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Drive an Historic Highway

Item Type text; Article

Authors Irving, Barry D.

Citation Irving, B. D. (1994). Drive an Historic Alberta Highway. Rangelands, 16(2), 55-58.

Publisher Society for Range Management

Journal Rangelands

Rights Copyright © Society for Range Management.

Download date 26/09/2021 08:15:36

Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Version Final published version

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/638995 RANGELANDS 16(2), April 1994

Drive an Historic Alberta Highway

Barry D. Irving

Dearest, I have tried to give yousome idea of my life in this uniquecorner of the Great Lone Land. I hope 1 have not tired you. I expect in return a full account of your new life, which is so very different from mine, though no happier. My life may seem rough and bare, but there is somethingto compen- sate onefor every hardship and trial. You must come andsee me, though,for it is thespirit of theWest that charms one, andI can't conveyit to you, try as I may. It is a shy wild spirit and will not leave its native mountainsand rolling prairies and, though / try to getit into my letters, / can't. / must warnyou that if it once charmsyou, itbecomes an obsessionand one I grows very lonely away from it. No Westerner who has feltits fascinationever is really contentagain in I the conventionalEast.—(lnderwick 1884) This is an excerpt from a letter written in the period around 1884by arancher's wife. The Inderwickranch was located inthe southern Albertafoothills. This shortquota- tion captures the essence of early settlement life in Alberta, hardships with compensation. The purposeof this paperis toprovide perspective and insight into the settlement history of the region south of , Alberta,. To facilitate the discussion the reader will drive an historic highway that will take them from Lethbridge, west to Fort Macleod, and then north through and finally to Edmonton (Fig. 1). The geographicdistance is about 600 km, while the his- toricdistance is immense.This papershould notbe construed in any way as being a complete history of the drive between Lethbridgeand Edmonton, but simply as high- Fig. 1. Historical points betweenLethbridge andEdmonton. lights of a bright and colorful past. tions aroundthe Fort. Healy wenton to say bad men were Lethbridgeisa thriving prairie centerwitha fascinating simply not allowed in the region by the Fort Whoopup history. Located just south of Lethbridgewas one of the traders; there was no need for governmentintervention original sites of prairie commerce, FortWhoopup. Origi- because thetraders were taking careof any bad men that nally Fort Hamilton,the name evolved to Fort Whoopup, came to the Fort Whoopup region (Hamilton 1971). Of after the dominanttrade good, whiskey, was well estab- course, thetraders were only successful in taking careof lished. Fort Whoopupwas established in 1869 by "free bad men themselves because they were worse than the Americantraders" by the name of John Healyand Alfred men they were dispatching.Fort Whoopup was operated Hamilton. it soon became the trading center for all of by bad men, and was the origin of a great deal of human southern Alberta.Fort Whoopupwas a placefor bad men, suffering.An excellentreplica of Fort Whoopup has been although that's not the story John Healy told Reverend reconstructed in Lethbridge's indian BattlePark. John McDougall, who visited the Fort in 1874. Healy Lessthan 45 minutes west of Lethbridgeis the town of assured McDougall there were not bad men in Fort Fort Macleod. Fort Macieod was the first North West Whoopup. Therewere a few bad men that had cometothe Mounted Police (NWMP) fort in western Canada. The region, but they had been "stretchedout" in variousloca- NWMP was catapultedinto existence in 1874.As early as 1870 reportsof the whiskeytrade being the ruination of Author s atechnologist, Department of Plant Science, , Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaT6G 2P5. the plains Indians moved the Canadian government to considertheestablishmentofawesternpoliceforce. The 56 RANGELANDS 16(2), April 1994

