3 Review(s)

This book provides an informal history and tour of the Niagara Escarpment, the backbone of Ontario and one of Canada's natural wonders. Stretching from Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula to Niagara Falls, the escarpment exhibits a wide diversity of landscape, people, and industry, in the present and in the past. The authors have divided it into three major regions. the rugged northern region which retains much of its primitive beauty serves primarily as a haven for tourists and summer residents, although it was once a centre for fishing and lumbering. Change has come also to the middle area. Its waterpower once made it an industrial region, but today the land from Meaford to Dundas is largely agricultural. The south, so rich in the early history of Canada, is heavily settled and industrialized. Over 80 photographs, taken by William H. Gillard, who himself lives on 'the mountain,' capture the various facets of the region. The rugged cliffs of the Bruce Peninsula contrast with the pastoral lands beneath Mount Nemo; the neatly trimmed harbour at Tobermory counterpoints the Dundas swamp of Coote's Paradise. We see the interplay of industry and agriculture, from Owen Sound's grain elevators through Hamilton's blast furnaces to Jordan's vineyards, and recreation and culture, from tourist landmarks through Hockley Hills skiing to the museums of history and art. The text provides entertaining glimpses of some of the people and some of the events in the history of settlement and growth, proceeding from town to town, north to south. This readable book is the first to deal with the landscape and history of the entire Niagara Escarpment. It is a useful guide to one of the most interesting and historic areas of Canada.