Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park: Studies in Two Centuries of Human History in the Upper Athabasca River Watershed (Mountain Cairns)

Adults need playgrounds. In 1907, the Canadian government designated a vast section of the Rocky Mountains as Jasper Forest Park. Tourists now play where Native peoples once lived, fur traders toiled, and Métis families homesteaded. In Culturing Wilderness in Jasper National Park, I.S. MacLaren and eight other writers unearth the largely unrecorded past of the upper Athabasca River watershed, and bring to light two centuries' worth of human history, tracing the evolution of trading routes into the Rockies_ largest park. Serious history enthusiasts and those with an interest in Canada's national parks will find a sense of connection in this long overdue study of Jasper. Contributors: Eric S. Higgs, I.S. MacLaren, Lisa McDermott, Peter J. Murphy, Michael Payne, PearlAnn Reichwein, Zac Robinson, C.J. Taylor, Gabrielle Zezulka-Mailloux. Industry Reviews "[Culturing Wilderness] is a collection of provocative essays written by [MacLaren] and other individuals who persuasively argue that the wilderness we see in Jasper today is not the wilderness that was there 200 years ago, or even 100 years ago when Jasper became a national park.artists, fur traders, wardens, bureaucrats, mountaineers, researchers and others have also cultured this wilderness to reflect their own values and their particular points of view. So, today, we have in the Athabasca Valley of Jasper wildlife that are unafraid of humans, thick spruce forests that have overtaken the open savannah, and a non-native culture that in no way reflects the one that was there 100 years ago." Ed Struzik, Edmonton Journal, February 10, 2008 "'It is the scale that takes your breath away,' writes Ian MacLaren in his introduction to this academic but surprisingly accessible collection of studies on Jasper National Park and its history. The collective project of these academics, through nine chapters that run from the fur trade to the present, and through the human history of exploration, mapping, name-giving, boundary-setting, trail-riding, mountaineering, ecological restoration, and the eviction of squatters, is to document just how human history in Jasper has been at work transforming what once might have been 'wilderness' into a tourist zone, and into capital. And it's a fascinating story they tell. The wilderness presence in Jasper National Park has been ghostwritten by humans, this book argues, not authored by Nature. The real history here is of how the forces of recreational management have triumphed over the non-privileged, the non-white, and the non-human." Stephen Slemon, Legacy Magazine, Summer 2008 "This is a book for those who love the Rocky Mountains. The labour of nine writers has gone into this history of the area. Highlights are the unique maps and photographs of the area." Ron MacIsaac, Lower Island News, April 2008 "Historian and U of A professor Ian MacLaren has pulled off an amazing feat. How many publishers would gamble on a collection of academic articles about just one national park? To their credit, the U of A press has. Anyone with an interest in Jasper National Park-or national parks in general or any of those exquisite corners of the world we term 'protected areas'-should be very glad about that.Aboriginal history in the Jasper area was little known back in the 1980s when I was a park naturalist; more is coming to light these days. Peter Murphy's interview with Edward Moberly is a significant contribution Culturing Wilderness is a peer-reviewable fount of facts, and I'm delighted to have this book on my shelf." Ben Gadd, Alberta Views, July 2008. "This handsome book supplements an already long list of published and manuscript studies. The contents divide under three heads: artistic and photographic representation of historical landscapes, historical land and resource use, and tourism and recreation history. Michael Payne's fur trade essay reviews the economic setting prior to the park's establishment in 1907. Editor Ian MacLaren examines the first 356pp.…