National Network for Equitable Library Service

Beyond Beauty is the story of a remarkable journey that Bill Terry and his wife, Rosemary, undertook when they joined a party of Dutch and British alpine plant hunters intent on botanizing on the roof of the world. The expedition travelled in a convoy of eight jeeps over roads that were rarely paved and occasionally terrifying.

Powerful and diligent, Peter O’Reilly played a role in shaping British Columbia in the last quarter of the 1800s. An immigrant from Ireland, O’Reilly landed in Victoria during the height of the Cariboo Gold Rush and was appointed gold commissioner for BC. He held the position of county court judge, and sorted settler and Native disputes, despite often having to function as an assistant land commissioner. From 1880 to 1898, O’Reilly was the federally appointed BC Indian Reserve Lands commissioner.

Buffalo Girl Cooks Bison is the first comprehensive contemporary bison cookbook for a general North American market. With more than 100 well-tested, delectable recipes, Bain ensures that you’ll have plenty of culinary inspiration for every cut of bison. Recipes include Bison + Cheddar Biscuits, Quinoa + Kale Bison Soup, Maple-Whisky Bison Burgers, Southwestern Braised Bison Short Ribs, Pan-Fried Bison Liver with Dijon-Shallot Cream Sauce, and many more. Bison are primarily grass-fed as well as hormone and antibiotic free.

Adventures on wild waters In Finlay's River, R. M. Patterson, whose style was described by noted author Bruce Hutchison as a a mixture between Thoreau and Jack London, tells the story of his 1949 trip up this wild river in remote northern British Columbia. Patterson uses his own journey as a framework to recount the adventures of explorers who went there before. All had struggled up the Finlay for different reasons, and all left spirited accounts of that challenging, doomed river, which Patterson brings to vivid life again.

What happens when a lifelong gardener finally realizes that he must collaborate with Mother Nature rather than work against her in order to achieve his dream of creating the perfect garden? In this delightful and thoughtful narrative journey of horticultural discovery, Bill Terry asks how and even why we garden, and to what end? These are personal stories, thoughts, and ideas about the "perfect" garden interspersed with humorous, imagined conversations with Mother Nature herself.

This first-hand account of a Canadian pioneer—the next title in TouchWood’s Classics West series—tells the story of a hard-won wilderness home and of the self-sufficient father and brothers who built it. Their tale of wanderlust begins in 1839 in Bytown, Ontario (later called Ottawa), with father Archie MacDonald, who reached his peak as an Ottawa Valley “bull of the woods” by age 29, prospected for silver and gold from Leadville, Colorado, to Sonora, Mexico, drove Montana cattle to the remote CPR camps in B.C. and carved out a ranch near Fort Colville, Washington.

A compelling investigation into supernatural events and local lore on Vancouver Island.Vancouver Island is known worldwide for its arresting natural beauty, but those who live here know that it is also imbued with a palpable supernatural energy. Researcher Shanon Sinn found his curiosity piqued by stories of mysterious sightings on the island—ghosts, sasquatches, sea serpents—but he was disappointed in the sensational and sometimes disrespectful way they were being retold or revised.

Reliving the adventures of past explorers. Trail to the Interior is R. M. Patterson's rich account of exploration and personal adventure in the Cassiar district of British Columbia. The trail is the historic track from Wrangell, Alaska, along the Stikine and Dease rivers and across the height of the land into the valleys of the Liard and the Mackenzie. Explorers and traders of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Russian American Company had ventured this river route, and Raymond Patterson followed in their footsteps.

August 12, 2003, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir James Douglas. Although he played an integral role in British Columbia's history, in many ways Douglas remains misunderstood and an enigma. He is known for his contradictory qualities—he was self-serving, racist, a military hawk, sometimes violent and arrogant. Yet he was also extremely community oriented, a humanitarian, brave and a devoted family member.

The latest addition to TouchWood Editions’ Classics West Collection, Klondike Cattle Drive is the colourful tale of a formidable trek undertaken by legendary Cariboo rancher Norman Lee.In 1898, Lee set out to drive 200 head of cattle from his home in the Chilcotin area of B.C. to the Klondike goldfields—a distance of 1,500 miles. He was gambling both his cattle and his life. This is his story, derived from the journal he kept, his letters and the loyal men who accompanied him. Throughout the daunting weeks of coping with mud, cold and sheer bad luck, Lee kept his sense of humour.