Chinook

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The feature image is the familiar view of the chinook arch as seen from Big Hill Country.

THE CHINOOK – by Margaret Maw 

There is a mannerism peculiar to the people who live in Southern Alberta, which consists of a sudden jerk of the head as they scan the southwestern horizon. This is caused by a phobia called “Chinookitis,” and it’s very noticeable on a frosty day. These people don’t cringe into their coat collars, or frown at the icy road, for they are intent on detecting that lovely belt of sky-blue light which is the forerunner of a warm Chinook wind. 

A great deal of Alberta folklore centres around the Chinook. An Indian legend runs that Chinook was a beautiful maiden who wandered from the tribe, and was lost in the mountains of the southwest. The bravest warriors searched for her without avail, but one day a soft and gentle wind blew from the west. The Indians gazed at each other and whispered, “It is the breath of our beautiful Chinook.” The tales of the pioneers lack this poetic whimsy. For instance, one of them claims he was running a dog team into Calgary on a cold day. A chinook started to blow and while the lead dogs were plunging through deep snow, those behind were smothered in dust. Then there was a man who tied his team to a post sticking up; in came the  Chinook, and in the morning his horses were dangling from a church steeple!.   These tall tales illustrate in their own way, the rapidity with which cold and snow disappear in the path of a Chinook wind. 

These sudden warm winds which raise the temperature as much as fifty degrees in a few hours are not only peculiar to Alberta, they are also experienced in Greenland and Switzerland. The simplest explanation of a Chinook is that when a mass of warm air moves inland from the Pacific, it is forced upwards by the Rocky Mountains. Then as it drops downward towards the Alberta plains the pressure increases, since the air is denser at lower altitudes. Every one thousand feet the air descends, warms the temperature by 5.4 degrees, thus the temperature of air that is forced down ten thousand feet rises fifty-four degrees. 

Living in the banana belt isn’t always popular with the youngsters who like winter sports, and many older people blame their aches and pains on these sudden changes in temperature. Trees and shrubs too, suffer occasionally from too much June in January, but most people agree that it makes a pleasant break in the long winter season. 

The Chinook area in Alberta extends south beyond the United States border, runs north to Found Olds, and east to Medicine Hat. It’s a weather freak, a mixed blessing, but when the weather forecast is for a “warm, dry wind from the southwest” — when the sky lights up with an arch of heavenly blue, and the air becomes as spring, well – it’s pleasant weather! 

Rural Post Offices in Big Hill Country

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Feature image is of Caldbeck, located at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Patterson, Grand Valley. 

BIG HILL COUNTRY RURAL POST OFFICES  – Big Hill Country

The early ranchers and homesteaders led an extremely lonely life. The solitude was especially hard for their wives; they seldom left the shack which was their home and often did not see another woman for months. 

Little wonder. then, that mail from “Home”. was a treasure to be read and re-read. In addition to the letters which were the only contact with loved ones and friends in the outside world”, supplies were ordered by mail long before the advent of the Eaton’s Catalogue. Yard goods, ready-made garments, furniture, household supplies, tools, machinery, often groceries and medicines, luxuries such as books or music, all were ordered by mail by early settlers in many parts of the West. 

Many settlers lived a great distance from the nearest railway and established a post office, and received their mail, perhaps, only a few times a year. Thus it was that as an area became inhabited by sufficient settlers to warrant the establishment of a local post office, the Dominion Government was petitioned for such a service. 

The period from 1890 to 1910 saw a number of rural post offices opened in Big Hill Country. They remained open either until the population for some reason did not warrant their continuation or until roads and transportation improvements allowed the residents of the area to travel to a larger center, where stores and other facilities were available, as well as a post office. In other cases, rural mail delivery was started along the main roads.

The following rural post offices were operated throughout Big Hill Country for varying periods of time: 

  • Caldbeck, located at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Patterson, Grand Valley. 
  • Lochend, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Laidlaw. 
  • Inglis, at A. McCrady’s house. It is rather surprising that Inglis and Lochend Post Offices were only about six miles apart, although the area was not thickly settled. 
  • Bradbourne, later moved a short distance and re-named Dog Pound. 
  • Bottrel, located in the store first opened by J. T. Boucher, and in operation until 1969. 
  • Sampsonton, re-located at Madden with the coming of the railway in 1931.
Bottrel Post Masters

Mining in Cochrane

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The feature image is of the Miner’s shacks at Mitford.

MINING IN THE COCHRANE AREA — by M. E. Spicer 

Several attempts at mining coal took place over the years in the Cochrane area. Most of the mines were abandoned within a short period of time. First ones to search for coal in the area, as far as there is any record of, were Albert McMasters, Charles Bannatyne and Walter Elliot. No doubt others searched for it prior to the railway coming through. In 1885 several efforts were made to establish coal mines in the area, and one gentleman by the name of Chaffey, purchased mining rights in what was known as the “Big Hill” location and he formed the Bow River Mining Company. The Big Hill location was the name given to a promising coal site on the south side of the Bow River, opposite the mouth of Coal Creek. A coal seam was struck a few feet below the surface. In 1886 Mr. Chaffey went into partnership with Mr. Merrill and a short time later Mr. Chaffey dropped out of the Company. The mine was not a success and late in 1886 it flooded.

 In January 1887, Merrill removed the machinery and abandoned the mine. The location was sold to J. W. Vaughan who tried mining some coal from it but, late in 1887, he abandoned the mine also. He started prospecting on the north side of the river around the mouth of Coal Creek and soon found a promising seam just east of the creek about three-quarters of a mile above its mouth. A shaft was sunk but Mr. Vaughan was faced with the problem of transporting the coal from the mine to the railway. 

The Betsy Rail Line passed a short distance north of the mine and this seemed the obvious solution to the transportation problem. In June 1888, Tom Cochrane and Algernon St. Maur purchased two-thirds interest in the mine and constructed a spur line from the mine to the sawmill track.

In 1890 W. Vaughan evidently sold out his interest in the mine because records show that at a later date the mine was leased to J. H. McNeil. The mine was abandoned in 1890. The slag pile from this mine can still be seen from the 1A Highway west of Cochrane, at Coal Creek. 

In 1908 a mine was opened up on Section 13-26 5-5, by Mitford Collieries Ltd. This mine was known as the Valerie Mine. J. Russell and D. Gray were the mine managers and the mine surveyor was F. Bell. The mine was shut down in 1915 with a total production of 20,532 tons. 

In 1917 a mine was opened on 17-26-5-5, known as the Radnor mine. The owner was H. E. Lyon with manager J. C. Greenwood. It was abandoned in April 1919, as the water broke into the mine. The total production was 150 tons.

Phillips and Company Ltd. opened a mine on 18-26-5-5 in 1917. The mine manager was John Robertson. It was closed down September 1918, with a total production of 25 tons. 

Bonnie Brae Coal Company opened a mine on 6-26-4-5 in October 1911. The mine manager was S. D. McCorkindale; 283 tons were mined and it was shut down in 1912 because the machinery needed replacing and there was a shortage of funds to continue operation. The same mine was reopened in 1924 by W. M. McGlashing. He took out 227 tons. The mine flooded and funds to operate it ran out so it was closed down. 

In 1932 Western General Agencies opened a mine on 19-25-4-5. The manager was C. C. Walker. This location was on the Jumping Pound. There is no record of any coal being mined and it was abandoned in 1933. 

Duncan Shelly operated the stone quarries north of Cochrane. He tested a number of outcroppings and in 1908 he opened up a stone quarry. The outcroppings were along the northwest side of the valley of Big Hill Creek. The formation of stone mined from the quarries yielded the finest of building stone. The stone was buff in type, but there were variations in grain and colour. The workings were about one and a half miles north of Cochrane at a considerable elevation above the creek. Desirable stone was only found in the upper zone. Considerable overburden and a lot of stone that was of no value, plus the steepness of the banks, restricted development to numerous small openings in the escarpment.

The offices and the cutting plant were located in Calgary. Mr. Shelly advertised in England for stone cutters and masons but he also hired local men to work in the quarry. In the summers of 1911, 1912, and 1913, three quarries were in operation and two hundred men were employed. 

Transportation of the stone to the railway was a big problem. The stone had to be hauled to Cochrane and loaded on cars to go into Calgary to the cutting plant. A large number of buildings in Alberta were built using stone from the Shelly Quarries; among some of the buildings are several schools in Calgary. Some of the sandstone buildings have been torn down but there are still some left in the City, for people to admire. The quarries started closing down in 1918 and by the early twenties were completely closed down. 

Water Wells and Witching for Water

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WATER WELLS AND WITCHING FOR WATER  – Big Hill Country

The early settlers arriving in Big Hill Country found it very important to find a good source of water near which to build. The water supply and its source played a very important part in the settlers’ choice of land because the amount of water available determined the number of stock they could own. They tried to settle close to a spring or creek, if possible. As more homesteaders moved into the area, other sources of water had to be found, so wells were dug. This was hard work and generally required two persons; one was down the hole digging and filling a bucket, which was then hauled to the surface by his partner, using a rope or a windlass. Often the settler’s wife was the person hauling up the dirt. In many areas the wells were over a hundred feet deep and required cribbing as they were dug, to prevent cave-ins. Once the water was found, the well had to be cribbed regardless of depth. Flat rocks, rails or planks were used. The wells had to be covered to prevent accidents, and a pump installed if the settler could afford one. Otherwise, a rope and windlass system was used. 

The art of witching or dowsing for water is a very interesting subject. There are many people who do not believe in it, hence the probable origin of the name “witching”, but if those same people have to have a well drilled, the first thing they do is to start looking for a well-witcher. One witcher in the Cochrane district witched over twenty wells in the area in 1976. 

Some water witchers use a forked willow branch and by gripping the two forks firmly, the willow rod will move up and down when placed over and underground current of water. Some people use two metal rods called divining rods or even wire. Sometimes when the willow rods are held tight, and the pull from the underground stream is strong, the witcher’s hands will strip the bark off the willow. The witcher generally tries to find the intersection of two streams of water as a suitable place to drill for water. He can tell how deep the stream is, and how many gallons of water per minute a well can be expected to produce. 

