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Here we are bringing
you a selection of books and other information which show how the Canadian Pioneers went
about opening up the land and settling on it. You can't help but be
amazed at their hard work and how they went about the whole
settlement process.
Most of our content
is taken from antiquarian resources so we'd be more than happy to
accept any contributions from our visitors in text, pictures or
videos to add to the site.
The Emigrant's Pocket Companion
Containing what emigration is, who should be emigrants, where
emigrants should go; a description of British North America,
especially the Canadas; and full instructions to intending emigrants
by Robert Mudie (1832)
Canada
A brief outline of the geographical position productions, climate,
capabilities, educational and municipal institutions, &c., &c.,
published by authority Toronto, Canadas West (1857) (pdf)
Books of John McDougall
Here we have seven books that are an account of growing up in and
around Alberta in the days before roads and railways and accounts of
contact with the First Nations people.
Pen Pictures of Early Pioneer Life in Upper Canada
By a "Canuke" of the fifth
generation (1905).
THE
main object of the author in putting together
the scattered pages forming this humble volume
has been to give glimpses of life—of real
homely
life—among the early pioneers.
Pioneer Drawings
Some drawings that might give you a better idea of early settlement.
You'll see how a cabin was built and a saw mill and general
pioneering scenes.
The McGregors
A Novel of an Ontario Pioneer
Family By Robert Laidlaw. This is a book describing life of a settler in
the early days. The author was brought up in Bruce Country, Ontario
and much of the book is based on the stories he heard from his
grandparents.
Among the Forrest Trees
or How the Bushman Family got their Homes, Being a
book of
facts and incidents of pioneering life in Upper Canada, arranged in
the form of a story, by Rev. Joseph H. Hilts (1888)
The Pioneers
by Angus A MacKenzie. This is an excellent one page description
of the work of the pioneers.
Backwoods of Canada
Being Letters From The Wife Of An Emigrant Officer,
Illustrative Of The Domestic Economy Of British America by
Catharine Parr Traill. Also includes
The Canadian
Settler's Guide
Seventh Edition by Mrs. Traill (1857) (pdf)
The
Founding of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island
This is a very
detailed account of the early settlers who founded Cavendish and
goes into some considerable detail about how they lived and worked.
When the Northwest logging industry was still
young
Amazing pictures from the early days.
Journals of Alexander Henry the
Younger
This is a very interesting account of the early fur trading days.
His Journal of 1799-1814 covers a very interesting period in fur
trading history and he comes across many of the famous and not so
famous people as well as many Indian tribes.
The Gentleman Emigrant:
His Daily Life, Sports and Pastimes in Canada, Australia and the
United States by W. Stamer (1874)
Life and Times of Joseph
Gould
Ex Member of the Canadian Parliament. Struggles of the early
Canadian Settlers, etc. (1887) (pdf)
Correspondence of an Emigrant
A series of letters leading us through an account of sailing from
Scotland to Canada and through the settling process.
Life in Early Canada
This is a series of 7 short films created by the Film Board of
Canada.
Canadian Life as I Found It
By a Homesteader (1908)
The Life of a Backswoodsman
Or particulars of the Emigrant's situation in the settling of the
Wild Land of Canada.
Settler's Guide
Or the Homesteader's Handy Helper
Making it in Canada
By Frederick A. Talbot (1912). This is a good book by describing in
some detail the various professions of the early pioneers.
Roughing it in the Bush
or Forrest Life in Canada by Susanna Moodie (1871)
The Pioneer Pastor
Some reminiscences of the Life and Labours of the Rev Geo. Buchanan
M.D. first Presbyterian Minister of Beckwith, Lanark County, Upper
Canada by Jessie Buchanan Campbell, his last surviving daughter.
The Pioneers of Old
Ontario
Formal history and
standard biography play an important part in fostering a national
spirit. Canada has an ample supply of such works; but the history of the
Beginners of the Nation, the men and women who carved out homes for
themselves in the dense forests, on the wide, lonely prairies, and in
the stern mountain valleys. Their story can be gleaned only from almost
inaccessible nooks, where lies "a veritable storehouse of information"
on pioneer days.
Big John Wallace
By Archie P. McKishnie (1922)
Rae Mears Bushcraft
A few interesting videos.
The Young Voyageurs
Or Boy Hunters of the North by Captain Mayne Reid. This is a book
for younger readers.
