Along the Cowboy Trail
Along the Cowboy Trail - July 3, 2023
How Alberta has kept its ranching and equine heritage thriving along the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Investment: $295 CAD for double occupancy while single occupancy goes for $345 CAD
What’s Included:
Tour bus
Lunch
Admission to the Bar U Ranch
Guests will need to pick from two options: walking tour or wagon ride. The Wagon ride can only hold 15 so once that’s full people will automatically go on the walking tour.
Admission to Spruce Meadows
One night accommodation at The Four Points Sheraton hotel
The Alberta Farm Writers’ Association has planned a post-tour for guests wanting to see Canada’s beautiful Rocky Mountain Foothills. This post-conference tour travels along The Cowboy Trail, nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian prairie, in the high ranching country of Alberta. Departing from Olds College on Monday, July 3, post-tour attendees will start their morning down at the historic Bar U Ranch near Longview, Alberta, learn how southern Alberta ranching families saved their Mountains from open pit coal mine development, enjoy lunch at a Distillery and Speakeasy, and spend time with the ranchers, artists and historians that make your visit to the Cowboy Trail area of Alberta unforgettable!
Nestled between the rolling Porcupine Hills and the towering Rocky Mountains, surrounded by the prairie landscape and shaped by Chinook winds, the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is one of the first and most enduring large corporate ranches of the West. Steeped in history, the Bar U commemorates the history and importance of the ranching industry in Canada. From 1882 to 1950, the Bar U was one of the foremost ranching operations in Canada. At the practical level, the Bar U was one of the best-managed of the large ranches and served as a training ground for many cattlemen. Learn on this tour from your own heritage interpreter as they discuss the national significance of the Northwest Cattle Company from 1882-1950, all while exploring the inner workings of the development of the ranching industry in Canada. You’ll be amazed at the tales of survival and ingenuity as the Bar U found itself a place on the world map.
6:45 a.m. — Depart Olds College for Bar U Ranch, Longview, Alta.
8:45 a.m. — Bar U Ranch National Historic Site
10:15 a.m. — Southern Alberta Ranching Families VS the Alberta Government: Protecting the Rockies from Open Pit Coal Mines
In January 2022, southern Alberta ranchers stood up to fight the Alberta Government to save the foothills of the Canadian Rockies from open pit coal mines. That month the government rescinded its sudden decision to cancel a 44-year-old policy which protected parts of the mountain area from coal development. Ranchers such as Mac and Renie Blades and John Smith and Laura Laing of Plateau Cattle Company all said fighting back against the government was necessary to protect the land, their cattle, precious natural resources, and a way of life. The Oldman River that winds through the Livingstone area is used for irrigation in farming, watering livestock, sustaining wildlife, and drinking water for the city of Lethbridge. During this session, you’ll learn how the ranching families, along with Canadian country music icon Corb Lund, banded together to lobby the provincial Government for change, and understand what obstacles remain in their future.
Eau Claire Distillery is Alberta's original craft distillery, established in 2013. Every small batch from Eau Claire Distillery is hand-crafted for perfection from farm to glass. The tour group will enjoy a hardy lunch at the Distillery, which is located in the heart of Alberta’s liquor history, in a series of 1920’s buildings that previously housed speakeasies, a brothel, a theatre and an old-time bowling alley. It is flanked by aptly named Whisky Ridge and the old speakeasy locations of Whisky Row and the Dew Drop Inn. While at the Distillery, the group will learn about prohibition in Alberta at the turn of the 20th century, and the history of Alberta’s strong temperance movement, as determined drinkers set up whisky stills on nearby ranches, and a booming trade of speakeasies, illegal whisky trade and illicit activities. Turner Valley, Eau Claire’s home, was a wild frontier town and was at the centre of the Alberta prohibition past.
11:45 a.m. — Bus departs for Turner Valley
12:15 p.m. — Lunch – Eau Claire Distillery, Turner Valley Alberta
Scott Hardy, a fifth-generation stockman, understands the dedication required to excel. In his 40th year as a full-time silversmith and engraver, Hardy was commissioned by the Calgary Stampede to create 100 hand-engraved, silver and gold buckles commemorating the Stampede’s 2012 Centennial. Canada Post issued a stamp featuring Hardy’s buckle to celebrate the Stampede’s centennial making Hardy the first silversmith with work featured on a Canadian stamp. A full-time silversmith and engraver since 1981, Scott is a founding member of the Traditional Cowboy Artists Association, has been honoured by the Academy of Western Artists, receiving the 2001 Will Rogers Award as Engraver of the Year. In 1994 his was judged Best of Show at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. Scott will discuss his approach to keeping cowboy traditions alive through master craftsmanship and silversmithing.
1:30 p.m. — Leave for Scott Hardy’s ranch
1:45 p.m. — Traditional Cowboy Artists Association, Scott Hardy
Spruce Meadows is an Internationally recognized show jumping facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family. The facility, which first opened in 1975, spans over 500 acres that includes a number of grass competition rings (with stadium seating around many of them), all-weather footing arenas, hosting venues, a mix of temporary and permanent stabling structures capable of holding up to 1,000 horses, two indoor arenas and so much more. Each year Spruce Meadows plays host to a number of major outdoor internationally renowned tournaments where the top horses and riders of the world come to compete. Indoor show jumping tournaments are also held in the early and late seasons to help promote the growth of the sport in the local market and development of junior and amateur competitors – both horse and riders. The international outdoor tournament season known as the Summer Series starts in June and ends the first week of July. Each of the tournaments offered at the Summer Series is of the CSI5* level – the highest level of sport which athletes may use to prepare for championships such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and more.
3:00 p.m. — Bus departs for Spruce Meadows
3:30 p.m. — Spruce Meadows Tour - 90 Minutes
Registration will close June 19 for the Along the Cowboy Trail post-tour. Note that accommodation for this tour is strictly based on availability and is not guaranteed.
5:00 p.m. — Buses return to Element by Westin hotel, NE Calgary
6:00 p.m. — The Four Points Sheraton arrival (One night stay - Included in price)
END OF TOUR