Pincher Creek Started Out As A NWMP Horse Ranch

Keepin' up with the times!  Go Doug!

Tractor Genes

Herewith a recently acquired photo from Big Ian dated June 19th, 1954, wherein Our Hero forsakes his trusty mount for a more advanced form of horsepower.  Jim Arnold showing Yours Truly the finer points of heavy machinery at 229 - 39th Ave. SW in Calgary.  Now we know where David Jr. (and Alex) get their affection for John Deere!  (Although this is probably a Cockshutt!)

Susan and The Horse

In this just-discovered old photo from Big Ian, my sister Susan is getting her first riding lesson at age 1 1/2 on Jim Arnold's farm at 229 - 39th Avenue SW, Calgary.  The date is June 15th, 1954.  (Of course the guy holding her in the saddle is Yours Truly, by then a seasoned pro rider.)  Her equestrian education (and mine) was to continue years later in Lethbridge on a farm where the Lethbridge College now stands.  Yahoo!

Bond, The Whisky Trader

"Bond, the whisky trader, had not yet heard of the coming of the rugged, red-coated Mounties.  His wagon bounced joltingly over the rough ground, but Bond was happy.  This journey in the year 1874 had already brought him 116 buffalo robes, and the trip was young.  The wagon was heavy with kegs of alcohol, and the Indians were eager to offer him a buffalo pelt for each fiery pint.  Four of Bond's men drove wagons behind him.  They were armed with Henry rifles.  A wandering tribe would think twice before it fell on such a party and tried to take the whisky by force.  Most of the traders were dead shots.  In his mind, Bond was spending the rich profits which he felt sure would be his.  He thought longingly of the gambling casinos and plush hotels in Helena, south of the border.  Life seemed good to Bond.  He had even built his own stockade.  He wasn't going to divide his money with the Fort Whoop-Up gang.  Then, from out of the dusk came a command: "Halt, in the name of the Queen!"  The American had forgotten that the British Empire was ruled by a queen, whose name was Victoria.  But now Bond saw before him a tall man on a prancing horse.  The man wore a red jacket with frayed cuffs.  On his head was a white helmet.  Behind him in the gloom were other men on horseback.  Bond knew nothing of the North West Mounted Police, but he sensed danger.  One of Bond's men reached for a rifle at his feet.  "I'd put that down if I were you," said the tall man quietly.  The trader hesitated, then dropped the gun.  Inspector Crozier lifted the heavy tarpaulin on the wagon driven by Bond.  Beneath the canvas he saw casks of whisky, sinister rows of rifles, and heaps of buffalo robes.  "I think we'd better go to Fort Macleod," said the Inspector.  "Where's that?" asked Bond.  "You'll soon find out," replied the Mountie, from behind his thick dark moustache.  At Fort Macleod the Constables were already in barracks but the officers still lived in tents.  Macleod believed in the best food and quarters for the enlisted men.  He thought this was the way to have high morale under difficult conditions.  The traders were brought before the Assistant Commissioner.  He eyed them sternly while Inspector Crozier presented the evidence.  Macleod fingered one of the thick robes.  "The Indians need these for teepees and for clothing," he said.  "You have taken away their robes and given them nothing except alcohol, which wrecks their health and ruins their sanity."  The traders shifted their feet nervously.  For possessing liquor in Indian country, each of the whisky traders was fined fifty dollars.  The head trader, Bond, had to pay a fine of $200 and go to the log jail, because he sold alcohol to an Indian named Three Bulls.  The Indian testified against Bond at the brief trial.  The traders cursed angrily as the Mounties opened the casks and let the whisky run out onto the snow.  The buffalo robes were returned to the Indians.  "Tell your friends this is only the beginning," said Macleod to the traders, who went free after paying their fines." - from Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Richard L. Neubergter (Random House, New York, 1953)

The Code of The West

The Law came later - North West Mounted Police. 

