HORSESALL.COM
HORSES ALL • APRIL 2013
PROFILES / STAMPEDE RANCH FOR KIDS EDUCATION
H O RSE BREEDERS
Legacy of horses lives on at Stampede Ranch Edey families have developed impressive breeding operations that Guy Weadick would be proud of By Wendy Dudley Longview, Alta.
Mervyn Edey (wearing the hat) purchased the Stampede Ranch in 1963, and began operating it as a youth centre in 1975. He also raised horses and Murray Grey cattle. Now deceased, his son Ross runs the ranch. This photo is at the ranch, as part of its archives. PHOTO:WENDY DUDLEY
Spirit of Calgary Stampede founder strong at historic ranch Guy Weadick and his wife Flores LaDue originally operated the Stampede Ranch as a guest ranch By Wendy Dudley Longview, Alta.
T
he sun streams through a weathered window, bringing to life corners full of artifacts, from western saddles to beaded moccasins and braided bosals. It’s not that hard to drift back 90 years to when Guy Weadick and his wife Flores La Due hung their hats in this spacious log room, warming up in their willow chairs in front of the fieldstone fireplace, their horses grazing just beyond the back door. Still hanging on the walls are framed letters from cowboy artist Charlie Russell, a 1912 rodeo poster, and time-faded photos of the famous Stampede couple. Tucked away is a guest book with their friends’ signatures from around the world, and albums with Guy’s receipts for tack purchased in nearby High River. This was Guy’s and Flores’ Stampede Ranch, a gathering place for working cowboys, celebrities, and friends from their time with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Snugged up next to the mountains west of Longview, the ranch and its memories are a big part of renowned horseman Don Edey, who helped out when his dad bought the ranch in 1963. “At the time, all of the artifacts, furnishings, art and books were in place from the Weadick years. More importantly, a lot of the guests were guests that had stayed and visited years before, so the stories were told,” said Don. “In the early years, the barn and corrals remained virtually unchanged so it was true preservation of history. I felt a part of the Weadick history for sure.” Weadick, a tall and lanky man from New York, was a top-notch promoter and was the figure behind the Calgary Stampede. Worried that the cowboy way of life was about to vanish — the era of the big cattle ranches was over, ranges were being fenced, and cars
The Stampede Ranch, once owned by Calgary Stampede founder Guy Weadick, exudes a sense of history. A letter from famed cowboy artist Charlie Russell hangs on the wall. Weadick brought Russell to the first Stampede in 1912. PHOTO:WENDY DUDLEY
Fawna Bews, the youth program’s co-director, with a Stampede Ranch poster, from when Guy Weadick was its owner and manager. Weadick was the founder of the Calgary Stampede. PHOTO: WENDY DUDLEY
were beginning to replace horses — Weadick believed that Calgary was ripe for a celebration of cowboys, pioneers, and members of the Treaty 7 First Nations. With the financial backing of corporate ranchers Pat Burns, A.E. Cross, George Lane and Archie McLean, the first Stampede was staged in 1912, and was a huge success. Guy and Flores bought their ranch in 1920. Often used as a movie location (it was featured in the 1947 film, the Northwest Stampede), they entertained the likes of actors Neal Hart, Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. As Canada’s first guest ranch, it was promoted in posters as having neither snakes nor poisonous insects. Guests dined on fresh bread and meat, and savoured the rugged scenery.
