Dr. James Hector was barely into his twenties when he joined the Palliser Expedition, which would spend three years exploring the prairies and the mountain ranges of Canada. With only a network of ramshackle forts to support them, Hector and his colleagues braved harsh weather, unpredictable wildlife, personal conflict, and Native war parties to scout routes through the Rocky Mountains.
"The Intrepid Explorer" tells the story of the expedition from the point of view of one of its most remarkable members as he looks back on his life during one final visit to Canada in 1903. Lakusta's book is a vivid picture of a true hero of Canadian history, a man whose brush with death is commemorated to this day by the Kicking Horse Pass in British Columbia.