"First chronicled by the famous western writer, Zane Grey, in his 1934 novel The Code of the West, no "written" code ever actually existed. However, the hardy pioneers who lived in the west were bound by unwritten rules that centered on hospitality, fair play, loyalty, and respect for the land. Ramon Adams, a Western historian, explained it best in his 1969 book, The Cowman and His Code of Ethics, saying, in part: "Back in the days when the cowman with his herds made a new frontier, there was no law on the range. Lack of written law made it necessary for him to frame some of his own, thus developing a rule of behavior which became known as the "Code of the West." These homespun laws, being merely a gentleman’s agreement to certain rules of conduct for survival, were never written into statutes, but were respected everywhere on the range. Though the cowman might break every law of the territory, state and federal government, he took pride in upholding this unwritten code. His failure to abide by it did not bring formal punishment, but the man who broke it became, more or less, a social outcast. His friends ‘hazed him into the cutbacks’ and he was subject to the punishment of the very code he had broken." Though the Code of the West was always unwritten, here is a "loose" list of what is known of the guidelines:
- Don't inquire into a person's past. Take the measure of a man for what he is today.
- Never bother another man's horse. A horse thief pays with his life.
- Defend yourself when necessary. Look out for your own.
- Remove your guns and hat before sitting at the dining table.
- Don't make idle threats.
- Save your breath for breathing.
- Always tend to your horse's needs before your own.
- Cuss all you want, but not around women.
- Complain about the cooking and you become the cook.
- Do not practice ingratitude.
- Be courageous.
- Always help those in need, even a stranger or an enemy.
- Never touch another man's hat.
- Be modest.
- Be loyal to your "brand," your friends, and those you ride with.
- Give your enemy a chance. The "rattlesnake code": warn before you strike unless stalking an outlaw.
- Never shoot a woman, no matter what.
- Respect the land.
- Your word is your bond, your handshake is a contract.
- Live by the Golden Rule."
(With apologies to Kathy Weiser)

A King Brothers Tall Tale? Probably Not.

A Porcupine Hill

Soon after we moved to The Jewel in 1976, I became friends with another young local professional who had lived here a lot longer than I - a fellow who not only was a dyed-in-the-wool rancher and hunter but one who had met the King Brothers in person.  My impression was that he had visited them on several occasions, perhaps in his professional capacity, perhaps as a young man they took a liking to, probably both.  (Like them, he is plain-spoken, smart as hell, loves the outdoors, and is tough as nails, so they may have seen something of themselves - when they were young - in him.)  His description of their spartan living quarters matched that as related by Mary-Jo Burles in her book, First And Second Kings.  He once told me of a visit to the log house that had been their home for many, many years up in the Porcupine Hills, during which his conversation with them was continually interrupted by a mouse running back and forth along the wall opposite.  Noticing that the mouse was distracting their visitor, one of the brothers took a jackknife out of his pocket, and deftly threw it across the room - impaling the mouse instantly.  The dimensions of the room weren't related to me but we can assume a minimum distance wall-to-wall of ten feet, and the room, he said, was lit by a single light bulb hanging in the centre of it, so the throw was pretty amazing - at least to me.  Considering the source of this little anecdote, I believe it to be true.

