HUGH PEARSON MACMILLAN ROAMED THE HIGHWAYS, attics and basements of Ontario seeking out the often forgotten, usually unappreciated treasures of our documentary heritage. He involved himself in the founding of the Glengarry Historical Society, the Dunvegan Pioneer Museum, and the Nor'Wester and Loyalist Museum at Williamstown. In 1964, Hugh persuaded the Ontario Archives archivistto hire him as a 'roving archivist.' Over the next 25 years, he secured the deposit of an invaluable mass of documentation. All Canadians are in his debt for his initiative in 1967 to retrace voyageur canoe routes and to re-enact fur trade history. In 1984, MacMillan was honoured with a Doctorate of Letters by Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.

Here are just a few of the treasures located and acquired for the Archives of Ontario from 1964-1989, as recounted by Hugh P. MacMillan in Adventures of a Paper Sleuth:

The papers of Sir John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (Ontario), found with a farmer from New Zealand.

 A station wagon full of the papers of Colonel RR McLennan, CPR contractor, world champion hammer thrower, and Glengarry militia leader.

 The bugle from Canada's first warship, The Rainbow.

 A piece of presumed human skin in a small tin box, with a note announcing "This is a piece of skin taken from the neck of Cut Nose, Sioux Indian chief hanged at Mankato, Minnesota Territory in 1866."

 A previously unwanted collection now known to be the largest cache of 28mm film ever found in North America.

 "MacMillan deftly portrays the quirky characters he encountered in his travels, and the fascinating but unsung figures whose lives and works are preserved in historical records...MacMillan is a pure storyteller who avoids drawing grand conclusions about his life's work or the state of historical preservation in this country. But as you read his tales, you are reminded again and again that Canadian history is rarely dull and that this country has produced some truly unusual characters."

** Book Condition Note **

Some wear to top edge and corner of dust jacket otherwise book would be in very good condition.