Canadian Cowboy Country Dec 2020/Jan 2021

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Winter Feeding on the Devil’s Head Ranch

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

In This Issue

DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 | VOLUME 24, NO. 4

44 TEXAS-STYLE! Canadians at the National Finals Rodeo: Competing during one of the toughest years ever, five Canadian cowboys earned their back numbers at the 2020 NFR, including two-time World Champion, Zeke Thurston CFR photo by Billie-Jean Duff

Features 16

A glimpse at a few creative solutions that take it up a notch from ordinary to extraordinary

Our Christmas cover offering the warmth of holiday traditions Photo by Sandra Cunninghamstock.adobe.com

Just how crazy it got filming the 14th season of an international hit during a pandemic

24

Cowboy Christmas Memories Cowboy columnists write about some of their favourite seasonal memories

30 TRAILBLAZERS

The Boy of Barkerville Historian Ken Favrholdt tells the story of J. B. Leighton

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WHAT WORKS FOR US

Winter Feeding Feeding rodeo stock and wildlife on Devil’s Head Ranch

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@CowboyCntryMag

COWBOY WAY

Driven by Instinct The amazing and practical instincts of one of the best mothers on the planet: the range cow

Bunkhouses & Buildings

20 Heartland

On the Cover

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40

Rodeo Treasures Hard-earned trophies of some of Canada's rodeo greats

Departments 4 My Point of View 7 In the Corral 12 Spirit of the West 13 Wheel to Wheel 14 Reflections 37 Pro Rodeo Canada Insider 49 Clownin’ Around 50 Cowboy Poetry

@CanadianCowboyCountry 3

MY POINT OF VIEW

Me cultivating with (from my left) Pancho, Ross, Rock and Lefty.

These Percheron and Belgian geldings are also the four-up hitch I wrote about in Christmas Memories. Painting by Judie Popplewell.

Silver Lining People

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I also want to give a big thanks to everyone who contributed to these pages, and I’m sure it’s going to be as fun to read as it was to put together. When we planned this issue a year ago, we wanted a “Home for the Holidays” feel — and although we couldn’t send photographers to shoot rodeo trophies in homes or on the locations of Heartland, everyone pulled together and made this magazine happen.

So, this issue certainly turned out to be our Home for the Holidays magazine! Merry Christmas, everyone, welcome to a New Year and may you too find your silver lining, here in Canadian Cowboy Country.

— Terri Mason, Editor

PAINTING OF TERRI MASON AND HER 4 UP BY JUDIE POPPLEWELL

I

don’t mind telling you it won’t hurt my feelings to say goodbye to this year, and I’m sure we’re all on the same page about that!

Mind you, in the words of poet Doris Daley, we are a “silver lining people,” and with the early closure of schools in spring, there were some benefits, and I got to hear about them at the end of summer.

On ranches and farms in particular all across the West, folks were discovering what good help their children were, and kids found out that their parents were far more interesting and fun to hang out with than previously thought. In other words, there was a lot of bonding going on, to the point that I know of at least one dad that was sorry to see the school year start up again.

A bright spot in my life is that my sister Deb — who I love with all my heart — moved here to Maple Creek from Kamloops. We had made all kinds of plans for wonderful trips, and then the virus hit, so the best I could do was drive to the Hills and show her part of the famous roundup — so she’s the star of Where in the World in this issue.

December 2020/January 2021 Vol. 24, No. 4 Editor Terri Mason terri@cowboycountrymagazine.com Copy Editor Tamara Aschenbrenner tamara@cowboycountrymagazine.com Art Director Zuzana Benesova zuzana@cowboycountrymagazine.com Graphic Designer Erin Murphy erin@cowboycountrymagazine.com Publisher Rob Tanner rob@cowboycountrymagazine.com Sales Manager Kristine Wickheim kristine@cowboycountrymagazine.com Subscription/Circulation Marie Tanner circ @cowboycountrymagazine.com Accounting Administrator Catherine Staszkiewicz admin @ tanneryoung.com Customer Relations Manager Marie Tanner marie @ cowboycountrymagazine.com Columnists Tim Ellis, Hugh McLennan, Billy Melville, Bryn Thiessen Contributors Dylan Biggs, Logan Bird, Dan Black, Bill Borgwardt, CrAsh Cooper, Duane Daines, Cheryl Daines, Billie-Jean Duff, Tim Ellis, Ken Favrholdt, Dustin Flundra, Scott Guenthner, Rod Hay, Greg Hisey, Mel Hyland, Gillian Grant, Morgan Grant, Billy Melville, Clayton Moore, Steffanie Mather-Moore, Phyllis Rathwell, Doug Richards, Brooke Wills Tanner Young Publishing Group #430, 8170–50 Street, Edmonton AB T6B 1E6 Tel: 780-465-3362 | Toll Free: 1-800-943-7336 Website: cowboycountrymagazine.com E-mail: askus @cowboycountrymagazine.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call Marie at 1-800-943-7336 1 Year: $21.43 + tax | 2 Years: $35.71 + tax 3 Years: $46.45 + tax | Single Copy: $5.95 + tax Canadian Cowboy Country magazine is published six times per year by Tanner Young Publishing Group PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40070720 ISSN 1701-1132 Please return undeliverable addresses to: Canadian Cowboy Country magazine #430, 8170–50 Street, Edmonton AB T6B 1E6 FREELANCE POLICY Canadian Cowboy Country welcomes freelance contributions but will not be held responsible for unsolicited text or photographs.

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For our complete privacy policy go to tanneryoung.com/ privacy.html or call us at 1-800-943-7336 Canadian Cowboy Country makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions.

This magazine is a proud member of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, and Magazines Canada, abiding by the standards of the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors. Visit albertamagazines.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

War Wounds I just received a copy of the magazine! Many thanks! The article and images for Can Praxis look fantastic! Thanks again for the opportunity, and for raising awareness about this incredible program.

Bill Borgwardt Heartland, page 20 Multi-award-winning photographer and feature writer Bill Borgwardt has been a part of the country music scene in Canada and the U.S. since 1966. He normally covers well over a hundred country music events each year.

— Sally Donoghue, Rayne Or Shine Photography Gibbons Alta.

Finally got my hands on the current issue of Canadian Cowboy. Great article, thanks! I very much appreciate your interest in Can Praxis as we struggle to find enough funding to keep moving forward with programs once it’s safe, hopefully in Jan/Feb. Looks like we’ll take out a subscription for the magazine. Thanks again for the great write up.

— Steve Critchley CD, C.Med Founder, Can Praxis

Living Legend Tom Wraight Dylan Biggs Cowboy Way: Driven By Instinct, page 34 Dylan is a well-regarded rancher who conducts cattle handling clinics across the West.

TKRanch.com

I am a director of Heritage Livestock Canada, and I am always looking for stories on teamsters and their draft horses. I know Tom; I actually made a DVD of him and Fred [McDiarmid].

I would love to reprint this story in Heritage Livestock Canada’s magazine, Genesis. If you haven’t heard about us check us out at heritagelivestock.net. We are a registered charity.

I look forward to hearing from you.

— Ruth Freeman Heritage Livestock Canada, Nesbitt, Man.

Ken Favrholdt PHOTO COURTESY DAVE BRUHA

Trailblazer: J. B. Leighton, page 30 The former curator of the Kamloops Museum and Archives, Ken Favrholdt is a private heritage consultant specializing in curatorial, archival, historical research, interpretive planning and historical geographer. He lives in Kamloops, B.C.

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

IN THE CORRAL NEWS, VIEWS & HAPPENINGS FROM ACROSS THE CANADIAN WEST

PHOTOS COURTESY C.M. RUSSELL MUSEUM

The Russell 2020 Results Announced C.M. Russell Museum held the rescheduled Russell Exhibition & Sale on Sep 12, 2020. The event attracted patrons from across North America who connected on the phone and online, with a small live audience also in attendance.

While the format and date were unprecedented, the bidding hit new heights for historic and contemporary Western art to benefit the C.M. Russell Museum.

Included in the sale of 215 lots were nine significant pieces by Charles M. Russell, a major work

by Russell contemporary Joseph Henry Sharp, five pieces by Olaf C. Seltzer, and a major work by Thomas Moran.

Also consistent with years past, significant Russell works were among the auction’s highest hammer sales. The 1894 oil Following the Buffalo Run sold for $1,200,000. Major historic works, including the 1899 Thomas Moran piece titled, Green River in Wyoming, sold for $650,000.

The gross sales total for the auction, including buyer’s premiums, was $4.85 million.

The next Russell Exhibition & Sale is planned for Aug 2021. For more, visit CMRussell.org.

TOP: Following the Buffalo Run, by artist Charles M. Russell, sold for $1.2M BOTTOM: Green River in Wyoming, artist Thomas Moran, 1899, sold for $650,000

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IN THE CORRAL EMPTY SADDLES

Kim Taylor Multi-award-winning ranch photographer Kim Taylor of Bragg Creek, Alta., was in a bad horse wreck in August when her mount went down in a beaver run. Kim is recovering from a fractured T2 vertebrae, whiplash and concussion, and some broken bones.

Kim is recovering with the help of home care, but it will take some time. Musicians Ryan Fritz and Ben Crane created an online concert to aid in her recovery. Donations are most welcome.

She Shoots The West live stream benefit concert and auction was held Nov 7 online and can be enjoyed on Benny’s website. For more information, including how to donate to the GoFundMe page, visit bencrane.com.

Like everything else, this and every other museum in the world was forced to close. In the case of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenberg, Ariz., the virus threat forced the cancellation of the gala opening of their popular Cowgirl Up! art show.

However, Westerners are resilient, and they quickly figured out how to carry on. Cowgirl Up!, famously tagged as “Art from the Other Half of the West,” put together a gorgeous online video tour of the 2020 show.

