Beyond the Chilcotin

Pioneers Pan Phillips and his partner Rich Hobson carved their places in ranching history when they discovered 'grass beyond the mountains' in the far reaches of the Chilcotin and founded some of the most isolated ranches in North America. Thanks to a series of hugely popular books written by Hobson, their exploits became the stuff of legend and the hawk-nosed Phillips became one of Canada's enduring folk heroes. But if a man had to be tough to survive some of the roughest living in creation, what did a young girl have to be? This is the story of Pan Phillips' youngest daughter Diana, who learned to trap muskrat when she was little more than a toddler, worked with haying crews before she was into her teens and was renowned far and wide as the only person feisty enough to best her legendary father in a slanging match. Diana relives what was surely one of the most extraordinary upbringings in recorded history, recalling the most intricate aspects of life on a pioneer ranch with uncanny detail. In time Phillips became a masterful rancher herself and continued the life on her own ranch. "Beyond the Chilcotin" is both an unparalleled chronicle of the old time rancher's annual round and the testament of a remarkable woman.