Pioneers of a national historic site that celebrates the area’s rich ranching history are returning 20 years later.
Roy McLean and John Scott are among those commemorating the establishment of the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site on July 30, exactly 20 years after the 367 acres of rolling hills opened for public viewing and education.
“Parks didn’t have anything like the Bar U and we didn’t know what they wanted, but we just felt if we give them a chance to use us for what they needed us for we would try to do it,” recalls McLean. “At the time we were setting up it was not as important in my view as it is nowadays when ranching had its trouble over the years and there are less ranches around.”
The ranch was branded Bar U in 1881 when stockman Frederick Stimson leased 147,000 acres of land to form the North West Cattle Company, backed by Montreal investors. It changed hands several times before Parks Canada acquired the original headquarters in 1991.
McLean knows the Bar U Ranch well. His parents purchased property beside the Bar U when they moved to Alberta from New Brunswick. He was two years old.
It was his love of the Bar U Ranch and ranching life that got McLean involved in this critical step of its history.
“I was always very impressed with Parks Canada when I went to any other site,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure they did a good job of it because it was depicting an industry I spent my life in. I thought it was real important they had people that worked in the industry.”
McLean said the Friends of the Bar U, a volunteer group that assists with the ranch’s operations and funding, dealt with its ups and downs over the years including management, controversy over a statue featuring a horse and rider surrounded by attacking wolves and disagreements regarding a location for the visitors centre.
Scott, another pioneer and original Friend of the Bar U, agrees it was a rough road during the site’s first few years.
“Parks Canada would send people out that really knew nothing about the west and had no personality to deal with the community and it was a continual fight,” he said. “We wanted to protect the grassroots and heritage of the area.”
Despite the uphill battle, Scott said he’s happy with the outcome.
“It’s a tourist travel centre for people to come and learn about everyday ranching and what they went through and the heritage of south western Alberta,” he said. “It’s a good attraction for the neighbourhood and it’s a great museum type historical centre. There’s a lot of history there.”
Acting site manager Mike McLean said this week’s event celebrates how far the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site has come these last two decades.
“At first, visitors to the site couldn’t go in and out of the buildings,” he said. “Twenty years later virtually every building in the historical core you can pop in and out of, see what function it had and hear wonderful stories from interpreters. You can come visit the buildings, you can take in a special event, you can come for lunch and you can drop by the gift shop and do some shopping.”
While a lot changed, the focus on the role ranching had on Canadian culture stayed the same, he said. It was a big part of his life.
“I grew up next to the Bar U and watched it progress through the years, saw it become a national historic site, volunteered at the site, covered the site as a radio reporter and work at the site now,” he said.
Mike has also been there during some of the struggles - particularly the 2013 flood.
“It forced the longest closure during the operating season,” he said. “We were closed for nine days to get cleaned up on the south side of Pekisko Creek. Corrals were washed out, roads were washed out, buildings were flooded on the north side of the creek and craters were blasted into the ground. It took us another 60 days for the whole site to open again.”
Mike invites visitors, former ranchers, neighbours and those there to see the ranch open as a historic site 20 years ago to share in all the memories this week.
“You look back and you think it wasn’t long ago the site opened,” he said. “In many ways it was almost a lifetime ago.”
Among the activities planned are a book signing by British Columbia author Bill Gallaher, whose book High Rider is based on area rancher John Ware who played a critical role in ranching in the area, and a native dance performance by the Blackfoot Canadian Cultural Society.
The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is located south of Longview on Highway 22 and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Sept. 30.