The video offers an overview of the Cowgirl Up! show and gives a taste of the ambience of the museum itself.

To watch the video and to see all of the art on display and for sale, visit the Desert Caballeros Western Museum website at WesternMuseum.org.

William “Bill” Parsonage 1929 – 2020

A lifelong rancher along the banks of Battle Creek, Bill also enjoyed many off-the-ranch careers. Bill was the horse wrangler for the movie, The Canadians, filmed in the Cypress Hills in 1960, a proficient trap shooter (along with his wife, Frances), and an experienced pilot who owned several aircraft.

Bill also served as the president of the Oldtimer’s Association in Maple Creek, served as a director of the Cypress Hills Stockmen’s Association, and was a councillor for the RM of Reno for many years.

EMPTY SADDLES

Victor Gilbert “Vic” Stuckey 1933–2020

Vic Stuckey, Jr., of Stettler, Alta., was a salesman, horse trader, cream inspector and passionate supporter of rodeo. His event of choice was saddle bronc. The gifted orator took up cowboy poetry later in his life and also led the charge in establishing the Heartland Cowboy Church in Stettler.

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY KIMTAYLOR.COM; JIM PARSONAGE; STUCKEY FAMILY; COWGIRL UP! IMAGE © TIM ZELTNER

Cowgirl Up!

E

The bride, Danielle (Dano) and groom Casey Bertram flanked by ther wedding party

Cowboy Wedding

PHOTOS BY LORISSA LEE PHOTOGRAPHY; COURTESY MARJIE HYLAND

Congratulations to Casey Bertram and Danielle Blackmer on their Sep 5 wedding, held at Bertram Ranch south of Piapot, Sask.

The bride, Dano, had five attendants: (from left) Teagan Pegg, Beth Miller, Amber Stephens, Taylor Hopper and Andrea Sunde.

Standing up with the groom was (from left) Canadian Cowboys Association (CCA) Saddle Bronc (SB) Finalist Mike Gordon; CFR

SB Finalist Cole Neely; rancher Robert Gordon; 2015, ’16 & ’19 CCA Bareback Champion Brady Bertram; and 2006 Canadian SB Champion Ross Kreutzer.

Dano is a nurse, and Casey, the 2015 CCA SB Champion, is the manager of the Big Stick community pasture north of Maple Creek.

Mel Hyland Early in October, two-time World Champion Saddle Bronc rider Mel Hyland of Valleyview, Alta., suffered a massive heart attack while training young horses.

Physically devastated, Mel is on the road to recovery, but it’ll be a long road. His cousin started up a page for donations to help the superstar during his recovery. To see one of Mel’s most famous rides, go to our website and watch “Mel Hyland on Reckless Red.” Donations are still most welcome.

Visit, ca.gofundme.com and search Mel Hyland.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

Marjie and Mel Hyland in 2010

9

IN THE CORRAL

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is Canadian Cowboy?

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Where in the World

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Cypress Hills

Debbie Mason at the White Mud sorting grounds, West Block

Towering over the surrounding prairies at 4,567 feet and straddling the Saskatchewan/Alberta border, Cypress Hills is known as "Canada's Galapagos" due to the flora, fauna and wildlife that flourish here and nowhere else on earth.

The Hills are also famous for harbouring native grass, one of the fastest disappearing ecosystems in the world. For over a century, this irreplaceable bounty of grass has been carefully harvested and maintained by the area's ranchers, members of Cypress Hill Stockmen's Assoc., in conjunction with Saskatchewan Provincial Parks.

One vital aspect that keeps the native grasslands healthy is seasonal grazing — first by bison and now by cattle. Today, young and healthy bovines are the new harvesters and beef cattle graze the high range for the summer. In midSeptember, over three days, the cattle are sorted by their brand, and trailed home using only horses by the ranchers, leaving the high plains to the wildlife and zephyrs.

This cowboypalooza of horse and cattle handling skills displayed at the White Mud sorting grounds of the West Block of the Cypress Hills in Saskatchewan was enjoyed for the first time by the editor’s sister, Debbie Mason, formerly of Kamloops, B.C., now of Maple Creek.

Art of the Cowgirl is a young event, dedicated to encouraging women in all of the western arts and skills.

So far, pandemic notwithstanding, this event will be a go Jan 13–17 at Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Center in Queen Creek, Ariz.

The all-woman crew (which includes one Canadian) banded together to “encourage and assist emerging artists of the western genre,” and this extends as far as the creation of fellowships in arts that range from saddle making to photography, rawhide braiding to horsemanship.

The five-day event, which normally attracts Canadian participants, also showcases demonstrations, ranch rodeo, ranch horse sale, entertainment and shopping.

For more, visit ArtOfTheCowgirl.com.

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS BY TERRI MASON; MCFARLAND PRODUCTIONS

Cowgirls United

GIDDY UP

WITH GREG SHANNON Uncle Bob, an Urban Legend

Stagecoach North A History of Barnard’s Express Written with the keen eye for detail and obvious enjoyment of the subject, Ken Mather has brought the detail, anecdotes and excitement of the pioneering stagecoach line in British Columbia — Barnard’s Express.

Barnard’s Express (1862–1878), later known as BX or the British Columbia Express Company (1878–1921) reflects the ingenuity, risk, and enterprising spirit of the era. Focusing on the stagecoach line, which ran from Yale to Barkerville from 1864 until 1886 and from Ashcroft to Barkerville after the construction of the CPR, historian Ken Mather uncovers new details about the gold rush through the lens of this groundbreaking company’s operations.

Rich in anecdotes and character sketches backed up with extensive research, this is the first full-length book to cover the history of one of B.C.’s most important early businesses.

Stagecoach North, A History of Barnard’s Express by Ken Mather. Softcover, 288 pages, $22.95. Published by Heritage House Publishing.

At the time of this writing, actor Barry Corbin turned 80.

We celebrated on CFCW Mornings by sharing part of a conversation we had last year with Mr Corbin when he was a spry pup of 79. There were a few reasons we reached Barry at his home in Dallas. One was to see if he could help get my wife’s favourite all-time cowboy actor, Sam Elliott, on the show. Barry co-starred with Sam playing Dale, the Vet on the hit Netflix show The Ranch, which also featured his Urban Cowboy co-star, Debra Winger. The other reason was the fact that I have been a huge Barry Corbin fan since I first saw him playing John Travolta’s Uncle Bob in that same movie! I asked him what the iconic Honkytonk Gilley’s was like.

“Well, it was just two cotton warehouses stuck together. It was a pretty crude place it was … alright ... I didn’t go there much at night. We shot during the day. I’d go home at night because I had young babies at home," said Corbin.

I also asked the veteran actor how he keeps his energy up enough to still be on camera after eight decades on the planet.

“Oh, it doesn’t take a lot of energy. It’s like training a muscle you know ... you just learn ‘em. There’s a short-term memory, so you get ‘em stuck in your head long enough to do it and then you forget it. People come up to me and say lines to me from movies I’ve been in and I don’t remember saying it ... don't know what they’re talking about.”

As the weather turns colder you might want to curl up and watch some of Barry’s great roles. A few personal favourites not mentioned above would be the other mechanical bull movie, Stir Crazy, where he played Warden Walter Beatty opposite Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor; his turn as the simple Roscoe Brown in Lonesome Dove; and of course who could forget Barry’s astronaut Maurice J. Minnifield in the hit TV show Northern Exposure!

— Greg Shannon, 840 CFCW Morning Show Co-Host

Email Greg with column suggestions: greg@cfcw.com Hear Greg Shannon & Co-Host Stella Stevens weekday mornings on 840 CFCW! cowboycountrymagazine.com

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SPIRIT OF THE WEST | HUGH MCLENNAN

LEFT: Rod with the axe, Spencer with the fork, opening up the water hole. It was –27°C on Christmas Day, 1983.

ABOVE: The boys finally back in the house, really impressed with their gifts

Shovelling Christmas

By HUGH MCLENNAN

It started snowing hard at about 4:00 p.m.

We headed out about 8:00, picking folks up as we went. Two hours of singing carols in the snow, some hot chocolate around a bonfire, and it felt pretty festive. Then it was time to return the wagon. Oh boy! In less than a half an hour, our stockings would be hung, and we’d be snuggled in our beds.

Our spirits were still high until we were about halfway up a steep, slippery hill that led to the feedlot where we’d leave the wagon. Those big rubber tires started spinning, and I told the boys and Billie to jump off the wagon so it would be a bit lighter.

The wheels were still going frontwards, but the outfit was sliding backwards. We jackknifed into a snowbank and I figure, aw, we can dig it out.

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At 11:30 we were still digging when a set of headlights came down the hill towards us. The Mikulasik family owned the wagon, and they were on their way to Christmas Eve mass in town. “Just leave it there," they said. "We'll get it tomorrow.” We wished them a Merry Christmas and Rod wondered out loud if we had a tow rope. He thought Santa’s reindeer might be able to hook on and drag us up the hill.

It was well after midnight when we unhooked the wagon, got the tractor turned around and headed home, leaving the wagon in the snowbank. We took a while to thaw out and warm up, and the boys were determined not to let anything dampen the Christmas spirit, and they finally got to bed at about 2:00 a.m.

Before we woke up, the temperature had dropped to around -30°C. The boys knew there were gifts under the tree, but they also knew the rules: the cows don’t know it’s Christmas (to quote a Jeremy Willis song), and the gifts will wait till the chores were done. All they had to do was load and feed out 150 square bales to the cows. Feed grain and hay to the bulls, shovel out about four gates so they would open, and one more thing: check the water hole in the river and make sure it’s open enough for them to drink. Of course, it wasn’t. Another 40 minutes of chopping ice and then maybe it would be time to start the gift opening.

