Review
ROMANCING THE ROCKIES: MOUNTAINS, MISSIONARIES, MARILYN, AND MORE
by Brian Brennan
Fifth House, 211 pp.
One of the most appealing aspects of Brian Brennan’s books on Alberta history is the way he surprises you when writing about subjects you think you know.
How many times, for example, have journalists and other scribes rehashed the story of Marilyn Monroe making a movie in Alberta? Plenty, actually, and many readers of entertainment lore probably thought there was little more to be said.
But in his new book, Romancing the Rockies, in a chapter headed "River of No Return," named after the 1954 adventure film that also starred Robert Mitchum and Rory Calhoun, Brennan details the production’s effects on small-town Alberta (primarily Jasper and Banff) with local stories and anecdotes ignored by the hundreds of writers who have sustained the Marilyn mythology. He also manages to puncture some of that mythology, thanks to witnesses no doubt more reliable than the Hollywood publicity machine of the day.
Other famous Rockies tourists are prominent in some of the book’s 30 chapters, among them King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth, country singer Wilf Carter and poet Jon Whyte. But equally worthy are the lesser-known people who travelled or settled among the mountains, and Brennan skilfully recounts their lives and achievements.
Under the heading "Peter Fidler: Canada’s Forgotten Explorer – 1769-1822," Brennan tells of how the "first white visitor to the Rockies" travelled more than 78,000 kilometres by canoe, dogsled, horseback and on foot, only to be largely ignored by history until James G. MacGregor published his biography in 1966.
Brennan must spend a great deal of his time in libraries, cranking microfilm spools and studying books. His diligent research, combined with a gift for storytelling, pays off for the reader.
An especially engaging chapter tells of Chinese immigrant Ha Ling, after whom a mountain near Canmore was named because he practically sprinted to its summit on a bet. Although some of the background was summarized by the news media in 1998, when what had been known locally as "Chinaman’s Peak" was officially renamed Ha Ling Peak, I’ve seen no account as complete as this one. It not only chronicles Ha Ling’s life, but also even-handedly presents conflicting views in the lengthy controversy regarding cartographic tradition versus modern views of racism.
In the interests of disclosure, I must mention that the author is a friend and a former newspaper colleague. But he was once an editor of mine, too, and was always completely honest when a piece of writing didn’t meet his standards. I apply a similar yardstick to his work now.
The fact remains that Brennan is first-rate at uncovering and writing compelling Alberta stories. It’s a reality confirmed by his enviable book sales, critical acclaim, cultural-foundation grants, literary awards and regular Fifth House publishing deals, with no apparent end in sight.
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