Smithbilt Hats of Calgary, Alberta

"In 1919, Judah Shumiatcher's father, Morris, started the Smithbilt Hat Company in Calgary, Alberta. It is a company that is a poignant symbol of the immigrant experience in Canada - of starting over, building a new life through a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Smithbilt has become the symbol of western hospitality - the quintessential Canadian cowboy hat, recognized to this day across the country and around the world. Morris immigrated to Canada from Russia, with his father, in 1909. Soon after they arrived and settled in Calgary, they changed their name. It was an event shared by many immigrants of the time. For the Shumiatchers, keeping the 'S' with the name 'Smith' seemed good enough. "My father wasn't adverse to this," recalls Judah. "He thought it was a good idea. That to come over was a good start, a new land and what's wrong with a new name?" Morris Smiths' first job in Calgary was at a sawmill, but he had dreams of starting something of his own, of making a contribution to his new country. So, as the story has been told and retold over the years, it was sometime in 1919 that Morris went off to the library in search of inspiration. After looking at some photographs of hats and then reading up on hat manufacturing, inspiration struck. Morris' next stop was the bank for some financing. He needed a $300 loan to convert Calgary Hat Works, then a cleaning and blocking establishment, into a hat manufacturer and retailer. The bank refused him the money because he had no collateral, and suggested that Morris's brother Harry could co-sign a loan. Harry had a successful business only a few blocks down the street selling newspapers and magazines: Harry's News. Morris was a bit indignant at first, if his signature wasn't good enough then forget it. "But the next day he was back," recalls his son Judah. "He had reconsidered and of course Harry did sign for him and he had the $300. Within one year he was manufacturing hats from beginning to end. By 1929 Smithbilt Hats was a bonafide company." Morris Smith ran the Smithbilt Hat factory and associated retail stores in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia through the hard times of the Depression and the Second World War. He produced and sold mostly fedoras. But then he switched to producing a western style when the cowboy hat was becoming more and more popular. In the summer of 1946, Morris made a decision about business and style that would guarantee him a place in Canadian history. "The Stampede Board had decided it would be a wonderful idea if Calgarians could be encouraged to wear cowboy hats during the stampede," recalls Judah. "They came to Dad and talked about it. Dad thought about this and said, 'Well, there is really only one way this can go. All the way.'" Hats in light pastel colours were all the rage at the time. But Morris wanted to take this trend to the limit. "I'm going to get a white that is a pure sparkling white," he said. "That's the kind of felt that I'm going to order and see what happens." Morris ordered enough white felt to make 18 western hats. Calgary rancher and oilman Bill Herron bought four of the white hats for his family to wear in the Stampede parade. The rest sold out in a single afternoon. The following year Smithbilt made 240 white cowboy hats for the Stampede. And they sold as fast as the original 18." It was strictly on a hunch," remembers Judah. "The population just grabbed them. And so it was established in 1947 that the white hat was a winner." In 1948, Smithbilt's white cowboy hat went national at the Grey Cup game in Toronto. "The Calgary Stampeders came across Canada wearing their white hats, and that was a special occasion," says Judah. Judah was going to school in Montreal and his cousin Maurice was in Toronto. "My father suggested that perhaps if he sent some hats out that there might be demand for them in Toronto," Judah remembers. "And so of course we agreed to that." The hats were donned by many at the game, including, of course, Judah and his cousin Maurice. When the game was won by the Stampeders, the two cousins were part of an ecstatic Calgarian cheering section that rushed the field. Among the Calgarians with their trademark white hats at the Grey Cup game was city alderman, Don Mackay. When Mackay later became mayor of Calgary in 1949, he began offering white hats as gifts to visiting celebrities. By the time Mackay left office in 1959, the hat that Smith built had become an internationally recognized sign of western hospitality. To this day, on the walls at the Smithbilt factory hangs pictures of such notables as Mikhail Gorbachev and Wayne Gretzky sporting the sparkling white cowboy hat. "In fact," says Judah Shumiatcher "When Prince Phillip came through town for a third time, and was presented with a white hat, he said, 'Oh, not another one.'" The ultimate moment of pride and joy for the Smithbilt, however, came in 1988. "That was the greatest honour of all," says Judah. "When Calgary was host to the Winter Olympics, our hats were worn by the Canadian athletes at the opening ceremonies ... I'll never forget the look of the Canadian team walking into the stadium with their white hats on. They looked so handsome. And they were. They created a tremendous impact all over the world." Judah Shumiatcher became the proprietor of Smithbilt when his father, Morris Shumiatcher died in 1958. Morris died a Shumiatcher, rather than a Smith, after a lifetime of changing his name back and forth. Morris first considered changing his name back to Shumiatcher when many of his siblings were doing the same. He decided to make the change to Shumiatcher in his private life, and retain the Smith name for business purposes. But his friends told him he was crazy to change his name. They all knew him as Smith. And furthermore, the Smith name was associated with the famous Smithbilt Hats. Morris agreed, and changed his name back to Smith. But only for a few years. He was soon calling himself Morris Shumiatcher again. "There is so much history there. There are so many memories," Judah says of the Smithbilt story, and perhaps of the Shumiatcher story as well. Judah has hung onto Smithbilt, the family company, despite his own life-long career in architecture. "I've kept Smithbilt because it was a viable firm and it was interesting work ... It was like a family even inside the factory. When you make something good, you are proud of it. To let it go? No, that was really quite unthinkable," Judah says. "I guess for me, the Smithbilt story is an example of how an immigrant family, coming over with just big dreams, can do something fulfilling and make an impact, a positive contribution, to their new home." (from The Shumiatcher Saga, by Brian Brennan, Calgary Herald, March 8-10, 1997.)