The Christmas dinner was great, and the boys were thrilled with their gifts — brand new snow shovels with their names on the handles. c Cattle rancher and horse trainer Hugh McLennan and his wife, Billie, run their cattle in the beautiful rangeland outside of Kamloops, B.C. Hugh is the host of the multi-award-winning weekly radio program, Spirit of the West, heard across Canada and the U.S.

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS BY BILLIE MCLENNAN

I

t was a Christmas our boys will always remember. “This will be a lot of fun,” I said, and our boys, Spencer and Rod, and their mom, Billie, agreed. It was Christmas Eve 1983. How ‘bout borrowing the ranch’s hay wagon, throw some square bales on it, hook up a John Deere 3130 two-wheel-drive tractor and take the neighbours on a hayride and sing Christmas carols?

WHEEL TO WHEEL | BILLY MELVILLE

Jamie Tiessen The Father of Chuckwagon Radio

By BILLY MELVILLE

T

PHOTOS COURTESY BILLY MELVILLE

o say Jamie Tiessen is wise beyond his years is an understatement. As a 10-year-old kid, he played “radio” in his basement, and then he soon got the chance to job-shadow Calgary broadcasting legend, Jimmy Hughes. By the time he was 16, 1140AM CHRB in High River, Alta., hired Tiessen as an operator and fill-in announcer. By 19, he was elected as a Town Councillor and served periodically as the Deputy Mayor of Okotoks. Quite a lot for anyone to accomplish before turning 20, but as Tiessen said himself, “I was lucky in that I had a lot of great mentors.”

In 2003 Jamie received a call from sportscaster Arnie Jackson asking him if he could help Arnie with the chuckwagon races on the radio. As Tiessen described it, “Growing up in Okotoks, I was always a fan of chuckwagon racing. To have an opportunity to bring my love of radio with my love of chuckwagons together was a no-brainer."

Tiessen did more than help; he transformed chuckwagon radio into something never heard before.

Chuckwagon races on the radio are nothing new, going back to at least the 1940s. But before Tiessen’s arrival on the scene, it was a pretty simple program. With the support of Bob Norton and Wilf Kaiser from the World Professional Chuckwagon Association, Tiessen was able to make two significant transformations on how chuckwagon racing was presented through radio.

The first was that the entire race schedule — every day of every location — was now aired live. Originally, this met with resistance from some of the local cowboycountrymagazine.com

committees who were concerned people would stay home and listen to the races rather than experiencing them in person.

However, the opposite was true. Because fans were now able to stay “in-tune” all of the time, interest levels increased, and chuckwagon fans were far more inclined to attend a live event. Many fans also began travelling to other meets and were quite keen on experiencing some new locations.

The second transformation was changing the program from some loose talk around a few races to a well-structured, well-produced live sports listening program. Branded as the “Chuckwagon Radio Network,” the pre-race show set the stage for the evening’s events, producing features on all the chuckwagon drivers, outriders, horses, and even the people who work so hard behind the scenes. Often a historical element graced the program as well as some live interviews to catch the spirit. A postrace show got everyone caught up on the nightly race results and up-to-the-minute

Jamie Tiessen and Harry the Horse at 2011 Calgary Stampede

standings for the show location and the World Standings as well.

From 2003, the Chuckwagon Radio Network was carried by many local radio stations throughout Alberta and British Columbia, drawing tens of thousands of listeners every night. In 2014, the program expanded onto satellite radio. Rural Radio on SiriusXM Channel 147 brought listenership up to over 100,000 per night. It was the first “Made in Canada” program carried by the Nashville-based radio station.

Jamie Tiessen has taken a step back from the Chuckwagon Radio Network, but his contributions to the chuckwagon radio program will never be forgotten.

Driven more by passion than by recognition, Jamie Tiessen will always be the Father of Chuckwagon Radio. c Billy Melville is an author, noted historian and chuckwagon colour commentator on Rural Radio (SiriusXM Ch 147) and CBC Sports. He is the grandson of Orville Strandquist.

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PHOTO COURTESY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/GRAHAM

REFLECTIONS | BRYN THIESSEN

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

“Sure, I Can Do That” /// I responded with these words when I received a text asking if I could help gather some yearlings.

The owner was from Carstairs, so I figured the cattle were within an hour of his place. When I phoned him to get the details of when and where, I found out they were by Evansburg, west of Edmonton. Evansburg was farther than I usually go, but upon hearing his story, I said, “Sure, I can do that.”

The deal was he’d bought these heifers in the spring, brought them home, processed them, then taken them to some rented grass. (They have grass from Cochrane to Slave Lake.) These were open heifers running on a half section — half of which was regrowth poplar. He’d made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to pen them, and a mutual friend suggested he call me and see if I could come up with my hounds, since I have some curs that will track and bay up cattle.

My thinking was; a half section, it would take longer to drive there than it would to gather the cattle. I’d rode in places where your dog had to back up to bark and was fairly confident in my personal ability to find and move cattle. At the rancher’s suggestion, I called another hand, who just happened to be between jobs and needed a paycheque.

Our crew of four riders and five dogs met up at the pasture, and we rode north. We found some cattle by the dugout, and the cattle quietly filtered out into the regrowth. We tried to follow, but within five seconds, we’d lost sight and just heard the sound of bovines bolting through the brush. The crew split up, and the owner’s daughter and I worked our way down to the south fence. We found about 35 head hiding in the brush 100 yards from the pen. With some excitement, exuberance and tenacity, we managed to

hold six in the corner, and eventually pen them.

Later with the help of my dogs, I penned four more and had 12 head go through a fence.

On the second day, we penned a total of zero yearlings but were successful with a herd of dry cows in another pasture. Since that first day, I've returned to the pasture on two occasions for a total of seven days. This last attempt, we had five riders and seven dogs, and we penned 16. The next morning the missing heifers were contained within newly constructed wire fencing, but they squalled through a weak spot when we attempted to pen them. I know now that, “Sure, I can do that,” might take until all the elections are over.

Before we look ahead to the new year, we should reflect on the most recent. Here is my favourite quote concerning 2020: “If 2020 were a horse, it would be a chestnut mare." (Deserved or not, Folk wisdom has it that chestnut mares have more attitude and may be harder to handle than mares of other colours.)

It started with a winter that wouldn’t quit, a wet spring and summer that led to tremendous grass growth, which led to an extremely dry fall and the first snow on Thanksgiving Monday. Add in the virus and the resulting closures, and we’ll be glad to open the gate and welcome in a new year.

If we look for a lesson from Scripture, we find Proverbs 21:31 — “The horse is made ready for the day of the battle, but the victory rests with the Lord.” (NIV) We can’t see what 2021 holds, but we can prepare and trust that the One whose birth we just celebrated is the One who promised never to leave or forsake us and will see us through (my words, paraphrased from Hebrews 13:5). Or, we can try to muddle through on our own power and say, “Sure, I can do that.” c

Bryn Thiessen is a rancher, poet, cowboy and preacher at Cowboy Trail Church in Cochrane. Bryn and his wife Bonny market grass-fattened beef from their Helmer Creek Ranch southwest of Sundre, Alta.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

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BUNKHOUSES & BUILDINGS From Ordinary to Extraordinary BY TERRI MASON Here are some of the more innovative, creative and downright delightful storage ideas in the Canadian West. Do you wish you could change the utilitarian look of a SeaCan or a Quonset? Do you need more accommodation to house your guests? Look no further as these folks will inspire you to upgrade from utilitarian to incredible.

From SeaCan to Train Tunnel Whether you call them a SeaCan or an intermodal shipping container, the bottom line is that, while they provide ample storage, they sure are homely.

Phyllis Rathwell and her husband Larry Miller, both cowboy poets and retired ranchers, cracked out the paint and all of Phyllis' artistic creativity to make their SeaCan blend into the ambience of Elkwater, a tourist village in southern Alberta.

ABOVE: Barn board and trailing perennials blend the container into the steep bank RIGHT: A tiled pathway and perennial plantings highlight the SeaCan storage container, disguised as a train tunnel with paint and barn board

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY GREG HISEY/KAT DONNELLY; PHYLLIS RATHWELL

Guest Room or Cowgirl Deluxe!

That old saying, "One man's junk is another man's treasure," is apropos in Greg Hisey’s case. The amateur historian created many unique accommodations on their homeplace (now closed) near Maple Creek, Sask., including two cabins built on the frame of old trucks. cowboycountrymagazine.com

This one, dubbed Cowgirl Deluxe, is constructed on the frame of a 1940 Fargo grain truck and features vintage licence plates, Longhorns, and a full deck. The rig sleeps three, with a double bed, and a twin bed in the cab over.

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Quonset to Western False Front Quonsets are famed for their curved ribs, and they are the ubiquitous prairie farm structure. The term “Quonset” comes from an Algonquian First Nations word meaning “small, long place” but is now synonymous with the steel arch buildings.

For the Chomistek outfit, a pro rodeo family that includes two Miss Rodeo Canadas and a Hall of Famer,

the Quonset was less-than-ideal for completing the Western atmosphere on the home place. So they did what all old prairie towns used to do — they created a false front. This one disguises their storage area, and the theme continues inside with wood-lined walls, roomy box stalls, memorabilia from past rodeos and “a ton” of storage space. c

LEFT: The sloped, ribbed Quonset structure are visible by the woodwork of the box stall, and the wall of some of 2017 Miss Rodeo Canada Brittney Chomistek’s gear and memorabilia. Behind the doors on the left is more storage.

RIGHT: Championship saddles, memorabilia, and more storage on the far wall and also upstairs.

That is 2017 Miss Rodeo Canada Brittney Chomistek taking a break during a photoshoot.