Witching does not work for everyone, but when the wrists of an unsuccessful person are held by a witcher, the rod will turn to indicate an underground stream. 

An encyclopedia states, “Persons using this device are sometimes successful only because they have a common-sense idea of where water is usually found.” This statement has not always been true; the ability to witch for water seems to be inherited. 

Some people call witching magic; others, voodoo; it is even suggested that it is a form of extra-sensory perception. In any case, many of the wells dug or drilled in the Cochrane area through the years have had their location chosen by a water witcher. 



Morleyville Detachment N.W.M.P.

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This Article was written in 1977 for Big Hill Country. It seems fitting today to include an interpretation of the history of Policing in Canada particularly in our area.

THE MORLEY DETACHMENT OF N.W.M.P. – by Jean L. Johnson 

The first connection between the North West Mounted Police and Morleyville came about when Lieutenant-Governor Morris, the first to hold this office in the N.W.T.. requested Rev. George McDougall to proceed on a mission to the Blackfoot and other Indian tribes and explain to them why the Queen was sending a police force to the North West Territories. The McDougalls were very successful in this venture and justified the high opinion in which they were held by both red man and white. 

In 1875 the N.W.M.P. had assembled at Tail Creek on the lower crossing of the Red Deer River to await the arrival of General Selby Smyth. One part of the troop was moved to the upper crossing of the Red Deer and ordered to the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers where a fort was to be established. They struck off on a well-marked trail which led them to the Ghost River and on to Morleyville. They then struck east down the Bow River and arrived at the site of their fort. The fact that they were at Morleyville before going on to the chosen location was not an error on their part; this was the regular trail. Other travellers have preferred this route although it was longer than going straight south to Calgary. 

On September 22, 1877, the Stoney Indians signed Treaty Number 7, the Chiefs who signed being John Cheneka, Bear’s Paw and Jacob Ki chi-pwot, while among the Stoney Councillors who signed were the familiar names of James Dixon and George Crawler. They received their first treaty payment in 1880. This money was paid out to the Stoney Indians by Inspector Francis Dickens of the N.W.M.P. He was a son of the famous English novelist, Charles Dickens. 

The first serious crime from the Morleyville centre occurred in September 1881. Rev. McDougall reported that a large band of horses had been stolen from Morleyville, presumably by Indians from farther south. Investigation showed that the horses had been driven southward towards Fort Macleod, and the word was sent to Supt. Crozier to keep a sharp lookout for them. A small party of N.W.M.P. members was dispatched at once and soon 23 stolen horses were recovered and three Indians arrested. One miscreant turned out to be Jingle Bells who had killed a Cree Indian at the Blackfoot Crossing and had escaped custody at Fort Macleod in the summer of 1880. Another was Marrow Bones, an accomplice of the former and a well-known trouble maker; the third was a youth named The Only-Wood. 

When the three were placed on trial for horse stealing they were all found guilty by Magistrate Macleod who was the recently retired N.W.M.P. Commissioner. Jingle Bells was sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary, Manitoba. Marrow Bones drew 18 months in jail at Macleod while The-Only-Wood was given one year.

In 1883 the first actual N.W.M.P. detachment was established at Morleyville. The Post was a log cabin on the north side of the Bow River just north of the Mission down beside Jacob Creek. The main reason for the detachment was the grading and tracking of the C.P.R. as it pushed its way from Calgary. Constant patrolling was kept up along the line with a view to preventing prairie and forest fires. The contractors took little care to keep fires from spreading and much valuable timber was destroyed. Innumerable fires were put out by the Mounties and a large number of arrests made but in most cases, it was impossible to obtain conviction due to lack of evidence. 

As the grading went on into the mountains the necessity for further maintaining the detachment at Morleyville disappeared and the non commissioned officers and men from there were moved to the detachment at Padınore, eighteen miles west of Morleyville. 

In the distribution sheets for “E” Division, Calgary, in 1888, Morley is shown as a detachment with a strength of two constables and two horses. It is only presumed that when this detachment was re-opened this year, its location was the same as in 1883. There is no definite information on this point. The detachment remained active until 1907, at which time it was closed. 

Morley Detachment was re-opened in 1912 with one constable and one horse on strength. The buildings for this Detachment were built on the flat on the south side of the Bow River and the first Mountie there was Constable Barber. On March 1, 1917, the Province of Alberta relieved the Force of police duties and formed the Alberta Provincial Police. 

In 1932 the Force absorbed the Alberta Provincial Police and re-opened a detachment in Morley. One corporal and one horse were on strength at the establishment. This posting was lowered to a constable position in 1935. Constable Solway was the last man to patrol from that detachment, mounted. The last R.C.M.P. there was Constable Brian Wright who was in charge of training and handling a Police dog. That was in 1945. In 1946 there were no men at this detachment and only one vehicle on strength. In 1947 the detachment was closed. 

In 1935 the old log N.W.M.P. post was moved to Victoria Park in Calgary. 

In 1905 the name of the force was changed to Royal North West Mounted Police (R.N.W.M.P.). 

In 1920 it became Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.)

Volunteer Week 2020

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April 19-25 is National Volunteer Week. We have much to be grateful for:

Many of our posts this month have been taken from “Big Hill Country”. I’ve found some extraordinary stories of our past. I’ve come to appreciate the enormous effort from those volunteers. Please take a look at the images that follow.

CHAPS is the organization that funds and runs the Cochrane Historical Museum. We thank all our volunteers that research and develop exhibits, educate members and the public at monthly meetings, staff the museum while dressed in period clothes and those that fund raise to allow the continued operation of the Museum and Projects.

We are in extraordinary times. CHAPS would like to thank all the volunteers and organizations that are looking after our community.

We’d like to hear your story of life during the pandemic. Your story could become the basis of a future exhibit, video, or social media post.

Contact Us
Dedication Big Hill Country by Marjorie Spicer
The Pioneers by Fred Kidd MLA
Lt. Gov Ralph Steinhauer Q.C.

Barbed Wire Phones

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Big Hill Country has a story about the imaginative ways pioneers stayed in touch. Images are from the Internet and not from Big Hill Country.

BARBED WIRE PHONES 

By 1947 there were still many homes in Grand Valley without telephone service. Mr. Christie suggested to Audrey Tempany that she should buy two Army Surplus telephones, one to be placed in her home and one in her mother’s. The phones were hooked to the fences between the two places; this meant putting in high posts at gates and on either side of roads so that the connection would not be broken. The success of this system prompted Mr. Christie to buy two more telephones; one was connected to Keith’s house, as Mrs. Keith was very ill, and the other to Mr. Meggitt’s cabin, as he was cutting posts on his land, and lived alone. The same number system as that used by the North Mutual Company was used; Audrey had both telephones and used the same number for each. The rings had a different tone, so she usually answered the right phone. The telephones were sold for about $5 a pair, and within a short time, there were 22 connected within a six-mile radius. Beyond that, the reception was not good. 

Audrey was the originator of the idea, and made the ruling, that everyone should listen in on all conversations, or be cut off. On cold winter days, the telephones were in almost continuous use. Visiting would start in the afternoon, with several people talking to each other. Some would sign off to do chores, for supper or to go to bed; others would come on the line, and the hardy ones would talk far into the night. These barbed wire phones served not only to while away lonely hours in the winter, but to relay information about road conditions, who was going to town that could bring out mail and groceries and were very valuable in emergencies such as accidents. Since Audrey had both telephones she was often asked to make outside calls for her neighbours, and she passed on many messages. 

The rings did not come in very clearly, and connections were poor in warm wet weather. However, the barbed wire telephones fulfilled a very real need in the winter, in an area that was often badly snowbound.

The North Bow Roundup

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This article from page 33 of Big Hill Country really paints a picture of the area in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. 

THE NORTH BOW ROUNDUPS 

Before the Cochrane area was settled by homesteaders, a number of ranchers owned large herds of horses and cattle. These herds grazed over the unfenced land from the Morley Indian Reserve to Calgary, and generally, mingled together. Early Mounted Police records indicate that Cochrane ranchers’ cattle ranged from the Bow River to the Little Red Deer River, and east to Nose Creek, although they often drifted farther afield in storms, or in search of fresh pasture. According to information in early brand books, some of the ranchers had ranges, but their unfenced boundaries were vaguely defined. For example, an 1896 edition of Henderson’s Brand Booklists E. H. Botterell’s range as the Westbrook Ranch and Dog Pound Creek; Barney Madden’s range was Beaver Dam Creek. The 1903 Brand Book lists the following: A. J. McDonald’s range was north of the Bow River; R. W. Cowan’s, Big Hill Creek; Mount Royal Ranch, north of Cochrane; A. C. Sparrow’s, both sides of the Bow River; Geo. M. McDougall’s, north and south of the Bow, and the Calgary Cattle Co.’s, northwest of Calgary. Only some of the ranchers’ ranges were listed, but it is obvious that cattle or horses could be “at home on the range” almost anywhere. 

No information or photographs are available about any roundups of horses in the Cochrane area; herds were generally small enough that they were, presumably, kept closer to the home ranch.

The intermingling of various herds meant that the cattle had to be gathered occasionally and sorted. Roundups were usually held in the fall. The owners sorted their cows and calves so that the calves could be branded and weaned. Steers were also cut out for fattening or immediate sale; any mavericks were cut out and trailed to market. Proceeds from their sale were generally divided among those ranchers having cattle in the bunch that was rounded up. 

After mange became prevalent, dipping was made compulsory in 1904, and roundups were held for that purpose. 

In 1890 a census of livestock in Southern Alberta was taken by the Mounted Police. Figures were compiled from ranchers’ estimates, the judgements of N.W.M.P. patrol constables and roundup figures. Livestock numbers listed were very approximate; estimates of the big ranchers would be low, while small ranchers would tend to exaggerate a bit. The report lists the following Cochrane district ranchers and the number of animals they owned: 

NAME HORSES CATTLE
J. Robertson 300 600
Bow River Horse Ranch 500 --
D. McDougall 275 500
J. McDougall 73 200
Leeson and Scott -- 615
Mount Royal Ranch -- 600
W. D. Kerfoot 53 500
W. Bell-Irving 91 150
J. McKinnell -- 240
Brealy Bros. -- 220
Shea and Madden -- 200
R.W. Cowan -- 200
Sibbald Bros. 50 200

This list of ranchers is incomplete, according to the list of brand owners at that time; it also seems inconceivable that a rancher would own several hundred head of cattle, but would not have a horse to his name.

