Vote for Cochrane Arena at Kraft Hockeyville

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Cochrane Arena, built in 1974 could use some upgrades. Cochrane has been nominated as one of the top 4 rinks in Canada in the Kraft Hockeyville competition.

Voting starts at 9:00 AM ET on March 29 and runs until the %:00 PM ET March 30th. The top prize is $250,00.00 for arena upgrades and the chance to host an NHL game.

Show your support by voting for Cochrane.

Cochrane arena under construction 1974 supplied by Pat Woods
Front of Cochrane arena Credit Nicole Henson
Aerial Cochrane Arena from SW Credit Nicole Henson
Aerial from north Cochrane Arena Credit Nicole Henson
West side Cochrane Arena Credit Nicole Henson

Thanks to Nicole Henson, of Nicole Henson Realty, CIR Realty for providing the most current photos of the Arena. Date unknown but the arena is currently a different colour.

Vote for Cochrane

It would be thrilling to host the NHL game and to upgrade the 50 year old arena.
Vote here

Deep Dive

Five years ago today, Big Hill Springs Flooded

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At today’s AGM, Larry Want recalled that 5 years ago this very date and time the Museum was heavily damaged by spring flooding.

Here is the story of the flood and our recovery.

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.

 

Deep Dive

Mary and Jane McQuitty

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Page 600 More Big Hill Country 2009

Mary McQuitty 

In a rainstorm in 1965, we arrived in Cochrane, having driven from Montreal, George to open a medical practice in Cochrane, with Jane, our daughter, and our dog. My first memory is of crossing the wooden bridge over the Bow and getting a first glimpse of Cochrane, a small village then, unpaved, which gave rise to the effect of a Chinook on our first or second night. George had gone to Calgary to collect some luggage. Late in the evening, a Chinook blew in. I had no idea what was happening, dust blowing with the odd bits of paper, etc. past the window. Jane and I huddled in a dark corner away from glass, wondering if I would see my husband, who should be on his way home and was perhaps blown off the road. He arrived safe and sound, the wind had abated and when we asked how he had survived he said, “It was only a strong wind”, he was on a paved road! 

Until his death, Cochrane was always special to George. He loved going to the old office twice weekly after it became apparent permanent residence was not possible because of the distance from the hospital. 

So many people were so helpful in those early days and the many kindnesses we won’t forget. 

One project that was important to George from the very early days was the need for a lodge so that elderly people were not sent off to Calgary, away from their families. Clarence Copithorne, then MLA for the area,

was instrumental in helping him achieve that project; the other was to have a resident doctor in Cochrane, which he was able to do when his practice became a satellite teaching unit of the University of Calgary. Nurses were provided and medical services grew. 

I have watched Cochrane grow into the large town it is today, and I am sure it will retain a great deal of its character through the many changes.

Jane McQuitty 

I had just turned seven when we moved from England to Canada, and remember arriving in Cochrane as the culmination of a most amazing family adventure. We had spent a week crossing the Atlantic on a huge ship called The Empress of Canada. It created a very favorable impression on a little girl, with stunning morning buffets of amazing dishes like stewed raisins, masquerade parties for children, the thrill of being reunited with a favorite toy that I believed had had to be abandoned in Birmingham, whales, and then the first sight of a forested island, I think it was Anticosti. There was the thrill of discovering Quebec City, a taxi ride during which my father spoke in French and English to the taxi driver all the way to Montreal (there was a train strike on), a few days in a hotel of an elegance I’d never seen before, while we waited to be reunited with our luggage. Next, the arrival of a huge station wagon, now ours, and the start of another cramped in like a sardine with the luggage, seven days drive west. West! The place I could only hope would actually be very like ‘Bonanza!’ and where I had been assured by the lady at Customs, I would find real live cowboys and Indians. Thrills of the drive were many, including the sequential blowing of all four tires on the station wagon, being

able to tell my parents that they were looking at a chipmunk (my T.V. watching in Birmingham had not been a complete waste of time, it had made me much smarter than I’d realized), hunting for mysterious things called ‘pollywogs’, which turned out to be tadpoles, with friends instantly made at a Thousand Islands picnic site and some stunning, bone-rattling prairie thunderstorms. I immediately liked Cochrane. It was really in the country and we were camping. It appeared that all three of us, Mum, Dad, and Patch, the dog, were going to be spending quite some time living on top of each other in the downstairs room at the back of Dad’s Main Street office. In spite of the terrifying Chinook my mother remembers, I remember the first weeks of July 1965 as hot and sunny and blue-skied everyday, perfect weather to be outside. Miraculously, something about the move from Birmingham to Cochrane had changed all the rules so that, for the first time in my life, I could wander in and out and find my way to the playground without anxious adult supervision. And, to my delight, the Customs lady had been serious, not just talking down to a child, there actually were real live cowboys and Indians. The first morning I woke up in Cochrane, I went outside to find an elderly lady with long braids, a blue cardigan, a print skirt, moccasins, and wrappings around her legs sitting on our doorstep drinking an Orange Crush, and there, walking by, was a real live cowboy with a Stetson hat, a press button shirt, and cowboy boots. 

People and children my age were kind and welcoming but I soon noticed, especially out of the stratosphere of my parents, that I wasn’t quite right; I talked funny and dressed funny. Getting out of pastel cotton dresses and Clarks, and into blue jeans, Keds, and my very own press button shirt from R.E. Moore’s was thanks to the largesse of my Dad. He couldn’t help me with the funny talk though, and I didn’t have the effrontery to suggest that maybe he and Mum should be doing something about their own stick-out-like-a-sore thumb funny talk, so I decided to work out a solution for myself. In the next few days, I put a lot of effort into copying the speech of two friendly girls from a trailer park in Ontario. In no time I was flawless at it. I was very sad when the camping ended and we had to leave for Calgary.

Deep Dive

Mrs Chester and Mrs Sid Chester Grand Valley 1895

Sid Chester

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Pg 210 Big Hill Country 1977

SIDNEY D. (SID) CHESTER 

Born in London, England, in 1873, Sid Chester came to Vancouver at the age of 16 years. He met and married Tina Campbell while he lived in Vancouver. About 1895 he came to Cochrane and took out a homestead, the NW 14 30-26-4-5, in Grand Valley. After residing there for a few years he purchased land northeast of Cochrane, where he farmed for awhile. This land is now owned by Gordon Callaway. 

Sid and his wife adopted two boys. One boy, Wallace R., passed away in 1913; the other boy lost his life in World War I. 

Sid and his wife moved into Cochrane around 1913, where Sid purchased the Howard Block and set up a store business. The block became known as the Chester Block. There was a dance hall upstairs, where many a good time was had by the young folk of a few years back.

Sid operated a lumber yard in Cochrane for a number of years. He was also in the real estate business. At one time he owned several houses in Cochrane. 

Mrs. Chester passed away in 1953, and Sid passed away in 1960.

Sid’s homestead is now owned by P. and M. Cary.

Mrs Chester and Mrs Sid Chester Grand Valley 1895
Mislabeled photo of Sid Chester

Deep Dive

CHAPS A.G.M.

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Sunday, March 24th, 2024 at 2:00 pm

FCSS Building – Basement

Entrance is on the north side of the building

This meeting will cover:

 1. Approval of minutes of previous Annual General Meeting   

2. Presentation of Financial Statements of 2023  

3. President’s Report  

4. Committee Reports  

5. Updates: 

a) Spring Dinner – April   20th, 2024

b) Stump Project

c) Celebration of CHAPS’s 25th Anniversary in 2024

6. Election of Officers and Directors 

  

2024 Museum Summer Hours

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Plan on joining us at Cochrane’s favourite little Museum this summer:

  • Learn about the equine influence on the development of Cochrane. See our miniature display of the famous Cochrane Race Track. People used to come by train and plane to take in Race Week. Red Pollard and Johnny Longden made appearances as jockeys.
  • Take a look at the historic and current photos of Cochrane locations.
  • See how one of Cochrane’s first hospitals looked.
Crowd in front of building at Racetrack

Towers Ranch

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Page 756 More Big Hill Country 2009

1st Generation

Francis Towers left Birmingham, England in 1856 at the age of 18. He worked his way to Canada by helping on a cattle boat. Hearing of work on the Canadian Pacific Railway, he headed for Toronto. While in Toronto he met and married Elizabeth Glover, who had come to Canada from the Guernsey Islands, just off the coast of France. She had been diagnosed with tuberculosis and the doctors gave her six months to live. However, she lived to the ripe old age of 88 years. 

 

Eventually, Francis Towers was promoted to Canadian Pacific Railway foreman and was given the job of laying the tracks from Winnipeg westward. As Alberta was not yet a province they were headed for the North West Territories where some buffalo still roamed the land. Upon arriving in what is now known as Alberta they lived east of Fort Calgary for a while. This was only a few years after the signing of Treaty Number 7 and some of the Indians were not pleased with their placement on the reserves. The young braves liked to try to get even with the white man and the Riel Rebellion was also happening at this time. Elizabeth, alone through the day with her children had a few scary encounters. One such occasion occurred during the morning after the men left the house for work when an Indian walked into her home. What he planned to do was unknown because the children, who had been asleep upstairs, had woken up and playfully put on their Dad’s boots. When the Indian heard the heavy footsteps upstairs he thought one of the men was home and promptly fled.

Francis and Elizabeth had seven children. Three died at an early age. All the children were delivered without the aid of a doctor. Sometimes an Indian woman would assist; sometimes Elizabeth simply had them on her own.

My grandpa Leslie Towers was born in 1884 in a log house at the junction of the Bow and Elbow Rivers near Fort Calgary. 

When the railroad tracks passed Calgary and started to go farther west, Great Grandpa Francis had begun to accumulate some cattle and by the time the tracks reached Mitford, he had approximately 90 head. The railway inspector came along one day and told Great

Grandpa Francis that he could not hold down two jobs and advised him to take up land and look after his cattle. After all the railroad would soon be completed and his job would be over. So, in 1885, Francis Towers, his wife Elizabeth, and their four remaining children settled on their homestead on the NW Sec 20 Twp 24 Rge 4 W5M beneath the third-highest hill in Alberta. 

To file on a homestead costs ten dollars. This entitled the owner to a quarter section. The land had to be fenced and fifteen acres had to be plowed up after a year. Francis, Elizabeth, their 4 children (as they came of the legal age of 21), and Elizabeth’s mother all claimed a homestead. Grandpa (Leslie Towers) at legal age filed as his homestead the SE Sec 28 Rge 4 W5M. 

Great Grandpa (Francis) first built a small homesteader shack west and part way up the hill from the present log house. This shack has been moved several times and is presently part of the bunkhouse. 

In about 1887 they built their log house which can still be seen. William Edge and Charlie Pedeprat dove-tailed the logs and helped complete the house. It was quite an art to end up with the logs fitting tightly. The house was a spacious two-story building with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs plus a living room, dining room, kitchen, and verandah. The bathroom had a washstand and big tub in the middle for baths. Plumbing was added in 1918. 

Over the years Great Grandpa Francis bought more land for his increasing cowherd. Some he paid $1.00 an acre for. In 2007 that same land sells for $25,000.00 an acre. He acquired the Wine Glass brand before 1900. 

Francis and Elizabeth drove by wagon to Calgary for a six-month supply of groceries in the spring and fall, always stopping at Bill Wallace’s in Springbank to rest their horses. The deep ruts across many of our fields can still be seen after years and years of use. 

When Great Grandma first settled here she was two

years without seeing a white woman. She made all her soap, candles, the boys’ smocks, shirts, socks, and the rest of the clothes. Everything except boots. At times she cooked for as many as 50 men, mixing bread every morning in a washtub. She was a very small person, had wonderful stamina, and was known as a hospitable gracious person. She would often come downstairs in the morning and have to step over 10 or 12 cowboys sleeping in the dining room. 

Great Grandpa Francis and Great Grandma Elizabeth left the ranch in 1914 to live at Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver, and came back every summer. His two sons, Harold and Leslie, continued the ranching operation and in 1928 Francis divided the ranch between the two of them. 

Harold decided to sell his part of the ranch in 1946. Grandpa (Leslie) wanted to buy it, offering to make payments over a period of time. Harold wanted the total cash up front so he sold it to Clarence Copithorne, thus the present ranch is approximately two-thirds the size of the original one. 

 

2nd Generation 

My Grandpa (Leslie) married Edith Sara Callaway in 1918. They lived with Harold and his wife until their house was built in 1919. Later Gram and Grampa raised the house and dug out the basement themselves. Gram remembers holding the team hitched to the scraper while Grandpa filled it. Then it was taken out and dumped. The foundation was poured late in the fall. In order to keep the cement from freezing and cracking, straw was packed around the wooden frames and 3 wood stoves, with their chimneys alongside the straw, were kept burning 24 hours a day. Leslie and Edith (Sara) had one daughter, Vernice.

The spruce trees around the house and part way down the barnyard came from Frank Sibbald’s. Every May Grandpa would harness up the team and wagon and leave before daylight to get a wagonload of trees. He’d arrive home long after dark. The next day would be planting day. 

There were several bridges built across the creek below Gram’s house. The first was a footbridge. You walked up a plank, across, then down a plank. It was soon washed out in one of the floods. Then a swinging cable footbridge was built. On one side was a high 4′ X 5′ anchor embedded in the ground. On the west, the bridge was tied to a group of poplars. This one lasted many years, until the late 1940s when the poplars died. About this same time, Harold sold out and moved so a new bridge was never built. Car bridges were also tried. Once you got on the bridge, there were planks on both sides but the drive up onto and down off the bridge had to be maneuvered with great precision! 

November 19, 1936, was a day no one on the ranch will forget. The wind was blowing a gale (90 mph) and blew down some power lines in what is now Kananaskis. A fire started and was to fill the day with horror. Mom didn’t ride to school that morning because the wind was so strong, so Grandpa drove her. At 8:40 am they drove over the hill where Ponaths now live and could see the fire far away in the mountains. Mom arrived at the school and they started practicing for the Christmas concert. At 9 am Mom was playing the piano for the class when Uncle Ted Callaway raced into the school and told the teacher to get the children out. They were going out the east door as the west door was burning. Mom and another older girl dragged Kass Wallace (Beynon) across the road. Kass was small and couldn’t stand up against the wind. At 9:10 am the school was burned and lost. The children all gathered at Uncle Ted’s house across the road. Burning tree branches fell on the roof but the strong wind blew them out. Harry Johnson, who lived where Ponath’s live now, had 20-30 milk cows in the barn. He couldn’t get them out and they burned in the stanchions. Cattle ran through the fences trying to escape. Pigs were running with their sides open and fat dripping. Every man for 20 miles came to help fight the fire. Even the creeks and roads didn’t stop it. Often an unburnt strip of ten to fifteen feet wide would be found where the wind swept the fire up and over. The fire went as far as Bowness. Here the wind suddenly changed to the north and it started to snow. 

The fire burned all our winter supply of hay and came to within a half mile of the buildings. There was nothing anyone could do because the fire came and went so fast. All day Gram thought Mom was burned but about 5 pm she received word that Mom was safe. Grandpa had to sell off many cows and ship the rest to Olds

to winter in large haystacks. It is no wonder that every rancher or farmer is terrified of the word “fire”. Throughout the following years, we have kept fire-fighting equipment handy. An old cream can for water. Some gunny sacks and shovels. Many times throughout the years the men have had to use them. 

