Backyard History

A trip to the Yukon Gold Rush leads to a series of completely unexpected twists, with a young Maritimer becoming the Speaker of Parliament ... and ending up sent to a lunatic asylum!

Detective William Carr (who appeared in the Joe Walnut episodes) goes for a relaxing trip into the forest to learn to hunt and fish, but ends up being hunted by rogue trappers...

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When a Wolastoqiyik man wasn’t allowed on a stagecoach, he vowed to race it to its destination, and won!

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The dramatic grand finale of the rum running boat The Liberty in part three of the Liberty On The Rocks trilogy.

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At age 15, Hugh Corkum becomes a rum runner to provide for his family after his father, a Lunenburg Nova Scotia sea captain, loses his job after crashing into an American sumbarine.

Part Two of the 'Liberty On The Rocks' trilogy about the Liberty, the fastest rum running ship of Atlantic Canada!

Buy the Backyard History book at backyardhistory.ca/book

The Mounties lay a trap for The Liberty, the most famous rum running ship in the Maritimes during Prohibition!

Part one of a three part series called "Liberty On The Rocks."

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A killer sent boxes of poisoned candies to religious leaders of Saint John, in this, the Backyard History's magnum opus episode!

Isolated islanders find a unique way to let Canadians know a storm cut them off from the mainland.

As Babe Ruth's life fell apart, he headed into the woods of the Maritimes in a secret and mysterious effort to get better...

The Canadian Forces in Italy during WW2 rescue a horse who they name Princess Louise who accompanies them throughout Europe and back home.

Juliana Horatia Ewing, a Victorian British author in Fredericton, formed an unlikely friendship with Welastekokewiyik master canoe builder Peter Polches, challenging societal norms; her transformative experiences led to a notable confrontation defending Indigenous people at a prestigious New Year's Party in 1869.

Backyard History's Christmas Special for 2023!

The dramatic rise and fall of Fredericton's curious detox centre, which involved patients taking a gold-based medicine to cure alcoholism!

https://backyardhistory.ca/the-long-reads/f/the-dr-leslie-e-keeley-gold-cure-institute-for-drunkards

As explosions rang out in Halifax in 1945, ordinary Haligonians raced toward the central ammunition storage depot to stop the flames before the city blew up … again!

backyardhistory.ca/f/the-second-halifax-explosion

Two young men volunteer to for a mysterious secret mission in Russia. One of them will not make it home alive.

https://backyardhistory.ca/f/canadas-forgotten-siberian-expedition-ollie-winslows-odyssey

One of the Maritimes’ most popular ghost stories is the tale of a cursed, eternally burning sailing ship haunting the waters off of the Northern coast of New Brunswick.

https://backyardhistory.ca/f/the-ghostly-fire-ship-of-the-baie-des-chaleurs

Leon Trotsky missed the beginning of the Russian Revolution because he was in -of all places- Amherst, Nova Scotia.

https://backyardhistory.ca/f/trotskys-maritimes-revolutionary-roadblock

PEI didn't even know it was at war when the American fleet appeared. The invaders went house to house stealing clothes, carpets, and curtains ... and their Great Seal. However, one Islander who was taken captive went on to become an important spy...

A spy arrives by U-Boat to sabotage Canada. He isn't very good.

https://backyardhistory.ca/the-long-reads/f/the-worlds-worst-nazi-spy