The biggest roundup in Alberta’s history took place in May 1884, near Fort Macleod. One hundred men took part, using a remuda of five hundred horses. Fifteen mess wagons provided food for the men. About sixty thousand cattle were rounded up. Picture the vastness of the herd, the noise, and the dust! Picture, too, the problems involved in feeding, watering, holding and sorting such a large number of cattle. The ranchers involved decided that such a general roundup was too cumbersome, and from then on smaller ones were held. 

No information is available as to the size of roundups in the Cochrane area but judging from photographs, several thousand cattle were gathered. The gathering area was at Cochrane Lakes; abundant water and grass were available there, and the fairly level land north and east of the lakes also made it a suitable place. 

When one speeds along the Dog Pound road, officially known as Highway 22, it is difficult to visualize the country as it looked in 1900 or before. The largest of the three Cochrane Lakes can be seen west of the road. Roundup camps were generally situated on the east side of the lakes. The cattle were held east and north of the lakes, possibly because of the heights of land to the south and west. 

According to photographs, which unfortunately are not dated, about twenty men usually took part in the Cochrane Lakes roundup. There is no definite information as to when the last roundup took place. It can be assumed that settlement, which meant the end of the open range, and the severe winter of 1906-07, during which hundreds of cattle perished, ended the practice in about 1907. 

Other roundups held in Big Hill Country included those on the Beaver Dam Creek (gathering place unknown), and at Rocky Butte, on Section 24-26-2-5, north of Jim Stevenson’s present home. According to reports, the last roundup at Rocky Butte was held about 1910, and twenty thousand cattle were gathered. 

Laurie Johnson recalls: 

“In the fall of 1910, there was a cattle roundup at Rocky Butte. It covered the territory from Nose Creek to the Bow River and west to Cochrane Lakes. There was a shack for the cookhouse, where a man named Charlie did the cooking, and there was a tent for the riders. One or two of the ranchers who lived nearby went home at night. As the cattle were gathered, they were held in fields that had been fenced. 

“The following ranchers took part in the roundup: James Robertson of Crossfield, D. P. McDonald of Mount Royal Ranch, George McDonald of Rocky Butte, Ernie Archibald, Gustave Delbeke, Johnny Robinson of Big Springs Ranch, Fred Newsome of the Burnt Ground, Angus McDonald of Beaver Dam, and myself. I was working for Angus McDonald and was fourteen years old at that time. I am the only one of these men alive today.” 

As Big Hill Country becomes more heavily populated, fences crisscross even the quarter sections, and pasture fields steadily shrink. It becomes harder to visualize our country as it was when cowboys gathered the free-ranging cattle for the roundup. The words of the song, Don’t Fence Me In, are a lament for the “good old days.”

There is so much more work to do.

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Race Track

Cochrane’s other Hotel

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Cochrane once had a second Hotel on Main Street where the Royal Bank currently is. Its story and its founder is described on page 249 of “Big Hill Country”

Images courtesy of “Big Hill Country” and CHAPS archives. Click on any image for a larger version.

A.J. MURPHY AND THE ALBERTA HOTEL — by Helen Murphy Brown 

It has been said of A. J. Murphy that he was a great contributor to the development and prosperity of Alberta, and that his accomplishments did much to make the resources of Alberta known and its opportunities and future appreciated not only in Eastern Canada but in the United States. 

Joe Murphy, as he was known to his friends, was born and educated in Mount Forest, Ontario.

 

In 1882 when he was twenty years old his father, who was a Dominion land surveyor, took him West with a survey party. From Brandon, Manitoba, they travelled by Red River carts to Prince Albert, surveying ten townships before returning to Winnipeg in the fall of 1883. There the young man went into the plumbing business, and it was not until the spring of 1888 that he continued west to Calgary where he started a boot and shoe business. In 1891-92, or possibly earlier, he carried the mail between Calgary and Macleod. About this time the railway between those towns was completed so he bought some teams of horses and went to work on the construction of the Crow’s Nest Pass Railroad. Later he took his outfit to Lake Dauphin on the C.P.R. 

Although he had many interests his greatest love was for good horses and the most famous of the many he owned was the Thoroughbred, Cyclone. In 1896 he showed him at the Toronto Exhibition and as this was the only entry from the Northwest Territories the horse was transported free of charge from Winnipeg to Toronto. That year Cyclone was shown at the racetracks in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Detroit and at the Chicago World’s Fair. On the track, he won many races and his name was known on both sides of the border to all who were interested in good horses. 

J. Murphy was an excellent judge of a horse and was asked to judge at many shows. This he enjoyed doing. He would drop everything to talk “horse” with an interested or knowledgeable person. About 1900 he located a horse ranch about two miles from Cochrane, adjacent to the present St. Francis Retreat, and made it one of the most important stock farms in Alberta. He raised Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and draft horses that won many ribbons for him at the Calgary Exhibition and other shows. Ike Pepper worked for him at the ranch, enabling him to attend to his many other interests. He was one of the founding members of the Cochrane Racing Association and was a starter at the Cochrane Race Track for many years.

 In 1898 he and his brother, Jim, built the Alberta Hotel on the main street in Cochrane. This was a large frame building, three stories high, with a verandah across the front and a balcony above the verandah. The hotel became the social centre for Cochrane and a large surrounding district and was the scene of certain wild and woolly escapades. In that same year, they built the Murphy Livery Stable, and closer to the hill Joe Murphy had a lumber yard. He turned the management of the livery stable over to someone else but managed the lumber yard himself. 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Murphy

In 1904 he married Miss Helen O’Reilly of Norwood, Ontario. In 1905 he gave up the management of the hotel, rented it to others and moved into a house about a block away. In 1910 he built a fine home at the mouth of the coulee. The stable had a high stone foundation, the yard was nicely landscaped and the lot surrounded ed by a stone wall. In 1920 this house was sold to the Gillies family. 

Mr. and Mrs. Murphy had one daughter, Helen, and after Jim Murphy’s death, they raised his son, Jim. The other children of Jim Murphy often spent the summers with their aunt and uncle. Helen Murphy married Ed Brown who predeceased her. They had a son and a daughter who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers, Ken as an engineer, and Sylvia in the Department of External Affairs. She is Secretary to the Canadian High Commissioner, has been stationed in Paris, Tokyo, Singapore, Nairobi and Guyana and she is fluently bi-lingual. 

 

Joe Murphy’s many achievements were invaluable to his community and his province. Yet all who knew him loved him most for his wonderful personality and disposition and for his kindness to all in need. No one was ever turned away from his door. He was a loyal friend, an entertaining host and a gentleman. An old friend remembers that his remarks were often prefaced with the words, “Do you see -.” “Do you see,” he would say, “It would last as long as a white shirt in a free fight!” 

On June 25th, 1920, Joe Murphy was injured in a car accident. He was taken to the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary. Mrs. Murphy who was a Registered Nurse stayed with him and helped to nurse him, but he died on July 17, 1920. 

The funeral was the largest that had ever been held in Cochrane. Requiem High Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father Hermes in St. Mary’s of Cochrane. F. L. Gainer sang and there were many beautiful flowers and wreaths. A multitude of friends joined with his family in mourning his loss and fifty cars were in the funeral cortege that climbed the Big Hill to the Catholic cemetery. 

Mrs. Murphy and Helen went to live in Calgary but kept the hotel. It was rented and on one occasion was sold but Mrs. Murphy had to take it back. The last renter was J. W. Dickenson. In 1927 it was destroyed by fire. A few furnishings were saved but the big oil painting of Cyclone which hung there was overlooked and lost. 

NOTE: Helen Murphy Brown passed away in May 1975. 

Merino Ranch

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CHAPS first history book has a history of the Merino Ranch that used to exist west of town. I’d only recently learned of the Countess Bubna so its interesting to hear more of her story.

MERINO RANCH — by Margaret Buckley 

It is believed that J. A. W. Fraser homesteaded part of the property later known as the Merino Ranch.

In 1891, Frank White purchased the SE and SW14 of section 2-26-5-5. Here he raised a large herd of Merino sheep and gave the Merino Ranch its name. Prior to Frank’s purchase of land, he resided in a shack and had some sheep sheds built on SE114 13-25-5-5. It was here his sheep grazed on the hills and valleys near the Jumping Pound Creek in 1890 when the land surveyors came through the area. 

Around the turn of the century, Frank found it impossible to raise sheep profitably. Cattlemen were enjoying a boom, with over 1300 head being shipped from Cochrane in 1900 and 1901. The Boer War kept the horse market healthy. During this time Frank, the only sheep rancher of any size, disposed of his stock as he had been losing money steadily during the 1890s. He sold the ranch to C. W. Fisher in 1901.

Mr. Fisher imported a herd of Shorthorn cattle to stock the ranch but when he entered political life, he sold the ranch to A. McPherson. Mr. Fisher then purchased the property now known as the St. Francis Retreat.

In 1910, Mr. McPherson sold the cattle and went into the raising of horses. He was appointed one of the captains of the first Polo Club formed in Cochrane in 1909. W. Hutchinson was the other captain. Mr. McPherson also had holdings in the Argentine. He married Mary “Dumpy” Ritchie, daughter of Dr. T. Ritchie, and in 1912 sold the ranch to Countess Bubna for thirty-six thousand dollars. The McPhersons moved to the Argentine where two sons and two daughters were born. The children were raised in the Argentine but the McPhersons returned to Cochrane in 1929 to visit Mary’s sister, Rena (Mrs. Archie Howard). On this visit, they brought a parrot from Rio de Janeiro. The parrot swore in Spanish and was left with Rena in Cochrane when the McPhersons returned to their home. McPherson’s’ sons were killed in two separate car accidents, one year apart, in the Argentine. One daughter, Betty Risso, passed away in Toronto in 1974. Their other daughter, Lucy Feldman, resides in the U.S.A.

In 1912, the Countess Bubna appointed E. L. McBride manager of the ranch. She imported a number of English Shire horses, considered to be the best quality heavy horses ever brought into Alberta. She also owned the first tractor in the country. 

