Overview

The stories told in this collection, though tragic for many, also illustrate the steadfast determination and courage of people in the face of misfortune and extreme distress. From the lesser-known weed outbreaks and tornadoes to the world-wide influenza outbreak in 1918 that devastated many Calgary families, these stories focus on the human side of these disasters. It may be a heroic individual or the collective response of a community, but what is truly remarkable in these stories is the human response to the world being turned upside down by famine and disease, by flood, fire, or rock slide, by wind and cold, by dynamite or gas explosions, or even by the seemingly mundane threat of weeds upon crops. It is the resolution to continue to fight and the persistence of the human spirit and its adaptability to challenges that is the true story of a century of development in western Canada.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anthony Rasporich ,  J.M. Bumsted ,  Anthony Rasporich ,  Anthony Rasporich
Publisher:   University of Calgary Press
Imprint:   University of Calgary Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.60cm , Length: 22.80cm
Weight:   0.404kg
ISBN:  

9781552380918

ISBN 10:   1552380912
Pages:   298
Publication Date:   30 May 2004
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

"Preface Introduction Anthony Rasporich Smallpox: Scourge of the Plains Hugh A. Dempsey Pale Horse/Pale History?:Revisiting Calgary's Experience of the Spanish Influenza, 1918-19 Janice Kickin The Great Rock Slide at Frank Lorry W. Felske Horror Stories: The Tales of Frozen Prairie Settlers During the Brutal Winter of 1906-7 Joe Cherwinski It's an Ill Wind that Blow Nobody Good: Regina's 1912 ""Cyclone"" Patrick H. Brennan Atlantic No. 3. Disaster: From Raging Inferno to Beacon of Promise David Breen It Could Have Been Much Worse: The 1942 Outbreak of Foot in Mouth Disease in Saskatchewan Max Foran Putting Down Roots: The Historical Origins of the ONgiong Weed Diaster on the Canadian Prairies Clint Evans The Toll of Two Images David C. Jones Flooding in the Red River Valley of the North J.M. Bumsted Index"

Reviews

These well--written, thoroughly researched, and generously illustrated essays convincingly demonstrate that both nature and human agency can cause disasters but that resilient western Canadians often overcame situations that had put them in harm's way. Patricia E. Roy, Great Plains Quarterly

Author Information

Anthony Rasporich is former dean of Social Sciences at the University of Calgary and professor emeritus in the Faculty of History. Maxwell L. Foran has been working in the field of Western Canadian history for over thirty years and has been published widely on various urban, rural, and cultural topics. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Communications and Culture at the University of Calgary.

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