The Letters of Rusticus
By David Currie (1880)
Donald Morrison, The Canadian Outlaw
A Tale of the Scottish Pioneers
Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for
the last Fifty Years
An Autobiography by Samuel Thompson
A Short Account of the Emigration from the
Highlands of Scotland
to North America and the Establishment of the Catholic Diocese of
Upper Canada with Appendix (1839)
Shenac
The Story of a Highland Family in Canada
Duck Lake
Stories from the Canadian Backwoods By E. Ryerson Young
The Backwood's Life
By W. F. Munro (1869) (pdf)
In the Rocky Mountains
By W. H. G. Kingston (1878) (pdf)
Old Man Savarin Stories
Tales of Canada and Canadians by Edward William Thomson (1917) (pdf)
Log Drive
Video showing how logs are delivered from the wilderness.
Crofters Colonisation Report
Found this old document which was in a terrible state so have worked
on it to make it more readable. It's still a challenge but I think
worth while reading for researchers. (pdf)
The Clark Family of Badenoch
From Badenoch in Scotland (pdf)
Gleanings from the Western Prairies
By Rev. W. E. Youngman (1882) (pdf)
Fur Trapping
A collection of videos about fur trapping.
Winter and Summer Excursions in Canada
By C. L. Johnstone (pdf)
Report of Six Years Experience of a Farmer in
the Red Deer District
By Rev. Leo. Gaetz (1890) (pdf)
Life in the Woods
A Boys narrative of the Adventures of a
Settlers Family in Canada Edited by John C. Geikie (1865)
Simcoe County Pioneer and Historical
Society
Some papers from their archives (pdf)
Pioneer Life among the Loyalists in Upper
Canada
By W. S. Herrington, K.C. (pdf)
Pioneer Life on the Bay of
Quinte
Including Geneaologies of Old Families and Biographical Sketches of
Representative Citizens (pdf)
Works of Joshua Fraser, Military Chaplain
Added two of his books for you to read.
A York Pioneer's Recollection of Youthful
Days in the Emerald Isles
His Emigration and first impressions of Canada, Especially Toronto,
(late York), and its Inhabitants when the City was only ONE YEAR
OLD, and its Population 9,000. (pdf)
Pioneer Life Among The Loyalists In
Upper Canada
An audio recording
Farming in Canada
Or Life in the Backwoods by Frank Lynn (pdf)
Erskine Dale, Pioneer
By John Fox, Jr (pdf)
Pioneer Work in Algoma
By Edna Green (1915) (pdf)
Women of Red River
By W. J. Healy (1923) (pdf)
The Making of the Canadian West
Being the Reminiscences of an eye-witness by Rev. R. G. MacBeth,
M.A. (1898) (pdf)
Diary of a Journey Through Upper Canada
And some of the New England States 1819 by John Goldie
Pioneer Schools of Upper Canada
By Frank Eames
Afar in the Forest
Pictures of Life and Scenery of the Wilds of Canada by Mrs. Traill
The Trail of Love
An Appreciation of Canadian Pioneers and Pioneer Life BY W. D. Flatt
(1916) (pdf)
Female Emigrant's Guide
By Mrs C. P. Traill (1854)
The Young Emigrants
Pictures of Canada calculated to amuse and instruct the minds of
youth (pdf)
Upper Canada Sketches
By Thomas Conant (1898)
Upper Canada Sketches
Incidents in the Early Times of the Province, by William Renwick
Riddell (1922)
Bemocked of Destiny
The Actual Struggles and Experiences of a Canadian Pioneer, and the
Recollections of a Lifetime by Aenas McCharles (1908) (pdf)
A Summer on the Canadian Prairie
By Georgina Binnie-Clark (second impression 1910)
The United Empire Loyalists
A Chronicle of the Great Migration by Wallace
Big John Wallace
By Archie P. McKishnie (pdf)
Cariboo
Life
in the Clearings versus the Bush
By Mrs. Moodie
Lords of the North
By A. C. Laut (1900)
Trails of the Pathfinders
By George Bird Grinnell (1911)
D. C. Beard
A range of books by this author who explains bush craft.
A York Pioneer Looking Back
By E M. Morphy (pdf)
A Scotch Catholic Settlement
in Canada (pdf)
You will hear more Gaelic spoken in Canada in one week than you
would hear during a month's sojourn in the Highlands!