Canadian Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, was in the region. Thus a fledgling beef industry, at first known as "Old Tomorrow" because he always stalled slaughteranimals and eventually breeding stock, deve- important decisions, and at the time was stalling the loped in southern Alberta. establishment of a western police force. The federal The foothills of the Rockiesin south-western Alberta government was still stalling when a group of white were attractiveto those interested in ranchingbecause of wolfers (menwho lived by collecting bounties on wolves) the rich native grass (that cured on the stem for winter slaughtereda bandof AssiniboineIndians in the Cypress feed), reliablerainfall, and a winter phenomenon known Hills (southeastern Alberta) in 1873. The public outcry as a "chinook". Chinooks are a warm Pacific wind that and the obvious lawlessness of the western frontier blowsoverthe mountainsin winter and stripsthe foothills resulted in the formation of the NWMP. In 1874, 300 of snow cover, enablingyear roundgrazing. NWMP headed west from . The force was split The notion of winteringcattle without supplement was into three divisions,one of which made its way to south- firsttested in 1877 by aformer trader, Fred Kanouse, who ern Alberta.The southernforce enlistedthe services of a turned 21 cows onto the range at Fort Macleod and col- local guide by the name of Jerry Potts. lected 21 cowsand 21 calvesthefollowingspring. Priorto Jerry Potts, whose motherwas a member of the Black- 1881 cattle numbered about 9,000 head on the Alberta foot Confederacyand father a Scottish-Americantrader, ranges (Kelly 1913). The total herdwas dividedamongst was a godsend to the tired and travel-weary NWMP numerous stockmen, some of whomwere former traders troupe. Pottshad lived all his lifeon the plains andwas an and NWMP. Improving beef markets, the signing of expert navigator and hunter. His escapades before and Treaty 7 (which gave land ownership to the federal after his enlistment as a NWMP scout are legendary and governmentand confinedthe indigenous people to reser- his contribution to the success of the early force great vations), and favorable results from experiences of earlier (Dempsey 1966). His first job as a scout for the NWMP ranchingentrepreneurs led to speculation that ranching was to lead them to Fort Whoopup, which he said was in southern Alberta could be big business. unnecessary because the traders had fled when they Largescale ranchingbegan in 1881, when the Govern- learned of the large police force coming to southern ment ofCanada passed an Order-in-Councilthat allowed Alberta.However, the commanding officersinsisted, and one individual or ranch companyto lease 100,000 acres Potts led them to Fort Whoopup, which the force found for one cent per acre per year. The Cochrane Ranch, deserted. In the summer of 1874, the NWMP accomp- located nearpresent day Cochrane, west of Calgary, was lished its first missionand closed the doors of one of the the first "big lease". It was followed closely by the most notoriouswhiskey trading forts in western Canada. NorthwestCattle Company (BarU). The Cochrane Ranch Potts'next duty was to find the force a siteon which to was the first of the big ranches, while the Bar U was build a permanentfort. An island in the middle of the arguablythe most successful. Other ranchers of the era Oldman River was the chosen location. The fort was were the Walrond, Quorn, the 76, the Circle, Maunsell named after the first NWMP commander, Col. James F. Brothers, and Cyprus Hills Cattle Company (Jameson Macleod. From its new home the NWMP systematically 1987). There were others of course, but they are too eliminatedthe whiskeytrade from southernAlberta. The numerous to mentionhere. force won the respect of the indigenouspeople through Two consistenciesamong all the big lease ranches level headed commanders who administered equal jus- appeared. First was the belief that putting up winter feed tice to all, regardless of skin color, with the help of Jerry was not required in the chinook country and secondwas Potts. This trust is perhapsbest illustratedby the mutual the interferencefrom eastern stockholdersthat western respect (somecall it friendship)that developed between ranch managers were subjected to. These two factors Sitting Bull and Major James Morrow Walsh during the spelled disaster for the early Cochrane Ranch. The years the Sioux spent on Canadian soil after defeating secondherd of Cochrane Ranch cattle (numberingabout Custer in the Battle of the Little Big Horn (MacEwan 5,000 head) brought to Alberta in 1882 from Montana 1973).The trust between theNWMP and the Plains Indian were caught in an early fall snow storm about 60 miles tribes was tested many times, butthe result was alwaysa south ofthe Cochrane Ranch lease. Againstlocal wisdom peaceful and negotiated solution. The conduct of the (which would have wintered the cattle where they were) NWMP is a point of pride in the history of southern the herders followed the eastern directors' orders and Alberta. drove the herd on to the Cochrane lease. The cattle The hIstorical trek from Fort Macleod to Calgary is arrivedon Cochrane Ranch lease exhaustedand in poor highlighted by the beginnings of Alberta's ranchinghis- condition, and were met with a severe winter and no tory. Ranchingwas southern Alberta's first agricultural winter feed. The cattle tried to drift to the snow free industry. The NWMP brought a sizable herd of cattle to ranges east of the Cochrane lease but were hazed back Alberta in 1874. The establishment of NWMP posts in (again under orders from the eastern directors). The southern Alberta provided a market, and a small cattle losses tallied in 1883 were about 3,000 head (Jameson industry beganto develop. Decliningbison herds andthe 1987,MacEwan 1975). Lackof winter feed would eventu- need to feed the "newest" Canadian citizens (i.e., the ally affect all the big lease ranches, especiallyduring the indigenous peoples)served to increasethe demand for beef winter of 1886—87, when chinook winds did not free the RANGELANDS 16(2), April 1994 57 ranges from snow. When the winterwas at its worst there board a train in Calgary and expect to be in Edmonton a were an estimated 40,000 starved horned critters within a mere 12 hours later. 