The Reverend Egerton R. Young (1840-1909) was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. He became a Wesleyan Methodist minister in his early 20s, and in 1868 he and his wife were sent out for his first assignment as a missionary among the Indians. He continued to do mission work until 1887, then began a lecture tour in the eastern U.S, telling about his experiences among the Indians. In 1890 he completed the first of over a dozen books, all drawn upon his mission experience.