Letters on Emigration to Canada
Addressed to the Very Rev. Principle Baird by James Inches, second
edition, (1836) (pdf)
A Woman in Canada
By Mrs. George Cran (1910) (pdf)
A York Pioneer Looking Back
Cranks met with in the Emerald Isle and Canada By E. M. Morphy (pdf)
My Year in a Log Cabin
By W. D. Howells (1893) (pdf)
Snow-Shoes and Canoes
Or The Early Days of a Fur-rader in the Hudson Bay Territory by W.
K. Kingston (pdf)
In the Rocky Mountains
By W. H. G. Kingston (pdf)
Journal of a Voyage from Okkak on the
Coast of Labrador to Ungava Bay, Westward of Cape Citudleigh
undertaken to explore the Coast, and visit the Esquimaux in that
unknown Region by Benjamin Kohlmeister and George Knoch Missionaries
of the Church of the Unitas Fratrum or United Brethren (1814) (pdf)
The Settlers in Canada
By Captain Marryat, R.N. (pdf)
A Journal of Voyages and Travels in
the Interior of North America
Between the 47th and 58th Degrees of N. Lat., extending from
Montreal nearly to the Pacific, a Distance of about 5,000 Miles
including an account of the Principle Occurences during a residence
of Nineteen Years in different parts of the country by Daniel
Williams Harmon, a Partner in he Northwest Company (1903) (pdf)
A Short Account of the
Emigation from the Highlands of Scotland
To North America: and the Establishment of the Catholic Diocese of
Upper Canada with an Appendix (1839) (pdf)
Information reflecting the Eastern Townships of
Lower Canada
In which The British American Land Company intend to commence
operations for the Sale and Settlement of Lands in the nsuing
Spring. (3rd December 1833) (pdf)
Pathfinders of the West
Being the thrilling story of the adventures of the men who
discovered the Great Northwest, Radisson, La Verendrye, Lewis and
Clark by A. C. Laut (1904) (pdf)
The York Pioneers Log Cabin 1794-1894
The following lines were read at the meeting of the Society of York
Pioneers, held at the Log Cabin in the grounds of the Industrial
Exhibition, Toronto, on Thursday, Sept. 7th, 1894, and are printed
by request. (pdf)
The Settlers in Canada
By Captain Marryat, R.N. (1886) (pdf)
British American Land Company
It's formation
Wilderness Survival and Outdoor Education
By Matt Ball (2001)
My Self Reliance
A series of videos about building a log cabin in Ontario
Adventures in Canada
Or Life in the Woods edited by John Geikie (1882) (pdf)
Canada in 1864
A Hand-Book for Settlers by Henry T. Newton Chesshyre (1864) (pdf)
A Brief Review of the Settlement of Upper Canada By the U. E.
Loyalists of Upper Canada by the U. E. Loyalists and Scotch
Highlanders in 1783 and of the grievances which compelled the
Canadas to have recourse to arms in defence of their rights and
liberties in the years 1837 and 1838 By D. M'Leod, Major General,
Patriot Army, Upper Canada. (1841) (pdf)
Dot it Down, A story of life in the
North-West by Alexander Begg (1871) (pdf)
Statistical Sketches of Upper
Canada
For the use of Emigrants by a Backwoodsman (Third Edition) (1833) (pdf)
Our Forest Home
Being extracts from the correspondence of the Late Frances Stewart
compiled and edited by her daughter E. S. Dunlop (1902) (pdf)
A Reminiscence of the Early
Days
Written by Mrs. David Fleming, Cobourg in her eighty-second year
(1921) (pdf)
Canadian life as I found it
Four years homesteading in the North-West territories by Homesteader
(1908) (pdf)
The Emigrant and Sportsman in Canada
Some Experiences of an old country settler including sketches of
Canadian Life, sporting adventures and observations on the Forest
and Fauna by John J. Edwan (1876) (pdf)
Perth on the Tay
A Tale of the Transplanted Highlanders by Josephine Smith,
Merrickville (1901) (pdf)
French River Expedition
Knight
Errant of the Wilderness
Tales of the Explorers of the great North-West by Morden H. Long
(1925) (pdf)
Canada's Unmade Roads
By Dave McIntosh
The Pioneers
A tale of the Western Wilderness by Alexander MacKenzie (1875) (pdf)
Pioneers in Canada
By Sir Harry Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. (1912) (pdf)
Red River