Floods of the Jumping Pound Creek were fairly common and Gram and Grampa had pigs. The first pig house was below their house. During one flood only one corner of the pig house was left standing. The old sow and babies were huddled in this corner. The chicken house was also below Grams. During the same flood, Grampa tied a rope around it and anchored it to a group of poplars. The chickens, trying to reach dry ground, would fly out and land on a floating board only to be carried away down the flooding stream. Grandpa built the present-day brooder house and the roundhouse (for pigs) on the higher ground. 

Until the spring of 2005, the worst flood of the Jumping Pound was the spring of 1932. At night Mom lay in bed listening to the ice banging and breaking against the cliff of the swimming hole. The water was up to Harold’s barn and Gram’s garage. At the widest, the creek ran about 200 yards. For some time there was the possibility of having to move Gram’s house. The grove of poplars by the swimming hole was washed away. The flood altered the course of the creek in many places. In an effort to stop further erosion of the creek banks Grandpa and Dad with the men built 3 water breaks. These were log frames 3 feet wide, 16 feet long, 4 feet high. These were filled with rocks and one of these can still be seen today. 

The barn was built about 1925-1930 by Mr. Sargeant. He stayed in Gram’s spare room. A small straw shed was also built at one end of the feedlot. Dug into the bank, posts with stringers on top, then poplar rails, straw piled on top. This was a very inexpensive cattle shelter as only the straw had to be replaced every year because the wind blew it off. 

Gram and Grandpa always had a very happy home. Gram was a great practical joker and loved to play tricks on Grandpa and the hired men. Every morning during haying Gram made sandwiches and packed them carefully in a box to be sent to the hayfield. A pie or two would go along for dessert. Gram made lovely sandwiches out of homemade bread and butter. The pie was delicious looking with spatterings of berry juice on top. Upon biting into their lunch the men would occasionally find the sandwiches filled with paper, or the pie filled with nails and screws. Needless to say another box of edible sandwiches and dessert would always show up at the appropriate time 

The hired men played tricks on each other also and with about ten or so men around there was bound to be arguments. Such was the case when one fella took another chap’s false teeth and hid them in the laundry basket. The poor chap went without teeth for several days before the laundry was done and the missing teeth were found. To get even this chap found a garter snake and put it in his opponent’s tobacco tin. What a shock when he reached in! Another fellow had a habit of not bathing so the rest of the men got Grandpa’s permission to throw him into the creek to clean him. He quit that night!

During the 1930’s the government was paying men $5.00 per month to work on farms and ranches and paid farmers $5.00 per month towards room and board. This was the first so-called “government assistance” Grandpa ever got. It was greatly appreciated in the 1930’s. In the 1940’s winter wages were $50 to $60 per month plus room and board.

3rd Generation

Vernice Towers (Wearmouth) was born in Calgary at the Holy Cross Hospital in 1920. She was an only child. 

Because of poorly developed roads, she had to board away from home during her school years. From grade one to three she stayed with her grandpa Callaway and attended Brushy Ridge School. For grades four through seven she boarded in Cochrane with Mrs. Hughes and went to school there. She then returned to Brushy Ridge for grades eight to eleven. During these years she rode four miles from home to school and opened and closed seven wire gates morning and night. Vernice then attended Olds College for two years of Home Economics. 

Vernice married Hugh Wearmouth in 1941. They lived with Vernice’s Mom and Dad until their house was built. Bob Beynon built the house, which was 37 feet by 24 feet, and cost $4,000.00 for the labour and lumber. Bob also built most of the other buildings that Mom and Dad put up. The house was added on to three times; originally the master bedroom was the living room. Mom had no running water or power and always forgot to fill the lamps until after dark, and then she would have a terrible time. They later got a Delco generator, which charged up sixteen batteries kept in the basement. This provided the necessary power. Electric power was put in about 1952. 

I always remember my grandpa as “Pom”, a name my brother Doug and sister Irene called him. He was always immaculately tidy and kept the ranch in perfect repair. A much-respected man in the community he was known for always being honest and fair. He was an excellent horseman and even into his late 70’s sat straight and tall in the saddle while riding a spunky horse.

We had a windmill in Section 21 that needed fixing. It was about a 30-foot climb up a precarious ladder, then a walk around the “catwalk” at the top. The hired man wouldn’t climb to the top, due to a bad back he claimed, so Pom did. It was August and very hot. When Pom got home he had a heart attack. He had three heart attacks before he passed away at home in his bed. He was never hospitalized but was nursed at home with the help of some neighbourhood women who were nurses. I was 10 at the time and remember embroidering my first pillowcase while I sat in his room. 

In July of 1963, we had a birthday party for him with 50 friends and neighbours. He passed away in September of 1963. Gram was 63. 

At this time Mom and Dad had been operating the ranch for 22 years so the transition was not a sudden one.

Gram took in a few boarders for company after Pom died. Usually, they were single RCMP men posted in Cochrane, far away from their own homes and welcomed

the home cooking and Gram’s motherly care. 

During our growing-up years, we would frequently ask to stay at Gram’s. I always forgot my pajamas so I could wear one of her long flannelette nighties. As a teenager every morning there was breakfast in bed and occasionally we would have a bath. Gram would lavishly pour her expensive bath oil in the water for Renie and I and when we were ready to get out she would bring up towels she had put in the oven to warm up for us. Gram’s bath towels always had brown burnt spots where they came too close to the burner. 

After many years of heating the house with wood and coal, the house was heated with oil and in 1984 a propane furnace was installed. Indoor plumbing was put in about 1946. 

4th Generation 

In 1947 Hugh and Vernice’s son Doug was born, fol- lowed by Irene in 1949 and myself Edith in 1953. We were all born in Calgary at the Holy Cross Hospital.

For grades 1 to 6 Doug and Irene (Renie) attended the new one-room Brushy Ridge School. The original school Mom attended was burned in the fire of 1936. I attended Brushy Ridge until grade 4 when it was closed. We all finished our schooling in Cochrane. After graduation Doug joined the police force, Renie graduated from Calgary General Hospital with her R.N. and I became a Registered Nursing Aide (now called an LPN, Licensed Practical Nurse). 

In 1956 Pom took Dad into partnership and the ranch was then called the “Towers and Wearmouth” Ranch. 

The trees around Mom and Dad’s house and down the road were planted in the late 1940s. Most were bought from the Sarcee Indians at Bragg Creek for 40 cents a piece delivered. They were about 3 feet high. 

Part of the married couple’s bunkhouse was Great Grandpa’s original homestead shack; the kitchen pantry and porch were added in the early 1950s. The single men’s bunkhouse was built in late 1950. The old red shop was moved from the Jumping Pound Gas Plant during the 1960s. It cost $250 for the building, $250 for the cement floor and foundation, and $250 to move it here. 

Events at the Jumping Pound Hall were always a big thing. As a little girl, I learned to dance at the Jumping Pound Hall. I learned to “follow” the lead of a man. I did my first public speaking, public singing, piano playing, and acting at the Brushy Ridge School Christmas concert. When I started having my own children it was a yearly tradition for all the young mothers to go and scrub and wax the hall floor before the Christmas Concert. My kids still remember their performances there, starting to learn a poem or song in early December. One poem was 

The trouble with my mittens 

They can be such a chore 

For when I have my mittens on 

I cannot open our back door. 

One year my cousin and I decided to have a barn dance. We cleaned all the dust and cobwebs, swept, shoveled and decorated. The tack was all in order, the stalls were filled with fresh straw, streamers were put up and two dummy horses made out of burlap sacks were put in the stalls. We got Mom to make lemonade and Renie made cookies and charged everyone to eat at the dance. We had a record player for music but the power to the outlet wasn’t very good. Every once in a while the turntable would show down and the record would come across in this slow deep voice. Someone would have to give the turntable a push to get it going again. Doug gave taxi rides from the house to the barn on old Febe, the red Cockshutt tractor. These rides cost 25 cents and of course, the money was turned over to us. 

As well as chickens Mom sometimes had turkeys. As they had the run of the yard the gobblers would follow you and try to peck you. The faster you went the faster they followed. The turkeys roosted on the feedlot fence and when the calves were newly weaned the flapping of the rooster getting up to roost caused them to run right through the feedlot fence. One year we had to wean three times. 

During the early years on the ranch haying was done by teams of horses; 2 or 3 teams hooked to mowers and 2 or 3 teams hooked to dump rakes. Many green horses were well broken after a session in the hayfield. In later years the haying was done with a tractor-driven mower and we stacked with a front-end loader on the tractor. With bigger newer equipment we changed from loose hay to baled hay. In 1978 the hay in the hay valley was over the cab of the truck and went four tons to the acre. After haying came harvest, first done with the horses and then changed to power-driven equipment. 

The Wine Glass brand was registered in 1889 by Francis (Frank) Towers. In 1980 it was passed on to his great-granddaughter Edith Wearmouth. In 2004 it was passed on to Frank’s great-great grandchildren in different branding locations for cattle. 

The old crank telephones were something no one forgets. Our ring was F1607 and Gram’s was R 1608. We had 8 others on our party line. When you went to use the phone you asked “Line busy?” If it was you were supposed to hang up. Many people didn’t and this was called “rubbering”. Our ring came as 2 shorts and a long. When you finished using the phone you gave one long ring to let people know the line was clear. A fire or emergency was 4 longs. Everyone picked up the phone and was told where the fire or emergency was. In 1967 we got the dial phone and we had 2 other people on our party line. 

Edith married Lindsay Ecklund in 1973. In 1975 we moved from Cochrane to a mobile home on the same quarter that my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had lived. In 1980 we moved into Mom and Dad’s house and they built a new log home on the NE Sec 28 Rge 4 W5M. Also in 1980, we took over the ranching operations. 

We have three children, all born in Calgary at the Foothills Hospital. Travis was born in 1977, Shane in 1979 and Lori-Anne in 1981. They all attended school in Cochrane. When I think of my kids growing up we took them everywhere with us. If we rode, they rode; in front of us or by the time they were five they had their own horse and were expected to chase cows along with us. Many a time during calving season or if we were working cows, we’d put them in a pen or stall with instructions to stay there. They played, they imagined and they passed the time just fine. 

In 1980 we renamed the ranch “Wine Glass Ranch” after the old brand. 

1985 was the worst drought year the ranch had ever seen until 2000-2003. Even in the 1930’s we had more rain and have always had some kind of crop to harvest. 

Besides no grain, we had an infestation of grasshoppers and only 45 frost-free days. We bought hay from Rimbey at $120 a ton delivered. 

In 1994 Lindsay and I divorced and I took over as sole owner and operator of the Wine Glass Ranch. At this time a joint venture agreement was entered into with a neighbouring ranching family to help.

My Dad, Hugh Wearmouth, continued to ride and ranch into his late 80’s on his Palomino horse, “Slippers”, with his dog “Tippy” at his side. 

Ranching, even in the last 20 years, has had many challenges. In 1996 a big snowfall came on November 13th. The snow stayed until spring. We had to feed the cows for 6 1/2 months but no Chinooks came our way. On March 29, 1999, a wildfire started west of the ranch. John Buckley called about it in the morning. Several people showed up to fight the fire and after a few hours, it appeared to be out. Leaving the local fire departments there, most of the neighbours went home. The wind picked up, changing direction shortly after, catching some smouldering cow paddies and starting the fire up again. The wind raged. Seven fire departments, water bombers, road and maintenance equipment and hundreds of neighbours and other people came to help out. By the end of the day, it had burnt 2000 acres on 3 different ranches, many miles of fence and would take many years for the native grasses to recover. 

The years 2000-2003 saw a severe drought. For the first time in the ranch’s 107-year history, we did not have any cows on the place in the summer of 2002. We sent them away to pasture in response to poor growing conditions due to the 1999 fire and the drought. 

In 2003 B.S.E. was discovered in Canada. This had a huge effect on the cattle market for the next several years. 

In 2005 we saw a one in one hundred year flood. 

Normally the Jumping Pound Creek flows at 3 cubic metres per second. It peaked at just under 300 cubic metres per second. Full-grown cottonwood trees already leafed out and with a diameter of 22 inches were uprooted and floated down the creek. The creek changed course in many places. The Wine Glass buildings were on an island as water surrounded it. 

In 2004 the ranch was awarded the Environmental Stewardship of the Year award for the Province of Alberta from the Alberta Beef Producers. 

In 2005 Hugh Wearmouth passed away and later that year Vernice Wearmouth had a stroke and moved into the Bethany Seniors Lodge in Cochrane. She is enjoying her suite and keeps busy quilting, gardening, playing the piano and enjoying the tea parties and visitors. I obtained the log house that Mom and Dad built in 1980. As of spring 2007 the house is being relocated to the NE Sec 20 Rge 3 W5M where I am fixing it up and am looking forward to moving in to it. 

My children have grown and the 6th generation on the ranch will continue. Travis married Michelle Heerschop in 2000. He is an electronic technologist. In 2007 they will move to the ranch house that his grandparents built in the 1940’s. Shane married Amanda German in 2003. He is in the building and construction trade and they live west of Crossfield. They have three children; Zane, Zoe and Zachary. These children are the 6th generation of the original family of Francis Towers. Lori-Anne Eklund has finished her honours degree in anthropology from Cape Breton University. She plans on returning to Alberta to pursue a career in anthropological research.

Deep Dive

photo courtesy Global News

Edward F. (Boney) Thompson

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By Jean L. Johnson pg 754 More Big Hill Country 2009

Boney Thompson came to Cochrane from Montana in 1905. He was considered one of the best riders of his time and earned the title, King of the Riders. While working for Bob Meiklejon on the place now known as the Grande Valley Ranch he homesteaded the quarter section later owned by Gordon Hinde. He broke horses for G. E. Goddard at the Bow River Horse Ranch and following the death of W. D. Kerfoot, worked for a time at the Virginia Ranch in Grand Valley. 

Thompson was undoubtedly the best rider who participated in the 1912 Calgary Stampede, but he failed to draw a horse that would buck and there were no re-rides. A horse from Montana named Gaviota threw every rider and his owner claimed that he couldn’t be ridden. Some Cochrane men put up bets that they had a man who could ride him. When the man from Montana learned that the rider’s name was Thompson, he asked, “By any chance do you mean Boney Thompson?” When he learned that Boney was indeed the man he called off the bet. He said, “I don’t want Gaviota ridden.” 

Boney Thompson liked the way Laurie Johnson handled horses and asked him to give him a hand-breaking horses at the Hornbach place, up Grand Valley. This was the beginning of a friendship which lasted as long as Thompson lived. They worked together for George Creighton at the Bar C and later broke Thompson’s own horses branded EF Bar. 

In 1918 when the Parks Department took over the Brewster Ranch at the Ya Ha Tinda, Boney, Laurie, and Eddie Rowe gathered the Brewster horses. Among these horses was a brown mare, clean-legged, sixteen hands and weighing over twelve hundred pounds. When the horses were penned she kept right on and cleared a six-foot corral. Boney got her, named her Mother Brewster, and had Laurie break her. 