PHOTOS BY TERRI MASON MASON

BELOW: The Chomistek’s false front on the steel Quonset

18

...Is

2020 yet?

cowboycountrymagazine.com

19

Heartland Filming In A Pandemic

W

hen CBC announced in early May that the popular western lifestyle, family value series, Heartland, had been renewed for an unprecedented 14th season, the producers, cast and crew were elated. Still, there was also consternation as to how the production could proceed with the entire world shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. After much consultation with Alberta Health and other medical professionals, a protocol was established that finally allowed filming to begin in October 2020. It is expected to continue through mid-December or even later.

The show is filmed in Alberta in the High River and Calgary region. Fortunately, Heartland is an all-Canadian production with most of the crew members living in Alberta. Many of the writers, directors, producers and cast members live in other provinces but had no trouble travelling to Alberta for the production. Only one cast member, Gabe Hogan, who plays Peter Morris, was out of country working in Los 20

Angeles. Being a Canadian, he was allowed to return to Canada but had to go into a 14-day quarantine before being allowed onto the set.

For the production to proceed, they had to establish many COVID protocols.

The most important was having an entire COVID crew, including COVID consultants who helped them develop the protocols to keep the cast and crew safe. The set has

COVID coordinators to ensure the protocols are followed on set, and a COVID sanitation crew to keep all high-touch surfaces disinfected. They even have a COVID production assistant who oversees their COVID testing program, making sure the entire cast and crew are tested on a rotational basis.

The COVID safety coordinators perform daily temperature checks on all cast and crew at the beginning of each day.

Additionally, everyone has to complete a “daily health questionnaire� before coming to work. The questionnaire asks if they are experiencing COVID symptoms, and if they are, they are instructed to stay home. A private medical lab sends sample collectors to the set and production office to conduct throat swabs on the cast and crew.

Although cast and crew are allowed to go home at the end of each day, everyone is being very cautious, as no one wants to be the person who could bring COVID to the set and hamper the production or affect the livelihood of all working there. On the set, they are following Alberta Government

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY CBC

By BILL BORGWARDT

cohort guidelines, and have separated cast and crew into three “zones” that they strive to keep separate.

Zone A includes the cast, as well as all the people who work closely with them, which includes the director and assistant directors, the camera crew, the sound person who places microphones on the actors, and the hair, makeup and costume people. Zone B is the people who work on or around the set, such as various technicians, wranglers, and others who don’t interact as closely with the performers. Zone C is the production office staff and other offset crew members. Whereas previous seasons allowed everyone on set to interact with each other, it is not the case this year.

All crew members, except for the actors, are required to wear face masks on set. A dedicated “rest area” is near the set where crew members can take off their masks and eat and drink while maintaining two meters physical distance. Everyone will be missing

the craft service table this year. For those not familiar with the term, it’s the snack table. In past years it was loaded with selfserve snacks and drinks. Now people have to approach a table where they place an order and are served by craft service staff.

The set also had a reputation for the fantas-

Under ideal conditions, this can be

touched by more than one person must be disinfected, and different types of items require different protocols. The camera crew has discovered that high-alcohol content wipes work best with their equipment, whereas the costume department has found electrostatic sprayers work best on cloth.

Even simple things like the door handle on a pickup truck or a saddle horn have to be constantly disinfected.

The story as you see it unfold on television is not necessarily filmed in that sequence, and not every actor is on the set each day, except for when they are being filmed in group scenes.

The filming is blocked out so that scenes that occur in the same location with the same actors are shot at the same time, even if they technically appear in different episodes. This is done for efficiency, instead of having to return to the same location and set up cameras, lighting, and everything several times.

For example, kitchen scenes from several different episodes with husband Ty

difficult enough to pull off, but under

COVID conditions, every new costume

cowboycountrymagazine.com

or prop has to be sterilized too. tic lunch buffets, but this year everything is individually served off the catering truck.

Disinfecting everything that is used on the set is of utmost importance. This includes production equipment like cameras and microphones, but also props and costumes. Basically, anything that can be

21

producers are striving to keep the cast and crew isolated from the general public, for safety reasons, so most filming will be in controlled-access locations. The number of extras has also had to be limited this year. In previous years the production has had “fan extra days” where hundreds of fans were invited to visit the set and perhaps appear onscreen. Examples are the crowds at rodeos, auctions or other horse events. Unfortunately, this year that is not possible. The scripts have had to be adjusted accordingly.

However, you can still look for those classic family scenes around the big table with Jack Bartlett (Shaun Johnston) and the rest of the family, or intimate scenes with Amy and Ty with their young daughter Lyndy (a role shared jointly by identical twins, Ruby and Emmanuella Spencer).

With the extensive testing and all the precautions being taken, everyone feels

completely comfortable that they are safe in these situations.

Despite the setbacks, Associate Producer Jess Maldaner says things are going well.

“We generally wanted to give our audience more of the Heartland they know and love, and from the early cuts, I’m confident we’ll do that.”

Although there has been no hint as to how the story will evolve this year, COVID will definitely not be part of the storyline.

For the millions of fans in 119 different countries around the world, this will hopefully be a nice reprieve from what they’re going through. Although the actual debut date for Heartland – Season 14 hasn’t been released, it is expected to be released on CBC and the free streaming service CBC Gem early in 2021. c

PHOTO COURTESY CBC

(Graham Wardle) and wife Amy (Amber Marshall) may be shot on the same day or series of days. Continuity is extremely important though, so that viewers can’t say that Amy was wearing that same outfit in the kitchen in Episode Two and Episode Five, or that the same coffee cup was sitting on the same spot in what should be different time periods. An actor can go through more than one wardrobe and makeup change in a single day, and props can be rearranged several times. Under ideal conditions, this can be difficult enough to pull off, but under COVID conditions, every new costume or prop has to be sterilized too.

Because of all the extra precautions, simple location shots that would normally have been done in a few hours can now take all day or even longer.

The people of High River will not see the production crews filming downtown as much as they have in past years. The

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

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PHOTO COURTESY UNSPLASH.COM/ANNIE SPRATT

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

Cowboy Christmas

I

reached out to our friends and columnists whose life’s work you’ve been reading about for years and asked them to tell us a Christmas tale from their life. Some of the stories are romantic, some are funny, and some celebrate life, family and friends. From all of us to all of you, we wish you the merriest of Christmases.

GRAPHIC COURTESY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/ ANJA KAISER

The Best Gift Ever Back in the ’90s, I was reciting cowboy poetry at the Pincher Creek Gathering. I closed my set with a poem about my team of black Percherons that I used for horse logging. After my set, my friend Judy walked over and stood by me. Judy was recently widowed, as her rancher husband, Darryl Vance, had passed away earlier that year.

“We want to give you Darryl’s team,” she said to me.

“What?” I stammered.

“We talked it over, and we want to give you Darryl’s team. They’re named Pancho and Lefty, and with Darryl’s sense of humour, Lefty drives on the right.”

I couldn’t believe the offer, and I started to cry.

“Oh, don’t cry,” she said, patting my arm. “The harness comes with them.”

With help from my good friend Keith Colbert, we hauled them to the ranch of my late friend, Ralph Loosmore. A Belgian horseman, Ralph was in his 70s and now needed help with the heavy leather harness, so I harnessed and hooked, unhooked and unharnessed four-ups twice a day.

He still had a sizeable herd of Belgians, but he always included my team, and they were snuffy.

We hooked them in every position, and they soon

completely relaxed and enjoyed being in a hitch. Ralph was always on the wagon seat beside me, telling me stories, and sometimes taking over the “ribbons” as he called them, to “line out” the hitch.

That Christmas, Ralph asked me to help put on some sleigh rides for kids, and he had a surprise up his sleeve.

“By cracky, Sis, you’d better harness four more, we’ve got a lot of kids coming.” I assumed he meant four Belgians, but he had my team and his quietest Belgians, Ross and Rock, in the barn.

I harnessed them up, and nervously adjusted the straps of jingle bells and chime bells. It was going to be the first time I’d drive four alone. Plus, I would have kids on the wagon.

The sleigh ride went off without a hitch (pun intended). The horses were perfect, I relaxed, and the bells and laughter rang through the winter air.

Later, as I turned the horses out, I knew it was the best Christmas present I’d ever received: the gift of courage, from one of the greatest teamsters I’ve ever known.

— Terri Mason, Editor

25

A Life-Changing Christmas Morning My job as the morning deejay at CKRD in Red Deer paid $160 a month in 1962. I managed to come up with a down payment on a small diamond ring and had it paid off just before Christmas. I dropped Billie off at what was known as the Ponoka Mental Hospital back then, where she worked the all-night shift. Talk about a highstress job!

Christmas songs were playing on the radio when I picked her up at 6:00 a.m., and we headed back to her mom and dad’s place 10 miles south.

I stopped my 1949 Austin on top of a hill on the country road, took out the ring and proposed just as the sun was coming up. Guess what? She said yes!

We got back to her folks’ place just in time to help with the morning chores, and give the news to her family. After a Christmas dinner on the farm, we drove to Edmonton, had another Christmas dinner with my family, did some visiting in the evening, shared our news, and I wondered why she was getting tired — she’d only been up for about 36 hours.

That was about 61 years ago. But how come I’m so old, and Billie still looks so young?

— Hugh McLennan, Spirit of the West

When Bucksnort (Miss Terri) asked me for some thoughts on Christmas, it gave me cause to ponder. It’s been years since I’d say I was a Christmas fan, but what always meant the most was doing things for other people, particularly if it was unexpected. I’ve also learned to look for the unexpected points of light that can make the season sparkle.

One story from a December about 25 years ago concerned two boys who became my sons.