Cowboy Hat Etiquette

Limited Edition Calgary Stampede Centennial Hat by Smithbilt, Calgary, Alberta

From thecowboyhatguide.com: "Never, ever get caught wearing your cowboy hat backwards. It's not pretty, and it's bad luck. Originally felt hats were intended for winter wear (protecting from moisture and cold) and straw for summer (protecting from heat and sun) which is logical. An arbitrary rule is that felt is worn between Labour day and the May long weekend, and straw in between. If it's a formal event, I probably wouldn't wear a straw no matter what. To travel with a hat, make use of a hat box, especially if it's a more expensive hat. If I'm traveling and not wearing my relatively inexpensive hat, I simply carry it, carefully, in a plastic shopping bag. The first rule of cowboy hat etiquette that is indisputable and critical, is don't mess with a cowboy's hat. A cowboy hat is a very personal, and sometimes very expensive, item. In some places, to touch a man's hat without permission will get you pile-driven into the wall, you just don't do it. Next: Any time you enter a building, the hat should come off. If it is an informal occasion you may put it back on, but for a formal occasion it should stay off. When sitting down at a table for a meal, the hat should come off unless there is nowhere to safely lay the hat. When sitting down at a counter for a meal, the hat can stay on. Outside, however, keep your hat on while you eat. If you take your hat off, someone might step on it or spill food into the rim. I've always thought there was something particularly elegant about the cowboy greeting, touching one's hand to the brim of one's hat. A part of the origin of this was that when men would meet, moving the hand to the hat brim signaled friendly intentions by moving the hand away from the holster. Tipping of the cowboy hat when meeting someone depends completely upon the situation but it does show good breeding and respect."

The Running Iron

Cattle rustling was a pervasive crime in the early west, particularly when cattle were allowed to wander on huge unfenced leases, and frequently the first person to brand a new calf claimed it as his own - whether or not that was actually the case.  "The chief way of stealing calves was to pick them up one at a time and subject them to the so-called "running" or "round" iron.  A rustler would travel the range with a branding iron short enough that he could slip it into his bootleg when he needed to conceal it.  The iron had a round edge on one end that the rustler could use to fashion any brand he desired.  In 1906 the NWMP officer in charge at Lethbridge told his superiors that he was not sure whether rustling had increased in the past year but that he was 'inclined to think it has, judging by the rapid increase of some of the herds in this district ... The cattle rustler rides the ranges with a running iron strapped to his saddle generally in stormy weather and picks up calves which have arrived at the age to be easily weaned from their mothers.  It is only a work of a few minutes for these experts to rope a calf and drive it to some place where it is held till it would not be claimed by the mother, or recognized by the owner.'  As time went on, virtually any unmarked cattle - not just those from the great herds but from all the ranches, large and small - became fair game.  The Mountie quoted above added that "fortunately" for the running iron rustlers, 'a number [of ranchers] have settled in the district with small bunches of unbranded cattle.'  These cattle, he was insinuating, were being pilfered.  This measure was not just used on mavericks.  Even the rancher who had previously branded his cattle was not safe from the running iron as it was useful for changing brands.  Sometimes the rustler would simply obliterate the original mark on an animal by burning over it and then would replace it with his own brand.  Or he might alter or "vent" the existing mark.  The letter E could, for instance, be turned into a B by closing up the open side; or a D could be made into a B by adding a dividing line in the middle; Vs became Ws, Cs became Es, Ps became Bs, and so on.  In the 1870s and '80s the NWMP acted as recorders and distributors of brands, but many were not recorded.  Therefore, one caught in possession of cattle with a particular brand could claim that he had used it strictly for the purpose of telling his own animals from neighbouring herds." - from Cowboys, Gentlemen & Cattle Thieves by Warren M. Elofson.

