Egerton Ryerson Young

Born on April 7, 1840, in Crosby Township, Upper Canada, he trained as a teacher before entering the Methodist ministry. After early work in Ontario, he was sent in 1868 to Norway House in the North-West, where he served for years among Cree and Ojibwe communities.

Those experiences shaped the books that made him widely known. Writing in an energetic, story-rich style, he described travel, daily life, and missionary work in the Canadian North, and his lectures and publications helped bring that region to readers who knew little about it.

Later in life he continued to write and speak, building a reputation as both a popular lecturer and a prolific author. He died on October 5, 1909, in Bradford, Ontario.