Countess Bubna had two very talented daughters and after arriving at the ranch the Chapman Brothers, from Cochrane, were hired to build their beautiful home. The ceilings were 16 feet high and the house had a skylight. The rooms were built in a circle, leading to a living room furnished with lovely furniture from England bearing the English family crest. 

During the time the Countess owned the Merino Ranch, she added to her holdings considerably. There were a number of homesteaders who wanted to move, so she bought their land from them and built the ranch into a going concern. She stocked it with cattle and proved a very capable businesswoman. 

Alex MacKay and his wife Annabell worked for many years for the Countess. 

Having come originally from London, England, the Countess was a very interesting person. She was the daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland and the step-daughter of the Duke of Sutherland. She married an Austrian Count and in 1911 came to Canada to buy a ranch, satisfying an early ambition. It was hoped that the Count would be able to join her in this country, but due to the International situation at that time, he was not allowed to enter Canada 

The Countess and her daughters spent the summers on the ranch and the winters in the U.S.A. While at the ranch, she made many friends in the district. After operating the ranch until 1922, she traded it to Malcolm McLennan for his 7000-acre ranch a few miles south of Vernon, British Columbia. In addition to receiving a substantial amount of cash, Mr. McLennan took over the 4500-acre ranch and 500 head of cattle. 

The Countess’ ranch in Vernon was known as the Postill Ranch and was considered to be one of the best properties in the Okanagan. She remained in British Columbia for a short time, then went to Egypt so she could be near her husband. She devoted herself to writing a play but died before it was finished. 

Mr. McLennan operated the Merino Ranch and during his ownership added another 2500 acres. He had bought the ranch for his son but the son was thrown from his horse and killed instantly. As Mr. McLennan had no further interest in the ranch after his son’s death, he sold the ranch to Ralph Coppock and on October 20, 1930, he moved to the U.S.A. 

Ralph Clifton Coppock was born in Merriam, Kansas, and ranched west of High River from 1911 to 1918 when he sold his property to F. J. Hartell. The village of Hartell was formed on the property later. He lived in High River from 1918 1927 when he and his family moved to Madden, Alberta, where he ranched until 1929. 

After purchasing the Merino Ranch in 1931, he built up the 7000-acre ranch into an enterprising concern. He bred up an outstanding herd of commercial Hereford cattle and in his feedlots, produced a quality product that found favour on the South St. Paul and Chicago markets. He also topped the market in Vancouver, in the 1940s with a shipment of 110 steers from his feedlot. Along with his cattle operation, Mr. Coppock developed a hog operation, where he marketed 250 bacon-type hogs annually. He cultivated 800 acres of his own land but every year purchased thousands of bushels of grain from neighbours in the Cochrane area for his feedlot. He also bought feeder steers to supplement the steers produced on his own ranch. Mr. Coppock was a member of the King Solomon Lodge A.F. and A.M. in Cochrane and the Western Stock Growers Association. 

Mr. and Mrs. Coppock had three sons, R. C Coppock Jr., Kenneth and Gerald and one daughter, Dorothy. Mrs. Coppock passed away in 1940 and Mr. Coppock in 1943. 

C. Coppock Jr., (Clifton) attended Palo Alto University and was a banker. He married Marion Crawford, daughter of Dr. Crawford and niece of Arthur and Ethel Crawford. 

Ken was secretary-manager of the Western Stock Growers Association and editor of the Canadian Cattleman magazine. He then owned and operated Kenway’s Saddle and Western Wear store in Calgary. 

Dorothy graduated from Palo Alto University and was a singer. She married Elwyn Bugge and they lived in Palo Alto, California. 

Gerald went to school at Cochrane, met and married Mary Rees, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Rees. Gerald was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army Corps and after the passing of his father, he managed the Merino Ranch until 1946. 

The Merino Ranch was sold in 1946 to the Federal Government Department of Indian Affairs along with the adjoining acres of Arthur Crawford. This area became an extension of the Stoney Indian Reserve. The original log house, built-in 1881 was still standing and in livable condition at the time of the sale. 

A big auction sale was held to dispose of the possessions on the ranch, thus ending the era of the Merino Ranch of the Cochrane District. 

Local Buffalo Jumps

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The first of CHAPS history books “Big Hill Country” contains an article about one of the local Buffalo Jumps.

A couple of notes:

  • the original article was written in 1977 and has been slightly edited to appear here.
  • local Jumps are on private property to which the public does not have access.
  • Alberta has a World Heritage Site at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump which is a wonderful day trip.
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

THE HUTCHINSON BUFFALO JUMP – by Sunni S. Turner 

The Hutchinson Buffalo Jump, located in the vicinity of Big Hill Springs, was discovered in 1968 by an amateur archaeologist, Ken Browne, of Calgary. 

It was excavated in the spring and summer of 1972 by students from the University of Calgary, Archaeological Division, under the direction of Larry Lahren,  Miss Marie Murray and Foster Kirby, with the kind permission of the landowner,  Jonathan Hutchinson. Numerous artifacts and relics were analyzed and identified. It was designated as “The Hutchinson Buffalo Jump Eh Po7.” 

In the early days, the First Nations people killed buffalo and slaughtered them in great numbers in order to provide sustenance. The buffalo roamed the prairies in great herds and First Nations people devised several ways of killing them, such as the buffalo jump, the pounds and the surrounds. 

A buffalo jump is a kill site where a herd of buffalo was forced over a steep cliff or embankment. The buffalo that were not killed in the initial fall would be sufficiently wounded or crippled to be more easily dispatched by the hunters. Such jumps were usually found below cliffs or steep slopes, sometimes along creeks or coulees. One or more layers of buffalo bones may be found, the layers varying from several feet to over a hundred feet in depth. 

Another method of hunting buffalo was the pound or corral. A structure of logs, stones, and brush plus the use of the natural contours of the land would all be utilized. The herd would be slowly started in the desired direction. Perhaps several hunters would masquerade as wolves and slowly chase the herd. Men, women and children well hidden amid the rocks, hills and natural cover, would be stationed in lines in a big V, sometimes for a distance of several miles. As the buffalo went by, the hunters would shout and make a great commotion, thus alarming the herd and stampeding them into the pound, where the avid hunters lay in wait. 

With the acquisition of horses and rifles by First Nations people, it was not so necessary to maim the buffalo by running them over cliffs (i.e. buffalo jumps) or to trap them in corrals or pounds. Now the mounted hunters could ride up to the herd of buffalo and circle around them, causing the animals to mill about in confusion. The hunters, shouting, waving and shooting at the herd as they rode in an ever changing circle, afforded the buffalo little chance of escaping such a surround. 

Sometimes the hunters would set fire to the prairie around the buffalo herd to drive them in a certain direction. There is evidence of a line drive in the Hutchinson buffalo jump. Here, lines of rock and the natural contours of the land formed a funnel shape. The buffalo herd was gathered on the western flats from up to a distance of five miles, and then driven in a southeasterly direction into the cup-shaped vale and ultimately over the cliffs forming the buffalo jump, into Bill Hill Creek valley. 

In the spring and summer of 1972, people were encouraged to visit the dig on specific days. The Chinook Chapter of the Historical Society of Alberta, the Nose Creek Historical Society, and their guests, numbering close to two hundred, stopped for an informative lecture and visit with Larry Lahren, who gave a commentary on the buffalo jump. Guests were able to view the dig in progress. 

The Hutchinson Buffalo Jump was found to have been used many times and archaeological evidence indicates that it dates from about 300 A.D. to 1500 A.D. The site contains remnants of Ethridge pottery, which possibly suggests a pre-Blackfoot type of nomads and hunters. Some of the projectile points (arrowheads) were made of quartz and minerals which had originally come from the Dakotas. Beads found were made of clam shells that would have been traded from early peoples of the British Columbia coast. The projectile points found throughout the site ranged from Avonlea and Triangular to Late Plains side-notched. There were pictographs on the cliff above the jump. Ochres of yellow, white, orange and red were found in abundance. Ochre was highly prized as a body paint after it was powdered and mixed with grease. In its natural state, it could be used for colouring teepee walls and personal weapons. 

Archaeological evidence gathered to date indicates that the Hutchinson Buffalo Jump was primarily a jump site and a butchering station that was used mainly in the autumn. There are teepee rings in four or five nearby locations that may be related to this specific site. At least four other bison jumps are known of along the Big Hill Creek valley, and who knows what other evidence may yet be found about our prehistoric past; only time will tell. 

Wearmouth Buffalo Jump

A second buffalo jump known as the Wearmouth Buffalo Jump was investigated. Read more about it here.

Click here

From Russia with Relief – Gordon Davies

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Gordon tells the story of one of his adventures with the MacMillans. This story is from the series 100 Stories for 100 Years produced by Barry Thorson back in 2005.

Gordon took many student trips to Europe as well. I know the trip Cam Camden, Greg Hawkwood and I went on was a memorable experience. If you have a story about your trip please comment below.

It was our first trip outside North America. It was a whirl wind of travel, architecture, different food, meeting other groups, bus travel, castles, churches and unsupervised adventures. The photo on our return tells the story.

 I’ll make sure Gordon sees them.

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History of Mt. St Francis

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The History of Mount St. Francis By a Franciscan Friar 

(Based on facts and figures presented in the booklet entitled: “Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre” prepared by Roy Farran, Glenn Plats, Terry Cioni, Fern Bentz and Rose Herard.)

 One of the early pioneers in the area was Charles Wellington Fisher. He was born near London, Ontario in 1871. He arrived in Cochrane in 1899. He became the leading merchant. He bought the Merino Ranch, which was sold to Countess Bubna, daughter of the Duchess of Sutherland. 

In 1907 Charles Fisher married Marjorie Powell. He promised to build her a castle. He purchased a large ranch, which included Big Hill or Manachaban. It is now called Mount St. Francis. He built the country house on the crest of the wooded bluff above Big Hill Creek. This building is now part of the Retreat Centre. 

Charles Fisher died in 1919 from influenza – the Spanish Flu. Tom Fisher, his brother occupied the Big Hill Ranch until 1932 when it was sold. It became the Just Home Guest Ranch and was owned by the McConachie family. 

