Saddle Up

From scrapbooking to trail riding, there’s something for everyone at stops along Alberta’s Cowboy Trail

Story by Wes Lafortune

The Cowboy Trail began as a corridor of forest and grasslands on which the Blackfoot people travelled through this vast swath of Alberta. Today it’s a scenic roadway that carries an increasing number of visitors who soak up the cowboy way of life, visiting the towns and cattle ranches that stud the trail.

Officially the Cowboy Trail stretches down Highway 22 from Mayerthorpe southwards to Waterton National Park near the border of Montana. But for this day-long journey, I leave from Canada’s urban cowboy capital - Calgary. I take a route that will provide me with the opportunity to visit a few of the people and places located along this section of the historic 700-kilometre trail. 

On this early morning I drive along the Cowboy Trail and the sun suddenly cracks through the grey sky, revealing a Rocky Mountain landscape that has been captured in movies, immortalized in scores of books and cherished by local inhabitants for centuries. This is a part of the world where the soil is fertile, the air is fresh and the views stretch uninterrupted across a terrain of grassland where pockets of whitetail deer continue to run free.

I’ve driven on sections of the trail many times before and on each occasion I undergo what I can only describe as a spiritual lift. I’m not the only one. The Cowboy Trail exerts a powerful force on everyone who experiences it, whether for just a day or two or, in the case of a lucky few who live along the trail, a lifetime.

My first stop of the day is the Brown Creek Ranch, snuggled into the Porcupine Hills just west of Claresholm on Secondary Highway 520, about 90 minutes from Calgary. The ranch is owned by Brian and Shaunere Lane, who, along with their four children, operate a working cattle ranch, complete with a log cabin that serves as a bed and breakfast for visitors from around the world.

The tourists who make the trek to the ranch might help round up cattle or go out for a meandering ride on one of the Lanes’ trusty horses. The Brown Creek Ranch was formed in 1956 when a larger parcel of land was broken into pieces. Since incorporating the operation more than a decade ago, the Lanes have not only built a thriving herd of more than 180 Angus cattle, they have worked to nurture the land back to what it might have looked like in the early 1900s.

“When we acquired the place it was overgrazed,” says Brian, who is sitting on a stool in the kitchen enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee. “There was no control over anything. When we came to this place it was one big field.” So the Lanes implemented a series of management strategies that have been good for the land and their businesses.

“You can see the grass blowing now,” says Brian, pointing out the window. “Before it was pretty bare.” Years ago cattle were left to graze wherever they chose. Today they’re controlled so that no single parcel of land will suffer. The result is 1,200 acres that showcase native grasses, a pristine creek bisecting the property and a deep sense that this beautiful place will continue to flourish for years to come.

Although the strategy was first in keeping with the couple’s desire to operate a successful cow-calf operation, the added benefit has been recognition from their peers that the Lanes are committed protectors of this land. In 2006, to recognize their achievement, the family was presented with the Environmental Stewardship Award from the Alberta Beef Producers.

“It’s for my kids,” says Brian. “I’ve got a couple of kids that want to ranch. And we also wanted to leave something better than when we found it…We have to grow [beef] in a good environment so we can keep selling it.”

Much to the surprise of the Lanes and many other ranchers who live along the Cowboy Trail, the other commodity now in high demand is the “ranch experience.” Many working ranches now offer tourists accommodation with a chance to wrangle cattle included in the price. “The people who come here to stay see where it’s raised,” says Shaunere. “We are a safe, environmentally sound ranch. It’s nice.”

Opened in May 2003, the Lanes’ tourist cabin sits on the land much as a homesteader’s house would have more than 100 years ago. But this version has a cozy bedroom, fully outfitted kitchen and a deck with views of the Cowboy Trail that can be enjoyed after a day of riding and roping. “For a lot of people it’s a dream trip,” says Shaunere. “They get here and say, “you can ride the horse anywhere?’” 

Among the more than 400 guests who have visited the Brown Creek Ranch, Shaunere recalls two female guests from Britain. “I thought, real English ladies, I’m going to go out and buy beautiful English tea cups and have real tea,” she says. “We never touched them.”

Adds Brian, “After a day of riding I’d ask them, ‘what would you like to drink, a cold beer or tea?’ They wanted cold beer. They were fun. They rode all day and never complained.”

It’s those types of experiences that have made the Cowboy Trail not only a place for “real” cowboys but for those eager to learn more about the people that live on the land and produce the food many of us take for granted.

After swapping a few more stories with the Lanes, I say my goodbyes and get back on the Cowboy Trail, this time winding south towards the Pincher Creek area where I visit the Bloomin’ Inn Ranch. It’s located about 25 minutes from the Montana border and is operated by Francis and Colleen Cyr and their two children.

What was once the Cyr homestead, when Francis’s grandfather Paul settled here from New Brunswick in the early 1900s, has been nurtured into a thriving tourist destination.   

Opened in 1996, the Cyrs’ bed and breakfast accommodates more than 30 guests and features scrapbooking classes, an antiques store and a meat shop that sells beef raised on their ranch.

“A few years ago we started selling meat that we raise on the farm,” says Francis. “We sell mostly beef, but also turkeys, geese, pigs and lambs.”

With a ravenous hunger that can only be br-ought on by travelling, I consume the package of beef sticks that Francis thoughtfully hands me. Heading back north along the Cowboy Trail, I follow Highway 22 en route to my final destination of the day - the town of Black Diamond, about 52 kilometres southwest of Calgary.

Named after the coal deposits that were discovered in the area in the 1800s, Black Diamond is now supported by a mix of agricultural and service businesses. The town of 1,900 is energized by tourists who frequent the area in search of Alberta’s iconic ranch land and its accompanying cachet of history and cowboy mythology.

Along the street I notice a sign for ‘Trail of the Cowboy Sourdough Bread’ being sold at the Black Diamond Bakery. Inside, I’m greeted by owner and baker George Nielsen who has lived in Black Diamond since he left his home in Denmark more than 20 years ago. “I developed the Cowboy Trail sourdough bread,” says Nielsen. “Tourists from around the world come here to visit.”

Nielsen is another of the breed of independent spirits, each of whom contributes in his unique way to the culture of the trail. As much as the landscape, this fascinating mix of characters helps make the Cowboy Trail into something far greater than a line on a map.

Reflecting on my full-day journey, the smell of fresh bread and cinnamon buns wafting around me, I begin to understand what the Cowboy Trail is all about. It’s a symbol that connects the present with the past, newcomers to pioneers and visitors to the men and women who make their livelihoods here. What I discovered on my journey is a thing that I once thought had ceased to exist. The Cowboy Trail is a place where beauty, hard work and the joy of life are celebrated every day of the year.

Sources:

www.thecowboytrail.com, www.Albertacountryvacation.com