Vintage Hardcover First Printing The Pioneers of Old Ontario, The Makers of Canada By W. L. Smith, 1923

This is a first edition print of The Pioneers of Old Ontario, The Makers of Canada By W. L. Smith.  Printed in 1923 this is a definite must for any collection.

In the Spring of 1897 William Loe Smith began a series of trips through rural Ontario. These trips were undertaken with the object of obtaining first-hand information, for publication in the columns of The Weekly Sun regarding actual conditions of the inhabitants of the province.

While engaged in that task, he "stumbled on a veritable storehouse of information of another kind altogether". This information was carried in the memories of men and women then still living-memories that went back to the days of the virgin forest, of log cabins surrounded by blackened stumps in the midst of scanty clearings, of bush trails and corduroy roads over which settlers toiled with their grists to distant mills, of old-time logging bees, and of the circuit riders who carried the Gospel message to those real heroes.

Based on his research and interviews, Smith wrote a series of pioneer sketches which appeared in newspapers during the period from 1897 to 1914. These sketches, with some further information gathered at a later date, form the basis of what is contained in this volume.

In 1922-1923, Smith assembled his first-hand accounts of pioneer life that he originally published in Ontario newspapers, added much new content, then organized the book by the areas of Ontario where events took place.