as local responses to national and international events. Throughout, Collier interlaces an eclectic collection of vignettes to chronicle homesteading, agriculture, and civic life in the Austin/Sidney area. Includes three 21.5 x 61 cm (8.5 x 24 in) fold-out township maps indicating homestead ownership in the area.