In October 1948 Friar Alphonse Claude Laboissiere, newly elected Franciscan provincial commissioner, visited Bishop Carroll of Calgary. Bishop Carroll asked if the Friars would open a retreat house in his diocese. In 1948 the bishop sent Msgr. LeFort to show the Franciscans some land for sale on the banks of the Bow River. This land was considered unsuitable. It was worth $75,000.00 

Msgr. Le Fort then approached the McConachie’s who wanted to sell their ranch for $92,000.00 without the cattle.

 In January 1949, a Calgary realtor, Clair J. Cote, advised the bishop that McConachie’s Ranch was to be sold to an American gentleman for $184,000.00, house and land. This American’s wife died suddenly and the sale was off. McConachie would now sell the house without the 1500 acres of land and the cattle. Next day the deal was off. Mrs. McConachie couldn’t leave her home. On January 28, three days later, Mrs. McConachie became seriously ill and negotiations were open again. 

In March 10, 1949 the purchase by the Franciscans of 171 acres including the mansion was complete. Another 165 acres was also bought from Mr. McConachie, which included Manachaban Hill and ravine slope. 

On April 21, 1949 Mr. Clair Cote used the commission he had earned from the vendors of the McConachie Ranch to purchase the extra 165 acres, which he donated, to the Retreat. 

On July 8, 1949, Friar Timothy Gilker became the first of the resident retreat leaders. 

On August 14, 1949, Bishop Carrol blessed Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre. 

On April 26, 1950, the Sisters of St. Elizabeth moved into their convent adjacent to the Centre. 

In June 1950, Clair Cote purchased another 25 acres of land owned by Mr. Fisher and donated it to the Franciscans.

This article is from the churches section in More Big Hill Country.

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Battle of Vimy Ridge Anniversary

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Vimy Ridge was a World War 1 Battle from April 9-12, 1917. The 4 Canadian Divisions functioned for the first time as a Corp. Their mission was to take a ridge that the French and British had failed to do. A more complete story is available at the website of the National War Museum .

More Big Hill Country remembers the residents of Cochrane and area that served during World War 1.  (Page 231) Jack Tennant wrote an article about two local brothers entitled “Medic’s Diary” that follows:

Medic’s Diary offers a glimpse into First World War By Jack Tennant 

John and Bill Trevenen were brothers born two years apart and both grew up in Cochrane. 

Bill, the older brother, was born in 1895 and broke horses on the Cochrane Ranche as a young lad. The war to end all wars” came in 1914 and both brothers went overseas to serve with the Allied forces. Bill took the long ocean voyage to England in 1914 and John followed in 1915. Both were medics and John served with the Third Field Ambulance in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Only Bill came home. 

The brothers kept diaries and John’s 1918 entries are particularly poignant. Keep in mind the diary was written by John Trevenen nearly 90 years ago. 

March 9. 1918 “Nobody can complain of a lack of sleep today as we didn’t rise until 1 p.m. We had one walking wounded in the afternoon and two in the evening.” 

March 12, 1918 “Gas around which we were warned about. Had a pretty busy night. Cleared 19 cases altogether but we had wheeled stretchers which helped us greatly. Most walking cases and about five on stretchers.” 

March 16, 1918 “Our squad on duty tonight and we only have two cases and one walking case in the morning. Fritz tried to pull off a raid in the evening and started a barrage. Our guns answered the SOS and cut loose pretty heavy. Fritz got stung.” 

March 18, 1918 “Supposed to be a gas attack tonight. Stood out for three hours but it was a false alarm.” 

March 29, 1918 (Good Friday): “Got a tin of Players from Cochrane and a cake from Mrs. Murray Hardrie.” 

April 1, 1918 (Easter Monday): “Went to bed with hopes of a good night’s rest but were disturbed at 1:30 a.m. with orders to get ready to move. Such is life.”

 April 14, 1918 “Germans are attacking heavily in the north and are close to Bethune. Rather serious but trust they will be stopped in time. Won a few games of checkers in the afternoon and listened to a good talk by a chaplain, Lieut. Harrison, in the evening.” 

April 15, 1918 “No mail today” but he wrote five letters to family and friends. That was John Trevenen’s last day. The next entry in his diary was April 16, 1918, and it was written by Bill Trevenen: “Was killed, died of wounds. WGT.” 

There is some confusion over the date of John’s death. Both the Books of Remembrance, where every Canadian casualty is listed and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission list his date of death as April 24, 1918. Chances are Bill’s diary note of death April 16 is right because it often took a few days to have combat deaths properly registered. 

Bill Trevenen returned to Calgary and Cochrane and was a successful trainer of thoroughbred horses for many years. 

John Fileccia is a Calgary plumber who lives in Cochrane and is the grandson of Bill. His mother Joan, Bill’s daughter, lives in Bragg Creek. Fileccia provided the diary entries. 

John’s memory was served for many years with a thoroughbred racing trophy. John Trevenen’s name is carved in the Cochrane Cenotaph, but unfortunately, the last name is misspelled. 

Critchley Bros

The Story Of Red Pollard and Seabiscuit

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“Red” Pollard’s story is too big for one blog, so we’re providing more of his story.

Seabiscuit & “Red” Pollard

Seabiscuit is famous for his race with War Admiral in 1936.  While Pollard rode and won on Seabiscuit many times it was Woolf in the stirups during the match race with War Admiral.

The race was also in the 2003 movie “Seabiscuit” with Toby McGuire.

Seabiscuit & another Canadian George Woolf

Edmonton born Pollard is recognized in his home town. Youtube 

The Cougar and the Iceman The story of the two Canadians involved with Seabiscuit.

Red Pollard

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Tim Collard wrote this article that also appears in the Cochrane Times.

John M. “Red” Pollard (October 27, 1909 – March 7, 1981) was a Canadian horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys’ Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit.

Family History

Red Pollard was the grandson of Michael Pollard, born ca. 1834 in Ireland. Michael emigrated to New Jersey in 1850, moved to Illinois by 1855, and in 1863 married Irish immigrant Bridget Moloney. They moved to Iowa in 1870, where Red’s father, John A., was born in 1875.

John A. immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, in 1898. After the turn of the century, he and his brother Frank founded the Pollard Bros Brickyard.

John M. “Red” Pollard was born in Edmonton in 1909. He spent his early years in affluence, but the family brickyard was destroyed when the North Saskatchewan River flooded in 1915, instantly throwing the family into poverty.

Career

Red Pollard stood 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and weighed 115 lb (52 kg), which is considered big for a jockey. In 1933, Pollard rode in Ontario at the Woodbine and Fort Erie racetracks. Early in his career, he lost the vision in his right eye due to a traumatic brain injury suffered when he was hit in the head by a rock thrown up by another horse during a training ride. Because he would not have been allowed to ride had the full extent of his injury been known, he kept his vision loss a secret for the rest of his riding career.

Down and out in Detroit in 1936, Pollard was hired by horse trainer Tom Smith to ride Charles S. Howard’s Seabiscuit. The team’s first stakes win came in the 1936 Governor’s Handicap. Pollard and Seabiscuit won numerous important races, including the 1937 Brooklyn Handicap at Old Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City, the 1937 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in Boston, and famously lost by a nose at the 1937 Santa Anita Handicap. Pollard and Seabiscuit were considered by most as the best pairing of race horse and jockey in the USA at that time. In 1940, Pollard jockeyed the then 7-year-old Seabiscuit to a win the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It was Seabiscuit’s last race. Pollard rode Seabiscuit 30 times with 18 wins – all of them stakes or handicaps.

Following the 1940 season, Pollard bought a house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Pollard continued to ride into the 1950s, mostly in New England. Eventually, he became a jockey’s valet at Narragansett Park in Rhode Island

Honors, awards and portrayals

In 1982, Pollard was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Actor Tobey Maguire portrays Pollard in the 2003 film Seabiscuit.

Personal life

Besides the previously referenced damage to his vision, Pollard was known for other severe injuries that he suffered.[2] In February 1938, Pollard suffered a terrible fall while racing on Fair Knightess, another horse owned by Howard. His chest was crushed by the weight of the falling animal, and his ribs and arm were broken. He had extensive surgery, and almost did not survive. He recovered, and was working again by the July of the same year, when he suffered a compound fracture in his leg from a runaway horse. When he had nearly recovered, while walking the hills of Howard’s estate, he broke his leg again when he stepped into a hole. Howard, who thought of Pollard as a son, paid for his hospital stays throughout their time together.

While recuperating from his July 1938 injuries, Pollard fell in love with his nurse, Agnes Conlon.[2] They were married the following year and had two children, Norah and John.

Pollard died on March 7, 1981 in Pawtucket. He is buried at Notre Dame Cemetery, a mile north of Narragansett Park racetrack, beside his wife.

Cochrane Connection

In 1930, when Pollard’s career looked to be over before it started, Pollard raced at the Cochrane racetrack during the Annual meet. This was the penultimate meet at the Cochrane track before the Depression ended the annual meetings. In one race for which records of Pollard’s participation exist, he finished second behind fellow future hall of fame jockey Johnny Longden

Second race - Longden on Prodigal, Pollard on Billy Wisp

Medicine in Early Cochrane

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Todays post is from page 89 of More Big Hill Country. The image is of the Davies House which once served as Cochrane’s Hospital and is now home to the Cochrane Historical Museum.

The first settlers came into the Cochrane area in the late 1880s and continued to arrive over the next twenty or thirty years. Medical theory and practise has changed a lot of course, from that time to the present. It is interesting to look back and read the stories of those people, our very own parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents and try to imagine ourselves in the same medical situations and how we would react. 

In those days … 

* The germ theory of disease, that infections are caused by bacteria and viruses, had only recently been accepted and taught to medical students and nurses. It was also very difficult for a doctor in a place like Cochrane to keep up with any new discoveries. 

* Anaesthetics such as nitrous oxide, chloroform and ether had just been discovered and were not available in the hinterlands. 

* Abdominal surgery of any kind was uncommon except in larger cities. For instance, the first appendectomy was performed in Europe in 1900. 

*There was no effective treatment at all in those days for communicable diseases, pneumonia, ear infections, mastoiditis, vomiting and diarrhea, “blood poisoning” 

* all common killers of both children and adults. 