La Due wasn’t just an invisible woman riding behind Weadick. She was the World’s Champion Lady Fancy Roper, having won in Calgary, Winnipeg and New York. She grew up in Minnesota, riding English, but her horsemanship skills came from her friends on the nearby Sioux reservation, where she learned to rope and ride bareback. Born Grace Maud Bensel, she changed her name to Flores La Due when she ran away to the circus to become a trick roper. In later years, she would teach Edward, Prince of Wales (who owned the EP Ranch next to the Bar U) the basics of roping. Six years later, she met Guy, giving him roping lessons. He ran away at 14 to be a Montana cowboy. The two married in 1906, travelling as part of the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and Real Wild West Show. Weadick’s last Stampede was in 1932 (the board fired him for his drinking), but he returned to ride in the parade in 1953. He and Flores left the ranch in 1947, moving to a small house in High River. Flores died in 1951, and Guy passed away in 1953. The two are buried in the High River cemetery. The ranch continued to operate as a guest ranch under Dick and Ruby Meechum, and then Mervyn Edey purchased it in 1963, turning it into a family operation with sons Don and Ross and daughter Pam helping out. Merv raised horses along with Murray Grey cattle. He began the kids’ ranch in 1975. Mervyn and his wife Bernice have since died, but the ranch remains in the Edey family, run by son Ross and wife Gail. Their daughter and son (Fawna Bews and Joel Edey) co-direct the youth centre. But Guy and Flores are never far away. “Sometimes you can hear footsteps at night,” said Kendra Edey, Joel’s wife. Added Fawna: “Others say they have seen Guy standing in the window upstairs.”
Guy Weadick’s horse Snip may be gone, but horses continue to play a major role at the Stampede Ranch. When Mervyn Edey and his wife Bernice bought the guest ranch in 1963, they ran a string of trail horses recalls son Don Edey who was then 18 and spent his summers taking out dude rides. In the following years, Mervyn built up a breeding string with a strong presence of Two Eyed Fox. “Being friends with Allan Baker, Gerry Going and Jim Cartwright, there were numerous horse trades and deals made so we always had an influence of the Bar U breeding. Holly 4 Jinx from Gerry’s great stallion and two or three part-bred Arabian geldings from the D ranch were in the herd,” said Don. “Merv to my knowledge never sold any of his breeding. Trades, yes, and a lot were worked into the ranch needs.” When Merv passed away in 1978, Don inherited some of his dad’s breeding mares. A respected horseman, he focuses on working cow horses at his own ranch near Longview. Brother Ross now runs the Stampede Ranch and he breeds performance horses. “My brother and I went on to develop two strong and independent mare bands. Ross built his program with more emphasis Don Edey on running blood lines to develop timed-event horses for his rodeo needs,” said Don. “In our case, our focus was working cow horses. In the end both programs have produced good horses in the total world of “using” horses.” Ross’s son Joel and his wife Kendra
Kendra Edey is a professional barrel racer and horse trainer. She is also a counselor and administrator at the Stampede Ranch for Kids, where equine therapy plays a major role. Kendra, along with husband Joel, raises running Quarter Horses. PHOTO:WENDY DUDLEY
(both work at the Stampede Ranch) focus on running Quarter Horse bloodlines, with some of their horses’ pedigrees boasting such legendary greats as Peppy San Badger, Driftwood and Hempen, the latter being a top race horse. The horses used in the youth program (co-directed by Ross’s daughter Fawna and son Joel) have silver-screen pasts. “They’ve been around a lot, and are forgiving. They’re used to so many different riders,” said Kendra, also a professional barrel racer. Freckles,used in the kids’ equine therapy, was the model for the ranch’s new logo, depicting a running horse with feathers flowing from its mane. In earlier days, Freckles was a stud, standing under 15 hands but siring such greats as Kendra’s barrel racer Captain, a twotime Canadian Finals Rodeo qualifier. Under the Edey family, the legacy of horses from the Weadick era remains intact, in the hooves that still wander trails along the streams and ridges of the Stampede Ranch’s Highwood Valley.
VISIT US at the Mane Event RED DEER, ALBERTA (APRIL 26-28 - BOOTH #2801) We are happy to bring prepaid orders with us “Free Shipped.” Ask for details - we can arrange delivery enroute Vancouver to Red Deer! (Some limitations may apply)
QUALITY PRODUCTS • PROMPT SERVICE SPECIALIZING IN FARM & EQUINE FENCE • ElectroTape & Rope Portable & Permanent Electric Systems • Bayco/Finish Line • HorseRail • PonyRail • HorseCote • HotCote • Diamond Mesh • No-Climb • Vinyl Post & Rail • General Farm, Wildlife & Predator Control - Electric Nets • Gates & Accessories
Toll Free: 1-800-665-3307 • Tel: (250)757-9677 Fax: (250)757-9670 • info@ferrisfencing.com
www.ferrisfencing.com
Ask for our 2013 Catalogue
7