It was around December 20, snow-covered and just a comfortable cold. I’d taken the team over to a neighbour’s about eight miles away to pick up a couple of round bales of hay. Bonny and I weren’t engaged yet, but we were approaching it.

(Engagement rings went on sale between Christmas and New Year’s, so I figured that was a sign from God.) It was a Friday, and I phoned her and asked if Orin and Lane wanted to come back with me and spend the night.

I’m not sure why, but she said yes. She brought them over, and I put them up on the bales and headed home. Everything was going fine until about halfway home we encountered someone driving out. I pulled off the trail, and after the truck went by, I started up, forgetting there was a big hole. The result was I tipped the sleigh, sending the boys farther than the bales and landing in the snow in the timber.

26

As you can imagine they weren’t too thrilled, and once I got the initial tears and fears stopped, I had to convince them to get on the sleigh so we could go home, minus the hay. Orin had just turned seven the week before, so Lane was four. Orin was sceptical, and Lane was flat-out mad, but I managed to talk them into getting back on. It was starting to cool off, so we trotted home.

When we got to the barn, I put the team up, and Lane had improved his mood to tolerable. I was taking him to the house when I realized Orin wasn’t following. I went back to the barn to find Orin curled up in a fetal position with no interest in going any farther.

So I stuffed one boy under each arm and carried them into the house, started a fire, fed them some nutritious bachelor meal and tucked them into bed.

I’m sure I phoned Bonny but probably didn’t give her the full details of what transpired, just that we’d arrived and all was good.

I don’t know what their memories are of that trip, but there have been many more adventures since then. I now have the privilege of seeing them as men (most of the time) and as husbands and fathers.

I’m not sure what memories they’ll collect with their children, but it probably won’t involve a tipped sleigh and a cold ride home, but I know it’ll involve their heart — and that’s the greatest gift of all.

— Bryn Thiessen, Reflections

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTO BY HUGH MCLENNAN; ILLUSTRATION COURTESY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/DIVIARTS

Sleigh Ride — Sort Of

Christmas Gatherings Picking out a specific Christmas memory can be difficult. Each is different; all are special and for various reasons.

When you’re a farm kid growing up in the ’60s, the anticipation of knowing a special gift awaits under the tree can be just as exciting the night before Christmas as the day itself, especially when you’re again reminded that your planned 5 a.m. gift opening will be delayed. But, however modest that gift may have been, it was the best and most important — at least for a year.

Later in life, you grow to realize that the money spent on that gift was earned through the hard work and sacrifice of your parents. And, although it may have paled in comparison to today’s high-tech

gadgets found under the tree in much smaller boxes, the effort put forth to make or buy just the right gift is incomparable to today’s myriad of shopping methods.

The Christmas dinners were the highlight of the day. The smell of a carefully stuffed turkey in the oven is something that is never forgotten. Neither is the sight of those who ate that turkey while also filling their plates with portions from a seemingly endless supply of side dishes and desserts, later positioning their stuffed stomachs just right on the Christmas couch.

But those dinners, like the gifts, change through the years. From the small gatherings at the quaint farmhouse to the much busier get-togethers filled with children and grandchildren, all have a special place. — Tim Ellis, Road to the CFR

PHOTO BY BILLY MELVILLE

Christmas at the Melville’s For me, what makes Christmas special is the atmosphere that surrounds it. The two biggest contributing factors being the lights and the music, and that special glow on people’s faces that you see only during the Christmas season.

My dad loved music, and Christmas music in particular. He had quite a collection of LP’s and 8-track tapes of everything from Heintje and Anne Murray to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. From the middle of November to the end of December, all we listened to was Christmas music, and it’s what got us into the spirit of the season. Most Christmas songs are timeless classics, and in addition to my dad’s collection, I have added George Strait, Gene Autry, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, and my personal favourite Christmas crooner, Nat King Cole. I still break out the Christmas music on November 1.

After my wife and I had bought our first house in the late 1990s, my mother gave us an inflatable family of snowmen. She thought it would look good on our lawn, complement our lights, and that our young daughter would like it as well — and it accomplished all of the above. Unknown to me at that time, it was the start of a Melville Christmas tradition.

From there, our simple Christmas light display evolved at an alarming pace. We hung lights on the upper storey of the house. We hung lights in the trees. My mother continued to get us gifts of lights and Canadian Tire gift cards, which we would use on Boxing Day to get more Christmas decorations and lights at 50 per cent off in preparation for the next

cowboycountrymagazine.com

year. The lights stretched from the front of our house to the sides, and eventually to the back. The snowman family on the lawn were joined by Nutcrackers, illuminated trees, and gigantic ornaments.

The pride and joy is on our roof — a racing chuckwagon driven by a bobblehead Santa Claus.

People from our neighbourhood go out of their way to thank us, and from time to time, leave us “Secret Santa” gifts with notes of gratitude for putting up our Christmas display. The only motivation behind the display is we like doing it, it makes us feel good, and if it makes others feel good as well, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

— Billy Melville, Wheel to Wheel c

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WORK IN PROGRESS

Good Tidings To You ourite recipes from Cowboy staff, fav de eti Yul ue -tr nd d-a trie are re He your home, too! sure to become a family favourite in etymology of the most wonderful And we couldn’t resist explaining the od tidings to you wherever you “Go , say ld cou we so r, yea the of e tim Happy New Year!” are, good tidings for Christmas and a

nog CheeHosemecake!

Best Eggion from Taste of Kristine’s adaptat Base

try half r crumbs (variation: 1 cup graham cracke aps) rsn ge gin lf crushed graham crumbs & ha 2 tbsp. sugar d 3 tbsp. butter, melte

Filling

softened each) cream cheese, 3 packages (8 ounces 1 cup sugar flour 3 tbsp. all-purpose ten perature, lightly bea 2 large eggs, room tem 3/4 cup eggnog rum 1 tsp. amber or spiced & cinnamon Dash ground nutmeg eg, optional ditional ground nutm Whipped cream & ad F. Preheat oven to 325° uble thickness of ing form pan with do Wrap greased 9" spr foil around pan. re cu 18" square). Se out (ab il fo uty -d heavy For the Base: d butter. Press into mbs, sugar and melte cru r cke cra cool on a wire rack. ine mb Co for 10 minutes and 5°F 32 at ke Ba n. pa the bottom of smooth. Add For the Fil ling: in a large bowl until or flo d an r nog, ga su e, Beat cream chees adually stir in the egg t until combined. Gr jus ed spe low on t eggs; bea over crust. namon. Pour fil ling rum, nutmeg and cin king pan; add 1" of hot rm pan in a larger ba fo ing spr ped ap wr l Place foi top water to larger pan. centre is just set and –50 minutes, until 45 e out wir ab a for on ol 5°F Co 32 Bake at water bath. spring form pan from ve ur mo ho 1 Re l ll. coo ; du ife rs kn pea a ap pan with . Loosen sides from . If desired, rack for 10 minutes en completely cooled wh ng eri cov t, gh rni ove ate ger fri Re longer. h nutmeg. am, then sprinkle wit top with whipped cre

28

WORK IN PROGRESS DID YOU KNOW? Yuletide, a word used as a synonym for Christmas, is a combination of Yule, from the pagan winter festival Jol, and tide, which here refers to an annual festival or the season of said festival. Tide is also related to the Old English word for “time.” The related word, tiding, comes from an Old English word meaning “to happen by fate,” and thus “good tidings” are merely wishes for good fortune.

Yule 2020 will begin on Monday, Dec 21 and ends on Friday, Jan 1, 2021.

nner

By Marie Ta r u e u q i L m e syrup ml) chocolat Irish Crea 1 tbsp. (20 ping cream

ml) whip 1 cup (250 3 eggs Whiskey ed sweeten 0 ml) Irish of 5 l) (2 m p 0 cu 0 1 1 tin (3 mil k condensed extract ml) coconut ke wel l 1/2 tsp. (2 or and sha at er ig fr re the te. Store in igh 1 minu Blend on h m and ing. hipped crea before serv dol lop of w a h it w e can serv Note: You ired. stick if des on m cinna

Christmas Apple Pie

By Terri Mason

Filling

2 Granny Smith apples 1 can apple pie filling 1 orange, zested 1 can jellied cranberries (or 1 cup of cooked fresh cranberries, in season) 1 can of sliced peaches

2 heaping tbsp. flour or cornstarch 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. cardamon 1/4 cloves 1/2 tsp. ginger

Topping

1 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup quick oats 3/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup butter 1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400° F. For the filling: Mix all dry ingredients. Add cranberries (if using fresh, allow to cool somewhat). Peel, core, slice apples. Coarsely chop the sliced peaches. Zest the orange peel. Add spices with abandon.

Add this all to the dry ingredients and mix well. Divide this mixture into the two pie shells.

For the Topping: Stir all dry ingredients together. Cut in butter until crumbly. Spoon the mixture over the pie filling.

Bake for 50 minutes. Makes enough to cover both 9" pies.

29

TRAILBLAZERS

PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE WEST

The Boy of Barkerville James Buie Leighton

By KEN FAVRHOLDT

nown as “The Boy of Barkerville,” James Buie Leighton was the youngest male in the B.C. gold rush town when he arrived there in 1865. Born in Moray, Scotland on Nov 5, 1851, to James Leighton and Isabella Buie, he was proud to say he belonged to the “Clan Gordon.”

When James was a year old, his parents decided to emigrate to California. Baby James had a sister, Margaret, who was two years older. After a long and dangerous voyage via Cape Horn, they arrived in San Francisco in 1853. The following year, Leighton Sr. obtained work with a mining company in Nevada County. After the death of James’ father 10 years later, Isabella, now with four children, moved to Victoria, B.C., where she had two brothers, and there, James was cared for by his uncle Thomas R. Buie.

