Where the Mountains Meet the Prairies reveals the human history of one of the most popular and breathtakingly beautiful national parks in western Canada. The scope of this book is grand; Graham MacDonald takes his audience back to prehistoric times in the Waterton-Glacier area and, finally, deposits his readers in the present park, after a tour covering thousands of years of history.

From a discussion of the British naturalist, Charles Waterton, for whom the park was named, to explorations of such topics as conservation and ecology, native traditions and treaties, townsite development, and the current challenges facing national parks, Graham MacDonald's study provides a broad interpretive history of this unique area. Far from just providing lovely images, Where the Mountains Meet the Prairies also captures the human element of this special landscape, most colourfully personified by J.G."Kootenai" Brown, Waterton's most famous and eccentric personality.

Supported by extensive photographic and cartographic material, this book is not to be missed by lovers of the unparalleled western landscape and those who would like to know more about the people and events that shaped this incredible park.

Graham MacDonald has worked as a historian, teacher, librarian, and park planner. He is the author of A Good Solid Comfortable Establishment: An Illustrated History of Lower Fort Garry, and Where the Mountains Meet the Prairies: A History of Waterton Country (University of Calgary Press).

Graham A. MacDonald's profile page