Places of Last Resort: The Expansion of the Farm Frontier Into the Boreal Forest in Canada, c. 1910-1940
A retelling of the colonization of marginal lands among the boreal
fringes of Canada.
In the early twentieth century, tens of thousands of Canadian
settlers faced the challenge of starting a farm in the North.
Places of Last Resort explores the last significant expansion of
farm settlement in Canada, documenting the painful discovery of the
limits of traditional farming.
Northerly locations were occupied in desperation after more
accessible land further south had been colonized. Grappling with
demanding conditions, the northern settlers were encouraged by
politicians, bureaucrats, and religious leaders, who often had less
than innocent reasons for endorsing questionable settlement
experiments. David Wood explores the demographic characteristics of
this surging population of land-seekers and shows how some of their
efforts echoed those of earlier settlers. Gripping case studies
outline the face of failure and suggest the ingredients for success
in these marginal areas.
Review:
"Wood constructs a quilt from the small patches of history
scattered across the boreal fringes of Canada in a brave work that
dares to tackle 'national history' without reducing his
book to a tale of high politics or abstract economic
patterns." John Walsh, Carleton University
"Wood constructs a quilt from the small patches of history scattered across the boreal fringes of Canada in a brave work that dares to tackle 'national history' without reducing his book to a tale of high politics or abstract economic patterns." John Walsh, Carleton University
J. David Wood is professor emeritus of geography, York University, and the author of several books, including Making Ontario: Agricultural Colonization and Landscape Re-Creation before the Railway.