25-mile radius of Fort Macleod. The winter of 1906—07 The Calgary-Edmonton Trail remained unused until (another long, cold, and snowy winter), combined with the advent of the automobile. In 1906, Mr. G. Corriveau advancing settlement, and an unsympathetic government and his son made the trip from Calgaryto Edmonton by spelled the end of the big lease era of Alberta ranching. car in 11.5 hours. They managed to reach speeds of 40 During the demise of the big lease ranches numerous MPH and at one point covered 20 miles in 34 minutes. smaller ranchesbecame established. The smaller hold- That stretch proved to be expensive as the car used one ingswere locally owned and managed (they didn't have to gallon of gas per mile and burned one full gallon of oil in answer to distantdirectors) and therewas a growingbody the 20 mile stretch (Belanger 1973). Today the Trail is a of knowledgeand experiencethat fosteredsuccess in the modern highway, completewith bridges and rest centers. ranching industry.Perhaps the first lesson that success- Traveltimes between Calgary and Edmonton are under3 ful operatorslearned was winter feed is cheap insurance hours, and gas mileage has improved somewhat. The whenthe chinooks fail to blow. existenceof the Calgary-Edmonton Trail is cornmemo- The final leg of the Journey fromCalgary to Edmonton rated in both cities (Calgary Trail in Edmonton and follows a modern superhighway. The highway's course Edmonton Trail in Calgary). It is a fascinating piece of follows, almost exactly, the route of the old Calgary- Alberta heritage. Edmonton trail. The northern2/3 of thetrail was originally At the endof our historic trek liesthe city of Edmonton. pioneered by the Rev. John McDougall and his trader Edmonton had a verydifferent settlement history than the brotherDavid. The McDougalls are creditedwith bringing southern portion of Alberta. Edmonton was first estab- the first cattle to Alberta in 1864. In 1873 they hacked a lished as in 1795 by the trail, anddrove the first herdof cattle, from Edmonton toa Company. The Hudson Bay Company was a dominant place called Lone Pine (near present-day Bowden) and force in the fur trade and Fort Edmonton was the trade then southwestto Morleyville (west of present day Cal- centerfor the Company's northernoperations. The North gary). In doing so they established the northernportion of Saskatchewan River (whichdissects present day Edmon- the Calgary-Edmonton Trail (Belanger 1873). ton and flows almoststraight east) was a fine transporta- The trail was a prominent trade route that saw bull tion routethat linked Fort Edmonton with Winnipeg, Hud- trains from Fort Benton, Montana, replaced by the Red son Bay, and the rest of eastern Canada and the world. River Cartforthefinal legfrom Calgaryto Edmonton. The Consequently, Fort Edmonton was situated well fortrade soils north of Calgary were softer than the prairie soils goods from the east and furs from the west and north. and could not support the weight of the bull trains. The Trade routes south of Edmonton were slow to develop, was a two wheeled wagon that could be initially because of the dominanceof the BlackfootCon- maneuvered around the numerous mud holes and river federacy(who were fierce warriorsand too independent fords. The Trail entered a ten-yearboom period afterthe to need the white man's trade goods), and later because Canadian Pacific Railway reached Calgary in 1883. A of the lawlessness of the whiskey trade. It wasn't until one-way fare from Calgary to Edmonton was $25 (about after the establishment of the NWMP that trade routes the same as bus fare today) with 4-5 days being an aver- weredeveloped between Edmonton and southern Alberta age trip. The trail passed Innisfail,the approximate loca- (Belanger 1975). Edmonton was an established commun- tion whereAnthony Henday(who was the firstwhite man ity a full 100-years beforesettlement in southern Alberta to set foot in present day Alberta, the first to see the began. Its harsher winter (Edmonton is outside the chi- Canadian Rockies, and the first to winter amongstthe nook belt) yet longer growing season led to the develop- Blackfoot Confederancy) wintered in 1754 (Alberta Re- ment of a farming-based agricultural sector as opposed port 1991). Farther north it crossed the Red Deer River to the ranchingindustry that developed farther south. (which wasthe approximate boundary between thefarm- Today, Edmonton is the capital of Alberta.The Alberta ing country to the north and ranching country to the Legislative Buildings are close to the original site of Fort south) and went on to pass presentday Wetaskiwin (an Edmonton. , in the North Saskatche- indigenous name meaning Peace Hills) named after a wan River Valley, was established asa replicaof the early peace treaty that was signed between the Blackfootand heritage of the development of Edmonton. nations. This completes thehistoric drive throughsouth-central River fords along the trail were numerous and trea- Alberta. Fur traders, indigenous peoples, missionaries, cherous."Death ridesa wet horse"was a commonsaying whiskeytraders, lawmen, ranchers, and freighters were of the day. Floods associated with snow melt and heavy all a part of the early settlementhistory of Alberta. rains in the adjacent foothlls made traversing theTrail an Literature Cited adventure indeed. The railway, which gave the Trail its bestyears, wasalso the end ofthe trail afew years later. A Alberta Report. 1991. Alberta in the 20th Century: The Great West railway spur from to Edmonton in Before 1900. United Western CommunicationsLtd., Edmonton. Calgary completed A.J. 1973. The 1891 spelled the end of the Trail. In Belanger, Calgary-Edmonton Edmonton-Calgary Calgary-Edmonton Trail. Frontier Book No.29. Frontier PubI. Ltd., Aldergrove,British contrastto the 4-day trip by theTrail, travelerscould now Columbia. 56 RANGELANDS16(2), April 1994

