Books We Love dedicates the Canadian Historical Brides series to the immigrants, male and female, who left their homes and families, crossed oceans, and endured unimaginable hardships in order to settle the Canadian wilderness and build new lives in a rough and untamed country.
A huge thank you to the following people: To my father, Pol de Montigny for writing his memoirs from which much of my story was taken. To Tim Novak of the Regina archives for aiding me in locating the old homestead near Masefield, Saskatchewan. To Sheila Corneillie and Debbie Simpson for their help in finding my baby aunts’ grave. To Yolande Chambers, Georgette Evans, Denis de Montigny, Lilian Ring, George de Montigny, and Lucille Leray for sharing their stories of growing up on the prairies during the Great Depression. To Louise Lupien and Guy Ferland for the information on Dr. Onil Lupien and for their help in finding my great grandfather’s home in Ponteix via Face Time. Also to Suzanne Lupien, Onil’s daughter for sharing photos with me on a spontaneous visit to her retirement home while in Ponteix. To my writer’s group for their endless patience, catching all those little mistakes—Kathleen Schmitt, Rod Baker, Edye Hanen, Douglas Aitken, and Ceil De Young. And to my Beta readers—Stuart West, Madeleine McLaughlin, Joan Donaldson-Yarmey, Darlene Foster, and Louise de Montigny. And finally, to my editor—Kathy Fischer-Brown—for her numerous suggestions that helped me make the book the best it could be.