Leighton’s mother and his two brothers later returned to San Francisco. James attended South Park school in Victoria until spring 1865.

That year, James was given employment with his uncles who owned stores in Lytton and Barkerville.

James was sent to the roaring gold rush town as a clerk in Buie’s store and received the nickname, “The Boy.” After the Great Fire of 1868, he left Barkerville and became a telegraph operator. The Collins Overland Telegraph was being built through the Interior, and James worked at many locations until the Canadian government took it over.

Moving to Lytton in 1871, Leighton spent a decade between Yale and Barkerville, associated with Barnard’s Express (BX), followed by the B.C. Express 30

Company’s Cariboo stage out of Ashcroft as an express agent, purchasing agent and, occasionally, a “special driver.” He secured the mail route from Cache Creek to Kamloops in 1881.

Around that time, James met Jessie Uren. She was the daughter of James Bottrell Uren, who ran both the ferry and the hotel at Spence’s Bridge. By the time she was 20, Jessie was the first postmistress at Savona’s Ferry in 1881.

Leighton taught his girlfriend how to use the telegraph key, and reputedly he proposed by Morse code. They married at Clinton in 1882, and their first home was in Savona at the foot of Kamloops Lake.

That spring, Leighton had a near-fatal accident when driving a mail sledge. Accompanied by famed stagecoach whip Stephen Tingley in a cutter, they broke through the ice of Kamloops Lake between Savona and Kamloops.

Luckily, they were near the shore by Tranquille. They were all rescued by an unknown Secwépemc man, and Leighton even managed to save the mail.

In 1886 Leighton took up farming at Three Mile Creek and became “the laird of the district.” Eight years later, the bridge at Savona washed out, and Leighton took on the responsibility of operating the ferry until 1906 and the opening of the new bridge.

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY KAMLOOPS MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES, 285 ; KAMLOOPS MUSEUM & ARCHIVES, 1977.011.005 1A; KAMLOOPS MUSEUM & ARCHIVES, 1977.011.005 1B

K

///

James was sent to the roaring gold rush town as a clerk in Buie’s store and received the nickname, “The Boy.”

James Leighton and Jessie (far right) at their ranch, with daughter and grandchild

Leighton was a life-long Liberal and received several political appointments. He was the Indian Agent for the district and well-regarded by the local First Nations Communities. In 1897 he was elected district Cattle Overseer and Fisheries Officer. In 1898 he was appointed Justice of the Peace. Leighton also became Superintendent of the B.C. Express. His tenure with the B.C. Express lasted until 1905, marking the passing of the stagecoach era and the introduction of the automobile.

By now, the Leightons had four sons (Leslie, Charles, Raymond, and John) and two daughters (Leslie and Enid). His home at Savona was named Glenbrook Ranch, and he had 1,800 acres along Durand Creek and 2,400 acres of leased land. In 1921 Leighton sold his ranch and retired.

In his later years, Leighton wrote articles for the Kamloops Sentinel and the Vancouver Province newspapers and gave popular talks on local history. Leighton had a penchant for correcting the record, as in an article titled “Royal Engineers Did Not Build the Cariboo Road” (Sept 4, 1928). “They only built six miles of the Cariboo Road,” Leighton pronounced. Leighton also helped Kamloops physician Mark Sweeten Wade, his brother-in-law, with many details in the posthumously published book, The Cariboo Road, which appeared in 1979, 50 years after Wade’s death.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

Leighton died in Kamloops on Dec 2, 1945, at 94, and was buried beside his wife in the Pleasant Street Cemetery. The Vancouver Province called him a “rugged pioneer whose adventures have been a byword in the Interior for years. The passing of J.B. Leighton marks the close of an era.” c

Leighton on his horse at his ranch south of Savona. His ranch house in the background is no longer standing.

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WHAT WORKS FOR US

Winter Feeding

By TERRI MASON

Usually, I interview a couple of ranchers on any given topic. However, my old friend Doug had so much variety to his story of living, as he describes it, “so far back in the bush I have to come out to go hunting” that the interview easily ran over an hour. So with that, here are some tales from the Devil’s Head Ranch.

DEVIL’S HEAD RANCH

DOUG RICHARDS

“

Well, I guess the easiest way I can explain it is that I’m not just in the business of raising rodeo stock. Our main objective is to continue to raise natural, sustainable grass/pasture. Healthy and productive livestock is a by-product.

We have a lot of native grass here in the hills, but we have invasive species here too, like Kentucky bluegrass. I know a lot of people think this is a bad weed; however, Timothy and Creeping Red Fescue are what grows the best up here.

Because horses need less protein in their diet, with the exception of your broodmares, you can winter a horse on less protein.

Our biggest battle here is to keep the land that we do have cleared and clear from the invading poplars and the spruce trees.

We don’t have a lot of running water. We do have a small lake (30 acres), some sloughs, and the odd little creek, but I have wintered a lot of cows and horses on just the snow at times.

When I was a young boy here, there were tons of moose everywhere. But they have pretty well gone by the wayside from hunting pressure and all-terrain vehicles running all over where they shouldn’t be. What we see now as far as ungulates go, is mostly whitetail deer. Fortunately, we don’t have the big elk problem like some people ranching not too far from us do. But in the last 40–50 years, we’ve had an influx of predators including cougars, wolves and bears.

I remember one particular bear here about 35 years ago. I think over the course of two or three years that boar killed somewhere between 30 and 40 cows. I don’t know for sure if it was him because, at that time, we rented some ground from the Reserve just west of us, and we’d run our cows out there for the summer. It was about a township of ground — all bush and muskeg, so it was hard to keep track. But one spring I turned out 65 pairs, and in the fall, I got 62 cows and 50 calves back. Whether he got them all or not, I don’t know. But the next spring when I got the bear, I never lost anything for years after that winter. So, I believe Devil’s Head Ranch he was the problem.

Owners: Doug & Jill Richards He had been here for Nearest town: Cochrane, Alta., three or four years. but closest to Morley Other than that, we have cougars once in Established: Homesteaded by Doug’s a while that kill colts, dad in 1935 and we had a wolf Elevation: 4,500 feet/1371.6 meters here a couple of years ago that killed a mare Average Precipitation: 784 mm/ 30.9 inches and a colt. Then this spring, I had an eagle Size: 2,500 acres, plus rented grass from the Stoney-Nakota Reserve kill at least one colt on me; very unusual. This Rodeo Stock: 150 horses (from mares and foals to competitors), 15 bulls mare had a colt; it was up, and everything Brands: Lazy H Hanging X (RR) (cattle)

7 over Bar (RT) (horses)

Checking the horses before winter sets in; early 1990s

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Doug Richards and daughters-in-law, Brett (Jimmy) and Sarah (Billy) on Devil’s Head Ranch. This image gives a good idea of the ranch terrain.

was going fine. A couple of days later, I go back, and this colt doesn’t look very good.

Two eagles were sitting in trees right close. I got this mare and colt in, and the colt had scratches all over his back and neck, with one big puncture wound just behind his ear. I was trying to clean it out as it looked a little infected, but when I squeezed it, all I got was a clear liquid, which let me know it was into the spinal cord and that was cerebrospinal fluid leaking out.

He couldn’t get his head up to suck. We bottle fed him for a few days, but things never got any better.

We had to put him down. Then about two days later there were two eagles eating on a new colt. Another mare had foaled, and whether the colt was born dead or not, I don’t know, but they were eating the colt. After looking at that and then looking at this other little colt that had the puncture wound, I knew it was the eagles. If it had been a bear or a cougar, you know the carcass wouldn’t be there. So, there’s always something and just part of the life we live with nature.

I’ve had years where we start to feed the middle of October, and I’ve had some years where I’ve never fed at all. You can’t graze as long in the fall if you’re going to eat it all in the summer. I always try to keep some winter pasture. Some years even with the horses, it doesn’t work so well because, you know, you get a foot of snow, and then you get a chinook, and then you’ll get another little bit of snow, and then you get another chinook.

I’m not feeding yet; I’ve got my bulls up to their bellies in grass here but a lot of this tame grass, once it freezes, there’s not much in it. Horses do better with it than the bulls. I’ve discovered it’s

easier, more cost-effective, and cheaper to keep the flesh on an animal than to put it back on once they’ve lost it. I’ve also found that horses require less feed if they have room to roam. Our stock has thousands of acres to be horses, too. They are social animals after all, and the social aspect is important and natural for herd animals, and we need to make allowances for that. It’s part of our job in caring for them.

Like I said earlier, all we have here now for ungulates are whitetail deer, and they don’t bother the haystacks. But we had a winter where we had kneedeep snow, and it had a hell of a crust on it. When I go to feed with this old feed truck with the Jiffy balehandler on it, you can hear it for 10 miles. There are lots of times when I was graining the horses quite a bit because basically the way I feed depends on the price of feed. If hay is cheaper, they get hay. If grain’s cheaper, they get more grain. So, this spring, I was feeding quite a bit of grain.

A few years ago, I had about 50 horses in the home field, and I was graining them every day. What I do is, I go out in the field, put the old truck in low gear and I go and stand on the back and pour a little bit of grain out of the buckets. The old truck pulls in one direction, so it made a big horseshoe in the field. Then I went over to check the bulls. When I came back from feeding the bulls, I counted 50 horses, 40 Canada geese, 27 whitetail deer, two Mallard ducks, and a Sandhill Crane having breakfast together.

But I’ve fed more horses on pinecones and scenery than anybody else — and that’s what works for us.” c

They are social

animals after all, and the social

aspect is important and natural for

herd animals and

to make allowances for that.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

33

COWBOY WAY

Driven

by Instinct

By DYLAN BIGGS

34

I

f you work livestock for a living chances are there have been times when an animals isn’t doing what you want and, like me, you have directed insults at the cow. It usually includes the word "stupid" with some other more colourful expletives. I remember as a kid my Dad calling a cow that was giving him grief a "black-hearted pot licker," and his language got more colourful as he got more frustrated.

