CHAPS Cochrane Historical Museum
Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society
Beautiful Scenery
Visitors to the CHAPS Museum in Cochrane, Alberta are within an hour’s drive of Banff National Park and the mountain playgrounds west of Calgary that offer year round outdoor activities in a beautiful setting.
Located within The Cochrane Ranche
The Dominion Government incorporated a company in 1881 and it was known as the Cochrane Ranche Company. (excerpt from Big Hill Country page 155).
The Museum Building's History
Constructed in 1909 by the Davies family using bricks from the Collin’s Brick Yard. Built to be used as a hospital/nursing home and private residence. Moved to its current site in 2014.
Experience the history of
Canada's West
Through the eyes of its settlers, ranchers and farmers;
the service and supply businesses, the educators and more.
Mae and Gordon Moir Family pg 614 More Big Hill Country 2009
My first impression of Cochrane was from the cab of a Canadian Pacific Railway engine. My uncle was an engineer was on the run from Calgary to Banff and had a stopover at Cochrane for the brickyard
Don and Shirley Ramsay Family
The boys all rodeo, as did their father Murray. Baillie steer wrestles in the Pro circuit and also ropes. He has gone to the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton twice and to the Calgary Stampede many times. Baillie and Tanner won the Wild Cow Milking at the Calgary Stampede the last year that the trophy was given out.
Lorne Helmig Family
In 1983, the office and storage warehouse burned to the ground in a spectacular fire. Lorne helped to rebuild the business until his retirement in 1985.
Ken Raby Family
In 1910 he ran the livery stable in Cochrane and Stage Coach for passengers and mail to Bottrel and Dog Pound.
Sam and Helen Scott
Helen managed to get a school on the prairie, northwest of Hussar. Shallow Water School was quite a change from the doctors’ homes she had worked and lived in, in Calgary. Her living quarters were a dugout basement under the school and it was full of mice. To get away from the mice as best she could, Helen slept on the floor of the classroom until some of her pupils brought her some cats.
Vern and Evelyn Lambert – A story worth retelling
Vern and his brothers were very musical. In 1953 they started their own Country and Western Band which consisted of Vern, Ray, Gordon, Al McMahon and Fred Steinmetz at the beginning with Ted Westerson joining the Lambert Brothers later on.
