 |
Fact Sheet |
Joshua's Journey
Canadian Cowboys in the 1800s
In Canada, cowboys consisted of Aboriginal peoples, Métis, immigrants, landed gentry from England, and people of African origin. Many cowboys found their way into ranching after working in logging camps or mines, while others had always been ranchers.
Natives were some of Canada’s first cowboys, and by the mid-19th century they were valued for their horse-breeding and herding skills. The rest of Canada’s cowboys came from the American West, followed by Britain and Eastern Canada (Ontario and Quebec).
Canadian cowboys started out on the large ranches of the Canadian prairies, southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
Cowboys of African Origin in Canada
Cowboys of African origin were fairly common in Canada. Many were freed slaves who had been working as cowboys in America, came up to Canada on cattle drives, and then stayed on or returned later to start their own ranches.
John Ware, who was born a slave around 1845 in Texas, became a cowboy after the Civil War. In 1882, he came to Canada with the Bar U trail drive and worked at the ranch until 1884. Ware started his own ranch in Sheep Creek, Alberta but moved when homesteaders settled on the grazing land near his ranch. From 1902, he ranched on the banks of the Red Deer River, Alberta until he died in a riding accident in 1905.
Influences on Canadian Cowboys
Canadian cowboys were influenced by the Spanish, the Americans and the Native peoples. Techniques for ranching had been brought to the American Midwest and Montana from southern regions such as California, Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. So, it was natural for Canadian cowboys to use the same or similar techniques, already adapted for a northern climate.
Canadian Cowboy Gear
Cowboy gear in Canada was very similar to that worn by the American cowboy. It included broad-brimmed felt hats, flannel shirts, leggings (chaps), neckerchiefs and spurs. Canadian cowboys also rode small sturdy horses, with saddles and wooden stirrups, and used ropes and lariats. Generally, cowboys would wear what they were used to wearing, depending on their tastes. Canadian cowboys also had to dress for the winters, so they might wear buffalo fur coats, angora chaps and other warm clothing needed to survive the cold.
Some of the Challenges of Cowboy Life in Canada
- Maintaining the herd and its health
- Roundups
- Spring – Gathering of cattle and calves from winter grazing areas, branding, neutering, inoculating and soaking in troughs to kill mange
- Fall Roundup – Gathering of the fattened mature cattle and driving them to winter grazing grounds, to the meat-packing plant or to the railhead for shipment
- Controlling stampeding cattle
- Coping with extreme weather conditions: bitterly cold winters could kill hundreds of cattle while a single bolt of lightning could kill a cowboy
- Fighting prairie fires
- River crossings, where there was a danger of drowning
- Long days and infrequent, short rest periods
- The encroachment of settlers on ranches and grazing grounds
- Fending off cattle rustlers
- The threat of grizzly bears
Cowboy Life in Canada Now
Today there are still many cowboys in the West and beyond. Many are older working cowboys for whom this is the only way of life they have ever known, while a few of the younger generation carry on the family ranch. In addition to the traditional working cowboy, there is the competitive cowboy who takes part in rodeos.
Very recently, the emergence of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) has had a devastating effect on the ranching industry in Canada.
Large ranches are becoming rarer all the time as ranchers leave the business and sell their land to developers, earning a greater profit than ranching can usually provide.
As Ian Tyson, Canadian western folk singer and songwriter, was quoted in a recent article in the Canadian Cowboy Country Magazine: "The old ranchers are land rich and cash broke all the time."
