Tall in the Saddle: Ranch Life in the Cariboo

Kerry Abel is a professor of history at Carleton University. She is the author of Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History, co-editor of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects, and co-editor of Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History.

Brothers Eldon and Todd Lee arrived in the Cariboo country of British
Columbia as children in 1929, beginning a life of hardship and adventure
that is recorded in this memoir. Proud of their pioneering role, they
recount with humor and warmth a series of anecdotes about ranch life,
family pets, fence-building techniques, and northern wildlife.
Throughout, the authors stress the value of hard work, independence, and
making a virtue out of necessity, portraying themselves as determined
pioneers facing the challenges of bad weather, isolation, illness, and
seemingly arbitrary government regulations. Family photographs
charmingly illustrate their stories.