Bøger udgivet af Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd

One of the most colourful chapters in the history of North American settlement began in the 1880s when the rich Alberta grasslands spreading east from the foothills of the Rockies became the magnet for cattle ranching. Award-winning Cattle Kingdom provides readers with all the colourful tales of raffish characters, political intrigues and partnerships, fortunes made and lost, and the harsh realities of prairie winters. The era also gave us the mythic figure of the cowboy, still prominent in Alberta today. Nowhere is the story of ranching more rich and varied than in Alberta. There was an assortment of high rollers, big-money men from the east, English lords and remittance men, along with refugees from the American west and ordinary folk seeking a homestead and a new dream. The newly formed North West Mounted Police was on hand as well. Famous ranches were created during this period, including the Cochrane, the Oxley and the North West Cattle Company (Bar U). The cast of characters included John Ware; the brave and foolhardy Major-General Thomas Bland Strange, who had plans for a ranch for retired British army types; and the scrappy Pat Burns, who parlayed a small slaughterhouse in Calgary into a giant meat-packing and cattle empire. By the time of the first Calgary Stampede in 1912, the cattle kingdom was on the wane. More and more settlers arrived and began fencing and farming the once limitless grazing lands. And then came the discovery of oil. But during its brief and brilliant season in the sun, early ranching in Alberta put an indelible stamp on the history and culture of the Canadian west.

In contrast to the widely known experiences of Asian immigrants who came to Canada, this book looks at movement in the opposite direction. Using text and images, it is a collection of stories about how Canadians "found Japan," the first place they reached when travelling westward across the Pacific. These connections began as early as 1848, when the adventurous son of a Hudson''s Bay Company trader tempted fate by smuggling himself, disguised as a shipwrecked sailor, into the closed and exotic land of the shoguns. He was followed by an intriguing cast of characters--missionaries, educators, businessmen, social activists, political figures, diplomats, soldiers and occasional misfits--who experienced a rapidly changing Japan as it underwent its remarkable transformation from a largely feudal society to a modern state. Now, when the world is becoming more Asia-centric, Finding Japan provides glimpses into an earlier era that challenged conventional perceptions about Canadian connections across the Pacific.

It''s 1981, and Sylvia Taylor has signed on as rookie deckhand on a wallowy 40-foot salmon troller. Looking forward to making money for university, she is determined to master the ins and outs of fishing some of the most dangerous waters in the world: the Graveyard of the Pacific. For four months, she helps navigate the waters off northern Vancouver Island, learning the ways of fisherfolk and the habitat in which they breathe, sleep and survive. The politics of selling fish, the basics of tying gear, near-death experiences, endless boat troubles, the emotional perils of sharing cramped quarters--all are part of a steep and unforgiving learning curve. Taylor''s story captures the reality of life on a fishboat and documents the end of an era, a time when the fishing industry wasn''t yet marred by unchecked overfishing or hyper-regulation. Her lyrical, simple prose explores the tight-knit relationship of fishers with the west coast''s wild, untamed waters. Her memoir bursts with all the humour and hell, peace and upheaval that is the Pacific Ocean.

Danny Swanson, Department of Fisheries and Oceans employee and ex-fisherman, isn't exactly upset when he's reassigned from a desk job in Ottawa to an at-sea job on the West Coast. His superiors think they're punishing him for his indiscretions, but Danny is pleased to be back on the Pacific, reconnecting with his old fishing buddies. Revisiting his past life, though, is trolling up some old memories, including a troubling incident from ten years ago, when Danny and his crew pulled up a deformed fish. It was young Billy who decided to bring the odd creature to the DFO in Vancouver for examination. Billy and the fish were never seen again. Now, Danny's buddy is on his mind when he stumbles across a photo of the fish in the DFO databases, and suddenly, Danny can't let Billy's disappearance get swept under the rug. With the help of RCMP Sergeant Louise Karavchuk, Danny starts hauling old histories to the surface and delving into what he starts to believe may be a massive conspiracy. Who can Danny trust in his search for the truth? The organized, well-dressed officials of the DFO? Or his somewhat rowdy and rough-around-the-edges fishing buddies from the past?