"Published in 1898 in Toronto, this stirring account of life in the Canadian Northwest at the turn of the twentieth century includes stories of Aboriginal life, camping, dogs, buffalo, epidemic, path blazing, horse thievery, gambling, polygamy, wolves, hunting, storytelling, broiled owlets, schooling in the ""university of frontier life,"" missionaries, war parties, bear ribs, feasting and fasting, wonderful mirages, wild rhubarb, death of a friend, road making, a plunge into icy water. The author, John McDougall, was a third-generation Canadian from Upper Canada. He spent his life working, playing, and earning the trust of the Aboriginal people."