Suitable for the Wilds: Letters from Northern Alberta, 1929-1931

by Mary Percy Jackson, Janice P. Dickin McGinnis

Dr. Mary Percy, twenty-five years old and from a comfortable Birmingham family, left home in 1929 to take up a medical posting in the Peace River area of northern Alberta. Her letters home, collected here, vividly describe her adventurous life on one of Canada's last frontiers. Her district covered 900 square kilometres of wooded, boggy land, which she travelled on horseback, by dogsled, and sometimes by automobile.
Dr. Percy faced many issues in caring for the Metis and Native people, as well as for increasing numbers of immigrant families. Her greatest medical challenges, though, were the result of poverty and isolation - and she often railed against the government for what she saw as irresponsible settlement policies and lack of attention to her community.
Despite the strenuousness of her responsibilities as doctor, dentist, public health officer, and coroner, Dr. Percy enjoyed the personal and professional challenges presented by wilderness life, and her enthusiasm for this great adventure, which permeates her letters, is infectious. Indeed, by the end of 1930 she complained that the area was becoming too civilized! The letters conclude in January 1931, with her marriage to farmer-fur trader Frank Jackson and her subsequent move farther north, to Keg River, where she lives today.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Bev Randers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much about the Peace River area from 1929-1931. Remarkable true story based on letters. Mary Percy Jackson was an amazing humanitarian. Any person who does not believe in vaccinations should also read this book.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful read. An authentic glimpse through her letters into the world of a woman doctor in the harsh northern Canadian landscape.

[Trudy Jaskela · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1929 Jackson took a position as MD in Battle River (now Manning) 100 km north of Peace River AB. She was set apart in this new community in terms of her sex (few women, none unmarried), her education, her class (upper English), and her culture (she loved classical music, theater). She lived alone in a shack more than 1 km from her nearest neighbour. Only about 8 mail deliveries a year.
The is cold climte country - needed water from river each day, had a wood stove. By horseback to see patients. Roads were buillt but were terrible when it rained.
Book is based on her letters to her family and friends. She wrote 2-3 times a week. Great descriptions of her daily life, her patients, coping wit the north.
In 2006, she still lived in northern Alberta, in Keg River, further north then Battle Creek.

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pioneer memoirs are often filled with stories of suffering and hardship. But the tales told by Mary Percy, a young doctor out from England and serving in northern Alberta, are just the opposite. From the very beginning, she loved the north and felt as if she had found her spiritual home. She hunted for her own food, chopped her own firewood and carried water from the creek just to keep herself alive. Then there were all her patients, early settlers for miles around who delivered babies, fell ill from various maladies, and injured themselves in horrible ways. Mary practically lived on horseback, often riding through the night in Arctic temperatures to save their lives. This is a truly inspiring book, one that makes you feel the power of the indomitable human spirit.

[Greg Bak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection - Jackson's voice comes through loud and clear. The letters make for a compelling read - to hear Jackson's observations, but also to watch as she struggles to remain positive through very trying times in remote Alberta.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of letters. Makes a wonderful read for those interested in history; especially women's history.

[Ilene]

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[Diane Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great read that left me exhausted. Where did she get the energy and pure grit?