The Long Trail: The Story of a Pioneer Family

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Vivid imagery and an instinct for selecting evocative details turn a
narrative, which might have been of interest only to the author’s
family, into a valuable addition to Canada’s social history.

The book traces Baldwin’s family’s experiences, from 1913 to 1918,
as they moved from Edmonton north to Peace River. This involved
traveling by horse team over the Athabasca Trail and on the ice road
over Lesser Slave Lake. Severe blizzards, ice storms, whiteouts, and
–60 degree temperatures made their undertaking one of incredible
personal danger.

In the pre–World War I period, northern Alberta was one of the last
Canadian frontiers. It was an area still populated by bear and wolves.
The forests and wild rivers provided both resources—wood, game—and
danger. It was Cree territory, and the fur trade was vital to the local
economy. Even in the new railway towns, living conditions were primitive
and survival an on-going struggle.

Baldwin was born shortly after her parents started their northward
journey; she grew up in the Peace River area, where they settled.
Although too young to remember much of the time en route, she brings to
her account the intense interest and involvement only a participant
could generate. Although she participated only as an infant and toddler,
that she was there permeates—and of course strengthens—the story.