Cougar Annie's Garden: An Overview
A remote garden blooms at the head of Hesquiat Harbour
on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Surrounded by rainforest and
mountains, this garden has endured for over eighty years. It is powerful
with story.
In 1915, Ada Annie Rae-Arthur came to this part of
the coast as a pioneer settler. She set to work clearing the land. A
garden of strange, meandering beauty slowly emerged from the deep forest.
Cougars prowled nearby, and Ada Annie shot dozens of them. She became
known as Cougar Annie.
Wily and stubborn, she operated a nursery garden,
a store and a post office from her home. She bore eight of her children
here, and she outlived four husbands. Until her mid-nineties, she remained
in her beloved garden.
Many strands of history and lore combine in this book
to weave together Cougar Annie’s story. Many tales are told of
the grim courage, blind hope and bitter losses that have shaped history
here.
In this book, Cougar Annie' s Garden is set in context;
the history of the surrounding coast is explored in detail, and many
of the extraordinary ventures in this area are examined.
Cougar Annie’s Garden tells of a dream
that lives on. Against all odds, this remarkable garden has survived
and it now enters a new era, thriving with fresh energy and beauty.
It will be preserved and maintained by the Boat Basin Foundation. The
Foundation welcomes groups interested in the ecology of Clayoquot Sound
to study at our new Temperate Rainforest Field Study Centre.
Cougar Annie's Garden, by Margaret Horsfield,
offers an intriguing perspective on West Coast history. A must for anyone
who knows, or wants to know, the coast. A perfect gift. This book is
available by direct order.
To order Cougar Annie's Garden
contact Salal Books:
salalbooks@boatbasin.org
Phone: 1-888-858-5455
Salal Books
PO Box 1021
Nanaimo BC
V9R 5Z2