A Teacher's Resource Unit on Early Pioneer Life (pdf)
Ye Pioneers of
One Hundred Years Ago
Souvenir Book and Program by the Women's Wentworth Historical
Society (1900) (pdf)
Genealogical Chart of the Descendants
of David Thomson and Mary Glendenning
Edited by Ethel MacPherson (1958)
Fallbrook Farm Heritage Site
Travels in the Interior Inhabited Parts of North America
In the years 1791 and 1792 In which is given an account of the
manners and customs of the Indians, and the present war between them
and the Foederal States, the mode of life and system of farming
among the new settlers of both Canadas, New York, New England, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; interspersed with anecdotes of people,
observations on the soil, natural productions, and political
situation of these countries. by Patrick Campbell (1793) (pdf)
Canadian Camp Life
By Frances E. Herring (1900) (pdf)
Three Years in Canada
An account of the actual state of the country in 1826-7-8
comprehending its resources, productions, improvements, and
capabilities and including sketches of the state of society, advice
to emigrants, &c. by John MacTaggart, civil engineer in the service
of the British Government in two volumes (1829)
Canadian Pen and Ink Sketches
By John Fraser (1890) (pdf)
Early Days in Upper Canada
The Letters of John Langton (1926) (pdf)
Shanty, Forest and River Life
In the Backwoods of Canada by the Author of "Three Months Among the
Moose" (Joshua Fraser) (1883) (pdf)
Assunta Howard
And other stories and sketches (1891) (pdf) including the Canadian
Pioneers
The Romantic Settlement of
Lord Selkirk’s Colonies
[The Pioneers of Manitoba] By Dr. George Bryce of Winnipeg,
President of the Royal Society of Canada, etc. (1909) (pdf)
Letters of a Woman Homesteader
by Elinore Pruitt Stewart (1914) (pdf)
Pioneer Work in Canada
Practically Presented by J. J. Rouse (1935) (pdf)
An Emigrant in the Canadian
Northwest
By H.E. Church (1929) (pdf)
Canadian North-West
Free Homesteads of Wheat & Grazing Land in The Temperance Colony.
Land for Sale, with or without Conditions of Cultivation. Rare
inducements offered to Emigrants from Great Britain. Free-hold Farms
may be acquired on Easy Terms by John How Telfer. (1884) (pdf)
The Great Fur Land
Sketches of Life in the Hudson's Bay Territory by H. M. Robinson
(1879) (pdf)
The Emigrant Churchman in
Canada
By A Pioneer of the Wilderness A. W. H. Rose, Edited by the Rev.
Henry Christmas in two volumes (1849) (pdf)
Vol 1 |
Vol 2
Canada: As I remember it, and as it is
By the Rev. Donald Fraser, D.D. (1876) (pdf)
Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West
Or the Experience of an Early Settler by Major Strickland, C.M.,
edited by Agnes Strickland in two volumes (1853)
Pictures of Canadian Life
An Account of Actual Experiences by J. Ewing Ritchie (1886) (pdf)
Wild Scenes of the Forest and Prairie
Sketches of American Life by C. F. Hoffman in two volumes (1843)
The Backwoodswoman
A chronicle of pioneer home life in Upper and Lower Canada. By Mrs.
Isabel Skelton (1924)
Significance of Emigration - Discussion
By Edward Alsworth Ross (pdf)
What Women say of the Canadian North-West (pdf)
Canada - The Last Open Door
This booklet is issued with the object of placing before the public
a few facts regarding the opening and development of Western Canada.
The story is told so as to cover the subject as fully as possible in
the small space at our disposal and convey to the reader some idea
of the immense possibilities of this last open door to the
Anglo-Saxon from an agricultural and stock raising point of view.
(pdf)
The Canadian Pioneers
By Abbé H. R. Casgrain, Translated from the French by A. W. L.
Gompertz (1896) (pdf)
Constitution and By-Laws of the York Pioneers' Association
With a list of members (1883) (pdf)
Overland to Cariboo
An eventful Journey of Canadian Pioneers to the Gold-Fields of
British Columbia in 1862 by Margaret McNaughton, Wife of one of the
Pioneers (1896) (pdf)
The Advantages of Canada for
Emigrants
Papers by Rev. John Lightfoot, The Rev. J. Cavis-Brown and The Rev.