* Babies were by necessity usually born at home often far from civilization. Mothers and babies often fed in childbirth done in the “natural” way without the help of trained midwives or doctors; Hemorrhage would be the commonest cause in easy delivery. Untreated toxemia could cause the death of either mother or baby or both. Sometimes the labour would on over many days without success and the baby or mother or both would die at that time or possibly a week or so later from puerperal infection. 

Mitford Days 

Tom and Lady Adela Cochrane built the town of Mitford in the early 1880s. In 1888, they convinced a young Dr. Hayden to come over from England to set up practice and run a drugstore in the town. One of Tom Cochrane’s first projects was a sawmill. He built a railway 

Horse Creek and over to Grand Valley to bring the ng down to the mill. Unfortunately, the steam engine was forever running off the track. On one occasion, the brakeman was found under the engine with severe head injuries. Dr. Hayden transported him back to town by wagon and he eventually recovered. Two weeks later, the engine was returning to the sawmill pulling four trucks of logs when it left the rails again pinning the engineer and broke two bones in his leg. Treatment of accidental injury would be a big part of medical practice in those days.Dr. Hayden left in 1891 but the drugstore remained open. Many home remedies would be sold there so people could use treatments handed down from grandmothers of past generations. 

A few stories survive illustrating other problems people faced before the turn of the century. 

Atkins Family 

In 1895, Harry Atkins brought a new bride to his homestead near where Cremona is now situated. His wife successfully gave birth to two daughters but in 1901, a son was born and the mother died either during the delivery or shortly after, leaving him with two young children and a newborn baby. The next year, tragedy struck again as the oldest girl died of pneumonia at age six. 

John McNeil Family

 His wife and three children arrived in Mitford in 1886. They had three more children there. She was in late pregnancy with her seventh when she got the news that while her oldest boy was away getting supplies, his team of horses ran away and dragged him to death. Mrs. McNeil went into labour a few hours later and died while giving birth. The next spring, the Bow flooded their Mitford home and the children had to climb to the roof before being rescued. The baby boy died soon after. The four girls were put in a convent in Calgary and the son Joseph went to live in Cochrane. The next winter, Joseph died of appendicitis. His father John helped dig his grave in Cochrane, developed pneumonia and died three days later in the hotel in Cochrane. It is not often that so many tragedies as this would happen to one family but it does illustrate the dangers faced by pioneers. 

Dr. Harbottle

 In 1907, late in his life came from Ontario with a grown son and daughter. They all homesteaded in the district. He never opened a practice but he was often called by his neighbours in times of illness. He helped Mrs. Oldaker through a bout of erysipelas, a serious very painful skin infection that lasts a long time. In those days, the treatment was likely to rest, heat, elevation, and relief of pain and hope for the best. The old doctor was found by neighbours one day, he had died alone in his homestead home. One of the problems in those days was that many bachelor homesteaders lived alone far from neighbours. It was not uncommon for them to be found dead days or weeks after a serious accident or illness because they had no way of calling for help.

Midwives

Doctors came and went but the ladies that helped deliver the annual crop of babies were the most valued and valuable medical service in the district in those days. Many of them had nursing training but some had learned what to do from their mothers or grandmothers. Most mothers of necessity had their babies in their own homes far from their neighbours. The brave nurse-midwives would be out all times of the day and night in all kinds of weather sometimes leaving their own families to fend for themselves as they sat through long labour or nursed someone through a serious illness. They charged no fee as they knew the time would come when they might need a neighbour’s help themselves. 

The names of some of these ladies keep cropping up in the stories told by old-timers; Mrs. Hugh Robinson, Mrs. Oliver Mickle, Mrs. Jimmy Patterson, Louise Tempany, Mary Hughes, Mrs. Boucher, Mrs. Lancons, Mrs. Urquhart, Granny Hogarth, Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Dawson, Lura Gano, Maud Lewis, Hilda Beard, Nancy (Harbidge) Boothby, Nurse Roberts. Others took in maternity and other patients in nursing homes or their own homes in Cochrane and they are mentioned elsewhere.

Dr. Andrew Park

First resident physician in the town of Cochrane. He graduated in 1904 and came immediately to Cochrane to set up practice. He was unmarried and lived in the hotel at first. His office was upstairs in the Fisher Block. There were no cars and no roads so he rode horseback on his rounds to patients in the large area he served.

In those days, most patients were treated in their homes and the doctor made his rounds from home to home as often as necessary carrying his surgical instruments and medications with him, If they were so sick they couldn’t look after themselves, there was usually some neighbour who could help. In 1906, he married a teacher from his hometown in Ontario and they set up housekeeping in Cochrane. At this time he bought a horse and buggy to do his rounds. He later bought one of the first cars in Cochrane. In 1915 Dr. Park left Cochrane to serve in the armed forces during World War 1. 

A few stories told by his patient’s highlight problems faced in that era.

Hank Bradley; in 1913 at the age of six years had one of his fingers chopped off by a man cutting a soup bone off a shank of frozen beef with an axe. The boy was holding the beef so it wouldn’t slip at the time. The man who wielded the axe soaked the wound in saltwater and wrapped it in a towel while he went and caught and harnessed a team of horses. Then he had to go to a neighbour to borrow a democrat before he could take the boy to the doctor. The doctor had to tie him down to work on his finger. 

John and Lucy Morgan homesteaded in the Bottrel area. Lucy went into labour on November 24, 1908, during an early winter blizzard and a temp of -20F. They sent their 13-year-old son by horse and sleigh to fetch Mrs. Dawson, the midwife, who lived seven miles away. She gathered up her equipment and back they went through the cold and driving snow. It was a complicated labour so Dr. Park was called from Cochrane. He hitched up his horse and cutter and arrived sometime later. Luckily the brave mother was finally presented with a healthy baby. Because Lucy was confined to bed for a day or two, Mrs. Pogue came and stayed with her until she was well enough to look after her family. The next year, Mrs. Pogue had a baby at home so she sent her two children over for Lucy to look after while she too recovered from her labour. A Neighbour helping neighbour allowed people to survive. 

Lou Shands was hauling firewood in the bush in 1905 when his team ran away. He was thrown off and broke his leg badly. He was hauled to his home on a stone boat and someone rode into town to get Dr. Park. By the time the doctor arrived many hours after the injury, the leg was so swollen that after it was set the cast would not hold it properly. He was eventually left with a marked limp. In 1945, Lou took seriously ill on his farm right after a blizzard had closed all the roads. This time a more modern ambulance, an airplane, took him to hospital in Calgary. Such a change in one man’s lifetime. 

Edith McKinnell and her husband John homesteaded in the Bottrel area after arriving from Scotland. Edith had been brought up in a rich family with servants to do all the work. It was quite a culture shock to come to an area where only the very basics of life were to be had and where she spent months without seeing another woman. All five of her children were born in her home without medical help with only her husband to assist. Sadly, the first baby died at birth but luckily the rest survived and thrived. 

Elizabeth Winchell and her husband Frank homesteaded near Water Valley. Two of her babies died at birth at home but one son survived. 

Dr. Thomas Ritchie 

Dr. Ritchie arrived in the Cochrane district in 1904 with a wife and family of eight children. He had been practicing for a long time in Virginia USA and it appeared he had done well financially and moved here to invest and farm rather than continue doctoring. He bought a small ranch near Mitford that is now part of the Morley reserve. He also purchased land at the mouth of Jumping Pound Creek. There he ripened and sold the first wheat ever shipped from west of Calgary. Of course, he couldn’t refuse to treat people if they needed help when Dr. Park was away. In the fall of 1919, his car overturned in the ditch during a snowstorm and he died from his injuries three days later. 

Some stories survive that involve this doctor. 

Dave Bryant was six years old when he fell off a horse and broke his arm. He was taken to Cochrane but the doctor was away so they took him to Dr. Ritchie’s ranch. There the doctor with the help of his son was able to set the bones. No anesthetic was used. Alcohol, morphine and cocaine were about the only means of relieving pain that doctors had in those days. A child of six could be held down by a strong man while the bones were reduced. This seems cruel but it had to be done so there was no alternative in this case. 

William Tempany froze both feet hauling hay in the winter of 1906. Dr. Ritchie was sent for and came from his home on the ranch to do what he could for him. Part of one foot had to be amputated later. 

Anne Steel was knocked down by a horse and broke her leg. Dr. Ritchie came to their farm by horse and buggy to set it. For a cast, they wound strips of bedsheets soaked in hot starch solution around the leg. As it cooled and dried, it hardened enough to do the job. 

Communicable Diseases spread unchecked because of the lack of immunization and few medications that were effective. 

Smallpox still occurred although vaccination had been available for many years. In 1908, an epidemic occurred in Cochrane. Tents were erected down by the river and anyone with smallpox was sent there. Guards were stationed on the roads and at the railway station to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the town for any reason. These guards carried rifles and enforced the quarantine to the letter. Rev. Sale, the priest at All Saints Anglican Church at that time, rode into town on horseback to visit a parishioner without knowing about the quarantine. When he was challenged, he ignored the order to stop. He stopped in a hurry when a shot was fired over his head. When no more cases occurred, every resident had to take a bath in an approved disinfectant before the town was declared safe and the school could reopen. 

Scarlet Fever was a serious disease in those days before penicillin. Many adults and children died from its effects and many developed rheumatic fever, kidney problems and chronic ear infections as complications from the disease if they survived. In 1910, it was prevalent in the district. Jack Dowson and his niece Lily Johnson died from it. 

Diphtheria took the lives of many children. They would suffocate because a membrane would sometimes form over the breathing passages, or the toxins from the disease would affect the heart, kidneys or nerves. In 1898, the Scotty Craig family was infected and the oldest son died at age 10. Andrew and Suzanna Nagy lost two of their oldest children to the disease in 1915. In 1924, Elizabeth Phillips (nee Skinner) in the Lochend area, died from diphtheria leaving her husband with three young children to raise. It was not until the 1930’s that a vaccine was available although an antitoxin was available prior to that. Antibiotics, of course, were not discovered until the 1940s. 