Up on the Dog Pound Creek, northwest of Cochrane, there was a log cabin and a set of corrals; and there in the summer of 1921, Boney and Laurie were breaking horses. At this time Boney was 48 years old and suffering from stomach ulcers. One day they rode up to the Little Red Deer place, on the edge of the Forest Reserve, where Big Bill Loblaw and Lome Bingeman (the Bingy Kid) were breaking horses. Laurie rode a bronc and Boney was on Mother Brewster. It was raining heavily when they reached the Little Red so they spent the night there. 

The next day Bingy and Loblaw saddled up the broncs. Both men had been bucked off these horses so Bingy asked Laurie to top his off. This Laurie did without bothering to change saddles. Boney said, “If you can ride Bing’s saddle, I reckon I can ride Bill’s.” And he stepped up to Bill’s horse, even though the stirrups were too long for him. The horse bucked violently. jumping high and landing stiffed legged. At the second jump they could see that something was wrong with Boney. He remained upright in the saddle till the horse stopped bucking; then he slumped to the ground. 

Cochrane Stockyards 1914

They carried him into the house where he lay in agony and begged for his gun. He needed a doctor and the nearest telephone was eighteen miles away at the Mount Royal Ranch. Laurie saddled Mother Brewster and told Bingy to follow him with two extra saddled horses and wait at the Glen Finnan hay meadow, about the halfway mark of the journey. 

Laurie walked the mare across the river flats, forded the river and then he galloped. There was no road; his trail led through creeks, coulees, brush, and muskegs for half the distance. One hour and a quarter after Boney dropped from the saddle Laurie galloped into Mount Royal with the mare covered with foam. Pete Dreever, who was working for D.P. McDonald, saw him coming. He asked no questions, just took the mare, threw a blanket over her, and walked her till she cooled out. This gallant mare was not hurt by the ride but she was never saddled again. D. P. phoned Cochrane for Dr. Waite who drove out in his Model T, picked up Laurie and went on to the meadow where Bingy wait- ed with the horses. Dr. Waite who had never ridden, was mounted on a quiet horse. Laurie and Bingy each took a satchel; one led the doctor’s horse while the other urged it on. Dr. Waite grasped the horn with both hands and throughout that ride, which must have been a nightmare for him, he spoke not a word. He could do nothing for Boney but ease his pain, for the pelvis was shattered and the bladder punctured. In the meantime, Jack Fuller had brought a team and wagon from his home six miles down the river. They filled the wagon box with hay, put a mattress on it and headed down the river as this was the only road out. Bingy went ahead and got Austin Reid to come to meet them with his car. When they finally got Boney to Calgary, Dr. McEachern operated but without success. Boney Thompson died and the whole district mourned. E.C. Johnson made the arrangements for a cowboy funeral. The church was packed. 

The Stoney Chiefs were there too. The Rev. Mr. Brooker spoke eloquently, of the life and attributes of the cowboy whose death they mourned. A wreath of wild flowers was laid on the coffin and the coffin placed on a horse-drawn wagon, driven by Bob Armistead. Ed Thompson’s saddled horse, Big Sis, was led behind and his boots were reversed in the stirrups. The pallbearers dressed in their cowboy clothes and wearing black bands on their Stetsons, were following on horseback behind Boney’s horse as the procession moved slowly up the Big Hill to the cemetery. Ed “Boney” Thompson’s grave is marked by a headstone placed there by one of his friends, Andy Garson. 

Deep Dive

Wayne and Melva Blood

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More Big Hill Country 2009 Pg 299

Our story begins in 1938 when Sam and May Blood moved with their young family, Wayne and Pat, to Cochrane. The children attended school in Cochrane and most of the family still live here. 

In 1960 Wayne Blood was working in Turner Valley for Royalite when he met Melva Porter. Melva had moved to Turner Valley as a teenager from Medicine Hat. 

Wayne and Melva married and joined Sam and May Blood in a new adventure, south and west of Cochrane. Sam and May had just entered into a partnership with George and Gertrude (Gertie) Copithorne to open a garage, gas station and coffee shop at the top of the Scott Lake Hill on the new TransCanada Highway. This facility was built in 1960 and a very large house was moved out from Calgary and placed behind the Service Station. 

Wayne and Melva lived in a mobile home on the site for several years and then they moved into the big house, which they shared with staff. 

Because of the remote location of the Service Station and Coffee Shop it was difficult to convince workers to live that far away from the city and May advertised as far away as the Winnipeg Free Press for waitresses, cooks and mechanics. Applicants were varied, some didn’t work out and others became family friends and stay in touch to this day. Employees came from many nationalities and places and some went beyond the call of duty at times. 

The Blood’s welcomed the trucking business and after a slow struggle up the Scott Lake hill, many of the truckers became regular customers in the coffee shop. There was a guest book for them to sign each time they stopped and after twenty visits they received a free meal. Other regulars included the Jumping Pound neighbours and many from the Morley Reserve. 

At the time the Scott Lake Service Station and Restaurant was the only place to get service or something to eat between Calgary and Canmore. It was welcomed by many including the Cochrane and Canmore RCMP who could now stop for a bite to eat and coffee on their long shifts patrolling this new highway. 

Wayne and Melva welcomed two daughters, Heather in 1961 and Brenda in 1964 while living at Scott Lake. Both girls could be found in their playpen in the kitchen or happily playing in the storage room while Melva helped out in the restaurant. 

Wayne and Melva loved to curl and would often take Heather with them to Cochrane where she would sleep in her basket while they played the late draw. On other nights, friends were invited out for card parties, corn roasts around the campfire, or stories in the big teepee that Sam erected. Dances and parties in the Jumping Pound Hall were enjoyed with the neighbours in the community and the yearly Christmas Concert was a special occasion for the children, parents, and grandparents. Heather started school in Springbank and fondly remembers the first day Jim Copithorne’s bus picked her up at seven in the morning for her first long ride to school. Being first on the bus and last off was certainly a long day for a little girl. Melva was always insistent that the girls be kept “busy” and there were many trips to Calgary for piano, voice and Highland Dancing lessons. Melva was also an active member in All Saints Anglican Church, teaching Sunday school and playing the organ. Both Heather and Brenda would accompany her each Sunday to Cochrane and enjoy the camaraderie with the Edgelow, Harvie and Blackwell families to name a few. As the years went on and the TransCanada Highway became busier, the Government announced that they were twinning the highway from Calgary to Banff. This was a huge improvement given the difficulty many vehicles had climbing the hill, especially in winter. However that also meant that the eastbound traffic would have no access to the station, a situation that resulted in the decision to sell the station in 1969. 

Melva, Wayne and the girls moved into Cochrane, first renting an apartment in the “East End” before moving to the newly developed area of Cochrane Heights, where they welcomed the birth of their son Ross in 1969. Heather moved from school in Springbank to Andrew Sibbald Elementary School. Brenda and Ross started school at Andrew Sibbald Elementary and the children continued on through Manachaban, and the High School in Cochrane. 

They soon found a group of friends who all enjoyed playing pranks on each other or getting together at someone’s house or backyard for a weekend party. Pranks such as decorating vehicles or various articles and houses took place. Once even saw the neighbours all dress up as a motorcycle gang for Halloween, even though no one owned a motorcycle! In the summer it was not unusual to find a number of families heading out for a camping weekend of laughs, card games and water fights. 

Wayne began working for Eagle at the Shell Jumping Pound Plant and then moved to Petrofina (currently PetroCanada) where he eventually became one of the Field Operators. He volunteered as a Scout Leader for 

Lions Rodeo dedicated to Wayne Blood

a number of years, coaching the boys to victory at the Annual Ice Stampede in Calgary. He was an enthusiastic member of the Lions Club in Cochrane and he and Melva were quite active in the Community enjoying curling and dances at the old Community Hall. Unfortunately, Wayne’s life was cut short when he passed away in September 1997 of a heart attack. 

 

Melva stayed at home while Ross was young before returning to the Royal Bank where she spent the next twenty-three years at various branches filling in while others took vacations. She also renewed her commitment to Girl Guides, serving as Guide Captain and having the pleasure of watching many of the local girls grow up and become young women in the community. Melva still continues her association with the Girl Guides and was recently awarded her fifty year pin and a Life Membership in the organization. 

Melva keeps busy volunteering for many of the fundraising casinos in the community, singing in two choirs, playing Bingo, and bowling. She is a Director on the Frank Wills’ Memorial Society and was recognized for her commitment to the community with a “Citizen of the Year” Award from the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce and more recently an “Integrity Award” from the Rotary Club. Melva continues to work at the local RCMP detachment as a Matron since 1988. 

Heather continues to reside in Cochrane, taking after her Mom in some of her volunteer efforts. She sat on the Board of the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce and the 2nd Hooves of History Cattle Drive. She organized the Annual Cochrane Light Up for ten years and has been a member of the Calgary Downtown Attractions – Old Time Rigs Committee for ten years as well as the Stampede Rodeo Committee for 5 years. 

Heather started working after High School in the Royal Bank- Brentwood Branch before heading into other careers in Accounting, Executive Assistant, Real Estate Assistant and Oil and Gas Land Administration. She even tried her hand at following in her father and grandfather’s footsteps when she took over the Turbo Gas Station (now Shell) at the bottom of the Big Hill in Cochrane. Deciding that she wanted to continue to travel Heather left the gas station business and joined West Jet Airlines as a Flight Attendant in 2002 where she continues to be employed today. When she is home, you’ll often find Heather enjoying her biggest passion in her life, having fun with her two Thoroughbred horses. 

Brenda, after finishing her twelve years of school in Cochrane, continued her education at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology with her EMT-A diploma. She

then worked on the Cochrane Fire and Ambulance Department for several years while also working as a medical assistant and lab aid at the Coach Hill Medical Clinic. 

In May of 1992, she gave birth to the first of her two children, a girl, Chelsea Lynne. What a Mother’s Day present! At this time she took a position with the Cochrane Medical Clinic and between work, playing baseball, parenting and the odd ambulance shift, her second bouncing bundle of joy arrived in August of 1995 a son, Gavin Maitland. The first grandchildren for Melva and Wayne. Can you say spoiled? 

Shortly after the birth of Gavin, six months to be exact, Brenda and family moved lock, stock and barrel to the Town of Hinton. It is a very picturesque town where they reside to this date. Being away from Cochrane took a great deal of getting used to, but new friends soon developed. Brenda soon went back to work, part-time at the ambulance and the swimming pool. She worked, played baseball and started full-time taxi service (Mom can you drive me to ….) 

In 2000, with both children in school, she realized it was time to go back to work full time. She accepted a position at the local swimming pool and worked as a Senior Lifeguard Instructor/Pool Operator for five years until leaving to work full time in the Oil and Gas Industry. She is currently employed as an EMT-A with Oilfield Medical Services and has been with them for three years as well as teaching First Aid and CPR courses and taking the odd shift at the pool when time allows. In her spare time, she continues to play baseball, take the kids on camping trips and spends a great deal of time driving the roads of North Central Alberta on the various trips that the kids have. Both of them are heavily involved in sports. 

Chelsea is the goalie for the Hinton Junior Bulldogs Ringette Team as well as being involved in soccer, baseball, volleyball and badminton. She currently is in grade ten at Harry Collinge High School and is on the academic honor roll for excellence. 

Gavin is also involved in sports and is a right winger on the Hinton Peewee “A” hockey team. He also plays baseball and enjoys riding motorbikes when he gets the chance. Gavin is currently in grade seven in Ecole Mountainview and excels in Phys.Ed. 

They lead a busy life, they still manage the occasional trip back to see the family in Cochrane and look forward to the trips to the dam for ice fishing in the winter and quading in the summer. 

Ross grew up enjoying life – rules were meant to be bent and everything was supposed to be fun. He took all his schooling in Cochrane and like lots of boys, 

school wasn’t all that important, taking things apart and mechanics were always more interesting to him. Thanks to his Uncle Lorne and cousin Craig, Ross quickly developed a love for operating machinery and riding motorcycles in particular, Cross Country Racing. Ross did very well, placing first in many of the races he entered. There were many weekends when Wayne or Melva would pack up the motor home and head out to a race to cheer him on, returning with lots of memories and a stack of dirty muskeg-covered racing gear. Ross left Cochrane for a number of years to develop his heavy equipment skills in Northern Alberta on the oilrigs, returning in 1997. Ross loves to play baseball, go camping and travel. He works in the construction industry operating heavy equipment. He is currently residing in Calgary.

Deep Dive

Grand Old Lady of Cochrane

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A Peep into the Past pg 18 Vol. 2 Gordon and Belle Hall

A ‘Stately Old Lady’, the Rebekah Hall on main street in the town of Cochrane was built around the year 1900, the exact date is not known. There are few buildings of this age left in Cochrane. Whether it was the first hall in Cochrane is not clear, as the Howard Block was built about the same time and had a dance hall upstairs. 

The Rebekah Hall was built and owned by an Orange Lodge, called Mount View Loyal Orange Lodge #1813 of Cochrane, and was of course known as the Orange Hall. The Oddfellows formed a lodge here in February 1912 and had their meetings in the Orange Hall. The rent was around $15 per month when things got too tough they would rent a room in the Howard Block and move. During the First World War, times were tough. Electric lights were just appearing so when you vacated a room or whatever, you rolled up the wire and took your lights too, and had them hooked up at the new place. 

When my family arrived here in 1923, the Orange Hall was the hub of social life – dances, minstrel shows, Christmas parties for the kids, and concerts were held there. Then motion pictures were coming into vogue, so the Orangemen built the front of the hall out to the sidewalk, making about an extra 10 feet long, and adding two extra rooms to the side with a big room up stairs The reason for all this was to get space to put a room that was completely lined in case of fire. The local electric current was not strong enough for the projector, so Mr. Sharpe of Sharpe’s Theatre Supplies Calgary had a Delco plant in the back of his old Dodge car. It sat out front of the hall with a cable going up and through one of the windows and into the tin room. They were the old silent films, and we saw the Dempsey-Tunney fights. Charlie Chaplin in the Gold Rush, etcetera. 

 

Gray Sharp, Photo courtesy of UofC Digital Collections

In 1934, when I joined the Oddfellows, we met in the Masonic Hall, in 1936 the Orange Hall came up at a tax sale, and we bought the Old Girl and lot for $200. The hall at this time was heated by wood and coal stoves, and remember the first supper the lodge members had in their new hall-it was in February 1937. We had cooked the food and turkey ourselves. The temperature outside was about 20 below zero. We ate supper with our overshoes and overcoats on and the steam from the cooking filled the hall. 

In 1937, J. D. Curran, a local artist and oldtimer of the area and a relative Andisons, painted two huge pictures for the hall, one was at the back of the a stage and was later ruined by water. The other was painted on a canvas and was the stage curtain as it rolled up and down on a pole across the sage When the stage was taken out, the canvas was framed on the north wall of the hall, where it hangs today. It is a painting of the Three Sisters mountains at Canmore – Curran was 86 years old at this time. 

At the start of the Second World War, a platoon of soldiers or militia was formed in Cochrane, named the Second Battalion Calgary Highlanders. The hall was offered to them by the Oddfellows to store rifles and equipment in and drill in the winter months – this went on for about four years. 

The old hall has seen much of Cochrane’s past history, her back is bent, her floors are warped, the roof leaks, the doors don’t fit too well, but after about 90 years, who cares.

