Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 16

The Cochrane Ranch

by William Naftel

Epilogue

The Bow River Horse Ranch

The Bow River horse ranch which took over the southern half of the British American lease was an English-based concern with Charles Elliot, land agent for a member of the Baring family, bankers of international repute, as president and managing director and Gilbert Goddard as resident manager. In addition to supplying the Canadian market, the promoters had great hopes for building up an export trade and in particular of supplying remounts for the cavalry regiments of the imperial army. The hope and indeed the expectation was that army purchasing commissions would visit Canada annually to fill at least part of their requirements. Though some moves were made in this direction, the scheme eventually foundered on the hostility of the British breeders.

I make hold to say that the life of a government that in any way assists Canadian importations of horses will not be worth a month's purchase. If the Canadians wish to send us horses, let them do so; we cannot prevent them, nor do we wish to. But they must take their chance, and we will have no Government aid to the project.¹

Despite this setback, the Bow River horse ranch was eventually able to establish a profitable market for itself and it continued in operation until after World War I. At that time, the inroads of the internal combustion engine and Goddard's age decreed the end of the ranch. Before that could happen, however, a good deal of turbulent water flowed under the bridge.

The Cochrane interest in the Bow River district did not immediately disappear with the winding up of the British American Ranche Company for the senator maintained for a while a substantial interest in the English operation. At the time it was established he took up £1,000 worth of its stock plus holding an other £1,000 worth in trust for William Lawrence and filling the position of vice-president.² Cochrane had little actual connection with the affairs of the company and probably soon withdrew entirely for the management was in a short time scarcely on speaking terms with either him or his son Ernest. Goddard and Elliott very soon came to the conclusion that the Cochranes had not been completely honest about the lease and stock descriptions. Cochrane had assured them, they claimed, that as this was the pioneer lease and he the pioneer lessee, the government had granted him greater privileges than any of the other lessees and they could be assured of quiet possession of the range for the full term.³ This was hardly the case and until 1894 when the lease was given up, the company was deeply involved in a continual and increasingly bitter struggle with the squatters and the government. Dewdney was clearly determined to force the ranchmen to at least cancel the 1882 leases still outstanding and accept the new version allowing homesteading. To this end the Department of the Interior adopted the simple but effective tactics of either ignoring letters and complaints or being deliberately legalistic and obtuse. One example will serve. To the reasonable request that at least the Bow River horse ranch be allowed to deduct the acreage occupied by the squatters from their rent, the department replied that it could not "deduct the rental of lands occupied by squatters until such time as they have received entry with the consent of your company."⁴ Since the squatters were not there legally, they had no legal existence; therefore the question could not be discussed.

Not until Daly took over the department in October 1892 was a settlement reached. The change of atmosphere was immediate. In the margin of a letter from Goddard dated March 1893, the new minister noted: "have necessary answer prepared. It should be full and satisfactory."⁵ In short order an agreement was reached whereby Goddard, who was planning to buy out his partners in the Bow River horse ranch, might cancel the lease and buy the required acreage at $1.25 per acre and in the meantime deduct 160 acres for each squatter from the land on which rental was charged.⁶

The long struggle with the squatters and the department ended in 1894 when this, the last of the Cochrane ranch leases on the Bow River, was cancelled and Goddard, in partnership with E. H. Warner and W. P. Warner, took over the Bow River horse ranch and went into business on freehold property.⁷ In 1924 what remained of the ranch became a pig farm operated by a Hungarian nobleman, Baron Csavossy, who acquired the property from Goddard.

The Southern Range

Although it does not relate to the Bow River location, the history of the Cochrane ranch after its move to the southern range is worth tracing. It was a well-chosen range and under the capable management of the senator's second son, William, it became known for the high quality of beef it produced. Carefully bred stock had much to do with this, but of almost equal importance was the location, a triangle bounded on two sides by the Belly and Waterton rivers and on the third by mountains. Hence the scrub bulls which undid much of the breeding work of other ranchers were less of a problem.

The first years on the southern range were difficult ones, but these were difficulties which were shared by the entire industry. Consequent upon the heavy losses suffered by the company on the Bow River leases, the capitalization of the company was reduced in December 1885 from a half-million to a quarter-million dollars. This represented a heavy financial loss for Cochrane for at this juncture he held 4,135 of the 5,000 shares.⁸

The first two winters were hard ones, particularly the winter of 1886-87 which was very nearly disastrous for the entire ranching industry. Following a dry and unusually hot summer in 1886 with its resulting plague of prairie fires, the cattle reached the beginning of winter in poor shape. A mild winter was needed, but snow started at the beginning of November and at the end of January the range was undergoing one of its most severe blizzards. When the losses were counted in the spring, they were estimated to average 15 per cent for the entire industry. The extent of the disaster however, was such that it marked a turning point for the ranchers for they were finally convinced that they must abandon their complete dependence on the regular occurrence of the Chinook and make some winter provision for their stock in the way of sheds and fodder.⁹

Another initial blow was the disappointing return on the first shipment of Cochrane ranch cattle to the English market in late 1888. The consignment had arrived in England just after a shipment from the Argentine had virtually glutted the market and the Cochrane ranch had to take a loss. Nevertheless, the potential for profit was there and with William Cochrane as manager the ranch soon found its feet. The herd grew rapidly — in 1888 there were 8,800 head, the following year 10,433 head and by 1891, 12,782 head¹⁰ — and another lease, No. 300 was obtained to hold them. Once established, the company never looked back. With the cancellation of the old leases in 1896 it purchased an enormous acreage which ensured that it would no longer be harassed; its beef continued to command a premium price, and the shareholders received their due reward. With the death of Senator Cochrane in 1903, however, the driving force left the company, James, the eldest son, had been little involved in the western operations and had spent his time managing the eastern farm, Hillhurst. Furthermore, settlers were now pouring into the West at a tremendous rate and even though the company owned its land, pressure was building on the large ranches. The ranch continued to operate for two more years, but in 1905 the Mormon Church, which had already established a colony at and around Cardston near the eastern boundary of the property, was approached. The church authorities agreed to buy the entire area, 67,000 acres, at six dollars an acre, making it one of the largest real estate deals in the Northwest to that date. The 12,000 head of stock as well as the horses, hay and ranch equipment were sold separately to Cowdry Brothers, bankers in Fort MacLeod, for $250,000 and they in turn disposed of them to, among others, Pat Burns.¹¹

The lands were sold 10 March 1905 and by April 1907 all the ranch assets were disposed of except one which was overlooked or considered valueless — the mineral rights. As a result the senator's descendants were no doubt pleasantly surprised when, following the discovery of oil in Alberta in 1947, they found themselves with a valuable property on their hands. As the charter of the company had never been surrendered and had remained in the name of the family, it was revived in 1949 to deal with this unexpected largesse.¹² The Dominion charter was later surrendered in favour of a provincial incorporation, but the name survives and the direct descendant of the original operation could (in 1969) be found in Calgary directories and was even more profitable than its predecessor ever was.

The ranch continued in operation after it was purchased by the Mormon Church (the Corporation of the Alberta Stake of Zion), though its area shrank steadily as more and more of the agricultural lands were taken over by Mormon colonists. The corporate entity still survives though the land it controls is in a different locale. The company was sold by the church in May 1968, at which time its land holdings covered 30,000 acres, to a livestock breeder and oil man in Calgary for $3 million.¹³