This is the story of the pioneers who photographed Canada from the air and laid the foundations of our nation. Miracles of improvisation performed hundreds of miles beyond any means of assistance were common. They lived in tents and survived on a diet of black flies, mosquitoes and canned food. Storms and long, exhausting hours at high altitude in open cockpits with minimal instruments and no oxygen supply were routine. Some died. Until these heroes returned from World War I and ventured into "unexplored territory" in primitive flying boats, only southern stretches of the Dominion and some waterways had been surveyed and mapped. Their photographs enabled accurate topographical maps to be drawn, essential to establish provincial and national borders; identify and exploit a vast range of natural resources; build hydroelectric power stations and transmission lines, highways, canals and railways; settle immigrants; drain and irrigate land; and plan towns and cities. Their work led to Canada's current leading role in aerial survey and remote sending, and the aircraft they specified initiated Canada's pre-eminent position in aerospace manufacture.

Photographing Canada from flying canoes

S. Bernard Shaw

General Store Pub. House

<p>Canoe Lake has a unique place in the history of Algonquin Park: this is where the seminal Canadian artist Tom Thomson mysteriously met his death; this was the starting point for the doomed Gilmour log drive of 1895. The lake still stimulates the imagination with traces of these bygone mysteries and remains a focus for the summer memories of countless campers, canoe trippers and cottagers.</p>

Canoe Lake Algonquin Park

General Store Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by S. Bernard Shaw. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by S. Bernard Shaw

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by S. Bernard Shaw. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Photographing Canada from flying canoes

Canoe Lake Algonquin Park