Prairie Fire: The 1885 Northwest Rebellion

To many Canadians, the North-West Rebellion of 1885 is a dramatic, isolat­ed incident, the story of Riel, the doomed hero. Prairie Fire tells the larger story: of Metis who wanted the boundar~es of their farms respected by Ottawa; of Natives whose land had been sold by the government, and starved as the government broke its promises; of frightened settlers caught between the Natives and Metis (with whom they often sympathized) and the government they relied upon; and of the thousands of soldiers who set out to quell the rebellion, and whose greatest ordeal was the bitterly cold journey across an unforgiving land to the field ot battle. With more than fifty photos, illustrations, and maps, Prairie Fire is a comprehensive, solidly researched, and, above all, entertaining account of a pivotal event in our history, the effects of which continue to be felt as Canada enters the 21st century.