Why We Have Guns Out Here

People in the city often are ignorant of the need for firearms out here on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.  2011 was unusual for us because it is the first full year in memory that we have not seen bears in our backyard, although we did have one pile of droppings early in the summer so we know they're around.  Consider this story dated Sept. 20, 2010:  "These two gentlemen were calling elk in the Saddle Hills south of Woking, Alberta, when this big grizzly slipped in on the caller. The shooter spotted the bear about 8 yards from the caller, and dropped him with 5 shots from his .338 Winchester Magnum.  Farmers in the area knew about the bear but weren’t able to track it, even after it had killed 3 horses, 5 cows, 13 sheep, and a pen full of chickens on several different homesteads in the area.  Fish and Wildlife officers had bear traps set up in the area but noticed on surveillance videos that whenever he would enter a trap, his hump would hit the top of the culvert, slowing him enough that the trap door would whack him on the head before he was all the way in.  This bear weighed in just under 1300 pounds, and would have stood almost 12 feet tall on its hind legs."  A bear that kills horses, and too big for a bear trap!  The picture shows his "island-sized" paw.

And Now For a Change of Tune ...

Tim Hus could be Canada's Dwight Yoakim. But that's not fair to Tim; it could be that Dwight Yoakim is America's Tim Hus. Last night was a musical milestone for Stella's and for us - the first time we've tapped our toes in a long while until we just had to get up and dance. Tim's music just won't let you sit there. Ably backed up by his fine band, The Rocky Mountain Two, Tim's unique voice and solid stage presence show a professionalism rarely seen in more well-known acts and venues. Close your eyes and there was enough Texas Swing to take you back anywhere you wanted to go. A little Merle Haggard, a little Buck Owens, and a whole lot of Tim - one of Canada's best young song writers. Catch these guys if they're in your neighbourhood, and don't forget your dancin' boots!  Follow this link for more.

No, Those Are Not MY Hay Bales

Lethbridge's Red Lights, Part 3

"The first Lethbridge brothels were the teepees the Indians pitched on the Belly River Flats 300 feet below the flatland on which the city itself was eventually located.  However, as the Galt mansion and the rather elaborate houses of the mine manager and the foremen were also built on the flats, the Mounties tended to run the Indians off into adjacent coulees and away from the settlement.  The first permanent brothels were built in the coulees on the west side of the river by women who came in from Medicine Hat and Great Falls with the railway.  As employment in the mines expanded, Lethbridge, except for the prostitutes, grew almost as a town without women.  While a few of the European miners brought wives and children with them, most of the first settlers were single.  The result, according to legend, was that the river-bottom brothels did a roaring business until the coal company began opening up its pits on the area above the river valley...When the coal company built a huge bunkhouse on the flats above the river to serve its single miners, the other miners gradually moved into lodgings close to the upper pit heads.  As their clients moved away, the madams also moved to the top of the hill and established an enclave of brothels on a triangular spit of land on the extreme west side of the settlement.  It was flanked on the north by a huge coulee that extended from the river clear up to the back door of the Lethbridge Hotel on Round Street, which later became 5th Street South.  On the south another deep coulee extended from the river almost to 4th Street.  The widest point pf this triangle was at 2nd Street between 3rd and 4th avenues...By 1890 there were six brothels and the coal company dormitory within the triangle which was famous throughout southern Alberta as "The Point".

