With original primary source documents, this anthology brings readers into the vast unknown 19th-century American West—through the eyes of the explorers who saw it for the first time. This volume brings together book excerpts, maps, and illustrations from 12 explorers from the 19th century, highlighting their lives and contributions. Arranged chronologically, the 10 chapters focus on individual explorers, with biographies and background information about and document excerpts from each person. The chapters offer analyses of each document's relevance to the historical period, geographic knowledge, and cultural perspective. This guide shares the important contributions from explorers like Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike, Jedediah Smith, James P. Beckwourth, John C. Fremont, Susan Magoffin, and John Wesley Powell. It also nurtures readers' historical literacy by modeling historians' methods of analyzing primary sources. Readers will see new and familiar events from different perspectives, including that of a woman traveling along the Santa Fe Trail, one of the most famous African American mountain men, and a Civil War veteran, among many others.

The three volumes of North American Exploration appraise the full scope of the exploration of the North American continent and its oceanic margins from prior to the arrival of Columbus until the end of the nineteenth century. More than an assessment of historical events, these volumes portray the process of exploration. Without forgetting the romance of discovery, the authors recognize that exploration encompasses a great deal more than the adventures themselves. All explorers are conditioned by the time, place, and circumstances of their efforts; these determine objectives, the behavior of explorers, and the consequences of their discoveries. ø The second volume includes the exploration of North America from the Spanish entrada of the sixteenth century to the British and Russian explorations of the Pacific coastal regions at the end of the eighteenth century?a time during which North America was largely defined and understood in terms of advancing scientific viewpoints during the European Enlightenment. Discovery gave way to Exploration and supposition to understanding.

" This is a compellingly nuanced and sophisticated study of Indian peoples as negotiators and shapers of the modern world."—Richard White, author of The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815

Alberta's contradictory landscape has fired the imaginative energies of writers for centuries. The sweep of the plains, the thrust of the Rockies, and the long roll of the woodlands have left vivid impressions on all of Alberta's writers--both those who passed through Alberta in search of other horizons and those who made it their home. The Literary History of Alberta surveys writing in and about Alberta from prehistory to the middle of the twentieth century. It includes profiles of dozens of writers (from the earnestly intended to the truly gifted) and their texts (from the commercial to the arcane). It reminds us of long-forgotten names and faces, figures who quietly--or not so quietly--wrote the books that underpin Alberta's thriving literary culture today. Melnyk also discusses the institutions that have shaped Alberta's literary culture. The Literary History of Alberta is an essential text for any reader interested in the cultural history of western Canada, and a landmark achievement in Alberta's continuing literary history.

The distinctive character of B.C., which is found not only in its spectacular environment, but also in its community, its politics and its past, is admirably captured in this collection of 16 essays.

Foster shows how a small band of dedicated civil servants transformed their own goals of preserving endangered animals into active government policy. The definitive history of the beginnings of wildlife conservation in Canada.

Another of RMB's best-selling hiking books, The David Thompson Highway Hiking Guide has been completely revised, updated and redesigned for outdoors enthusiasts interested in experiencing a wide variety of easily accessible trails through stunning landscapes in west-central Alberta between the rolling foothills of the Nordegg area and the towering peaks of Banff National Park. All of these exceptional hikes start right from the highway. You'll find everything from leisurely two-hour walks to tougher three-day backpacking journeys. Throughout regions as diverse as the old coal-mining town of Nordegg, the Bighorn Range, the Cline River area, the Kootenay Plains and the Upper North Saskatchewan Valley, hikers of all abilities will experience some of the most inspiring scenery, glorious flora and fascinating history that Western Canada has to offer.

Montana: A History of Two Centuries first appeared in 1976 and immediately became the standard work in its field. In this thoroughgoing revision, William L. Lang has joined Michael P. Malone and Richard B. Roeder in carrying forward the narrative to the 1990s. Fully twenty percent of the text is new or revised, incorporating the results of new research and new interpretations dealing with pre-history, Native American studies, ethnic history, women's studies, oral history, and recent political history. In addition, the bibliography has been updated and greatly expanded, new maps have been drawn, and new photographs have been selected.