Dempsey, Hugh A. 1952. Historic sites of Alberta. An Alberta Jameson,Sheila 5. 1987. Ranches, cowboys, and characters: Birth GovernmentPublication. ofAlberta's westernheritage. GlenbowMuseum, Calgary, Alberta. Dempsey, Hugh A. 1966. Jerry Potts, plainsman. 0cc. Pap. No. 2. Kelly, L.V. 1913. The Range Men. Willow Creek PubI., High River, ,Calgary, Alberta. Alberta. Hamilton, Jacques. 1971. Our Alberta heritage series: Places. Cal- MacEwan,Grant. 1973. Sitting Bull, the Years in Canada. Hurtig gary Power Ltd., Calgary, Alberta. Publishers, Edmonton,Alberta. lndorwlck, Mary E. 1883. A lady and her ranch. In: The best from MacEwan,Grant. 1975. Blazing the Old Cattle Trail.Western Pro- Alberta history. 1981. H.A. Dempsey, Ed.Western Producer Prairie ducer PrairieBooks, Saskatoon,Saskatchewan. Books.Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Alberta's Prairie Vegetation: Past and Present Use Brian D. Olson

Alberta's prairie vegetation has gone through many changes. Glaciation, fire, climate, and bison grazing played important roles in its development before Euro- pean settlement. Since European settlement, fire sup- pression, domesticcrop production,and the elimination of migratory bison herds have altered Alberta's prairie ecology and changedmuch of the vegetation. Vegetational Changes since Glaciation During Alberta's early history after the last glaciation, coniferous forests dominated the landscape. Even the semiarid grasslands present in southern Alberta today were dominated by coniferous forest. After the glaciers fully retreated, dry weather along with natural wildfire created grasslands and expanded them northward. The amount of grassland expansion that occurred is uncer- tain. Some postulate that the grasslands of the Peace River region in northwestern Albertajoined upwith those in centralAlberta. Thesegrasslands are currentlysepar- ated by nearly 100 miles of borealforest. As the dryperiod became less harsh, forests began invading back into the grasslands until the present equilibriumwas reached. Present Vegetation With the present equilibrium, six vegetation regions occur on Alberta's prairies (Figures 1 to 6). They are the Dry Mixed Grass Prairie, the Mixed Grass Prairie, the Fescue Prairie,the , the Montane, and the Low Boreal Mixedwood. The Dry MixedGrass Prairie is a Figure 1. Vegetation Regions Needle-Grama Grass complex of Stipa comata, S. spar- on Alberta's Prairies: tea, and Bouteloua The Mixed Grass Prairie is a 1.Dry Mixed Grass Prairie; grad/is. 2.Mixed Grass Prairie; Needle-Wheat Grass complex of Stipa viridula, S. spar- 3.Montane; 4.Fescue Prairie; S. and A. smith/i. 5.Aspen Parkiand; tea, comata, Agropyrori dasystachyum, 6.Low Boreal Mixedwood Rough Fescue (Festuca scabrella)-Parry Oat Grass (Dan- (Strong & Leggat 1992) thonia parryi) grasslands dominatethe Fescue Prairie. Mountains The Aspen Parkland is a combinationof Rough Fescue grasslands on uplandsites and Trembling Aspen (Popu- lus tremuloides) clones on moist sites. The dominant forests. sites in the Montane are in the Montane is a combinationof ziesii) Dry occupiedby vegetation Lodgepole Fescue or June (Koeleriamacrantha) and men- Rough grass grass- pine (Pinuscontorta) Douglas-fir(Pseudotsuga lands, while moist sites are occupied by Balsam poplar Author is a rangeland manager/ecologistfor the Alberta Department of (Populus balsamifera) or Willow (Salix spp.). Trembling EnvironmentalProtection, Land and Forest Services, Edmonton, Alberta.