Edmonton: Stories from the River City

Debbie Fyfe is the reference/Internet resources librarian in the
Information Services Division of the Edmonton Public Library.

Edmonton author Tony Cashman serves up 40 fascinating vignettes in his
latest chronicle of Edmonton history and the people who built the
Alberta capital. A storyteller at heart, Cashman grew up in Edmonton
during the Great Depression. During World War II, he trained as a
navigator in the British Commonwealth Air Training plan. After a lengthy
career in radio, he became a historian, and has written and contributed
to over 15 widely acclaimed books about Alberta and Edmonton history.

In these short, entertaining, and highly readable stories (which are
supplemented with black-and-white historical pictures), we meet many an
interesting character, including John Rowand, chief factor at Fort
Edmonton and the city’s first tourist to go to Hawaii. We learn about
the first Alberta Marathon, which was only 19 miles instead of the usual
26 because a passable road of regulation length did not yet exist; about
the cigar factories, newsstands, and coal mines; about the railroad
stations, riverboats, and landmarks that helped put Edmonton on the map;
and about the famous and not-so-famous Edmontonians who helped create
such a colorful city.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about the early days of Edmonton—and
Western Canada—should read this fine book.