Why a Booktrail?
1915: Sam and his father reach Curlew, Alberta to build a new home and a new life..
Ticket to Curlew
What you need to know before your trail
It is 1915, and Sam Ferrier and his father arrive by train in Curlew, Alberta, to build a new home for the family. When they finally reach their parcel of land, Sam can see nothing but endless stretches of grassland and blue sky. It is nothing like their old home in Iowa, and he wonders why his restless father ever decided to bring the family to this lonely, barren land.
In time, though, the house is built, and the rest of the family joins them. Gradually Sam discovers that there is much more to the flat and featureless prairie than he realized — gleaming white skulls, torrential thunderstorms and, best of all, a new friend and a brave, resourceful horse named Prince.
Travel Guide
Alberta
Curlew
This is a real place but it’s so small it’s barely on the map! It’s a hamlet of sorts just north east of Calgary on Range Road 252.
The Rocky Mountains
The Rokcy Mountains are not far away but the land here is a vast area of grass, sand, desert and remoteness in all directions.
This is a quiet story of settling the Canadian West. Like many families, the American one in the book decides to make the move when they hear about what is available to them in free land and new opportunities. . Sam and his father go on ahead of the rest of the family and live in a tent at first. They see how the land is as open and vast as they can imagine . This is the reality of their situation and they are in the middle of nowhere – easy to get lost and lose all sense of direction when the only point of reference is your little tent.
All around them nature reminds them of their beauty – they find buffalo wallows and skulls and Sam starts to collect them. Soon after they meet new arrivals to the vast region and start to make a friend or two. School is some four miles away and what they have to learn in real life is how to survive the nature of the region, the violence of it and the reality of a new beginning. Oh, and a horse named Prince.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Ticket to Curlew
Destination : Alberta Author/Guide: Celia Barker Lottridge
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