Take the Soil In Your Hands

Hardcover with dust jacket, 156 pages, 6x9.25 in - 15.5x23.5 cm, B&W illustrations and photographs.

Dust jacket lightly worn; jacket front bears divot near bottom and closed tear at top. Pp.25-26 creased at bottom centre.

Richard Prechtl (1915-2007) was a Saskatchewan teacher and farmer. After retiring in 1979, Prechtl wrote “Take the Soil In Your Hands,” a history of Fielding, Saskatchewan (where he was born) with comments on the challenges faced by prairie farming communities. The book’s first section reprints Joseph Prechtl’s 1926 account of immigrating to Canada in 1903, setting up a homestead, and farming for nine years. The remainder of the volume consists of short chapters, each addressing some aspect of pioneer life or Fielding’s growth. Prechtl draws on his own memories, stories shared with him, and books and archival sources (such as town council records) to trace Fielding’s history. Throughout, he offers analytical asides on rural life (covering issues as diverse as attitudes towards physical disabilities, difficulty finding work in non-agricultural sectors, and Indigenous-settler relations).

0919677029