“More Big Hill Country” has lots of stories of early businesses. There was a time when most homes in Cochrane had a barn for the horses. There were also several Livery stables in town. Murphy’s Livery Stable The Murphy Livery stable was built next to the Murphy Brothers Hotel in 1898. It appears that the … Read more
This article from page 33 of Big Hill Country really paints a picture of the area in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. THE NORTH BOW ROUNDUPS Before the Cochrane area was settled by homesteaders, a number of ranchers owned large herds of horses and cattle. These herds grazed over the unfenced land from the Morley … Read more
Todays post is from page 89 of More Big Hill Country. The image is of the Davies House which once served as Cochrane’s Hospital and is now home to the Cochrane Historical Museum. The first settlers came into the Cochrane area in the late 1880s and continued to arrive over the next twenty or thirty … Read more
This old article recently came in CHAPS possession. The original photo was taken by Ed Arrol, a teacher at the school. This article was written during the Covid-19 pandemic so the resources of the Cochrane Historical Museum have not been available. Fortunately, CHAPS recently started using G SUITE which converts pdf files to text. This … Read more
March is Women’s History Month. In light of that, I thought I’d research the “Chicken Lady” statue on main street Cochrane. Certainly not a complete list, the friends and families of 40 women had their names added to the base of the statue. The sculptors are Don & Shirley Begg and the statue cast by … Read more
Beaupre – a locality north of the 1A Highway about 10 miles west of Cochrane. Named after Louis Beaupre, an early settler who bought squatter’s rights there. Beaver Dam Creek – rises in the west side of the Weedon district, flows through Mortimer Coulee, and winds on northeast. So named because of the numerous beavers … Read more
The Hooves of History was a fundraising event for the Western Heritage Centre to celebrate our western culture. I spoke with Ken Aylesworth, Steering Committee Chair, President and CEO of the Western Heritage Center about his memories. Click on any image for a larger view. The goal of the event was as a fund raiser … Read more
