Carving the Western Path: Routes to Remember

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of Faculty of
Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

In this third volume of his Carving the Western Path series, Harvey
focuses on the challenges of creating road, rail, and water
transportation in the southern interior of British Columbia. Though his
history begins with the travels of David Thompson through the Okanagan
region in 1811, it is mostly concerned with the period from the later
1800s to the 1980s.

Harvey has the professional credentials to have written this
entertaining and authoritative account of his province’s
transportation history. As an engineer with the B.C. Department of
Public Works, he was actively involved with the road system for several
decades. He finished his career as Deputy Minister of Highways and
Public Works.

The book is divided into six chapters. The first four chapters deal
with specific regions. Another chapter presents technical material on
weather and roads. The book’s final chapter details the travels of a
pioneer family as it makes the trek from Utah to the Kootenays in 1891.

Transportation history can be a dry topic. It is to Harvey’s credit
that Carving the Western Path is both compelling and highly informative.