Typhoid fever was also present in the district because wells could be contaminated by poor hygienic practices and there were always carriers of the disease in those days. In 1882, Elizabeth Sibbald died from typhoid, and in 1907 Thurman and Elizabeth Ault lost a son from the disease. In 1911 John Boothby was treated for typhoid fever in the relatively new Davies-Beynon hospital by Dr. Park. In 1917, two of Mrs. Davies’s granddaughters died of typhoid fever. The disease is now controlled by strict public health measures regarding water supply and sewer systems. 

Measles, mumps, chickenpox, whooping cough and rubella went around every few years and in those days every child would catch most of them over the childhood years. It was not until the 1940s that the whooping cough vaccine was used and the 1960s that measles, mumps rubella vaccine was available. Chickenpox vaccine didn’t come along until about 1995. It was rare for one to die from these common diseases but serious complications sometimes occurred. 

Child Mortality 

One of the saddest parts of pioneer life was the large numbers of infants and children that never reached the teen years. Besides the babies that died at birth, there were many that succumbed to complications of communicable diseases, infections of all kinds, and vomiting and diarrhea possibly due to lack of a safe water supply. Lack of availability of medical and nursing care would be a factor as well. 

Mr. and Mrs. Andy Clarke opened a butcher shop in Cochrane in 1914. Out of their nine children, two died in infancy. No diagnosis is given. 

James Hewitt Family homesteaded near Cochrane and later ran a pool hall and barbershop in the town. Out of their family of thirteen, three died in infancy. 

James Quigley Family raised a family on land in the east part of present-day Cochrane. Out of nine children, two died in infancy. 

Since there was no cemetery at that time, the Hewitt and Quigley children were all buried on the Quigley farm. When the new cemetery opened, they were all disinterred and moved there. 

Rev. David Reid in 1932 came to the United Church in Cochrane. While living here in the manse, they lost their youngest daughter. As usual, no diagnosis was given. 

Bert and Lizzie Sibbald had five children. They lost a daughter at age twelve in 1930. 

Samuel and May Spicer lost their first child in 1911 to some unknown disease at the age of eighteen months.

Clem and Peggy Edge lost daughter Margaret at 18 months of age from a “heart seizure”. 

Charles Harbidge, out of six children born in the Cochrane area after 1905, one daughter died at age eight and one son at age thirteen. 

Mel and Christine Weatherhead had a new son born about 1909. While Christine was upstairs looking after the baby, her two-year-old son downstairs had a convulsion of some sort and died. Christine, being postpartum, became severely depressed and blamed herself for the tragedy. 

Earl and Letha Whittle had a family of four children in 1912. Six-year-old Gladys suddenly died of pneumonia that year, and two months later ten-year-old Claude died of a “heart condition” 

Robert and Edith Beynon had three children. One died in infancy and another at the age of two. Only one son survived. This was around 1930 in the town of Cochrane 

Maternity, Nursing Homes and Hospitals 

Mrs. Richard “Dickie” Smith (Amy) Her husband died in 1902 on the ranch which later became known as the Virginia Ranch in the Dogpound area. Amy went back to England with her three children to study to be a midwife as she could see the need in this area. In 1903 she set up a nursing home in Cochrane in a log building set back from the street about where the back of the Grahams Building sits now. Mrs. Smith’s nursing home closed after she remarried in 1905. The house later became the Yee Lee laundry. 

Mrs. Jack Boldack Used her house as a maternity home and nursing home for several years in the early 1900s. She was a midwife herself but the doctor would sometimes be called to help. 

The Davies Hospital 

By 1910 Dr. Park needed space for patients that required hospital care. The Thomas Davies family was building a townhouse in Cochrane and they were persuaded to build it a little larger so part of it could be used for hospital patients. It seemed a good fit since Margaret Davies lived there and could preside over it and her daughter, Annie Beynon, had nursing training and could handle that end of the business. This hospital served Cochrane from 1910 to 1915, when it was closed because Dr. Park had left for war service and Mrs. Davies was in poor health. 

“Quigley House” Hospital 

The house at 402 Carolina Drive became a nursing home after Dr. Park left. May Coatsworth was head nurse and Mrs. Campbell Roberts was the administrator. Both were well-trained midwives. The dates of the operation of the hospital are uncertain but in 1917, May married Angus McDonald and left. After her marriage, May continued to act as a midwife and do a lot of home nursing in the district as far north at Bottrel. 

Mrs. E.C. “Dad” Johnson 

The 1918 influenza pandemic hit Cochrane hard. There was no hospital or doctor at that time. Mrs. Johnson was an R.N. so she turned her home into a hospital for the worst cases. It was still in use as a maternity and nursing home as late as 1925. Mrs. “Jappy” Rodgers and Bernice Linfoot both had babies there within hours of each other in 1922 and John Claude Copithorne was born there in 1925 with Dr. Waite in attendance. 

Dr. William Saunders 

In 1905, he came out with his father, mother and even siblings to homestead in the area near the junction of Lochend Road and Highway 567. In 1913, he proved up a quarter section of his own in that area. He studied medicine and graduated in time to assist Dr. Waite in his practice for a short time. He lived on his homestead so he was too far away to be of much help and moved to Calgary shortly after to open a practice. 

Dr. Waite 

Since Dr. Park had decided to move to Calgary after the war, Dr. Waite and his new bride Mona arrived in Cochrane in the fall of 1919. Mona was a nurse so she turned part of their first home into a nursing home and took in patients and delivered babies there. In 1923, they bought the drug store from Mr. Smythe and renovated it to include living quarters. They lived there the remainder of their time in Cochrane. Mrs. Waite did mot take in patients any more but helped in the drug store and assisted the doctor on his rounds. Dr. Waite was a busy man in the fifteen years he lived here. He died in 1934. Cause of death is not known but he couldn’t have been much older than forty years. After his death, the drug store was sold to Mr. Hart. 

A few stories remain of medical problems that Dr. Waite faced in those days. 

Ted Cook just before Christmas 1919 was shooting partridges with a double-barrel shotgun. He killed three with the first shot but a wounded one tried to flutter away. Forgetting that he had cocked both barrels, he used the butt of the gun to knock the bird down causing the hammer to be released on the loaded barrel shooting him in the hip. 

It took several neighbours to get the doctor out through the deep snow and transport Mr. Cook into the nursing home in Cochrane where he spent the winter recuperating. 

Louis Garlin was a widower baching on his homestead and came down with pneumonia. Dr. Waite had been out to see him several times and a nurse helped him during the day. Paul Swanson and Arthur Wells were to sit with him one night as the doctor didn’t think he would live long. The men shaved him and cut his hair so he wouldn’t go to heaven unshaven and unshorn. Dr. Waite had given them a bottle of brandy and they were to give him an ounce every four hours to help him on his way. Instead of an ounce of brandy, they decided to give him two and a half ounces. Along about 4 am. Louis began to sing. He eventually recovered and lived to be 90 years of age. He always believed that the brandy had saved his life. It was probably as good a treatment as any they had in those days. 

Jack Reid fell and broke his leg one day when he was a teenager. He saddled his horse and rode out to the field to tell his dad. This required him to get off and on the horse several times to open gates and close them. His father didn’t think there was much wrong so he rode home to tell his mother, opening and closing gates as before. By the time he got home, there was no doubt that it was fractured. Dr. Waite was in the district on another case so he came and treated it. 

Ed “Boney” Thompson, while riding a bucking horse in the summer of 1921 he fractured his pelvis with complications of a punctured bladder and other internal injuries. He was up along the Little Red Deer River eighteen miles from the nearest phone and much further from the closest medical help in Cochrane. Laurie Johnson rode to the Mount Royal ranch and phoned Cochrane to send the doctor out. Dr. Waite arrived in his Model T with his tools and instruments but the road went no further. The next eighteen miles the doctor had to ride a horse. He was able to give Boney enough narcotics that they could move him into a wagon and survive the rough ride down to the ranch. Another car took him directly into the hospital in Calgary as they knew he would require surgery. Sadly, he died soon after at the age of forty-eight. 

Mrs. Tom Zuccolo went into labour on their ranch south-west of Bottrel on a cold January 8 morning at 2 a.m. A 14 mile trip over snow-covered roads with a team and sleigh got her to Mrs. Johnson’s nursing home in time for Dr. Waite to deliver a healthy little girl. 

Gordon Moore son of Alex Moore was watching one of the earliest cars in town go by. He thought he would catch a free ride by grabbing a door handle. He got a ride alright but also dislocated his elbow. Dr. Waite was able to reduce it and he got a good result from a serious injury. 

Jimmy Patterson was sixteen years old when he got scarlet fever. He got complications, infected mastoids and pneumonia and was near death in Cochrane where he had been ill for many weeks. With no X-rays to guide him, Dr. Waite decided to drain the infected fluid from the lung. His diagnosis was correct, the surgery was successful, and the boy recovered. The ear and mastoid infection caused him to become deaf, however. 

Dr. Rivers was a friend of Mr. Hedley Hart who had purchased the drug store from Mrs. Waite after her husband died in 1934. The country was in the midst of the depression, Cochrane had no doctor and the druggist somehow convinced Dr. and Mrs. Rivers to come to live here and help out for a time. They lived in the big brick house at the corner of Pope and First street E. His office was in the house but he treated patients and delivered babies in their homes as there was no hospital. Dr. Rivers would be the last resident doctor in Cochrane until what we consider “modern” times. 

Bob and Alice Graham bought the Hart drugstore and ice cream business in the mid-1950s. This store, and the brand new big store which they built later, became by default the centre of medical care in the town a: there was nothing else. Bob as a pharmacist and Alic as an R.N. could not refuse to give first aid and advice to their friends and neighbours when asked. Alice was often called out to emergencies as well. The Calgary doctors also might ask her to check blood pressures, give injections, remove sutures, or change dressings for the local patients. The Grahams did this gratis for many years. During this time, Dr. Milne and Dr. Prowse would come out occasionally to help out when necessary but there was no resident doctor. 

Conclusion 

This takes us up to about 1960. By now, antibiotics were in general use, mothers had their babies in hospitals, hospitals had X-rays and laboratory tests to properly diagnose disease and injury, and children were protected from most communicable diseases by immunization. Better roads and cars were allowing people to access medical care from their distant farms and ranches. Cochrane and district now entered the modem medical age and the many different but still serious medical problems that we now face. 