Odd Fellows Hall Ad

Deep Dive

Boothby Family

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John and Nancy Boothby Family Page 303 More Big Hill Country 2009

Another in our continuing series on Willing, Working, Women, the women behind the Cochrane Library coming into being.

Mark Boothby

John Boothby came to Cochrane from Cheshire, England. His mother died in 1905 when he was ten years old. His father William, came to Canada soon after his wife died to work at the Cochrane Stone Quarry. 

 

In 1911, John came to Cochrane and found work at the Collins Brickyard. He fell ill with typhoid fever a month after he arrived and was hospitalized at the Davies Hospital as a patient of Dr. Park. John then spent three months recuperating at the home of Robert Dawson. The Dawson family had lived about seven miles from the Boothbys in England. 

Collins Brick Yard 1911
John William Boothby 10th Battalion Jan 1916

 

John worked in and around Cochrane until he joined the 137th Battalion of the Canadian Army in World War I. He served at Vimy Ridge and was wounded. After hospitalization in England he returned to the trenches until the end of the war. He received his discharge in September 1919 following a stay in England. 

Pte J W Boothby 808175 10th Batt Jan 15 1916

John returned to Cochrane and homesteaded the SW Sec 34 Twp 26 Rge 4 W5M through the Soldier Settlement Board. This land had been a Government Water Reserve that had been set aside in the early days of the pioneers so that everyone could get water. He stocked his farm with sheep bought from Bill Tempany. 

Nancy Harbidge came to Calgary at the age of six months in 1903 with her parents, brother Charles and uncle, aunt, and their three children. They stayed in the Immigration Hall for a few days before living in a tent near a quarry ten miles north of the city of Calgary, where Mr. Harbidge found work, cutting stone at Allan’s Quarry on Nose Creek. Then they lived in a tar paper shack her father built. A year or so later, they moved to Hillhurst and built another shack to live in. While here Mrs. Harbidge had a second son. 

In 1905 Mr. Harbidge and Mo Adams filed on homesteads in the Bottrel area. After building tar paper shacks they moved their families to the farms in November. The snow was deep and they had to sleep under the wagons on the two day trip to their new homes. 

The closest post office was Bottrel, six miles north. Mr. Harbidge had to walk there and back for their mail. He worked in Calgary, returning to the farm on weekends and going back to Calgary, leaving at 12:00 AM on Monday so as not to travel on Sundays. He did this until he was able to stock the farm with animals and work the land on a permanent basis. 

Six more children were born to this family. All the children were: Charles, Nancy, Mike, Alice, Miriam, Mary, Ruth, Samuel and Dan. Ruth died at age eight and Samuel died at age thirteen. Charles married Violet West in 1919. Mike and Dan married sisters Matilda and Lavina Hamm respectively. Mary married Henry Hupkes, Miriam married Kornelis Westra while Alice married Marlow Blatchford. 

 

John Boothby married Nancy Harbidge in September 1923. They had two sons, Bill and Bruce. Bill was born March, 1926 in the Tom Quigley house on the corner of First Street East and Pope Avenue. The family moved to Cochrane in 1927. John continued to work on the farm often working with Frank Whittle doing the haying and baling. Nancy worked hard on the farm along side of John. Bruce was born in January 1934. 

Nancy was self educated and very community minded. She was involved as a Sunday School teacher at St. Andrews United Church, a Charter Member of the Cochrane Branch of the Eastern Star as well as one of the Founders of the Cochrane Library, where she volunteered for many years. Nancy passed away in September of 1962. Years later the Cochrane Library was named the Nan Boothby Memorial Library in her honour. John retired in Cochrane. He spent many hours playing cards with friends. He and Ernie Crowe took part at the Sod Turning and Opening Ceremonies of the New Legion Hall in 1974. 


Nan Boothby Memorial Library
John Boothby, Walter Crowe with shovels

John and Nancy’s son Bill married Dorothy Reed of Cochrane and they had three sons: Mark, Laurie and Dana. They ranched north of Cochrane. 

Bruce married Dorothy Ellett from Mearns, Alberta and they had two daughters Susan and Joan. They ranched in Grand Valley. 

Bruce Boothby Family Ranch at Grand Valley

William and Dorothy Boothby by Dorothy Boothby

William (Bill) Boothby and Dorothy Reed were married on January 5, 1957, in the North Hill United Church in Calgary. The Reverend Pottruff was the Minister and his wife, Mrs. Pottruff, stood up for us. After the wedding, we drove to Okotoks to tell my parents, Sydney and Lilian Reed. Mom and Dad moved to Okotoks as the Cochrane Creamery was taken over by Mrs. Loughery’s nephew. Lilian and Sydney Reed lived in Cochrane for 35 years. Dad had many jobs but worked for the Creamery until 1953. 

Cochrane Creamery Limited

Bill and Dorothy had three sons. Mark was born December 8, 1957, Laurie October 14, 1959 and Dana August 25, 1961. We lived 1 1/2 miles north of Cochrane on the Bottrel Road. The children had to be taken to school as the bus came much later. 

Boothby Ranch Barn and Outbuildings built by McConachies
JW Boothby buys Just Home Ranch

There was a great rivalry between Walter Lyons and Bill as to who had the best horse. I don’t think that was ever settled, they both won their share of races. 

Bill and I both curled in the rink next to the United Church and he was the Draw Master for many years.

We had both started in Cochrane’s oldest curling rink next to the Blacksmith’s Shop. I worked for Andison’s store for a short time then joined the Credit Union and worked for 15 years. 

Mark spent some time with Highway Patrol, but now is a Computer Programmer for the City of Red Deer. He married Della Burke from Williams Lake, British Columbia. Laurie moved to Toronto and worked in the steel industry. While down east, he married Thelma Duguay from New Brunswick. After the economy slowed, they moved back to Cochrane when they had a baby daughter, Celina. 

The Boothby ranch bought a piece of land around Bashaw where Laurie, Thelma and Celina moved. In 1995, they had a son Julian. We kept the farm until 2004 when BSE took its toll in the ranching business. Laurie and his family now live in Red Deer. 

Dana stayed on the ranch after going to the University of Calgary; he married Melanie Cherwayko of Bearspaw on January 3, 1987. They have three sons: Tanner, Riley and Reed, currently in school. 

Bill became ill in the 1980’s so Dana had to be ranch manager. We moved to Cochrane in 1990 and Bill’s health failed; he passed away December 3, 2006. I still live in my home in Cochrane.

Deep Dive

James and Yvonne Bowlen

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Page 306 More Big Hill Country 2009

James “Jaye” Edward Bowlen was born February 23, 1936, in Calgary, Alberta to Eddie and Kathleen “Toddles” Bowlen. He had four sisters: Delores, Maureen, Cheryl, and Kaye. The family lived in Calgary and visited their Aunt Helen on the Mount Royal Ranch frequently. They loved to stay with her and she loved having them.

Jaye attended St. Mary’s High School in Calgary where he excelled in football under the coaching of the late Rev. Jim Whelibaw, the Rev.Lawrence Moran, and Hank Carmine. 

Yvonne Stannge was born February 9, 1937 in Claresholm, Alberta to Frank and Louise Stannge. She had two sisters, Bernice and Pat, and a brother Alvin.

Yvonne was educated in Claresholm and moved to Calgary after completing high school. In Calgary, she worked in the oil industry for Fracmaster for several years. Jaye and Yvonne were married on September 15. 1962. They moved to Jaye’s family’s ranch, Mount Royal Ranch, west of Cochrane to manage it. They lived in the teacherage at Beaupre for a couple of years and moved to the Ranch House when Jaye’s aunt Helen moved into Cochrane. 

The Ranch House was an old log, two-storey building built into the hill. In the spring when the snow melted the water would run into the house, so one day Jaye took a brace and bit and drilled holes in the floor. The water soon disappeared. 

Jaye and Yvonne adopted two children. Catherine “Cathie” in 1967 and Robert “Bobby” in 1970. Before Bobby arrived, they moved a house from Calgary to the ranch and vacated the ranch house. The old log house was then used to house the hired help. Eventually it burned down. 

Cathie and Bobby were educated in Cochrane. Cathie was an excellent gymnast and was encouraged in her endeavors by her father. She made the National Team but was forced to quit because of her knees. 

Jaye and Yvonne were members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and they also enjoyed curling and golfing Yvonne was an excellent seamstress and enjoyed quilting and sewing. She and her sister Pat contracted to make many liturgical linens for the church. 

Cathie had three children: Ashley, Briegh-Ana, and Scott. Jaye and Yvonne loved their grandchildren and donated much time and effort into their well-being. 

Bobby excelled at football in school and followed in his father’s footsteps managing the ranch. He also took training as an electrician. He married Carrie Baldwin in 2000. Their wedding was held at the Mount Royal Ranch They have four boys: Payton, Tyson, Jacob, and Wyatt. 

Jaye and Yvonne’s lives were tragically cut short on May 21, 1999, by two young offenders, friends of Cathie They are all serving life sentences for the Bowlen deaths.

Deep Dive

Passing the Torch 2023

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CHAPS wants to remember the community members who passed away in 2023. Their contributions are listed in the obituaries and articles below.

Dorothy May Edge 

March 16, 1940 – December 26, 2022

Obituary
Article

Janette Whittle 

November. 5, 1934 – January. 31, 2023

Obituary
Article

Mildred Davies 

January 24, 1931 – February 12, 2023

Obituary
Article

Nelda Sharp

February 26, 1938 – April 25, 2023

Obituary

Myrna Lathwell

December 5, 1939 – May 10, 2023

Obituary

Marilyn Whittle

January 20, 1943 – August 26, 2023

Ray Whittle

January 10, 1932 – January 6, 2024

Marilyn
Ray
Article

Jim Lauder

September 7, 1934 – September 17, 2023

Obituary

Ruby Keller

October 10, 1939 – October 6. 2023

Obituary

Pat Woods

April 20, 1932 –  September 8, 2023

Obituary
Article

Valerie Wilson

August 27, 1944 – November 30, 2023

 A celebration of life will be held at the Ranch House in Cochrane at 2:00 PM on January 13, 2024.

Obituary
Article

 Beryl Sibbald

 1943 – 2024

 

Obituary
Article

Funeral Services will be held at Cochrane Ranchehouse (101 Ranchehouse Rd, Cochrane, AB), on Monday, January 22, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. with reception to follow. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Beryl’s family here.

CHAPS apologizes to any family whose family member we may have missed.  

Deep Dive

Top Stories from 2023 5 through 1

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Welcome back to our review of the top 10 most read articles from 2023. Here are the top 5 beginning with number 5.

5. Gordon Ivan Davies Family

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4. The Ghost Dam

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3. Lodgings and Hotels

Also contains an audio history by Gordon Davies.

Go to Article

2. Cochrane’s Olympic Spirit

Contains an audio by Gordon Davies

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  1. Doug Richards and the Early Years.

Thanks to M.D Bighorn Historical Resource Committee for this excellent narrative from the Oral History Project.

Go to Article

That’s it for 2023. Stay tuned for 2024 as it looks to be just as exciting.

How do you want to get involved?

Do you want to research and submit an article, volunteer at the Museum, or organize an event. We have a role for you!
Get in touch

Top Stories from 2023 10 through 6

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2023 saw an increase in the readership of our stories. We are grateful you enjoy them. Based on your readership here are the top 10 from 2023. We’ll start with 10 through 6.

#10 The Morleyville Settlement

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#9 Dave Bryant

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8. The Reed Family

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7. Restaurants and Cafes

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6. Passing of the Torch 2022

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We hope you enjoyed the first of our series on the top 10 articles from 2023. Stay tuned next week for the top 5.

Pat and Lorne Woods Family

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More Big Hill Country 2009 pg 817

Pat moved to Cochrane in 1944 with her parents May and Sam Blood and her brother Wayne. Her father was employed by J.R. McConachie of the Just Home Ranch. She started Grade 7 in the Cochrane School and completed her school years there, graduating in 1949. In 1951 she married Lawrence Woods from Lacombe, Alberta, who was employed by Mannix Construction. In 1952 he was employed by the seismograph division of Shell Oil Company, which involved working in various areas of the province. They lived in a mobile home and moved periodically until 1958 when Lawrence was transferred to the Jumping Pound Gas Plant in the Cochrane area. They’ve lived in Cochrane ever since. Pat and Lorne purchased the W. Camden house (built 1903) in 1962 and lived there for 40 years. 

Camden Woods Home

Lorne and Pat had three children: Gail, Guy, and Craig. They all reside in Cochrane. They also have two grandsons. 

As most families, they became involved in several community activities while their children were small. Pat served on the executive of the Home and School Association, and the Brownies and Guides Association. She was a cub leader for five years. Lorne was on the District Executive of Boy Scouts of Canada for five years, and in 1960 started coaching organized minor hockey for the next thirteen years. In 1967 he received a certificate from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association for Outstanding Service to Minor Hockey. 

Pat Woods Women at Counter (Left, unknown location)

As a family, they all had a love of the outdoors and fortunately the Cochrane area was handy for fishing, skiing, motorcycling, hunting, camping, and swimming. Many summer days were spent swimming in the Jumping Pound Creek (thanks to the H. Wearmouth Family) and what was known as the river backwater at Griffin’s Island. 

All three children spent their school years in Cochrane and they, as well as Pat and Lorne, are fortunate to have many schoolmates still living in the area.

Deep Dive

Hogarth Family

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Page 512 More Big Hill Country 2009

Andrew Harvey (Harve) Hogarth was the eldest son of Robert and Mary (Elder) Hogarth, born October 2, 1911. Harve grew up with three brothers: William Elder (Bill), Robert John (Bob) and James Cecil (Jimmy). Jimmy died at 22 months due to pneumonia and was buried in the Cochrane cemetery.

The family lived on the land that Robert homesteaded SE Sec 24 Twp 27 Rge 5 W5M until 1913, when the family moved to Exshaw, where Robert had purchased a dairy from Adam Baptie. They sold the dairy and moved back to the homestead and lived there until about 1927. Then the family moved into Cochrane and operated a flour and feed mill. 

Robert loved to fly fish even though he did not eat his catch, but gave it away. He raised sheep and would go to neighbors to teach them how to handle and raise sheep. Also, he raised draft horses and would show them in shows in Calgary. Robert raised cattle and his son Harve

would show the steers at the Calgary shows. Robert was a manager for the McConachie Ranch. He loved to curl and would travel to Canmore, Exshaw, Banff, Springbank and Calgary to compete in bonspiels. 

Mary was a good Scottish cook, especially known for her scones. When asked how the food was, Robert would always reply “Fair to middling.” She loved to knit and was able to knit argyle socks as well as sweaters, skirts, and other clothing. Like many women of her time, she became an excellent seamstress, making her own curtains as well as clothing. Mary loved to put on Christmas Eve dinners. This was a double celebration as it was Robert’s birthday. They always celebrated April 2 with Dewey Blaney, as this was both Mary and Dewey’s birthdays. 

