L'Heureux, posing as a priest, left Quebec for the West in 1859 and eventually lived among Chief Crowfoot and the Blackfoot in Alberta. Until 1891, he acted as an interpreter and scribe for the First Nations and as a translator for the Department of Indian Affairs. In 1871, L'Heureux wrote this lengthy report describing the region of Alberta inhabited by the Blackfoot and Sarcee. He provides rich detail of the landscape, vegetation, wildlife, mineral resources, and possibilities for agriculture. The report also gives his own perspective of the social, political, and religious structures of the Blackfoot, Sarcee, Piegan, and Blood First Nations.