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CANADA is a young country, as nations go, and its success in the arts of peace tends to overshadow its picturesque past. Older lands which have exerted world influence for centuries snatch the limelight and capture the imagination even of the Canadians themselves.

Back of the peaceful industry evident in every part of Canada is a record of colour and drama worthy of the knowledge and interest of every citizen. “On this stage,” as Charles G. D. Roberts has said, “some of the gravest problems of History have been pressed to a solution.”

Three centuries of development have seen the daring French explorers, traders and missionaries penetrate the Canadian wilds; the struggle between England and France for half a continent; the founding of British America by a great migration of Loyalists; a war with the new American Republic, yet restless from the recent parting; and, finally, a century of expansion in the fertile lands ever opening to the West.

These momentous events have left their marks on the Canada of today, in cherished battlefields, in old buildings, memorials and ruins. Many of these spots are household words through song and story. But where are they, what is their appearance and condition, and just what happened there?

This volume is an attempt to answer those questions. The writer has devoted many vacation journeys, camera in hand, to visiting historic points in Canada. He has sought to preserve in the following pages some impression of each as it exists today, and to set down a brief record of its day in history, and of the players on their momentary stage.

The task has been a long but pleasant one, and it has been made easier by the cooperation of numerous institutions and friends. I would like here specially to acknowledge the assistance of the staff of the Toronto Reference Library; the officials of the National Parks Branch, Ottawa; Dr. A. G. Doughty, Dominion Archivist; Mr. Aegidius Fauteaux, of the Sulpician Library, Montreal; Mr. C. W. Jefferys, R.C.A., Toronto; Colonel William Wood, Quebec; Mr. J. E. B. McCready, Charlottetown; Dr. Duncan Campbell Scott, Ottawa; Mr. Timothy O’Brien, St. John, N.B.; Dr. J. D. Logan, Halifax, and Mr. John Nelson, Vancouver.

Toronto, September, 1926.

M.O.H.