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Brickyards and Stone Quarries

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Today’s post is from pg 29 of More Big Hill Country. This section of the book contains histories of early businesses.

The Big Hill Country had many sandstone quarries in the early years and many of the buildings in downtown Calgary are built with this sandstone.

The Shelley Quarry Company opened in 1908 and from 1911 to 1913, three quarries were operating up the valley of Big Hill Creek. Shelley Quarry sandstone was shipped to Calgary for finishing at the Headquarters of the Company. The sandstone was also sent to other parts of Alberta for use in buildings. 

The Glenbow Quarry was operating around the turn of the twentieth century and the Legislature Building and Government House in Edmonton are both constructed of sandstone from the Glenbow and Cochrane Quarries The quality of the sandstone was excellent and the quarries in the area provided much-needed work for many immigrants in the early days. 

In 1891, Tom Cochrane established a brickyard at Mitford which he ran a little over a year. In the late 1890s, Mr. Little established a brickyard and Pete Collins took it over, building the first kiln in 1902. The brickyard shut down during WW1 but reopened after the war in 1918 and operated into the 1920s. The French Brickyard was established by E. Perrenoud and J. Boudreau in 1904. Gabriel Bruel bought them out a short time later. In 1914, Mr. Bruel and most of his employees were called back to France to serve in the army. The brickyard was shut down and did not reopen. Then in 1910, Mr. Quigley started a brickyard however it went bankrupt before World War I in 1914.

In 1911, J. Murphy and Mr. Loder established the Cochrane Brick Company and Charlie Burnham bought them out. This brickyard was situated near the intersection of the present Highway 22 and 1A (in the southwest corner). After the war, new sources of Brick were found nearer to Calgary and the brick business in Cochrane ceased. 

Collins Brickyard Cairn

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Schools in Cochrane

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This old article recently came in CHAPS possession.  The original photo was taken by Ed Arrol, a teacher at the school.

This article was written during the Covid-19 pandemic so the resources of the Cochrane Historical Museum have not been available. Fortunately, CHAPS recently started using G SUITE which converts pdf files to text. This allowed me to convert the article “Schools in Cochrane” on page 127 in More Big Hill Country for use in this post.

In the late 1890s, James Quigley and Donald Bruce decided that a school was needed in the Hamlet of Cochrane. They had enough children between them of school age and there were some of the Hewitt children ready for school as well so the application was made for a school and a one-room building was erected in the east end of Cochrane. The first teacher was Mr. George Bevan. 

The school soon became too small so the school, formerly the saloon, from Mitford, was moved to Cochrane and placed on the Grayson/Bruce property on what is presently Centre Avenue. The building was placed facing north and south and became a school for the small children around 1900. This building was later bought by the Masonic Lodge and is currently their home. 

These two buildings appear to have served the hamlet until 1918 when a two-room Brick School was built on Main Street near the present Holy Spirit School. In 1926 a second storey with two more rooms was added to the Brick School and the little school was used as a gymnasium for the children. It is said that there were sets of boxing gloves hanging on the wall of this small gymnasium and many of the boys learned to box there. 

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This arrangement seemed to be fine for the population attending the Cochrane School until, as the population increased and roads were being built, it became necessary to have more room. In the late 1940s or early 1950s, a white clapboard sided one-room school was moved onto the property near the Brick School and this little school was used until about 1956. From 1957 to 1961 grades five and six were taught in the “white school” as it was called. It was later moved to the outdoor skating rink in Cochrane’s east end and was used for many years as the rink house. 

It was during this time that the number of children in the town was increasing and one-room schools were starting to close so some of the parents of the children and other citizens in Cochrane facilitated the building of a new elementary school on the Main Street site. Many children had to go to Calgary for high school as it was not being taught in Cochrane. These parents succeeded in getting a new school built to house all the students. At this time around 1955-1956, Mr. Grant was teaching grades nine and ten in the basement of the Community Hall. They used the upstairs for their gymnasium. 

The new Cochrane Elementary School was built in 1957 and it housed grades one to four. It had six rooms and a gymnasium and grades five and six were housed in the little white school. Grades seven, eight and nine were in the old Brick School and during this time the Cochrane School Board and the parents were working on plans for a larger school. In 1958 there were 250 students in grades one to twelve. 

The new Cochrane High School opened for the 1962-63 season and it offered grades nine, ten, eleven and twelve. By 1968-1969 construction began on a new elementary school addition to joining the Cochrane Elementary School. Construction was going along well on the new addition being added to the east end of the elementary school and the contractors had large propane tanks and their new construction area covered with tarps so that the cement would not freeze and work could continue through the colder months. One night a wind got up and blew the tarps onto the propane tanks and a large explosion took place. It did not damage the new building site but managed to move the old Brick School off its foundation. This then proved another problem, 

“Where do we put these students?”?

 The grade five and six classes were scheduled to move into the Brick School but that could not happen now as the old school had to be dismantled and removed from the site. These classes remained at Cochrane Elementary and in grade seven they were moved up to the High School. It was a scary thing to have to move up to that big school however they had a party at one of the homes where all the kids and a lot of parents gathered. Mr. Sly, a teacher from the High School came and they all got to know each other and support each other during this “BIG” move to the new big school up on the hill. 

The new elementary school was completed and officially opened in 1968-1970 with a new name, Andrew Sibbald Elementary School. The school was named after Andrew Sibbald, the first school teacher in Alberta who had come to Morleyville. The school now had a Library, a Science Room, a large double room, new administration offices and new entrances. It looked after students from grades one to six until Manachaban Middle School was opened in 1972. The name Manachaban was also chosen in a contest open to everyone, students, town and surrounding area residents. Manachaban means a hill of bows and arrows and is very fitting for that location. 

Shortly after Andrew Sibbald School opened portable classrooms had to be added to the north side for Mrs. Eddie Edge and Mr. Gunn to teach Math. Bruce Davies, Vice Principal and John Edwards taught science, Miss Armstrong, music, Mrs. Nu, Ed Errol and Jim Jenkins, Principal had classrooms in the new wing. The old wing was redecorated and Mrs. Otteson, Mrs. McPherson, Miss Bennett, Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Elliot enjoyed the teacher’s lounge, the library and all the other up-to-date facilities. 

Many students passed through the doors of Andrew Sibbald Elementary School and the other Cochrane schools before it. More schools have been built as the town has grown adding Elizabeth Barrett, named after the first woman school teacher in Alberta who also came to Morleyville, an addition to Cochrane High School, Glenbow Elementary, Mitford School, Bow Valley High School and St. Timothy High School. Sadly. Andrew Sibbald School closed and was sold to the Catholic School System and is now Holy Spirit School. It is hoped that when a new school is built in Cochrane it will be named after Andrew Sibbald. As Andrew Sibbald taught in this area first it would be a great tribute to our history

Cochrane Legacy Statue

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March is Women’s History Month. In light of that, I thought I’d research the “Chicken Lady” statue on main street Cochrane. Certainly not a complete list, the friends and families of 40 women had their names added to the base of the statue.

The sculptors are Don & Shirley Begg and the statue cast by Studio West here in town.

A Project of the Cochrane Centennial Celebrations Society. Unveiled June 17, 2003.  On the occasion of Cochrane’s 100th Birthday

A tribute to the women of character and perseverance who have built and nurtured the social fabric of our community. Those whose names are inscribed in the base have been so honored by the contributions of their families and friends. They represent generations of women whose hard work laid the foundation for the life of this community.

The project was also made possible by the contributions of the Cochrane and District Community Foundation, Fred Whittle, and the Cochrane Rotary Club.

Sculptors Don & Shirley Begg created this bronze statue of a woman feeding chickens as a tribute to prairie farm women. The original statue, “Egg Money”, is in Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, Alberta. It includes the figures of a boy and a girl. This statue, and a second one in Saskatoon, are based on Egg Money.

Names are impressed into the base of the statue:

Violet DesJardins

Rose McGonigle

Eleanor (McArthur) Berwick

Sarah (Ellis) Edge

Mabel Robena Turner

Gertrude Copithorne

Annabelle (Quigley) MacKay

Mildred Camden

Helen Scott

Mary Crowe

Edith (Callaway) Towers

Annie Beynon

Jemima "Mamie" Callaway

Lady Adela Cochrane

Janet (Johnston) Sibbald

Amy Begg

Letha Whittle

Susanna Nagy

Ethel Margaret (Munro) Crawford

Bertha Harbidge

Ida (Brodie) Edge

Christine Jacobs

Glendale Women's Institute est 1925

Winnie Wearmouth

Emily Lathwell

Yvonne Callaway

Sophia Beynon

Flora Garson

Vernice (Towers) Wearmouth

Marjorie Spicer

Ellen (Ullery) Bryant

Christina Smith MacKay

Jessie Louise Bateman

Isobel (Allan) Fenton

Alice Miriam Callaway

Betty (Hanes) Birchall

Claudia Edge

Nan Boothby

 

 

Cochrane Today has an article on the original model for the statue here.

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Cochrane 2003 Centennial Calendar

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One of the treasures we recently received from Edith Edge is a calendar from not too long ago.  It’s a calendar from Cochrane’s 100th anniversary. Produced by the Centennial Committee assisted by the Town Of Cochrane and CHAPS it contains some fascinating information about our history.

We’ll give an overview here and each month display the calendar from that month on our social media pages.

Click image for larger view

There are so many changes since 2003.  It’s also nice to place what used to exist with what exists now! The Murphy Hotel sat where the Royal Bank is now.

Click image for larger view

Cochrane became a village in 1903.

1908 A small pox epidemic caused isolation tents to be setup near the river.

1909 Davies house built that became first hospital.

2002 Population at census 12,074

 

Recovering from the flood, Looking forward

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Our exhibits this summer are really coming together. We cant wait to show you.

All our exhibits will reflect how horses impacted the growth of our town. We’re certain well have some facts that you didn’t know.

This past year has been a challenge with 2 floods of the Cochrane Ranche. The Museum is put back together but we’re still working on restoring or replacing some of our exhibits. Here is a slide show that shows our progress.

 

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