Pathfinding on Plain and Prairie

Pathfinding on Plain and Prairie is memoir of John McDougall telling the story of the Canadian Northwest in the late 1860s depicting stirring scenes of life on the frontier. Reverend John McDougall was a famous pioneer and missionary who spent his life on Canadian frontiers working and traveling mostly in Canadian Northwest. McDougall documented his adventures in various Canadian provinces and territories. In this book McDougall shares his experiences of his contacts and relations with Indigenous people, tells of their customs and traditions and their acceptance of new settlers. He also tells of his travels and missionary work, by which he blazed the trail for the next generation of pioneers.

John McDougall (1842-1917) was a missionary, civil servant and published author in Alberta, Canada. McDougall was born in Sydenham, Upper Canada, but they moved west to the boreal forest trading post of Norway House in 1860. He followed in his father's footsteps and did missionary work in the western Prairies. McDougall worked for multiple governments on First Nations issues over the years and worked with Native leaders to lobby governments to improve conditions for their people, such as travelling with Little Bear to Ottawa.