The Range Men: Pioneer Ranchers of Alberta

Kelly, Leroy Victor

ISBN 10: 1894974948 / ISBN 13: 9781894974943

Published by Heritage House Pub Co Ltd, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, 2009

About this Item

In Very Good Condition. No Notes, Names or Markings. No Torn Or Folded Pages. With Minor Wear/Tear To Corners and/or Edges. - For More Information On Condition. Please See All Photos. A window into the period after the buffalo but before extensive settlement, The Range Men paints a vivid, engrossing and sometimes unflattering picture of colonial life and attitudes. The struggling ranchers of the vanguard were learning everything as they went, from how to breed stock to how to get their herds through the winter. The ranchers of the first few years in Alberta showed certain defects of judgment and inexperience?the overcrowding of choice ranges, the promiscuous mixing of different breeds of stock, the careless dependence on the Chinook winds to bring the cattle safely through the winter months. Kelly's unvarnished account of the relentless march of "progress," as settlements were built and big ranches like the Cochrane, the Medicine Hat and the Bar U were born, notes the impact of farming on the wild prairie ecology and documents treaty betrayals and efforts to reduce and "subdue" First Nations through smallpox and rum. More than a story of cattle trades and the hard beginnings of the Alberta cowboy, The Range Men is an authentic and important slice of history.

Seller Inventory # 011838

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Range Men: Pioneer Ranchers of Alberta
• Publisher: Heritage House Pub Co Ltd, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1894974948
• ISBN 13: 9781894974943
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 680 grams
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Alberta

About this title

Synopsis

"The vibrancy of the frontier flows through, refusing, like the prairie wind, to be contained . . . Cowboys, outlaws, celebrated chieftains, mere murderers, disappearing buffalo, whisky peddlers, the first Black and Chinese Albertans, missionaries, cattle barons and brave police men move in a continuous cavalcade in the magic–lantern show of our imagination in these pages." —from the foreword by Sid Marty.

Journalist Leroy Victor Kelly's The Range Men chronicles the early days of ranching in southwestern Alberta, from the arrival of the first large herds in 1876 through to 1913, when the book was first published. Kelly gathered material from the records of the North West Mounted Police, William Pearce's government reports, theCalgary Herald the Macleod Gazette and other publications, and collected anecdotes from old-time stockmen such as George Lane and John Ware.

A window into the period after the buffalo but before extensive settlement,The Range Men paints a vivid, engrossing and sometimes unflattering picture of colonial life and attitudes. The struggling ranchers of the vanguard were learning everything as they went, from how to breed stock to how to get their herds through the winter.

The ranchers of the first few years in Alberta showed certain defects of judgment and inexperience—the overcrowding of choice ranges, the promiscuous mixing of different breeds of stock, the careless dependence on the chinook winds to bring the cattle safely through the winter months.

Kelly's unvarnished account of the relentless march of "progress," as settlements were built and big ranches like the Cochrane, the Medicine Hat and the Bar U were born, notes the impact of farming on the wild prairie ecology and documents treaty betrayals and efforts to reduce and "subdue" First Nations through smallpox and rum. More than a story of cattle trades and the hard beginnings of the Alberta cowboy,The Range Men is an authentic and important slice of history.

About the Author

Leroy Victor Kelly (1880-1956) was a reporter for the Calgary Herald from 1902 to 1905 and later a marine reporter for the Vancouver Daily Province from 1915 to 1949.