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.
