Search Results for: fort benton

Before the railway, supplies came from Fort Benton, Montana. Fort Benton is on the Missouri River allowing steamboats to supply goods needed for the opening of the West.

In the spring of 1882, the Laird returned to Scotland and instructed MacDonald to meet him in Fort Benton in the spring of 1883 and to purchase more goods to trade.

The main town lies at an altitude of 3,760 feet, at a Latitude of 51 11 ‘and Longitude of 114/28 W. The annual precipitation averages between 17-19 inches and droughts are rare. (This includes an average annual snowfall of 72.5 inches and a rainfall of 11.42 inches). Chinook winds which sweep over the mountains help to modify the winters with their warmth.

When the Special Train from Montreal to Vancouver, with Sir John A. Macdonald and party aboard, arrived in Calgary on July 21, 1886, negotiations took place with Frank White et al. The Government settled the dispute in favor of Rev. John McDougall.

In April 1885 he received a wire from Maj Steele asking him to join Steele’s Scouts organized to assist in putting down the Riel Rebellion. When the rebellion was over he returned to Morley and homesteaded the SW 29-26-6-5, on the School Section west of the James Potts place.

pg 388 Big Hill Country  by James Duncan Kerfoot  The story of the Cochrane Ranche relates that in 1882, Col. Walker, the first resident manager, resigned, such resignation to be effective as soon as a suitable replacement could be found. That replacement was found in the person of William Duncan (W. D.) Kerfoot, an experienced … Read more

Andrew Sibbald, whose life spanned a century, was born in Ontario, November 19, 1833. Andrew’s father, John Sibbald, along with his wife and three children of Edinburgh, Scotland, immigrated to Canada in 1832, and settled in Ontario. Andrew was the first of their five children born in Canada. 

Page 68-69 of More Big Hill Country has a really interesting history of the cattle industry, 1493 through 2008. You can see the ups and downs of one of the major industries of early Cochrane. 1493 – Spanish cattle come to the south of America on Columbus’ second voyage. Fore bearers of the Texas Longhorn … Read more

CHAPS has received a number of documents outlining the historical significance of the COCHRANE RANCHE. Other Names: British American Ranch Co. Cochrane Creamery Cochrane Ranch Co. (Ltd.) Cochrane Ranch Co. Ltd Western Heritage Centre Statement of Significance Description of Historic Place Cochrane Ranche is the site of Alberta’s first large‐scale ranch, which operated between 1881 … Read more