On Western Trails in the Early Seventies : Frontier Pioneer Life in the Canadian North-West

John McDougall (1842-1917) was a Methodist missionary who – like his father, George McDougall – served in Canada’s North-West. McDougall ascended to a Superintendent position in the Church’s Indian Missions branch in his mid-30s, remaining a notable voice in Indigenous-settler relations into the early 1900s. In this volume, McDougall writes about his life on the prairies 1873-1875. He describes many trips by land and water, encounters with First Nations groups, and occasional journeys to settlements such as Edmonton for church business. McDougall emphasizes the arrival of government-enforced “law and order” on the prairies, including his role in communicating the coming of the North-West Mounted Police to Indigenous groups. With humorous asides and typical bravado, he recounts his experiences during a short but significant period in the North-West’s history. Peel(3) 581.