A comprehensive history illuminating the early builders of southern Alberta’s ranching community is now available.
The Friends of the Bar U Ranch Historic Association has released its Pioneer Family Histories collection with 61 families detailed over 300-plus pages with stories collected from nearly two decades worth of Stockmen’s Dinners.
“So we all have all these great stories and presentations and the goal was always to make a coffee table book and do something to preserve this history that is so unique from each of the families,” said Ken Chatel, a director of the Friends of the Bar U Ranch and the linchpin behind the project.
The book has been in the works for years, with other commitments getting in the way of it reaching the finish line.
That elusive time came about during the pandemic, with over a dozen current Friends of the Bar U directors and former members lending a hand.
And it just so happened that 2020 was the 25th year anniversary of the Bar U.
“Some people did a little bit of work then got distracted with other things and it always sat there as a goal then along came COVID,” Chatel said. “We didn’t have a whole lot else to do at the Bar U, we only hosted two little events last year.
“Every had a little bit of time so we started to track down the families and see if they wanted to update their story and see if they wanted to update their story or see if there was anything there that was inaccurate and that they gave us permission to put it into this book.”
The families feel a sense of pride with the finished product.
For Kimberley Wachtler, whose great-grandfather Frederick Alfred Burton established the family’s ranch west of Claresholm, it’s vital to remember the history of the pioneer families.
“My great-grandfather came west when the train was built, from what we know he arrived here in the spring of 1896,” Wachtler said. “He was 19 or 20 and he’d grown up on a small farm in Ontario and he was not the eldest brother so there was no space for him in the family business.
“He decided to pursue the wild west.”
Burton arrived with five dollars to his name and a bag of personal belongings, got on with some of the big ranches in the area as the plow guy before learning horseback skills and cattle skills while on the job.
“Our ranch where we’re still at today, there’s all these different coulees and fields and valleys and they’re all named after the original settlers that were there at the time – it was hard living as you can imagine so not many of them could survive,” Wachtler said. “He just persisted. He didn’t have any money, but I guess he had good credit and his word was good and just gradually built up his cattle herd.
“For all the people living out there in the hills, he would go out once a month to Fort Macleod and Claresholm when it was established to pick up the mail and then would bring the mail out there. He established a mail post outlet at his home quarter. He named that after his wife’s maiden name, Furman. And if you Google Furman, Alberta that’s our headquarters.”
Four generations later and ranching still is in the family business with Burke Creek Ranch hitting its 130th year of operation in 2020.
“It means everything to us, our history, it’s really incredible to imagine what he went through,” Wachtler said. “The foresight he had and he never backed down to get through the hurdles and whatever that came his way.
“We feel really proud that we’ve been able to hold on to that land and most of the land is native grass and has never been plowed up. We also feel proud that we’ve been able to protect the land from development and cultivation and to keep it in its natural state.”
Many of the families featured in the book continue to ranch on those same lands.
The Chattaways, Clay and Avril, celebrated 100 years of ranching in the family in 2019 after their grandfather Roderick Riddle Macleay set up the Bar S Ranch near Nanton.
"My husband Clay is third generation and there are seven grandchildren in the Chattaway family and they would be fifth generation," Avril said. "(Roderick) and his family was on the eastern townships after his grandfather immigrated from Scotland, the Macleays were Irish and Scottish descent and ended up in Danville, Quebec. Some of the young fellas proceeded to come out here, Roderick being one of them and he, I believe, arrived in Alberta in 1900 with some partners who were family members and managed to purchase and start the Rocking P. Then in 1919, purchased the Bar S.
"He had two daughters, Dorothy inherited the Rocking P and the other daughter Maxine inherited the Bar S. Clay's cousins are all in this area as well, all Macleay descendants are pretty well all ranching."
It's a history the Chattaways take great pride in with Clay having written his own book about his grandfather's settler life titled Roderick R. Macleay: A Pioneer's Life, released in 2019.
"It's important," Avril said of the history. "Agriculture is one of the foundation's of this province, raising cattle to feed the world and to celebrate the history an accomplishment, like what he did because he came out here with nothing and left a huge legacy.
The Friends of the Bar U Ranch was formed in 1989 to support heritage education programs and preservation for the Bar U, which was established as a Natural Historic Site in 1995.
The association runs annual events such as the Ranch Rodeo at the Bar U as a means to keep that history going.
The Stockmen’s Dinner began in 2001 to honour families and ranching history with the initial event honouring veterinarians, auctioneers, brand inspectors and truckers.
The following year saw the format that it enjoys to this date with each year celebrating historic ranching families that lived and ranched south of the Bow River, north of the Oldman River and west of Highway 2.
"My first job when I joined the Bar U was organizing the Stockmen's Dinner," said Avril, a former director and chairman with the Friends of the Bar U. "When it was time for the families to give their presentations the room would just quiet, you could almost hear a pin drop, everybody looking forward to hearing these stories.
"Afterward we would collect them up, usually they had them written or typed and we would put them in a file cabinet at the Pearson's House at the Bar U and I can remember just having mild panic attacks thinking what if the Pearson's House burns down? We've got all of these stories in there. A few of us decided we should put this on the computer ... we got it all digitized and then a committee was formed last year.
"They just went full force and I think have come out with a brilliant book. The stories are fascinating, some people walked here, some people came here with five bucks in their pocket, some had money and dreams to purchase ranches, but it's just a really interesting history.
For Chatel, going through the process of putting together the book only reinforced just how resourceful those that set up ranching roots in the area truly were.
“So many of them came over from Europe, so many of them had virtually nothing,” Chatel said. “They came over on the train, got dropped off and out with their axes and start to try and establish homes.
“There’s interesting and neat stories about water and heaters freezing up in the wintertime, broken hoses, families coming together to try and solve a problem. Someone was pregnant and needed to get into one of the towns to deliver the baby and someone would have to hike several hours to get them to a neighbour’s place because they had the only car in the area.
“Things like that, so resourceful, big families and how they relied on each other.”
The book is available for purchase at Longview Leather, Cattlemen’s Corner in Nanton, Sandul’s Pharmacy in Black Diamond, the Millarville General Store as well as Walkers Country ‘N’ Western Wear and Lorac Management Inc. in High River.
Additionally, shipping is available from any Friends of the Bar U director via email at [email protected]. For more information go to friendsofthebaru.com.
“It’s our heritage, all of ours, how Calgary was developed, how the communities all around here grew and supported and developed into what we have today and can enjoy today in southern Alberta,” Chatel said. “It’s fun to go back and see what it was like back in the late 1800s and what did those people go through to do what we seem to have so easy today.
“I think it’s important people see that.”