Getting stock to do what we want, according to our plan and schedule can be a challenge, and when the best-laid plans start to unravel, frustration quite often sets in. Of course, blaming the stock is easy, but in reality, it does nothing to make the situation any better. In fact, if we start to act out our frustrations, it almost always makes the situation worse. Evaluating the situation and options to get the job back on track requires keeping a clear mind and being observant and flexible. Taking it personally and acting out of anger is of no value.

There are a whole host of variables that can contribute to things going sideways. The one that I want to focus on in this article is instinct. It is important to understand instinct and be able to manage around it, at the least — and at the most, use it to our advantage.

A basic instinct is survival. The survival instinct triggers fear in response to a “perceived" threat and can result in a fightor-flight response.

It takes very little to make some cattle afraid. Some cattle are naturally nervous; others are just not acclimated to people, horses, dogs or fourwheelers, i.e., they just haven’t been around them enough to feel comfortable. It may also be the case that someone previously has done an effective job of convincing the cattle they should be afraid by overpressuring in the past or some combination of all of the above. Regardless, cattle that are being worked in a state of excessive fear are sure to be very difficult to herd, corral, sort and process.

For the sake of ease doing future handling jobs with them as they move through the supply chain, it is far better if someone takes the time to work with these cattle in a manner that instills some trust and gets the cattle to go along with being handled in a calm, voluntary way. Less shrink, fewer injuries, good health and gain are all proven benefits of calm cattle.

The maternal instinct is another feature of survival. Without a good mom, a calf is handicapped right off the bat. If a cow is so protective of her calf that she threatens our safety, we as the more intelligent party need to figure out how to deal with her safely. If just giving her time and space isn’t an option

depending on circumstances, then another solution will be needed. If she needs to be culled down the road — fair enough — I refuse to keep cows around who go out of their way to prove that they are a threat to my safety or the safety of my family. I also don’t blame them for being protective; they are simply doing what instinct asks of them.

Another element of the mothering instinct is the very strong impulse of cows and calves to return to the location where they last nursed once they become separated for whatever reason. Anyone who moves cow/calf pairs has had the experience of calves or cows running back to where the pair last nursed in an effort to locate each other either during or shortly after the move. Typically, the calves are more prone to want to go back looking for Mom. When there is fresh grass, the cow usually waits until she has a full belly and a tight udder before thinking about the whereabouts of her calf. If we want to prevent run-backs, we need to do the best we can, and the best that circumstances will allow, to take the time to stop during the move if too many calves start bunching up at the back and start to think about trying to find Mom. Depending on the route, obstacles and distance, it can be of great value to stop and let everything mother up several times during the move. Once we get to the destination, it is critical that the cows aren’t allowed to just bugger off into the new pasture without a care for their calves. We hold them up just inside the gate until everything has paired up and no bawling can be heard. Quite often, we hold them long enough that they will begin to bed down. Some folks build a little temporary electric fence holding pen just inside the gate to achieve the same thing before letting them go off into the pasture.

To prevent run-backs, it is critical that they stay paired well enough during the move and that they are all paired up at the end of the move.

Are cattle stupid? Compared to what? In the end, cattle are cattle. What is relevant is whether we are savvy enough to get the job done in a manner that results in healthy, contented cattle. c

It is important to understand instinct and be able to manage around it at the least,

PHOTOS BY TK RANCH

and at the most, use it to our advantage.

35

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

Pro Rodeo

CANADA

INSIDER

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS PHOTO BY MIKE COPEMAN

Orin Larsen, who hails from Inglis, Man., clinched the Canadian Bareback title (and the Aggregate) with this 89.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Z-51 Zulu Warrior at the 2019 CFR. Both Orin and Zulu have earned a berth at the 2020 National Finals Rodeo in Arlington, Texas, in December.

Photo by Billie-Jean Duff

RODEOCANADA.COM cowboycountrymagazine.com

CANADIAN COWBOY COUNTRY DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 37

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider

Good luck

PHOTO COURTESY ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MARI_ART

to everyone in our upcoming 2021 pro rodeo season!

38

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

C.P.R.A.

Looking Ahead

November is traditionally Canadian Finals Rodeo month, and all of us would have loved to be heading to Red Deer for CFR ‘47. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this year. Instead, we spent some time reflecting back on the wonderful CFR that 2019 brought us and looking ahead to the return of professional rodeo and the CFR in 2021.

I want to offer special congratulations to the CPRA athletes, stock contractors and their four-legged partners. They will all soon be making their way to Arlington, Texas, for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

The CPRA competitors who will be at the WNFR in early December are current and former Canadian Champions Zeke Thurston, Orin Larsen, Shane Hanchey, Hunter Koch (who is teaming up with former Canadian Champ Kolton Schmidt in the team roping), Levi Simpson, Curtis Cassidy, Richmond Champion, Tuf Cooper, Tyson Durfey, Timber Moore, Taos Muncy, Paul Eaves and Lisa Lockhart.

Closer to home, it’s exciting to see CPRA Committee Reps Shane Crouch and Lloyd Gray orchestrating a meeting of our rodeo committees. It will be great to see everyone get together and start planning for 2021. I’m sure some good ideas will come out of this meeting.

cowboycountrymagazine.com

We have also been in regular contact with Alberta health authorities and continue to work closely with them in planning for next year’s rodeo season.

We’re all aware that we will have to make changes in how we do business from now on, but I am confident that we will overcome the challenges the pandemic has brought us. I believe that our existence depends on all of us being more creative if we want to continue to prosper. The Western way of life is very dear to us all, and we have to stick together to keep it going.

See you down the rodeo trail,

Terry Cooke, President, CPRA

 For up-to-date information about the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, check out our website at RodeoCanada.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @prorodeocanada. We’re also on YouTube under RodeoCanada.

39

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider

RODEO TREASURES HARD-WON HARDWARE

By TERRI MASON

I

WAS AT A BRANDING THIS SPRING AND TOOK THE PHOTOGRAPH OF DAN BLACK’S CLOVERDALE CHAMPIONSHIP SPURS WON IN 1999. THIS GOT ME THINKING. WE’VE ALL WATCHED THE AWARDING OF TROPHY BUCKLES, SADDLES AND THE LIKE IN HUNDREDS OF RODEO ARENAS ACROSS THE WEST,

BUT WE SELDOM GET A PEEK AT HOW THEY ARE DISPLAYED. SO I CONTACTED A FEW COMPETITORS, AND MANY OF THEM SENT IN PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF THEIR HARD-WON TREASURES. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT ME PICTURES! HERE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES WHERE RODEO TREASURES ARE FOUND.

Mel Hyland | Valleyview, Alta.

1967, ’72, ’79, ’82 Canadian Champion Saddle Bronc rider; 1975 Canadian Champion Bareback rider; 1972, 1976 World Champion Saddle Bronc rider; 1981 CPRA Cowboy of the Year; 1996 inducted Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame; 1999 inducted B.C. Sports Hall of Fame; 1999 inducted Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Colorado Springs; 2006 inducted National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City

PHOTOS BY MARJIE HYLAND

Mel Hyland with three championship saddles, including his two World Champion saddles, displayed on a pony wall in their living room

40

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

C.P.R.A.

Clayton Moore & Steffanie (Mather) Moore Pouce Coupe, B.C. 2013 Canadian Steer Wrestling Champion & 2014 Canadian Barrel Racing Champion, respectively The Moores' trophy wall in their B.C. cabin includes Steff's CFR halter, numerous buckles and trophy spurs from various rodeos, photos from the 2014 Grass Roots Finals, Pistol’s 2012 Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year halter, two champion headstalls from Coleman, Alta., and flowers from Steff’s wedding bouquet. Many of the couple’s championship saddles and hardware are on display at Vold, Jones & Vold Auction in Dawson Creek, B.C.

Brooke Wills Kamloops, B.C. 2019 Canadian Ladies Barrel Racing Champion

PHOTOS COURTESY BROOKE WILLS; STEFFANIE MOORE; NIKI FLUNDRA

LEFT: Brooke Wills’ two go-round buckles, her 2019 CFR Championship buckle, back number and photo ABOVE: Brooke’s Canadian Champion saddle flanks a fireplace adorned with some pro rodeo back numbers, and a table loaded with silver buckles earned by herself, her sisters and her dad

Dustin Flundra Pincher Creek, Alta.

2003, ’07, ’10 Canadian Saddle Bronc Champion; 2019 Guy Weadick Award; 2019 (Douglas Lake Ranch) CPRA Cowboy of the Year (bronze not in photo) Some of Dustin’s championship bronzes. The two bronzes on the outside are two of his three Canadian Saddle Bronc Champion awards, the bronze in the centre was awarded to him in 2019 by the Calgary Stampede — the prestigious Guy Weadick Award. cowboycountrymagazine.com

41

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider

Dan Black Maple Creek, Sask.

Five-time CFR qualifier, 1999, 2001 Cloverdale Saddle Bronc Champion

Morgan Grant & Gillian (Shields) Grant Carstairs, Alta.

2013, ’16, ’17 Canadian High Point Champion (Morgan) & 2013 Miss Rodeo Canada (Gillian) ABOVE TOP: Grant’s wall of photo memories ABOVE CENTRE: Big cheques, bronzes and a wealth of buckles earned by both of the Grants ABOVE BOTTOM: Close-up of the adorned mantel of buckles

Logan Bird Nanton, Alta.