Later Robert and his brother Jock Hogarth purchased a business from Robert Butler. This included a machinery agency for International Harvester and McCormick Deering, as well as a Union Oil Service Station. In 1933 Robert bought out Jock and the business became known as R. Hogarth and Sons. With the onset of the Depression, business fell off and Robert sold the business to move again to Exshaw and bought a dairy operation His boys Bill and Bob operated this until Bill left to join the R.C.A.F during WWII. Bill married Vernie in 1943 just before leaving for war, where he was killed in August of 1943. 

Robert came back to the Cochrane area and took over the Bottrel mail route from W. Johnson. Robert did this until 1958 when his health failed. Robert and Mary lived north of Cochrane on the Armistead place for a while, and then moved back into Cochrane, building a small house on Fisher Avenue. 

Robert and Mary’s son Bob went to work at the Exshaw Cement Plant. He married Marion Whitehead and they raised three children: William (Bill), Carol and Gary. 

Robert and Harve bought a milk route from Jack Steel, and then Harve bought his Dad out in 1936. 

The Hogarth family loved sports, participating in and supporting curling, fastball, hockey, golf, and track and field. 

Violet Louise Buckler was born July 26, 1913 on the family homestead, to David and Lillie Buckler. Violet grew up with her sister Maggie and four brothers Albert, Stan, Roy, and Henry. They all attended Summit Hill School. They rode horses to school. Violet learned to play piano and loved sports. She played on the girl’s Bottrel Basketball team. She was taught a crochet by her mother. Violet moved to Cochrane and worked in the Cochrane Cafe with her sister Maggie When their mother Lillie became ill, Violet returned home to take care of her. On November 12, 1934 Violet and A. Harvey (Harve) Hogarth married and lived in 

Cochrane. They lived in the old Catholic manse that had several vehicles crash into it. While the Hogarths were living there they were fortunate enough that only a bicycle had crashed into the house. They raised four children: Harvey David, Robert James, (Gloria) Louise, and John William. All four children went to school in Cochrane. 

In the mid 1940’s Violet helped her brothers saw the lumber from the family sawmill that was used to build Violet and Harve’s home on Powell Street in Cochrane. Harve drove a transport truck, collected milk from dairy farms on the trip into Calgary, bringing groceries and other goods on the return trip to Cochrane. He also drove a school bus. Harve coached the men’s fastball and hockey teams. 

Violet would coach the young boy’s hockey teams. Four of the boys that she coached made Junior B hockey teams in Calgary. Violet did not skate, but if she needed to have someone actually demonstrate, Harve would go up to the rink and perform the task. Violet and Harve were instrumental in having organized hockey and fastball leagues in the Cochrane area. Harve helped Bill MacLean organize men’s hockey in Morley. 

Violet started the Cochrane Highland Dancing Association and was warden for the Calgary Highland and Cochrane Highland Dancing Association, as well as being a founding member of the Booster Club. This group mainly raised money for amateur hockey, keeping the outdoor rink functioning. 

Whenever a master of ceremonies was needed Harve was called upon. This included calling bingo games in the Elks Hall, concerts, and amateur shows. He was the master of ceremonies for the Calgary Highland Games and Calgary Highland Dancing Association. Harve was a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge. Both Harve and Violet loved to curl and went to a lot of bonspiels and represented Cochrane in playdowns. Harve died suddenly on June 14, 1959, after playing ball. 

In the early 1960’s Violet came home to find the fire crew at her home fighting an electrical fire. 

After being on her own for several years, Violet met and was engaged to August (Gus) Graff. They loved to camp and spent a lot of time at the campground near Seebe, where they would attend fastball tournaments and go to bingo in Exshaw. Violet had a stroke in 1986. She was at home for a year and a half before she moved to the Bethany Care Centre in Calgary. Violet passed away on June 14, 1997, thirty-eight years to the day after her husband Andrew Harvey (Harve) Hogarth. 

The last year that Harvey Jr. played Junior B hockey, he and his brother Bob were picked to play for the Calgary Junior A team that was coached by Gus Kyle. Harvey 

Jr. went on to play hockey in Vernon, Nelson, Lacombe and Olds before joining the Nanton Palominos for the Big Six Hockey League. Bob joined him there for two years. Harvey Jr. lost his sight in one eye on February 8, 1958 when he was hit by a puck that was shot by an opposing player in anger after the whistle was blown. This ended his career in hockey at that level. Harvey did play ball with the Cochrane Cardinals and Cougars as well as other teams. Harvey Jr. also represented the Bow Valley several times for curling playdowns.

Harvey Jr. took over the trucking business and ran it with his mother Violet until 1985. Then he ran the business on his own until 1996 when he sold it. Harvey married Heather Scott and they have two children, Harvey III (Chub) and Deanna. 

Chub played Junior B hockey in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Later he returned to Cochrane, where he and his cousin Derek played for the Barons. Chub married Teresa Gibson and they have two daughters, Caitlin and Tristin. They live in Cochrane and Chub works as a millwright at the Exshaw Canada Lafarge Cement Plant. Chub and his cousin Derek, both work for Lafarge, where their great-great-grandfather William Elder had helped build the first section of the cement plant. The girls, Caitlin and Tristin are very active in soccer and volleyball. Tristin was named Best Junior Varsity Volleyball player in the high school league in 2007, while attending Bow Valley High School. 

Deanna married Troy Sylvestre. They have two children, Talon and Dominique (Dom). 

Deanna works for the Royal Bank of Canada in Cochrane and Troy works for the Town of Cochrane.

Deanna took highland dancing from her Aunt Louise and won several awards. She loves to curl. Both of their children are very involved with sports, especially ice hockey. Talon plays for the Cochrane Generals. 

Robert (Bob) married June Suzliak. They lived here in Cochrane while Bob drove the school bus for his Uncle Roy Buckler as well as looking after the outdoor skating rink. Bob drove a truck for the family business, Hogarth Transport for two years. They moved to Calgary in 1963 and stayed there until Bob retired from Atco in 1997. He was shipping foreman for Atco Structures. 

Bob and Harvey Jr. were both involved in coaching Cochrane fastball. Harvey Jr. and his brothers Bob and John played on the Provincial Champions teams of Intermediate B in 1962 and Intermediate A in 1963. Bob was a pitcher and Harvey was either catcher or first base and John would fill in where needed. Bob and June moved to Sundre, Alberta in 2000 to be closer to their daughter’s family. They have two children, Lorelei (Lore) and Robert (Bob). Robert married Stephanie Beck. Lorelei married Dale Nylund and they have three children: James (Jamie), Alexandra (Lexie), and Dale (Dude). They live near Sundre on a farm. Jamie plays basketball. Dude golfs and Lexie is a fastball pitcher, following in her mother’s footsteps. All the family enjoys participating in curling. 

With the urging of her grade one teacher, Mrs. Miriam Callaway, at age eight, Louise took dance classes: Highland, Tap, Ballet, Characterist, Baton, and Acrobatics. Her dance teacher was Jean Murdock Simpson. The fact that Louise was interested in his native dances delighted her Grandfather Hogarth and she received tips on how to get rhythm in her jig from her Grandfather Buckler. Then at age ten, she took acrobatics and baton. Later she added singing and piano lessons. Her singing teacher was Norma Piper Pocaterra. Norma taught Louise to sing opera. Louise did competitive highland dancing and taught dancing classes in Cochrane and Calgary. Both she and her daughter Teresa have their Members in Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing. Louise taught the Cochrane Baton Core for four years, which included the Centennial Celebrations in 1967. She won several certificates, medals, and trophies for her Highland dance and other awards for her singing. She performed on radio and television and judged many talent contests in Alberta. 

Louise married Gordon Lewis. They moved to Calgary in December of 1959 where they raised their daughter Teresa and son Derek. She taught Highland Dancing in Calgary and had many pupils win awards. Louise was president and secretary of the Calgary Highland Dancing Association and the Provincial Board of Highland Dancing Association. She was 

awarded a Lifetime Membership to the Highland Dancing Association in 1968. They moved back to Cochrane in 1975. Teresa took her Grades 11 and 12 in Cochrane. Derek took his high school here. Louise was working for Hogarth Transport helping her mother Violet, doing the office work. 

Louise met Jack Laird and they were married in September 1990. They live in Cochrane. 

Teresa took after her mother taking highland dancing. She was Alberta Champion in 1979. Teresa married Terry Cummings and they had a son Dylan. Teresa and Dylan lived in Seebe until 2003 when the town site was sold. She worked in Canmore as manager of a drug store. Teresa and Dylan then moved back to Cochrane. Teresa works at the Cochrane Medical Centre. She remarried in 2006. Teresa and her husband, Tony Sylvestre, live in Didsbury. Dylan stayed in Cochrane with Louise in order to continue his schooling here. Dylan is very musical, playing piano, keyboard, guitar, saxophone, and oboe, and likes to sing as well. 

Derek married Lisa Johnston and they have two children, Brendan and Danika. Derek remarried and lives in Cochrane with his wife, Dawn Biro. He works in Exshaw as shipping supervisor of the Canada Lefarge Cement Plant. He has a degree in Logistics. Derek and his cousin, Chub competed in Senior A fastball for Dome Petroleum in the early 1980’s. Then they, with cousin Bob, won the Senior B Western Canadian Championships in 1994. Derek was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He plays goal for a senior hockey team in Cochrane. He has won many awards in several different leagues. Derek’s’ son Brendan plays hockey and is a goalie like his Dad. He also likes lacrosse and snowboarding. Danika is a fastball pitcher. 

John was the youngest of the Harve and Violet Hogarth’s family, born September 6, 1947. He was very involved in sports including track and field, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, curling, badminton, fastball, skiing, and golfing. He has his ticket for umpire in slo-pitch and fastball as well as referee for hockey. He played hockey with his older brothers on the Cochrane Blades, then he played ball for the Cochrane Cougars, Canmore Merchants, and Seebe Bears. He played Oldtimer Hockey for the Centennials in Canmore. John was president of the Seebe Curling Club for two years. 

John married Shirley Bateman of Springbank and they have three daughters: Lynn, Andrea, and Tina. John lived in Canmore until he retired in 2004 from TransAlta Seebe Power Plant. He is a millwright and started with the company in January 22, 1968 when it was known as Calgary Power Ltd. He was in charge of Dam Safety for the Hydro department for five years as

was a volunteer firefighter in both Seebe and more. John has his first aid ticket. When he retired moved to Sundre and he works as a foreman at Coyote Creek Golf Club. 

Jan and Shirley’s girls Lynn, Tina, and Andrea all ended school in Canmore. The two oldest girls, Tina Lynn are very involved with riding horses. Andrea is involved in highland dancing and won several awards and she obtained her Associate Members of Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing

Deep Dive

Klassen Family

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More Big Hill Country 2009 pg 549

Barney came from a family of hardware merchants – his grandfather, father, and both brothers were in the hardware business. He was involved in Builders’ Hardware stores in several Alberta towns, including Two Hills, Blackfalds and Didsbury, before opening his own store in Cochrane in 1935. 

He married Margaret Sastaunik, from Melville, Saskatchewan, in Herbert, Saskatchewan, in 1931. They lived in three different houses in Cochrane – first the Robinson house east of the school, the next at the bottom of the Cochrane hill in what would later be the Catholic manse (fortunately moving before a truck loaded with pipe lost its brakes and plowed through the house, narrowly missing the resident Catholic priest) then the Webster house north of Graeme Broatch’s garage. The backyard had a chicken coop, root cellar, large water cistern, and even a deluxe two-holer. Coal was delivered through the basement windows. 

They were both active in community affairs. Margaret taught Sunday school and belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star. She always said that she was mainly involved with bringing up her two girls! She was very adept at all forms of handiwork – sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting and embroidery, and continued to be very active in this regard as a member of Hope Lutheran Church in Calgary. 

Barney was on the United Church Board and belonged to the Masons and Oddfellows Lodges. He enjoyed fishing, duck hunting, played on the local men’s baseball team, and they both curled. Summer Sunday afternoons were occasions for drives or picnics, often to Jumping Pound or Kananaskis, before any paved roads. They were blessed with many wonderful friends in Cochrane and area and enjoyed bridge games.

Barney’s Sunday mornings at home were often disturbed by people requesting the purchase of fishing licenses. Besides selling hardware, he was very involved in the installation and repair of appliances, large and small. In fact, on October 27, 1944, when Dianne was born, he was down F.L. Gainer’s well repairing a water pump! He had a pipe-threading machine in the back of the store, and also cut lots of glass there, especially after the severe hailstorm in 1945 that broke many windows in town and the surrounding area. 

Running the hardware store was a full time job until he hired Mr. Gogul, then Roy Downs, who eventually bought the store with Archie Kerfoot. Barney went to Calgary every Wednesday afternoon to do his buying 

from the warehouses. On one such occasion, he Shirley for a dental appointment, then to Barbara Ann Scott win the Canadian Figure Skating Championship at the Crystal Rink.

He was hit in the eye during a baseball game, fortunately just breaking his glasses. Another time he was fishing in the Bow River when the Ghost Dam gates were opened and he had a hard time getting to shore from the slippery rocks. Another interesting experience was swimming in the Banff Hot Springs with Kirk Kirkerberg (RCMP) and Mary when Kirk stepped on someone’s glass eye and everyone had quite a bit of fun with that. Daughter Shirley witnessed all these events 

Enid Gammon was very sick at one time so Barney being the same blood type, drove to the Calgary hospital and gave her a bedside blood transfusion. 

Barney was Mayor of Cochrane from 1954-1957. To quote Gordon Hall in Gary Stevenson’s column of June 26, 2002 in the Cochrane Times, “Barney Klassen was mayor and was instrumental in getting natural gas installed in the Village. He also had water, sewer and seven fire hydrants put in place. Klassen and the council were successful in getting the first mechanized Fire Brigade organized.” 

Following the sale of Klassen’s Hardware to Kerfoot Downs in 1958, Barney and Margaret moved to Calgary. They operated the Card and Candy Shop in North Hill Shopping Center for several years, then enjoying spending their winters in Mesa, Arizona. 

They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on July 31.1991. Barney died in May 1993, followed by Margaret two days later. After a double funeral, their ashes were scattered in Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary.

Scotch Kings

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as told by William Laidlaw  pg 681 Big Hill Country 1977

William and Agnes King, their two sons, Adam and Billy, and four daughters, Jean, Maggie, Lizzie and May, came from Manitoulin Island, Ontario, in 1904. They purchased the Jim Reid place (the NE4 22-27-3-5), and Adam and Billy homesteaded the SW and SE quarters of 22 respectively. In later years the family added

several more quarters of land to their holdings, which became known as the Sunset Ranch. 

Another son, Jim, who was a Boer War veteran’, homesteaded at Michichi, Alberta. He married and had a family of two daughters and three sons. Jean married James Briggs. 

 

The Scotch Kings, as the family was called, were hard workers and staunch supporters of the Lochend Church. They built a large house, which still stands in a grove of tall spruces which they planted. The girls were keen gardeners, and always had a big vegetable patch and beautiful flowers. 

Billy King was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly when Social Credit was swept into power in Alberta in 1935. He was the M.L.A. for this constituency from 1935 until 1939. 

Mr. and Mrs. King and Adam passed away while living at the ranch. The ranch was sold to Cleo Reilly in 1945, at which time Billy, Maggie, Lizzie and May moved to Calgary. Gardening became their hobby, and the grounds at their home on Elbow Drive have always been beautiful, as well as very productive. Billy, Maggie, and Lizzie have passed away. 

