What brought Monica Storrs to embark on a wilderness life in the depressed thirties amidst the hardships of B.C.'s Peace River country - the last North American frontier?

Monica Storrs was to stay in the north for twenty years. She came to a wilderness almost roadless, townless, and schoolless, without amenities or culture; a land of hot, dusty summers and unpredictable, sub-Arctic winters; a land of untamed and unexpected grandeur.

Hearing the "clear call" of duty, she was endowed with a strong desire to serve the Anglican cause. A refined woman of 41, the delicately reared daughter of the dean of Rochester Cathedral, she was following a family tradition in seeking missionary work in rough and alien surroundings.

Her mission was the settlers and the frontier. She came to teach Sunday school and the traditions of guiding and scouting to tough, work-hardened country children. She rode horseback to bring the gospel to the families of isolated farmers and trappers. She welcomed the poor and hungry to her home -- both the God-fearing and the godless. And she was, for the most part, welcome in theirs.

She and the women who became her helpers were known affectionately by the people of the Peace as "God's Galloping Girls." Overcoming early fears of failure and rejection, she learned to subdue the prejudices of her moral and social upbringing and at last won acceptance and a permanent place in the heart of the north.

Monica Storrs' diaries are a moving narrative of a woman's indomitable courage, faith, and humour. Her story is a vivid, realistic description of frontier life and the struggle for survival. Her words convey the wild and primitive beauty of the Peace River country -- not just a region, but an adventure of the spirit.

W.L. Morton was Vanier Professor of History at Trent University from 1966 to 1975 and is once more Professor of History at the University of Manitoba, now on a post-retirement basis to lead a seminar in the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He was awarded the Tyrrel Medal of the Royal Society of Canada in 1968, and made an Office of the Order of Canada in 1969. He is the author of The Canadian Identity and The Progressive Party in Canada.

W.L. Morton's profile page

The content is what counts, and this book so accurately describes the Peace and the lives of its people during the 1930's that the readers who haven't already visited the area will want to do so, if only to see how much it has changed.

Victoria Times

God's Galloping Girl is a welcome addition to women's history, religious history, and the history of British Columbia settlement. It is a book which can be enjoyed both by those reading for pleasure and by those seeking information.

BC Studies

Immediacy is the book's greatest strength. The reader shares not only the writer's first impressions but also the limits of her chronological perspective. This means a direct experience of Monica Storr's hopes and disappointments and uncertainties and joys.

Brick