Calgary & Southern Alberta

The arrival of the NWMP in 1874 contributed to the development of the southern Alberta cattle business by providing security to local residents and a market for their livestock. In the open range phase of early ranching, cattle grazed on native grasses, a practice beneficial both to livestock and the pocket books of investors. However, this practice left herds vulnerable to theft, a serious problem for cattlemen.

Courtesy of Fort Steele Heritage Town

Protecting ranchers against livestock theft and related stock crimes became one of the primary duties of the Mounted Police. The presence of the police did not immediately eliminate theft. Range crimes remained a continual problem for ranchers for decades. Nonetheless, the NWMP helped greatly to mitigate the situation.

The arrival of the NWMP in 1874 contributed to the development of the southern Alberta cattle business by providing security to local residents and a market for their livestock. In the open range phase of early ranching, cattle grazed on native grasses, a practice beneficial both to livestock and the pocket books of investors. However, this practice left herds vulnerable to theft, a serious problem for cattlemen.

Protecting ranchers against livestock theft and related stock crimes became one of the primary duties of the Mounted Police. The presence of the police did not immediately eliminate theft. Range crimes remained a continual problem for ranchers for decades. Nonetheless, the NWMP helped greatly to mitigate the situation.

The police also provided a market for early southern Alberta ranchers. Since they supplied the force with beef, ranchers could rely on the police as a small but stable market. Government contracts to supply beef to southern Alberta's First Nations after the signing of Treaty 7 constituted an additional local market for cattlemen. Once federal land policies favourable to cattlemen were added to this initial consumer market, the cattle business grew significantly. By 1884, four major cattle companies – the Walrond Ranch, the Cochrane Ranch, the North-West Cattle Company and the Oxley Ranch – and some 43 other lease holders had established themselves on over 1.7 million acres of land. These large companies, together with southern Alberta's smaller operations, provided the majority of total Canadian exports of live cattle to international markets for that year.

Courtesy of Glenbow Collection