The King’s Sunset Ranch is presently owned by the Robert Ellis and Leon Doty families.

King Ranch 2023 From Google Earth

Deep Dive

Harvey and Margaret Buckley

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pg 342 More Big Hill Country 2009

My early schooling was taken at Springbank where my twin brother and I walked to school as we lived so close. The school was across the road from our parent’s farm. Sometimes the Munro family would pick us up in their buggy as they drove right by our door on their way to school across the fields. 

I graduated from High School at Mount Royal College in 1950 after working on my parent’s farm and ranch operation. I then attended Olds School of Agriculture, taking the two year in one course, and graduated in 1952. My brother Clarence took the two year in one course the following year and graduated in 1953. 

Following graduation, we both went farming and ranching with our parents. My brother and I rented the Stretton place and farmed there for it was across the road from our parent’s farm. The Stretton place is now the home of the Springbank Park for All Seasons, the Springbank High School, and numerous acreages. We also had pasture land in the Jumping Pound district which my parents had purchased in the 1940s. Here we summered our beef cattle herd. 

At this time we were farming about 800 acres with two John Deere “D” tractors. What a lot of work! In 1954 we purchased the Henry Bolter place (six quarters) north of Cochrane adjacent to what is now high- way 567, one mile east of Weedon. 

We summered our cows in Jumping Pound and then weaned the calves and wintered them and the cow herd at home in Springbank. We trailed the cows in Spring and Fall between Springbank and Jumping Pound. After purchasing the Bolter place north of Cochrane we took the yearling steers we had wintered as weaned calves in Springbank and trailed them to Jumping Pound in early April. In early June we trailed them to the Bolter place. Here they would grow and fatten on the grass. In October we shipped them by truck to the Calgary Stockyards to the fall Feeder Sales.

Trailing those yearling steers from Jumping Pound through Cochrane to the Bolter Place was a real challenge. We started out about six miles west of Cochrane and came down to what is now George Fox Trail, crossing the Bow River at the George Bunney farm and the old bridge. More than once we had steers in their garden or running around in their chicken pen. The Bunneys were very good neighbours; today we would likely get sued for damages. That was the first challenge!

We then went up the road towards Howes Brothers Lumber, turned right across what is now Spray Lake Sawmills and the Domtar land then on towards McGonigle’s which was across the road from the present Canadian Tire Store. Rose always used the fences on the road for her clothes line and with all her children, there was always washing to do. That was the second challenge, getting by those clothes blowing in the wind! 

We then moved the cattle across the fields that is now the residential district of Glenbow, the Big Hill Creek and across the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks where the intersection of Highway 1A and Highway 22 is today. If there wasn’t a train coming, we coaxed the cattle across the rail line. This was the third challenge! 

Usually, the rest of the trip of about eight miles was uneventful, passing Cochrane Lakes using an undeveloped road allowance we came out at the Weedon Hall and headed east to our pasture land across from Powlesland’s. We trailed the cattle this way until about the late 1950’s when we had to revert to trucking the cattle because there were too many gravel roads by then and the cattle spent all summer getting over sore feet. So much for progress! 

In 1957, my brother and I both got married. Clarence remained on the Springbank property and my wife, Margaret and I moved to the Jumping Pound Ranch. Margaret was born and raised in the City of Calgary and had graduated from the Calgary General Hospital as a Registered Nurse. 

The Jumping Pound Ranch now consisted of fifteen quarters which had been bought over the previous twenty years. We proceeded to build our house, barn, and out buildings, planted 400 spruce trees, and planned and built our corrals and farmstead. We had a good team of horses along with our riding horses, four milk cows, and 100 laying hens.

I fed cows and hauled hay with the team and wagon and Margaret delivered the cream to the Cochrane Creamery and her eggs to many customers in Calgary. We used our car, with the back seat removed as a truck and with the seat in for our family car. One story comes to mind about the car/truck. I drove the tractor with the seeder north of Cochrane to the Bolter place but also needed the harrows. I arrived there and was visiting with our neighbour Fred Adams when Margaret came along in the car. Opening the back door, she pulled out the harrows, bid us farewell and headed back to Cochrane to deliver the cream to the creamery. Fred just stood there, removed his hat, and scratching his head said “Well, now I’ve seen everything!” 

Over the next 40 years, we were able to add another eight quarters and grazing and forestry permits to our land base. 

In 1959 our first son John was born. He was a busy little lad and loved the outdoors. We live on a side hill where the west wind blows almost constantly and so Margaret tied John to the clothesline with a lariat and he was able to play in the dirt pile by our house without getting blown away over the hill. There were no children John’s age to play with close by so he was always happy to see his cousins when they came up with Clarence. 

David and Grace Daniels and their family lived north of us at the old Merino Ranch buildings on the Stoney Indian Reserve. David often came over to help me and he brought his children over to play with John. Their favorite game was “Cowboys and Indians” and John was always disappointed because he wanted to be an Indian and the older Daniels kids wouldn’t let him. He had to be a cowboy because he was “white” and they gave him their younger siblings to be cowboys too. When it came time for the children to go to school they had a long drive on the school bus to pick up the Daniel’s children plus they had a long walk before they got to their stop. However, they were not strangers and it was good for John to see them again. 

In 1962 our second son, Bruce arrived and building on the ranch was progressing so that now we had a road to the bottom of the hill. What a treat that was. We only had to drive up the hill through the fields now and could see the house if we had to leave the car and walk when we got stuck. We now had a proper barn to milk the cows in and stable the horses. What luxury! No longer did I have to look after a cow during calving, tied it to a willow bush, or bring a cold calf in on my horse for Margaret to warm up in the house. A brand new calving barn was built the year Bruce was born and it certainly made checking cows every two hours 

in the bush at night a lot easier and warmer. Now I just had to go a few hundred yards and take my flashlight. Such a treat to have someplace to put the animals during those infamous April snowstorms! 

In 1965, we were all delighted when our daughter Carolyn arrived. Margaret was glad she wasn’t going to be raising a football team of boys and ordered a lovely “girly” girl who she could sew and knit and take to teas and shop with. The shopping and tea party thing did not materialize however but I managed to get another cowhand to help me out. 

In 1966, Dale Riddell came from Milverton, Ontario to work for me for the summer. He stayed and joined our family. He attended Olds Agricultural College and after graduation in 1968, he was employed by the University of Calgary to look after their animals and run their anticipated University Farm. When this did not materialize he worked for a Feed Company in Calgary and later moved to Red Deer as a news broadcaster. He was also involved with 4-H Clubs in the Red Deer area and then took a position with Alberta Wheat Pool in Calgary. 

Dale married Claudette Millard, a Registered Nurse. from Peterborough, Ontario who was working at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary and they raised two sons, Scott and Ryan, and a daughter Kari. 

Having come from a dairy farming family in Ontario and owning his own horse before coming west, Dale was always fond of animals. He joined the Springbank 4-H Beef Club and thus became involved for many 1 years with the 4-H movement. Dale was the first leader of the successful Jumping Pound 4-H Beef Club and throughout the years was very active with the 4-H Council. When the Alberta Wheat Pool amalgamated with Agricore, Dale was transferred to their headquarters in Winnipeg where he and Claudette still reside. He has since retired from Agricore but remains very busy consulting with various farm organizations. 

John, Bruce, and Carolyn attended school in Cochrane and graduated from Cochrane High School. They were involved in 4-H, football, hockey, and band and all the usual things that make Mom into a taxi driver. 

Carolyn was very involved in the Cochrane Pony Club that met at Bruce and Dorothy Boothby’s and then moved to our ranch for a number of years. Harold and Rachel Coward and their daughter Susan shared the driving to take the girls on weekends to the various three-phase events they competed in. It was great to get a break from the competitions the girls were in by sharing the driving with our truck, camper, and trailer. The girls competed in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan and enjoyed the camaraderie with their

instructor Sarah Leete. Even though Margaret is not fond of horses she learned to drive the truck and trailer to the many events the girls participated in. One thing she never did learn was to back up the truck and trailer. They had to get to the event early so she could drive in and turn around to face out or ask another parent to do the job for her. They have great memories of those times together in the summer while the boys and I were busy at home haying. 

The 1970s brought another change when we became involved with the Beefbooster group of cattle breeders, a group that we are still part of today. Great improvements have been made throughout the years to our cattle production. 

In 1972 I was appointed a member of the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council and in 1981 I was appointed Chairman. I continued in that position and retired in 1996. During that period of time, I reported to eight different Ministers of Agriculture for the Province of Alberta. I enjoyed the work and it was a great experience to be able to broaden my agricultural knowledge and myself in the experience of working with people. 

John came home to the ranch after graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science in 1981. While at University he played in an Aggie band “Livestock” and thoroughly enjoyed his four years up in Edmonton. He met many good friends that have kept in touch through the years. In 1984, John married Tracy Sloan, daughter of Lang and Doris Sloan from Calgary. Tracy is a graduate of Olds Agricultural College and is an Animal Health Technician. They have two sons Trevor, presently serving with the Calgary Highlanders in Afghanistan, and Eric who has just graduated from high school and is planning to continue his education while also serving in the Calgary Highlanders Reserve. Both boys attended school in Cochrane graduating from Cochrane High. Today John and Tracy are involved in managing our Quarter Circle X Ranch, while John enjoys his music and Tracy enjoys her horses. 

Bruce attended the University of Calgary and obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Studies. He then attended the University of Victoria Law School and graduated in 1987 with a Law Degree. He married Patricia “Trish” Wigglesworth, daughter of John and Betty Wigglesworth from Calgary in 1987 and articled with a law firm in Red Deer, Alberta. Bruce and Trish live in Red Deer and Bruce now has his own law practice. They have a son Alex and a daughter Mollie who are attending elementary school and keeping their parents very busy. Bruce and Trish

have just finished restoring the “Manning House” an historic home in Red Deer which has become Bruce’s Law Office. They were just honored with a 2008 Red Deer Heritage Recognition Award by the City of Red Deer.

After graduating from Cochrane High School, Carolyn worked as a secretary for an Agricultural Consulting Firm in Calgary. In 1988 she married Dwayne Walker from Radium, British Columbia. They lived in Radium for a number of years then moved to an acreage southeast of Carseland, Alberta. They have two children, a daughter Jessica and a son Ryan. Both children attend high school in Strathmore, Alberta. Jessica and Ryan are both avid soccer players and keep their parents busy cheering them on at their many championship games. Dwayne is employed with Volker Stevin and Carolyn works in Calgary as a receptionist for a large cargo shipping firm. 

Ranching has certainly changed in the last 50 to 60 years. It is not a profession for the timid as globalization of the world has made the agricultural industry one of the most competitive and stressful professions. 

Margaret and I have been very involved in our communities and have had the good fortune of receiving numerous awards of recognition. We celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary last year and had the entire family on a holiday to remember. 

 

Changing times and events to remember: 

Trailing cattle in the 1950s and 1960s home in November from what is now Kananaskis Country when it was -20 to -30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. This was part of ranch life so we just put on more clothes and did the job. 

Crossing yearling steers over the Bow River Bridge at Cochrane.

The difference between winter and summer was you got up at 6 am instead of 5:30 am to do chores and breakfast was at 7 am. Dinner was at noon unless you had made lunch and you were eating frozen sandwiches somewhere out in the bush. Supper was at 6 pm or 7 pm or whenever you got home. The phrase “coffee break” was not invented yet. 

Trailing cattle home late at night by moonlight worked fine, especially if there was snow on the ground. Some days you were so cold the only thought that kept you going was your warm bed at night. 

The scoop shovel was standard equipment. You never left home in your car without one just in case the snow had drifted and you had to shovel your way home. 

The first four-wheel drive trucks; they sure made a difference. Coming home with your load of hay, carefully driving the team so that you don’t tip your load over, and just when you get in sight of home a west wind gets up and blows you, your wagon, and the hay over SO you start all over again. 

We have spent a great fifty-plus years together raising our children and are now fortunate enough to be able to enjoy their children. We have enjoyed the opportunity to work with many talented and gifted people throughout the years in our many home, community, provincial, national, and international organizations. We have been fortunate to have been able to travel to many places and learn about things that make this world turn. We also have had the pleasure of witnessing and participating in great changes in the ranching and cattle industries and for that, we are very thankful.

Deep Dive

Bob and Shirley Thomas family

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By Shirley Thomas pg 753 More Big Hill Country 2009

Bob and I were married fifty years ago, on September 21, 1957. 

I grew up on a dairy farm on what is now Lochend Road, between Calgary and Cochrane. My Dad, Thomas Wearmouth, came from Durham County, England, in March 1906. He homesteaded the SW Sec 2 Twp 26 Rge 3 W5M in 1909. He worked at the Glenbow Quarry while proving his homestead. He built a small house and decorated the yard with buffalo skulls and rocks. Tom met Annie Standring who lived several miles north. Her parents were Richard and Mary Ann (Polly) Standring. They had come from Lancashire, England in 1902 and they homesteaded on what is Marg Chalack’s farm today. Annie’s siblings were John, Betty, Maggie, and Dorothy. Tom Wearmouth and Annie Standring were married in June 1913. They had a family of seven: Winnie, Dick, Hugh, Walter, Bill, Dennis, and myself, Shirley. 

Mother and Dad were very active in the community. Of course, the early times were horse and buggy days. It was a hard life with no electricity or running water but still, they did many things. Mother was a Charter Member of the Glendale Women’s Institute and a member of Eastern Star. She was a wonderful cook. sewed and quilted, had a large garden, and loved to ride. She was an excellent horsewoman and won many races at the local gymkhanas. She was loved and respected by relatives and friends. Dad was a Charter member of the Masonic Lodge in Cochrane. He was an early riser and a hard worker. Sadly, Mother had cancer. She had operations and radium treatments but died in 1937 at 45 years. I was two years old. 

 

Winnie and Dick stayed with Dad and took on family responsibilities. Winnie took charge of the house and looked out for us. She enjoyed activities in the community. She was a member of the Glendale Women’s Institute and a Founding Member of the Cochrane Art Club. She was a wonderful friend to family and neighbors. She lived on the homestead for seventy-five years but passed away in 1993. 

With five brothers, there were always lots of activities. They all had their interests and kept busy with the work on the farm. There were lots of fun times, too. Eventually, they started moving away. First Hugh, then Walter, Bill, and Dennis. They married and had families. We had many family gatherings. It was great to belong to a large family. 

As a youngster, I helped with the housework. I worked especially hard so I could have time outdoors as I loved to ride. We rode three miles to a one-roomed school called Glendale. Twenty to thirty students from grades one to nine attended and just one teacher. More than half rode to school. There was a horse barn. It was amazing that there were few problems with the horses. At recess and noon, we always went outdoors to play. I guess that was the only way the teacher could stay sane. There were some schoolyard altercations but the big kids would help keep order. We had a lot of fun riding to school with our friends. One winter we had a lot of snow. My horse plunged and plunged through the drifts, nearly becoming exhausted, but would not stop until she was clear. In the summer we would bring the milk cows home from the pasture after school. If the flies were bad, it might take a long time to get them out of the trees. We always had collie dogs and they would help. 

