This book investigates the complex administrative and cultural relationship between the Canadian federal government and the prairie region from the time of the Hudson's Bay Company transfer until 1905. Lewis G. Thomas, a noted historian of the Canadian West, utilizes primary source documents to illustrate how the central government exerted colonial-style control over the newly acquired territories. The text argues that federal policy was driven by a desire to impose specific British-centric social values and maintain centralized authority over public lands and resources, effectively treating the region as a subordinate colony for decades.

Historians and scholars of Canadian regionalism frequently cite this work as a foundational source for understanding the structural inequalities inherent in early prairie administration. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which relies heavily on archival documentation to support its critical assessment of federal policy.