A True Canadian Hero

Over the years Maggie Siggins has been digging deeper and deeper into the West’s lesser-known history. Starting with Revenge of the Land, about one quarter section of land near Moose Jaw whose owners begin in theft and end in murder, through Riel, a thorough history of the most famous man the West has so far produced, she now gives us Marie-Anne: The Extraordinary Story of Louis Riel’s Grandmother, the awe-inspiring story of the first white woman to live in the West. This is a pedigree of which any writer should be very proud. Given that Maggie Siggins grew up a Torontonian, I might add that this list of books should also give western writers pause, a pause in which to consider how, with our eyes firmly fixed on more distant horizons, we have been, for the most part, neglecting or ignoring our own best stories.

Most even moderately educated westerners know the name Marie-Anne Lagimodière; they know the “first white woman” designation, and...