F. W. Webber (1894) (pdf)
Morven
Empire Loyalists (pdf)
In the Days of the Canada Company
The story of the settlement of the Huron Tract and a view of the
social life of the period 1825 - 1850 by Robina and Kathleen
MacFarlane Lizars with an introduction by G. M. Grant, D.D., LL.D.,
Principal Queen's University, Kingston with Portraits and
Illustrations (1896) (pdf)
In Pioneer Days
By D. J. Dickie (1931) (pdf)
Children of the Farm
By Jean Cochrane (pdf)
In the Canadian Bush
By F. C. Cooper, B.Sc., A.C.G.I., A.M.I.C.E. (1914) (pdf)
Letters of a pioneer,
Alexander Ross
Edited by George Bryce (1903) (pdf)
The Life of a Backwoodsman
Or Particulars of the Emigrant's Situation in settling on the Wild
Land of Canada by a Settler at Strathford, Huron District, Canada
West (1843) (pdf)
The Net in the Bay
Or, The Journal of a visit to Moose and Albany by David Anderson D.D.,
First Bishop of Rupert's Land. (second edition) (1873) (pdf)
Hints to Settlers in Northern
Ontario
By the Ontario Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 244, December
1916 (pdf)
Trailmakers of the Northwest
By Paul Leland Haworth (1921) (pdf)
Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in
Canada
By Mrs. Jameson (1838) in three volumes
Canadian Heroines of
Pioneer Days
By Mabel Burns McKinley (1929) (pdf)
Canadian Heroes of Pioneer
Days
By Mabel Burns McKinley (1930) (pdf)
Reminiscences
of Early Settlers and other Records
Being the fourth publication of the Elgin Historical and Scientific
Institute (1911) (pdf)
Emigration to British
America
By John M'Gregor
Memorials of a Half-Century
By Bela Hubbard (1887)
Copies qf Letters from Settlers in Upper Canada to their friends
Published in 1832 (pdf)
Analyses of
New Voyages and Travels
Travels through the Canadas; containing a description of the
picturesque scenery on some of the rivers and lakes; with an account
of the productions, commerce, and inhabitants of those provinces: to
which is subjoined a comparative view of the manners aud customs of
several of the Indian nations of North and South America. By George
Heriot, Esq. deputy postmaster general of British North America.
(1807) (pdf)
A Trip to
Manitoba
Or, Roughing it on the Line by Mary Fitzgibbon (1880) (pdf)
A Summer on the Canadian
Prairie
By Georgina Binnie-Clark (1910) (pdf)
Settlers' Guide
A Handbook of Information for Settlers in the Canadian Pacific
Railway Irrigation Block (1911) (pdf)
Letters from Settlers in Canada
Official and other information for intending settlers in Manitoba,
the North-West Territories, British Columbia and the other Provinces
of Canada (Issued by the authority of the Minister of the Interior
of Canada) (1896) (pdf)
Letters and Extract of Letters
From Settlers in Upper Canada (1894) (pdf)
British Settlers in Western Canada
(pdf)
Canadian Life and
Scenery
With hints to intending emigrants and settlers by The Marquis of
Lorne, K.T. (1886) (pdf)
The Memorial of Settlers in the Tract
granted to the Saskatchewan Homestead Company
In the Canadian North-West (1883) (pdf)
Canadian Pacific Railway Manitoba
Canadian North-West, Testimony of actual settlers (1886) (pdf)
The Golden Land
The true story abd experiences of British Settlers in Canada by
Arthur E. Copping (1913) (pdf)
The Settlers Guide to
Homesteads
In the Canadian North-West by John T. Moore (1884) (pdf)
Our Families
Unable to find the source of this publication but includes many wee
stories. (pdf)
Pioneers of France in the New World
By Francis Parkman, in two volumes (1910)
Canadian Immigrants
From the National Observer, May 1895 (pdf)
Five Years Residence in the Canadas
Including a Tour through part of the United States of America in the
Year 1823 by Edward Allen Talbot, Esq., of the Talbot Settlement,
Upper Canada in two volumes (1824)
The Canadas as they at
present commend themselves to the Enterprize of Emigrant, Colonists
and Capitalists
By John Galt (1832) (pdf)
Thoughts on Emigration and on
the Canadas as an opening for it
By Charles Shirreff (1831) (pdf)
Pioneering
By "Gilcraft" (1943) (pdf)
Pioneering in the Prarie
West
A Sketch of the Parry Sound Colonies that Settled near Edmonton, N.
W. T., in the Early Nineties By W. C. Pollard (Third edition) (1926)
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