Alberta Local Histories Online Library

Red Bullets · #1 09-26-2018, 11:08 AM

Thought I would share this...

Some AO members maybe know about this website already and some of you may have some of these books too.

I know some of you, like myself, enjoy Alberta history. I have discovered a website made by University of Calgary that has an online library of 196 books relating to pioneer and settlement history. Free to read online. Several of the books are local histories filled with stories written by the pioneering families of those areas. The books were originally published by the various districts around Alberta. Many of the books were only printed once in limited numbers so they may be hard to find now.

I have read a few of these books before they were online and the stories can be really interesting. Some family stories talk about hunting, trapping and fishing. And others talk of the hardships they faced homesteading the bush miles from any town. We have a colorful history to say the least.

Enjoy. I hope that these books inspire families to talk, reflect and remember. A person might find some great forgotten family history in these books.

https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/.../ad/asc/page/1

Bushmaster · #2 09-26-2018, 11:27 AM

Thank you for posting this. I used to be able to get an online version of the local history book thru the MD website....then it disappeared as it was sent to the U of C to be reformatted and I've never been able to find it since.

UNTIL NOW !! Thanks again.

Red Bullets · #3 09-26-2018, 05:16 PM

Bushmaster, your response made the thread worthwhile.

So many of these books reveal Alberta's people not so long ago. And most of today's youth really don't have a clue on the roots of this province.
An example is... only 50-60 years ago in the settled part of this province... when you drove down a country road there were farmyards of the small mixed farmers every half mile. Now you drive down those roads and the farmyards are gone. Where once there were bustling farmyards are now plowed fields. The farmyards built by the blood, sweat and tears of Alberta families have vanished... and today younger people drive by the fields and haven't an idea of anyone ever lived on that land. Many don't realize that many of those fields were once forested.

drhu22 · #4 09-26-2018, 05:43 PM

Very interesting... thanks for posting that Red Bullets

Bigwoodsman · #5 09-26-2018, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drhu22

very interesting... Thanks for posting that red bullets

x2

bw

antlercarver · #6 09-27-2018, 09:15 AM

Over the years I have accumulated 40-50 books and often reread them. It is interesting to read stories ad see the old pictures and can say I been to that place, it makes the stories more real. Going down the hiway and see some caraganas or maples growing next to the ditch and know once there was a
house, barn and family trying to make a living there. Some times there will only be a water well hand pump left standing in what once was a living yard.
Like the Danny Hooper song John Deer tractor keys the young guy can`t wait to leave the farm and later when he has worked his way up in the corporate world to 40 stories high, he misses he old farm life but now it is GONE

Parker Hale · #7 09-27-2018, 09:30 AM

That's really cool, I will definitely be doing some reading soon. I love to know the history of the area I live in. I grew up in Cranbrook BC and love the history of that area. The gold rush, the logging and mining and railroads. I have several books on these subjects. It is nice to know there is a resource available like this.