God’s Little Ships: A History of the Columbia

The men and women of the Columbia Coast Mission ships, legendary figures in the history of the BC coast, are brought vividly to life in this readable, well-researched volume. From 1904 to the mid-1970s, the mission sent out ships in all kinds of weather, delivering medical care and non-sectarian spiritual support to logging camps, Native villages and white settlements in 20,000 square miles of rugged coastline. John Antle, who founded the mission, was a devout and practical Christian who measured his success in services to BC's outposts, rather than material wealth or number of converts. Immortalized in Margaret Craven's I Heard the Owl Call My Name, and in the hearts and memories of families all over the coast, the mission was a glad, bold organization that could be as rough-cut and unconventional as the individuals it served.