2017 Canadian Tie-Down Roping Champion; 2016 and 2019 Canadian Tie-Down Roping Horse of the Year (Logan's horse, TJ) Logan’s 2017 Canadian Championship saddle

42

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS COURTESY GILLIAN GRANT; BECKY GUENTHNER; DAINES FAMILY; ROD AND SHELLEY HAY

Dan Black wearing his 1999 Cloverdale champion spurs to work at a branding

C.P.R.A.

Rod Hay Wildwood, Alta.

Eight-time (1990, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’97, ’99, 2002, ’04) Canadian Saddle Bronc Champion, 2014 Cowboy of the Year TOP LEFT: A wealth of buckles and bronzes adorn his bar BOTTOM LEFT: Rod’s eight Canadian title buckles are framed separately RIGHT: Rod’s 2002 Olympic chaps, some of his championship saddles and photos

Duane Daines & Cheryl (Robson) Daines Innisfail, Alta.

1987, ’91, ’95 Canadian All-Around Champion (Duane), 1991 Canadian Saddle Bronc Champion (Duane), & 1988 Miss Rodeo Canada (Cheryl) TOP: Some of Duane’s back numbers, trophy saddles and bronzes BOTTOM: The CFR back number and Calgary photo of Duane and Cheryl's daughter, Sydney; on the wall is the front page of a newspaper featuring Duane winning the Stampede in 1990

cowboycountrymagazine.com

Scott Guenthner | Provost, Alta.

2018, ’19 Canadian Steer Wrestling Champion Top left bronze: 2015 Alberta Championship Series winner; Top right bronze: 2018 Alberta Championship Series winner. Cutty Sark Scotch whiskey John W. Jones Memorial Champion (California); Top shelf left, buckle: 2017 Montana Circuit Champion; right buckle: 2018 All American Pro Rodeo Finals Champion; Middle shelf: 2018 Canadian Steer Wrestling Champion buckle, watch and ring; 2017 NFR Go-Round winner buckle; Bottom shelf: 2019 Canadian Steer Wrestling Champion watch and ring (Scott wears the buckle), 2017 NFR contestant spurs and ring; 2015 CFR Go-Round winner buckle; 2018 NFR contestant spurs and ring; 2018 NFR Go-Round winner.

43

Pro Rodeo Canada Insider ROAD TO THE NFR

Texas-Style!

CANADIANS AT NFR

By TIM ELLIS

N

EARLY 20 YEARS AGO, A YOUNG BULLDOGGER PUT THE SMALL ALBERTA VILLAGE OF DONALDA ON THE MAP BY QUALIFYING FOR HIS FIRST NATIONAL FINALS RODEO. NOW, AT AGE 42, CURTIS CASSIDY IS JOINING A SELECT FEW WHO HAVE COMPETED AT THE

FINALS IN THREE DIFFERENT DECADES.

“If I don’t do this, I’d have to get a real job,” quips Cassidy, who was 24 when he first made the trip to Las Vegas for the NFR. “That’s why I bear the hell down and make sure I’ve got good horses so I can win and keep doing this as long as I can.”

“I remember that for years I was always the young guy at the CFR. Then, all of a sudden, I was the old guy. It happens fast.”

44

But don’t confuse old for “has-been.”

“When you’re young, you’re more athletic and agile,” suggests Cassidy, who will be among a half-dozen NFR qualifiers above the age of 40. “As you get older as a steer wrestler, you get a lot stronger.

“When you’re younger, you’re not as heavy or strong, so you have to have perfect technique and use better cattle to the fullest

of their potential. As you get bigger and stronger, you can make money on steers that aren’t as good.”

At 26, team roper Kolton Schmidt is the youngest of the Canadian contingent competing for a World championship.

"When I first made it, I was so young and naïve as to what it truly took to qualify,” begins Schmidt, who made his only other appearance at the NFR in 2016. “Now after the hardships and to grind through it, and kind of rebuild my career, it’s nice to see it.”

The PRCA’s decision to move the Finals to Arlington, Texas, suits the Barrhead, Alta., native just fine.

“It’s about an hour and forty minutes away,” confirms Schmidt, who now resides in Stephenville with his new bride, Katy.

“Definitely will be weird not having the Vegas experience but, at this point in my career, they could have had it anywhere and I was going to be there.”

Levi Simpson’s only other trip to the National Finals Rodeo was also in 2016.

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

PHOTOS BY BILLIE-JEAN DUFF

Zeke Thurston on Calgary Stampede’s T-38 Timely Delivery, 2019 CFR

Levi Simpson, 2019 CFR

C.P.R.A.

Curtis Cassidy, 2019 CFR

Kolton Schmidt, 2019 CFR

Orin Larsen on Calgary Stampede’s S-83 Special Delivery, 2019 CFR

“It’s pretty exciting to get back there,” says Simpson, who won the World team roping heading championship that year. “It was harder this season to win.”

“Through July and August, when normally there are 50-60 entries, there were 120 entries at every rodeo. And they were all one-headers, so it was extremely competitive.”

The other World champion in the Canadian group is two-time and defending saddle bronc champ Zeke Thurston.

“I think it was a little tougher to qualify this year than in other years,” echoes Thurston, who finished ninth in the regular season World bronc riding standings.

“There was a lack of rodeos and a lack of money to be won. Then on top of that, you had every single guy entering the same rodeos.”

The final member of the Canadian group is last year’s reserve World champion bareback rider, Orin Larsen, who hails from Inglis, Man., and is competing at his sixth consecutive NFR. c cowboycountrymagazine.com

45

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

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Open Valley Cowboy Church Every Sun., 6:30 p.m.

Head of the Lake Hall, past the O’Keefe Ranch on Hwy 97, Vernon, B.C., 250‑503‑0707 Boomtown Trail Cowboy Church 2nd and last Wed. of every month, 7 p.m.

Elnora Drop‑In Centre, Elnora, Alta., 403‑749‑2047 Clearwater Cowboy Church Every Thur., 7 p.m.

Dovercourt Hall, Hwy 22, south of Rocky Mtn House, Alta., 403-845-5351 Community Cowboy Church Every Tue., 7-8 p.m.

Niton Community Hall, Main St., Niton Junction, Alta., 780-728-9088 Cowboy Trail Church Every Tue., 7 p.m.

Cochrane Ranche House, 101 Ranchehouse Rd., Cochrane, Alta., 403‑638‑4254

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Heartland Cowboy Church 1st and 3rd Tue. of every month, 7Â p.m.

Stettler Agriplex, 4516‑52 St., Stettler, Alta., 780-877-2331 James River Cowboy Church Every Wed., 7 p.m.

James River Community Hall, 2.5 km S of James River store or 11.5 km N of Sundre on RR 53, Alta., 403‑638‑6439 Pipestone Cowboy — Cowgirl Church 2nd Mon. of every month, 7 p.m.

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St. Albert Cowboy Church Every Fri., 7:30 p.m.

60Â Liberton Dr., St. Albert, Alta., 780-459-2222 The Cowboy Church Every Fri., 7:30 p.m.

Sherwood Park Presbyterian Church, 265 Fir St., Sherwood Park, Alta., 780‑918‑5530 Viking Cowboy Church Last Fri. of every month, 7:30 p.m.

Viking Auction Market, junction of Hwy 26 and 36, Viking, Alta.

Willow Valley Cowboy Church 2nd Sun. of every month 10:00 a.m.

26016 Hwy 595, 15 km east of Red Deer, Red Deer County, Alta., 403-347-0206 Battlefords Cowboy Church 1st and 3rd Thur. of every month, 7Â p.m.

Legion Hall, 22 St., Battleford, Sask., Diamond C Cowboy Church Every Tue., 7:30 p.m.

208 Sidney St., Maple Creek, Sask., 306-662-0911 Cowboy Valley Church 4054 PR 432 Morden, Man., 204-822-9909

Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021

CLOWNIN’ AROUND | CRASH COOPER

Ash Cooper Art and Ranch Gallery

PHOTOS COURTESY BOHNET FAMILY

Let's party like it's not 2020!!

Happy New Year!

cowboycountrymagazine.com

49

COWBOY POETRY

The Tree

By STEVE LUCAS

Pine tree, I remember when I saw you years ago, We was trailin’ cattle up this mountain through the snow.

As I rode by, my stirruped boot just barely brushed your top, I was ridin’ drag, so I thought that I would stop And look at you for a moment and wonder if I’d see A time when you would grow into a genuine Christmas tree.

I noticed you as I rode by every spring and every fall For a dozen years and more, I watched as you grew tall The drive this fall was the last time I’ll ride down this trail When a cowboy gets on in years, some things begin to fail.

Your eyes go bad, you miss your loop, by ten o’clock you tire, Now I guess I’ll ride a chair in the bunkhouse by the fire.

But first I thought I’d ride up here and find a Christmas tree.

So I brought this packhorse and this cross-cut saw with me I thought that I could saw you down and pack you back to home I figured this could be the last time that up this hill I’d roam.

Now up on this mountain all alone I stand With my packhorse by the bridle and the saw in my hand.

Staring at you, tree old friend, try to find the will To use this saw to cut you down and take you down the hill.

I look at the saw, and then at you, and at the saw once more I decide that cuttin’ you down would be acting mighty poor I’ll just go into town, there’s a tree stand on the square I expect that I can find a real nice tree down there Live a good life, tree old friend, grow straight and tall And remember me when cows trail by here in the fall.

I found this poem, and many others by Steve Lucas, on the website of Western outfitters, F.M. Light & Sons. I have been trying for over a month to reach this author.

If anyone knows him or how to contact him, please, let me know. –Terri Mason

50

PHOTO COURTESY STOCK.ADOBE.COM/NELU_GOIA

Wishing you a joyful present, a wellremembered past, and a NEW YEAR! — from all of us here in Canadian Cowboy Country

cowboycountrymagazine.com

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Canadian Cowboy Country December 2020/January 2021