A Grand and Fabulous Notion: The First Century of Canada's Parks

Pleasance Crawford is a Canadian landscape and garden-history researcher
and writer and the co-author of Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Canadian
Garden Writing.

The occasion for this book is the 1985 centennial of the reservation “from sale or settlement or squatting” of the area of hot springs around the CPR station of Banff, in the District of Alberta. This 1885 Crown act was the beginning of Canada’s national parks system, a beginning which Parks Canada is acknowledging in 1984-85 in a variety of ways.

Because Parks Canada’s own historical publications are usually of very high quality, this book is particularly disappointing. The title is misleading, because the text is almost entirely about the history and lore only of Banff National Park. Here and there the author mentions other parks, but not enough to merit the sweeping title, nor the puzzling inclusion of a few other parks in the 16-page section of colour plates mainly of Banff, nor the map in the last page marking the locations of “Canada’s National and National Historic Parks.”

The text is lively, readable, and spiced throughout with dialogue. It sounds good when read aloud. Those who like this kind of history will probably enjoy it. Those who hope for a thorough documentation of the history of Canada’s parks, or even of Banff alone, will not find it in this book. Even though the author knows Banff well and has had access to archival materials and people with long memories, nothing is footnoted, and many illustrations are not captioned.