This book explores a relatively small, but interesting and anomalous, region of Alberta between the North Saskatchewan and the Battle Rivers. The Beaver Hills arose where mountain glaciers from the west met continental ice-sheets from the east. An overview of the hills’ physiography helps us to grasp the complexity and diversity of landscapes, soil types, and vegetation communities. Ecological themes, such as climatic cycles, ground water availability, vegetation succession and the response of wildlife, and the impact of fires, shape the possibilities and provide the challenges to those who have called the region home or used its varied resources: Aboriginal peoples, Métis, and European immigrants.