Alex Lord, a pioneer inspector of rural British Columbia (Canada) schools, shares in these recollections of his experiences in a province barely out of the stagecoach era. Traveling through vast northern territory, using unreliable transportation, and enduring climate extremes, Lord became familiar with the aspirations of remote communities and their faith in the humanizing effects of tiny "assisted" schools. En route, he performed in resolute yet imaginative fashion the supervisory functions of a top government educator, developing an educational philosophy of his own based on an understanding of the provincial geography, a reverence for citizenship, and a work ethic tuned to challenge and accomplishment. His words portray many of the unusual characters who inhabited this last frontier, along with their hopes, fears, joys, sorrows, and eccentricities. More particularly, Lord's memoirs point out the historical significance of the one-room rural school and its role as an indispensable instrument of community cohesion. The introduction by John Calam includes a biography of Alex Lord, a brief description of the British Columbia he knew, and a sketch of its public education system. Contains references in chapter notes, photographs, maps, and an index. (TD)