Lethbridge's Red Lights, Part 2

"As a long-retired cow hand recalled it: 'When I was a boy growing up in Lethbridge, this was the cattle shipping point for the last great open range that extended from Macleod to Maple Creek.  The spring round-ups would extend for hundreds of miles.  When the round-up was over the cowboys would be paid off and they went looking for entertainment with pockets full of money.  Cow hands are not like miners.  If you have ever been in a mining town on pay day you've seen miners rushing for the whorehouses like an army on the attack.  You could often see them lined up outside the front door waiting their turns and they'd be in and out of the joint in a matter of minutes.  The cowboys were different.  After weeks or months of nothing but cows, horses and other riders for company, they wanted to enjoy the pleasure of female companionship, to sit and relax and have a drink and listen to talk.  Most of all they wanted to take their time doing everything, to string out the enjoyment of whatever they were doing.  Because they were never tight with their money the cow hands were given special treatment, and the Lethbridge places that catered to them seemed to be able to attract higher class girls than those at Macleod, or in the Crowsnest Pass, for example." (from Red Lights on the Prairies by James H. Gray)

Lethbridge's Red Lights

     "Isolated as Lethbridge and Drumheller were in remote corners of the Alberta boondocks, it was inevitable that their brothels would develop lifestyles of their own, in legend if not in fact.  What other community, for example, could claim that its gaggle of whorehouses doubled as cultural centres, as Lethbridge's did during the expiring years of Victoria's reign?  There, after savouring the primary pleasures of the joints, a young cow hand ... could relax with a good book and, if necessary, be taught to read by a former schoolteacher turned prostitute.  Or he could lean back and enjoy a piano solo by one of the talented bawds, or learn the latest dance steps from a new girl from Wichita via Great Falls, Montana.  He might even be instructed in how to spot a crooked card dealer in a poker game, by a girl who had been a faro dealer in Fort Benton.  And after a cowboy had blown what was left of his wad in a Round [5th] Street gambling joint he might seek shelter from the weather in a bagnio on "The Point" and not be turned away."  (from Red Lights on the Prairies by James H. Gray)

Cattle Branding Out Here

 When did regulated cattle branding get underway in Western Canada?  As a consequence of the end of the fur trade about 1845, formerly busy trading posts either closed or became notorious as whiskey outlets.  Federal governments on both sides of the 49th parallel set about securing their lawless western territories by encouraging settlement and commerce.  "Starting in the early 1870s, a number of men in the southern North-West Territories of Canada kept a few head of cattle for their own meat and dairy supplies and, from 1874, for trade with the North-West Mounted Police and the native population ... In the 1880s they began recording their brands with their stock associations, and the police acted as hide inspectors when cattle were being sold or shipped to market.  However, a lot of the cattlemen - in particular those who were not members of associations and could not register brands - did not properly mark their animals ... It was not until the North-West Council 'hide ordinance' of 1898 that all brands could be properly registered."  This initial ordinance, as it turned out, was full of legal loopholes, and in 1900 a new one had to be enacted.  "The first brand book appeared as early as 1888 and new ones were issued from time to time.  However, there apparently were few copies and they were poorly updated and distributed.  That changed as a result of pressure from the Western Stock Growers Association.  By 1907 the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were publishing their own brand books."   I was happy to discover the other day that a very old leather-bound brand book has survived in the possession of a close friend of mine.  I look forward to perusing it.  (Quotes herein are from Cowboys, Gentlemen & Cattle Thieves by Warren M. Elofson.)