Dear reader, 100 chronicles ago, on July 30, 2022, I posted Karl Chronicle #79, “What we saw along the way” summarizing the 1400-kilometer segment of the journey from Emerson, Manitoba, south into the United States, then northwest to Waterton National Park, Alberta. During Karl’s travels, Alberta was part of the NorthWest Territories within the Dominion of Canada, and he was venturing west into what we now know as British Columbia (BC). I’m catching up with Karl two years later, starting at Crowsnest, BC, to complete this final North American leg of our travels.

It was reported in some of the local papers that during this portion of his ride, he met with an “exciting adventure and was attacked by a drove of Western Range wild cattle”. Karl arrived here in October 1899 he certainly experienced a bit of a scare, but it’s best if you hear the story from him:

“This is a ranching country, and great herds of cattle and horses now graze where countless numbers of buffalo used to roam. In the North-West of Canada, a wheelman is not safe anywhere near a bunch of cattle unless he has a good road and a fair wind. I thought I was done for one day. I had lost the trail and was making my way slowly through the small cactus plants to the railway track when I saw some 40 or 50 head of cattle making for me. I jumped on my wheel and rode as hard as possible, but could not help running over the cactus, with the result that I had not gone more than a hundred yards when both tires were as flat as a board. I had to keep moving, however, and rode along on the rims, the cattle gaining on me all the while. At last, after going about a mile, I saw two cowboys lying on the grass, their horses standing near. I shouted to them to take away their cattle, and they at once mounted and headed the animals back, which saved me considerable trouble.

At last I reached the mountains. After walking 23 miles the summit, “Crow’s Nest,” was reached. On the other side the railway makes a circle five miles in circumference, then comes back and runs almost under the track again, quite a distance lower down, so I saved five miles by taking my wheel under my arm and making my way through large trees and over underbrush and rocks to the track below. It is some 75 miles to the next range, The Selkirks, and all the road there is to go on is railway, which is not ballasted at all, so wheeling is quite impossible. After crossing more mountains a fairly good road is to be had for 100 miles.”

The ranching industry on the Prairies began in the 1880s with large ranches established by eastern investors on leased Crown land. I travelled to meet up with Karl via the “Cowboy Trail” (Highway #22), and my first stop was Bar U Ranch, in Longview Alberta, about 100km north of the Crowsnest.

The Bar U Ranch and a few others dominated the industry in the 1890s, feeding workers building the first transcontinental railway along with waves of immigrants. By 1900, pressure from farmers and smaller ranchers had reduced the large ranges, but the Bar U Ranch, which ranged 30,000 head of cattle on 160,000 acres and was renowned for its Percheron horses, remained a significant operation. Located in the southern Alberta foothills, the Bar U persevered through challenges that led other large ranches out of business. Today, it is part of Parks Canada, preserving its rich history as a national historic site.

Does it make you wonder, dear reader if it was a herd of cattle from the Bar U Ranch and a couple of their cowboys Karl encountered? I’m pleased to share that I didn’t have any harrowing experiences. After a short stop, I proceeded south, leaving the foothills of Alberta to reach the Rockies of British Columbia.