Research
My general research interest centres upon western settlement, land policy and resource development. I am currently working on the origin and evolution of water “rights” in the prairie west with particular reference to the impact of water policy upon First Nation peoples.
Research Interests
- Western Canadian history, particularly frontier society and development
- Agrarian and third party protest movements
- Land and resource use policy, especially grazing, petroleum and water
Publications
Books
D. Breen; C.Publishers CRKN. Alberta’s petroleum industry and the Conservation Board. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1993.
D. Breen; R.C. Macleod; A.Records Pu Board. William Stewart Herron: father of the petroleum industry in Alberta. Calgary, Alta: Alberta Records Publication Board, 1984.
D. Breen. The Canadian Prairie West and the ranching frontier 1874-1924. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1983.
D. Breen; K. Coates. Vancouver’s fair: an administrative and political history of the Pacific National Exhibition. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1982.
D. Breen; K. Coates; W.B. Chung; M.H.Chung Collection. The Pacific National Exhibition: an illustrated history. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1982.
D. Breen; L.G. Thomas. The Prairie west to 1905: a Canadian sourcebook. Toronto: Oxford University Press Canada, 1975.
Articles/Book Chapters
D. Breen, “1947: The Making of Modern Alberta”, in Alberta Formed-Alberta Transformed, M. Payne and Wetherell, D. Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta: University of Alberta and University of Calgary Press , 2005.
D. Breen, “Atlantic No. 3 Disaster: From Raging Inferno to Beacon of Promise”, in Harm’s Way: Disasters in Western Canada., A. Rasparish and Foran, M. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press , 2004, pp. 157-175.
D. Breen, “The Leduc Oil Discovery and the Making of Modern Alberta”, in CD-ROM: Canada: Confederation to Present, University of Alberta: Chinook Multimedia, 2001.
D. Breen, “A Peripheral Mentality: The Case of Alberta”, Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Kanada–Studien, Band 15, 9 Jahrgang/Nr 1, 1989, pp. 7–23., vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 7-23, 1989.
D. Breen, “The CPR and Western Petroleum, 1904–24”, in CPR West: The Iron Road and the Making of a Nation, H. A. Dempsey Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 1984, pp. 229–244, 321–324.
D. H. Breen, “Anglo-American rivalry and the evolution of Canadian petroleum policy to 1930”, The Canadian historical review, vol. 62, pp. 283-303, 1981.
D. Breen, “CALGARY: THE CITY AND THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY SINCE WORLD WAR TWO”, Urban History Review/Revue d’histoire urbaine, vol. 6, p. 55, 1977.
D. Breen, “The Turner Thesis and the Canadian West: A Closer Look at the Ranching Frontier”, in Essays on Western History, L. G. Thomas Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 1976, pp. 146–156.
D. Breen, “The Ranching Frontier in Canada, 1875–1905”, in The Prairie West to 1905: A Canadian Source Book, L. G. Thomas Toronto: OUP, 1975, pp. 217–397.
D. Breen, “The North West Mounted Police and the Ranching Frontier, 1875–1905”, in Men in Scarlet, H. A. Dempsey Calgary: McClelland and Stewart West, Ltd., 1974.
Reference Entries
D. Breen, “”William Pearce,” (Category IV Biography) Vol. XV, in press.”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XV. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, Toronto, Ont., 2005.
Reviews
D. Breen, ““King of the Wildcatters”: The Life and Times of Tom Slick, 1883-1930”, The Journal of American History, vol. 85. pp. 264-265, 1998.
D. Breen, “The golden age of the Canadian cowboy: An illustrated history”, CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, vol. 79. pp. 603-605, 1998.
D. Breen, “Alberta’s petroleum industry & the Conservation Board”, Western Report, vol. 8. p. 54, 1993.
D. Breen, “Alberta’s petroleum industry & the Conservation Board”, Books in Canada, vol. 22. p. 25, 1993.
Additional
D. Breen, “Private versus Public Water Rights: the Foundation of Water Law in the Canadian Prairie West”, International Water History Conference Alexandria, December 2003. International History Association and UNESCO, Bergen, Norway, 2004.
D. Breen, “The Northwest Irrigation Act 1894”, 2001.
D. Breen, “Second Sons Remittance men in the Canadian West”, One hour documentary for the History Channel vol. Deep Cove Creative Inc., Vancouver, 1999.
D. Breen, “John Ware: The Good Neighbour ”, One hour documentary for the History Channel, vol. Great North Productions, Edmonton, 1998.
D. Breen, “North American Cattle-Ranching Frontiers: Origins, Diffusion, and Differentiation”, The American Historical Review, vol. 100. pp. 488-488, 1995.
D. Breen, Canada, N. Film Board, and Canada), N. Museum of, “The ranching frontier in the Canadian West, 1874-1905”, vol. ser. 1, v. 16. 1974.