Part One: Foundations
Chapter 1: Introduction
Ecological Locale: The Trent Valley as a Living Place
Human Cultures: The Settlement and Resettlement of Trent Valley
Nature and National Narrative In Canada
Chapter 2: Changes in Mississauga Lands: Ecology and Economy, 1790s-1830s
Mississauga Lands
Resistance
Adaptation and Persistence
Towards Resettlement
Chapter 3: Creating New Home Places: Anglo-Celtic Migrants, 1820s-1850s
Ecological Locales: Ireland
Human Cultures: Ireland
Making a Home Place: Ecological Locales and Human Cultures of the Trent Valley
Part Two: Contexts
Chapter 4: Damning the Dam: Ecology and Community in Ops Township
"The Largest Mill-Dam in the World"
The Natural Setting
Second Nature: Toward a Home Place
Second Nature: The Pre-Industrial Context
Second Nature: The Trent Canal, Purdy's Mill and Threats to Home Place
Crafting a Defense of Public Rights
Nature Responds
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Road from Bobcaygeon: Lumber and Colonization, 1850s-1870s
The Natural Setting
Second Nature: Regional Expansion and the Lumberman's Vision
Second Nature: The Settlers' Reality
Local Knowledge: Road Construction and the Folly of Settlement
Postscript: Toward an Era of Conservation
Conclusion
Chapter 6: The Trent Valley Oracle: Catharine Parr Traill
Natural History: Catharine's Early Years
Second Nature: Homing in the Backwoods
Second Nature: The "Canadian Gilbert White"
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index