My brother Dennis and I would try to hitch young calves up to a little wagon. It was not very successful as the calves would not cooperate. One year, Hugh gave me a late little calf. I fed “Albert” diligently and he thrived. I would ride to the pasture and feed him grain and I kept him for three years. It was a sad day when he went to the market. 

I helped hay by raking with a team of horses. Sometimes Dick was haying prairie wool in areas among willow trees. It was difficult to get the hay raked in the little spaces but even harder to get it stacked. Dennis and I would often tramp the stack in the field and in the loft. 

I remember one summer as a kid, going Saskatoon picking near what is now the Retreat. It was Bowhay’s land. Many people came and we had a picnic. We filled milk cans with saskatoons. It must have been a good berry year. 

We had a dairy farm with mostly Holstein cattle. We had workhorses and riding horses, dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, and a couple of pigs. A large garden was essential. No electricity was available until 1949. There were lots of chores. Wood and coal stoves would go out at night and it was cold in the morning but Dad was the best fire maker and soon we were warm. The coal oil lampshades would become black with soot and we could not read. We had to blow out the lamp before we could clean the shade. 

I belonged to the 4-H Beef and Dairy Club, the Junior Red Cross, and many school activities. We learned to skate on the sloughs. 

Some of my best memories of growing up were riding in the late evening, watching a beautiful sunset over the mountains, and seeing a harvest moon rising in the eastern sky. Coyotes may be howling and birds calling. The natural beauty was overwhelming. 

From 1950-1953 I attended Crescent Heights High School in Calgary. That was quite a change from thirty students to fifteen hundred students. I boarded in the city but came home on weekends to help Winnie. Nearly every Friday there was a country dance where we had great times. 

In 1953 I entered the Calgary General Hospital School of Nursing. Spending three years in residence resulted in lasting friendships and a great education. 

Bob was born October 27, 1931, in Hardisty, Alberta. His Dad, Tom Thomas had come from Kent, England in 1919. His Uncle Frank Matthews was farming near Hardisty. Tom worked for Frank and later rented a farm. He met Edna Bertina Lyseng who was nursing at the Hardisty Hospital. She was from a family of thirteen. Her parents had immigrated to Canada from the USA after coming from Norway. They settled in the Armena area near Camrose. Tom and Edna were married in 1930. Bob’s sister, Joyce, was born in 1934. Bob remembers driving a team and wheat-filled wagon to an elevator at Bot. This was a few miles from home but he was only eight years old. The elevator operator came and put a pole through the back wheel spokes and drove the wagon down the steep approach. The wagon was emptied and Bob drove home. Tom joined The Royal Edmonton Regiment in 1939. He went to England with the First Division. Edna, Bob, and Joyce went to Calgary. Edna spent some time in the Baker Tuberculosis Sanatorium and Bob spent his summers at Lyseng farms near Armena. His Dad served in Sicily and Italy. He came home in the summer of 1945 and Bob went with the horse and buggy to meet him at the train at Armena. 

Bob attended schools in Calgary completing high school at Western Canada High. Those were the days of the Sateen Club. It was the largest Teen Club in Western Canada. All the High Schools participated. Bob was an active member. Their activities included dances with big bands, ski trips, mystery trips, and radio programs. No alcohol was allowed. 

After high school, Bob worked for a survey company. They surveyed the power line that goes through Kananaskis. In 1952 Bob came to Bearspaw and worked for Norman Newsome. He drove a truck hauling milk, in cans, from the farms to the dairies in Calgary. He met Cliff Gillespie and Ted Cushing who owned the Bearspaw Service Station. He then took Automotive Mechanics at TEC (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). He apprenticed at the station and got his ticket in 1954. 

Bob and I met in 1954. We were married in 1957 and we lived in the city for a short time. In 1958 we ran a dairy farm near Cochrane. We were on a rural telephone line with fourteen neighbors; our ring was five longs. An emergency was announced by ten long rings. Then everyone would listen to find out what was the emergency. Often it was a grass fire.

Bruce and Glen were born when we were dairying. When my Dad became ill, we moved there to help with his care. We bought an acreage from Dick and had a small house moved. Dad passed away in October 1962. We moved to the acreage in February 1963 and lived there for forty-one years. Here we raised our four sons: Bruce, Glen, Keith, and Wayne. Bob was employed by Whittle Implements of Cochrane. He went to farms and ranches to repair machinery. He met many of the old timers and “characters” of the area. What stories were told! 

Bob also worked for the Alberta Forestry and later Fairbanks Morse, which specializes in gas compres- sion engines and compressors. He still does some work for them. Bob has been a member of the Bearspaw Lions for over forty five years. He was awarded the prestigious Melvin Jones Fellow recognizing his dedication to the work of the Lions organization. Bob coached and managed minor hockey and baseball. He played Oldtimer Hockey and enjoyed skiing, cycling, and curling. Golfing is now a favorite sport. 

Nursing has always been an important part of my life. I worked over 35 years (often part-time) in a variety of nursing positions. With raising our family I worked shifts and weekends so one of us could be at home. What a boon were oven timers and casseroles! I enjoyed sewing and took many courses. I received my Occupational Nursing Certificate from Grant MacEwen College. I was Nursing Home Manager when the Bethany opened in Cochrane in 1988. I spent several years at the Palliative Care Unit at the Calgary General Hospital. Gardening and outdoor activities kept me busy. I belong to the Glendale Women’s Institute, Healing Touch Calgary, and am active with Community and Church and I love golfing. 

We were the first acreage in this area (1963). All our sons attended Cochrane Schools. The bus picked Bruce up at 7:30 am and he was home at 5:00 pm. . In the 1970s, farms were sold and more acreages were developed. As more people moved in, more schools were built in Cochrane. More buses meant shorter ride times. The schools could offer more options. The new neighbors joined the community activities and they were a great asset. Some coached sports teams, and helped with Cubs and Scouts and other activities. Roads were improved and an indoor arena was built. But the farms were being displaced. The area had been primarily dairy and mixed farms. Many were homesteads. In the 1980s, 1990’s and 2000’s more development took place. Huge homes were built. Many students went to private schools. The whole landscape changed. Our sons, Bruce, Glen, Keith, and Wayne, participated in many activities. Sports included hockey, baseball, football, rugby, lacrosse, swimming, skiing, and track. They belonged to Cubs, Scouts, and 4-H. They enjoyed music and drama. They excelled in many areas. There seemed to always be kids playing football, lawn hockey or other interests. They crowded into the house for their favorite snacks. Getting them to their games was a challenge. No seat belts were required or available so our station wagon was filled with kids and equipment. We traveled many, many miles. Most times we picked up some of their friends. There was never a dull moment. These were busy, wonderful times. 

 

For holidays we often went camping. Many times we went to the Mara or Shuswap Lakes in British Columbia. We all enjoyed water skiing, the sandy beaches, and campfires. We all have tales to tell of those times, like being caught far out in the lake in a wild storm or being buried in the sand, or camping under the stars on a lonely beach. Downhill skiing was learned at Paskapoo (Canada Olympic Park). We had fun ski trips. We took the family to Disneyland. Being in the country was great. We had a dog, cats, horses, and sometimes cattle. The Prairie Trail was great for motorbikes. After a dune buggy ride through an obstacle course in our field after a heavy rain, the occupants could not be recognized. Glen was especially proud of fixing an old truck. He drove it proudly up to the garage and into the door! The brakes did not work. 

Bruce had friends over for a party on the deck. Our neighbors, Phil and Bob Norris could hear George Fox singing from the roof of our house and a band blaring out popular music. Keith and Ron launched rockets. Some were never found, so they must have gone far. Wayne won a 250 motorbike and was the envy of his brothers. The boys were unique in their interests and personalities but had a family bond. There were many fun times with their cousins and friends. They tell tales of those days and we wonder where we were! The boys completed High School in Cochrane. They went to University, to work, or to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. 

As a Civil Engineer, Bruce spent two years in Chile coordinating projects on a Gas Pipeline over the Andes Mountains. He and Philippa now live in Cochrane. Philippa has worked with horses most of her life and has a wonderful way with animals. Bruce works for an Engineering Company in Calgary. 

Glen worked for TransAlta Utilities for fourteen years advancing to high voltage, “hotline” work. Later he had his own business and was a “stay-at-home Dad”. He now works for Enmax. Elise is a Grade six teacher. She is very busy with many, varied activities. They have a daughter Mahri (10 years) and a son Will (7 years). They both play soccer. Mahri figure skates. They love the water and are good swimmers. They live in Altadore, Calgary 

Keith is an Aeronautical Engineering Technologist. He designs oil and gas field equipment. Laura is a Florist and has an amazing yard. They have a son, Mitchell who loves skateboarding. They live in Riverbend, Calgary. 

Wayne completed Electronics at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and worked for Canon for years. He then took teaching at University and teaches at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Patricia has a home-based position in sales. They live in New Westminister, British Columbia.

In 2004 we sold our acreage and moved to the site where my Dad homesteaded. We added a sunroom to the old house and have a beautiful view of our red barn silhouetted against our bright sunrises. To the west, from our windy hill, the Rockies are magnificent. 

In 2005 we held a Wearmouth Family Reunion. With the help of nieces and nephews, we cleaned the loft of our 60-year-old dairy barn. Outside stairs were built and Dan and helpers made a lift for Seniors and Wheelchairs. We had room for RVs. About 150 people attended. Weekend activities included campfires, wiener roasts, “funny money” Texas Hold ’em poker. This included young kids to 90-year-olds. A horseshoe tournament was held. Scavenger hunts, mummy wrapping, digging in the straw for prizes, just visiting, and kids running about, were all enjoyed. Many a story was told. Jeff gave rides in his Model T. Vicki gave rides in her Beetle Convertible. A mighty beef and potluck meal was devoured. A special Birthday cake was a surprise for Dick’s 90th Birthday. As darkness approached, adults sat on chairs on the hillside. The kids sat on the grass and awaited the fireworks. Bruce, Glen, Keith, and Wayne did a great job. There were lots of oohs and ahs. The kids were rolling on the ground with laughter at the fireworks with sound effects! It was a wonderful weekend at the Homestead, celebrating our own lives and the lives of our ancestors. 

We enjoy our Grandchildren, Mahri, Mitchell, and Will. They have fun on our farm. They love to go camping and enjoy the campfire, fishing, and climbing the Badlands. This year we went to Dinosaur Park near Brooks. They found real dinosaur bones embedded in the ground. They have a great time together. 

Bob and I have always had an RV. We have seen the farthest point West, East, and South in Canada. We have been to all Provinces and Territories except Nunavit. In February we enjoyed a cruise through the Panama Canal. After our 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration in September, we spent some time with friends, camping, and golfing.

Life and the area have changed greatly through the years. Fortunately, we still enjoy life with family and friends. We have many interests and activities. We look forward to the opening of the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park located along the Bow River between Calgary and Cochrane. What a great country!

Deep Dive

The Vision of Cochrane Pioneers

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Cochrane’s continued explosive growth made me consider why I’m a member of CHAPS and of an article I compiled about the Nan Boothby Memorial Library a couple of years ago. The Town is also concerned as they recently asked for public input.

The mission of CHAPS is to identify, preserve, protect, and educate the public about
historically significant properties and buildings in Cochrane, Alberta. With this growth we can lose the memories and consequently the vision of early settlers.

The Cochrane Historical Museum supported by CHAPS is run by volunteers and is in need of your support.

Become a Member

CHAPS needs volunteers to support the Museum, its Executive, and a variety of projects.
Membership

“Gordon Davies, a CHAPS member who remembers visiting Nan and her library in the basement as a kid said volunteers are the cornerstone to many services in town and their efforts shouldn’t be forgotten once it’s taken over municipally. It’s a shame that people who are recent residents of Cochrane don’t understand (the history). I think that’s too bad because I think that part of Cochrane is really important. I think there are other organizations and groups that will face the same thing.” Davies said.”

From an article in Cochrane Today by Amy Tucker Jan 10, 2019 Tweet

“Cochrane now enjoys a Library that was started by the vision and hard work of our community’s great-grandmothers in tough times. I hope this history won’t be lost.”

Susan Hall Tweet

Deep Dive

James Quigley Family

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by Alex Quigley, aged 85 years pg 260 Big Hill Country 1977

James Quigley, my father, was born in Old Monkland, Scotland, and when a child moved to the Parish of Bothwell. Mother, Annie Lawson, was born in Kilsyth, Sterlingshire, Scotland, and also moved to Bothwell, where she met Dad and where they were married in 1877. 

Dad and his three brothers were all miners. They were following a coal seam three miles under the ocean when a big explosion flooded the mine. Dad was not working that day, but Mother lost a brother and his two sons. Dad and Mother were determined not to let their sons be coal miners, so Dad took Tom, aged four years, and sailed for Canada. He settled in Westville, Nova Scotia, and Mother, my brother James and

my sister Mary came later. Here, Sarah and Sam were born and Dad worked in the mines with his three brothers, Tom, Joe and Sam. There is a monument in Nova Scotia honoring Sam and Joe for their excellent service in the mining industry. 

In 1884 Dad moved his family to Lethbridge, then known as Galt, North West Territories, and in 1885 came to Cochrane. He built a home for his family on land in the east end of the Village. Annabelle, myself, Joe, Bob, Susan, Lizzie, Johnny and George were all born here. 

 

Our brother Jim was sixteen years old and he wanted to leave home and go to work on the railroad. John Pedeprat, brother of Charlie, went to Golden, British Columbia, to build some cabins so Jim went with him. Jim got a job braking on a logging train there. Tom went and brought him back but he left again in January 1902. We got word Jim was killed at Nelson, British Columbia, he had slipped on the hard snow and fallen under a train. Johnny, aged two, died in 1902 and George died in 1903 at the age of three. There was no cemetery in Cochrane so the boys were buried near our homestead. A number of the Hewitt children were buried there too. Dad persuaded Pete Collins to sell some of his land on the hill north of the village of Cochrane and the present cemetery site was established. The bodies that were laid to rest on our homestead were moved up to the cemetery on the hill. 

The Hillcrest mine west of Lethbridge was getting ready to open up, and work being very scarce around Cochrane at the time, Dad went there to work in the mine.

Another mine disaster occurred; Jim Quigley, a nephew of Dad’s, was killed. 

Dad came back home and took a job to supply three sheep ranchers in the area with groceries, mail, and sheep dip. These ranchers were: one east of Cochrane, the Merino Ranch southwest of Cochrane, and a sheep ranch north of Cochrane. I well remember the great flocks of sheep coming into the corrals at night. Coyotes were numerous and sheep losses were heavy at

times. At shearing time they would put the wool in big sacks and these were loaded in hayracks and taken to Cochrane to be loaded on the train. 

Dad worked very hard and saved enough money to buy 26 acres of land from the C.P.R. There was a hill on this land and a good spring was flowing from it so Dad piped water from it into our house. We were the first family to have water piped into the house. Dad and Mr. Bruce got the first school started in Cochrane; there were enough children with the Bruce family and our family to open one. 

Our brother Tom was a big lad and very handy at building things. He built a wagon from old brake wheels, thrown away off the boxcars. He bought an old horse and drove around gathering up buffalo bones for the sugar refineries. They used these bones for bleaching the sugar. Tom piled the bones along the railway track and they were loaded into boxcars when there were enough to ship. We kids had lots of fun playing on the big piles of bones. 

With Dad’s savings and Tom’s earnings they bought two cows, another horse and a real wagon. The wagon was bought at T. Eaton’s. Sarah and Mary learned to milk and to make butter and it was Sam’s job to look after the calves. Tom got a job planning and plowing fireguard for the C.P.R. from Cochrane to Glenbow. He had to plow up around the big

coulee east of town and north of the railway line. This coulee is on the south end of, and below the present sanitary disposal grounds. He did the sidehills with a sulky plow. At that time a road was getting underway from Calgary. Dad got a job on the C.P.R. as a section foreman working the line seven miles west of town. 

 

Tom along with Tom Fisher built the brickyard east of town. The C.P.R. was trying to buy back the 26 acres Dad bought because they wanted to run our spring down to the tracks. Dad had paid $10.00 an acre for the land and they wanted to buy it back for the same price but Dad would not sell.

By this time the town of Mitford was going down. The sawmill and brickyard had folded up and all the English help had left the Tom Cochranes. Dad bought a big English grand piano with a flat top from Lady Adela Cochrane and Tom hauled it from Mitford to our place. It was too big to go through the door so they had to tear off some of the front of the house to get it in. In 1889 Charlie Pedeprat and his brother John built a new house for Dad and Mother. 

By this time I was ready to go to work and got a job at Horse Creek helping to get rail ties with my brother Tom. He now owned a new team and had purchased a new set of harnesses from Fisher’s store. By now we had a number of horses and cattle. One old horse was a pet and we called it Borgy. It would let five of us on it and often five of us did get on and ride him around. Dad finally sold all the horses except Borgy. Some of the horses were sold to a man at Ashcroft, British Columbia, for bush work, and Dan Foster who was in the dray business in

Cochrane, bought some. Tom started a sawmill at Jack Ass Canyon, north of Radnor. He ran a rail line up the Grand Valley to haul the lumber. Bill Robinson had come West for harvest and he was on his way back to Centralia, Ontario, when he decided to come to Cochrane to visit his brother Jack. Tom persuaded him to stay and work in the sawmill so he became a millwright and helped set up the sawmill. Later Bill mar- ried my sister Sarah. 

At 21 Sam left to work on the C.N.R. (Grand Trunk at that time) in Saskatchewan. Tom married Ethel Bassett and built his own home in the east end of town. They had five children. His wife died in 1909; Mother took Gordon, Tom’s youngest boy, and raised him, and Mr. and Mrs. Foster raised Ronald. I left in 1898 to work on the railroad in Saskatchewan. My sister Mary married George Mortimer, a dray man in Cochrane. Annabell married Alex MacKay and they lived at the Merino Ranch for sometime. Lizzie married Bert Sibbald of Cochrane. Bob and Joe left home and went to work in Banff and Lake Louise for Brewsters and later for the C.P.R. Dad had to have help on the ranch so he hired a chap by the name of Dave Van Ambler. 

Jim Hewitt, my cousin, came to Cochrane and he married Alice Howard. They started the first pool hall in Cochrane. 

War broke out in 1914 and Joe, Bob, Sam and I joined up. After the war Sam and I went back railroading in Melville, Saskatchewan. Joe and Bob returned to the Rockies but in 1923 I persuaded them to come to Melville and work on the railroad. Dad sold the cattle ranch and built a new brick house across the road from our home on the 26 acres. They built the home in 1916. In later years Lizzie and Bert Sibbald lived in the house. The big house built in 1889 became a hospital and Mrs. Campbell Roberts was in charge of it. Dr. Park was the doctor and May Coatsworth was the head nurse. 

Mother laid the cornerstone at the Saint Andrews United Church at Cochrane in 1910. 

Dad and Mother celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1927. Dad passed away in 1930 at the age of 73 years and Mother in 1940 at the age of 82 years. 

Note: Alex Quigley, writer of this story, passed away in January 1975. 

Deep Dive

Bernice Irene Buckler Klotz

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pg 554 More Big Hill Country 2009

The youngest of five children born to Roy and Iris Buckler, I was born on April 27, 1956, in Calgary, Alberta. Our family lived on a farm in the Bottrel area, fifteen miles north of Cochrane, until the summer of 1957. At that time we moved into the village of Cochrane. Being ten years younger than my next sibling, Pat, I was the only one at home by 1963. My schooling took place in Cochrane Elementary, grade six in the old Cochrane brick school, and grades seven to twelve in the Cochrane High School. From November 1971 to May 1974 I worked part-time at Mount Saint Francis Retreat House. During the summer of 1974, I helped Dad and Mildred (my eldest sister) build her and her husband Jack’s home in Exshaw. In September of 1974, I started working for Calgary Power Ltd. in the Purchasing Department in the Calgary office. 

 

For my first paid vacation my parents, niece Jacquie, and I went to Reno, Nevada to visit my Aunt Jessie and Uncle Vern Troxell. This was Mom’s first trip to the U.S. to see her family since she was married. This was Jacquie’s first time in the U.S. and we had to have special permission to take her from school as she was only fourteen. For me, this trip started a life-long passion for travel. In the spring of 1976 one of my school friends, Heather Robinson, and I decided to try our hand at some “real” traveling. In September-October of that year, we spent some time traveling in the United Kingdom. We spent two weeks using the Brit Rail system in England and Scotland before crossing the English Channel to Holland and staying with a family friend, Marcel Cox. Marcel was at home to see his sister Frances, who graciously invited us into her home and toured us around Holland. At one time we had our picture taken with Heather, Frances and I standing together but each of us was in a different country. 

In April of 1977, I left Calgary Power, and, after a quick trip to see my Aunt Jessie and Uncle Vern, I started working for Domtar Chemicals Ltd. in Cochrane. In April of 1978 Heather and I quit our jobs and May 1st found us on our way to England. We spent May and June traveling the U.K. and several Western European countries. Marcel Cox was on a one-year sabbatical at this time and living with his sister Frances in Holland. Again they took us in and we toured the countryside before they delivered us to meet up with our tour bus. We made many life-long friends on that tour. We were to spend five days in London, but at the last minute scrapped that idea to meet up with new friends from Australia in Ireland. They had adopted us during the first tour and were able to convince Heather it was safe to travel to southern Ireland. Pat McCarthy was Irish and was going home with his wife Therese to visit his parents in the Cork area. After a fast-moving three days. with many mishaps, we managed to catch the ship back to England with minutes to spare. We spent another ten days on an organized tour of England, Scotland and Wales. 

Arriving home on June 28th, 1978, I just had time to unpack and repack immediately in order to attend the First International Balderson Reunion in Spokane. Washington with my Mom and Dad. 

Once we returned home from Washington, I looked into going to Australia on a working holiday with the International Agricultural Exchange Association. By September 15, 1978, I was accepted to work in Tasmania, Australia on a sheep station as a house help. Before leaving I worked with Dad at the Retreat House remodeling their garage, building a greenhouse, putting a roof over the back deck as well as other small jobs to help pay for my ticket to Australia. On November 11, 1978, I boarded a DC-8 bound for Sydney. After spending a week at one of Melbourne’s colleges, everyone was shipped out to their Host families. I spent four months at “Red Rock” a farm owned by Don and Vivienne McShane. There was also a German trainee assigned to “Red Rock”, a chap called Jorg. As long as we stuck to English the family and I understood each other, but if they spoke Australian or I spoke Canadian all was lost. At one point Viv told me to wash my “duna cover”, so I washed the bedspread. I later found out that a “duna” is a quilt and the quilts had removable covers. Also, I had a hard time getting used to the sun being high in the north. In “Down Under” the clothes don’t dry as well if they are hung on the south side of the trees. I was very fortunate to be placed in Tasmania, as it is very similar to the Cochrane area. Lots of trees, rolling hills, a river at the bottom end of the farm, and mountains in the distance. Two things that I found very strange were to be pod- ding fresh garden peas for Christmas dinner and to have an outdoor picnic on Boxing Day. Once the job portion of the trip was over, I traveled from

Melbourne to Cairns and back down the east coast to Sydney sightseeing and visiting people I had met on the European tours. I spent two weeks in Sydney with the McCarthy family. When I arrived home in Canada one of the first questions asked was “Did you see a Tasmanian Devil?” The Tasmanian Devil is a most unusual animal found only on the Island State of Tasmania, a part of Australia. They are very ferocious animals, but will not attack unless cornered and, although carnivorous, only attack weak and sick animals that can’t defend themselves. Not at all like the famous one on Bugs Bunny.

I returned to Canada on April 28, 1979, and because of the time difference and crossing the International Date Line, I landed in Vancouver ten minutes before I left Sydney. I also managed two birthdays in one year; one for twenty-four hours in Sydney and one for four or five hours over the Pacific Ocean. 

Shortly after returning home, I returned to construction with Dad. We worked on adding the back porch to Dolly and Allister Moore’s home, using bricks from the Simpson house that Allister and I retrieved and cleaned. While helping to finish building the garage and pour the cement walkways and driveway I received a call from Ray Whittle asking if I was looking for a job. I started to work for Whittle Agencies Ltd. on August 20, 1979, working full-time until January 1991 and part-time until Ray sold the business. Then I worked part-time with the new owners, Hi-Alta, based in High River. Finally, in 2000 I retired to look after Dad full-time. During this time my parents and I took several trips including England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in 1982. In 1986 we went to Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii on a five-week holiday and my nephew Clinton went with us. We returned home on May 12, and on May 14th, Dad’s 71st birthday, we were snowbound as over two feet of wet snow closed down the highways. August 1992 Mom, Dad, and I drove the Alaskan Highway, going up and back in fifteen days, just getting through the mountain passes before they were closed with snow storms. 

In July of 1986 our neighbour, Bill Laidlaw, passed on. Bill’s lot was left for Dad to buy or at least right of first refusal. Dad purchased the lot and in November he and I started to tear the buildings down. We found that the original building was a granary on skids, with a second shack added on plus the newer kitchen that Bill had added in the 1980s. In April 1987 the basement hole was increased and we started to build my new house. Dad was not one to waste, but my brother David informed me that unless Dad had me invest in some new nails David would not help in the construction. Dad straightened old ones to put the frames for the cement footings together. I bought new nails. I was very fortunate to have my own contractor. I would design whatever I wanted to be built and he would build it. The design of my house is completely mine. The family would come by on weekends when the walls were to be lifted and the rafters to be raised. Mainly it was Dad, David, and I hammering nails until Moe (Maurice) came on the scene to help. He arrived with a new “french” hammer and by the end of the day, its claws had broken off. David joked that he had never worked with anyone so confident that he wouldn’t need to pull any nails that he would use a clawless hammer. Moe (Maurice) Gerald Klotz was a family friend who had been coming around from time to time. That spring he and I started dating and by October we were married. We stayed with Mom and Dad until November when we moved into our own home. Moe is fond of telling people that our courtship was building the house. I think we actually went to two movies that summer but decided if we were going to sleep through them, it was a waste. I was in charge of staging a Balderson family reunion at Grainger, Alberta, for my mother’s 15 brothers and sisters that summer, and Moe was introduced to our very large family. In 1989 Moe discovered the Buckler Family has reunions every five years. He had to deal with another large group of relatives, as I organized this event as well. Being so close to Calgary, we have had the opportunity to have lots of company come to stay with us. In 1989, my host mother from Australia, Vivienne, and her cousin Peg came and spent a week with us. It was great to be able to return a little of the hospitality, showing them Alberta and through British Columbia to Vancouver to connect with their flight home.

Curling Rink W Laidlaw (caretaker), Unknown, Edgar Davies

Moe (Maurice) was born on March 26, 1945, in Regina, Saskatchewan. He was raised on the family farm near Vibank, Saskatchewan. He took grades one to eight in the Tache School near the farm, then grades nine and ten in Elsas High School in Vibank. For grades eleven and twelve Moe attended Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. After graduation he went to work for MacDonalds Consolidated in Regina. Later he worked for Associated Groceries in Alberta, before working at MacDonalds Consolidated again. He spent some time in Edmonton, Lumsden and Cochrane, taking courses and looking into Franciscan life. 

It was during this time in 1973 that Moe and I met at Mount Saint Francis Retreat House. Then he went to work for Safeway Canada Ltd. in Calgary and Airdrie. In 1987 we were married and built our home in Cochrane. We both worked in the community. Moe started his own small business that he has continued as a sideline after joining the maintenance staff of the local gas extraction plant. Moe and I enjoy traveling. We have made several short trips to the States, toured the Maritimes, and made short trips around the western provinces. We’re looking forward to more traveling once he retires. In the meantime, I spend a lot of time with CHAPS, looking to preserve the history of Cochrane. I enjoy helping to plan the spring and fall fundraising dinners as well as working on several ongoing projects.

Deep Dive

Jim and Lydia Graham

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pg 470 More Big Hill Country 2009

Jim, Lydia, and their children Russell and Beth moved back west to Cochrane in 1975 after 9 years of working and studying in Eastern Canada. Jim joined the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary and Lydia became involved in Cochrane community activities. Cochrane was a small town in 1975. On one of his first trips downtown, Jim was accosted by a senior citizen who asked who he was and where he came from. She was concerned that, with all the new people in town, there were a lot of people she didn’t know. After a series of questions, she was pleased to learn that Jim was one of the Grahams who came from a farm north and west of Vulcan. However, she was not familiar with Lydia’s family, the Properzis who had homesteaded in the Barrhead region in the early 1920s. 

Jim and Lydia have been very involved in their community. Lydia’s first community efforts were the forming of a preschool and presuming the option for a French immersion program in Cochrane Schools. She ran for council in 1986 and served as councilor for 6 and mayor for 9 years. During that time Cochrane grew from 2500 to over 10,000 and the council was faced with a complicated series of problems concerning recreation, infrastructure, land use and other growth issues. Lydia provided direction and leadership to the council. One of the highlights of her time was the negotiation of an agreement for a sewer line to Calgary which was paid for by the province and the City of Calgary. Since her retirement from public office, Lydia sits on the Board of CHAPS, FCSS, and is involved with the All Saints Anglican Church. 

Jim helped coach ringette and served on the vestry of All Saints. In addition to teaching and researching, Jim served as Assistant Dean of both the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. He and several colleagues developed the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Jim led the development of The Enterprise MBA Program which was selected as the best Entrepreneurship Program in North American Business Schools. Jim served as Chairman of the Board of Calgary Vocational Services (now called Prospects), and served on the Board of a number of Public and Private Corporations. Jim’s consulting company J. B. Graham & Associates Ltd. has served large and small, public and private clients over the last 30 years providing market research, business strategy, and employee training. Since Jim retired from the University of Calgary in 1996 he and Russell have worked to develop new technologies for mineral processing, oil sands cleaning, and effective coal combustion. 

Russell Graham completed is Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of Calgary where he played football for the Dinos. He married Maureen Beveridge, a dental hygienist, in 2001 and has a son Tanner. Russell is the operations manager for Aerosion Ltd. and is active in the Calgary business community. Beth Graham earned both a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the University of Alberta and is a professional actress and writer in Edmonton. She’s won numerous awards for her acting and plays. Beth married Patrick Frazer, the stage manager at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton, in 2008. 

Both Lydia and Jim remain active in the Cochrane community.

Deep Dive

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