Bar U Ranch: Stimson, Lane and Burns on the Alberta Foothills

How Did the Bar U Ranch Start?

The Bar U began as a corporate ranch. The Canadian Encyclopedia says it was founded in 1882 as the North West Cattle Company, named for its brand, in response to a government initiative to make western grasslands available to cattle owners at reasonable rents. Wikipedia gives 1881 as the start. Within a decade, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia entry, its leases covered over 600 square kilometers and its herd grew from 3,000 cattle to more than 10,000.

From 1887 Bar U cattle shipped east on the Canadian Pacific Railway to Montreal and on to Britain, helped by financial backer Sir Hugh Allan, who owned a shipping company. Parks Canada's history page credits Fred Stimson with laying the ranch's foundation and infrastructure.

George Lane and the Percherons

George Lane owned the ranch from 1902 to 1925. In 1905 he secured a government lease for 44,000 acres that held the ranch's territory for 45 years. Lane ran 3,000 to 4,000 breeding cows and built a famous breeding herd of Percheron draft horses in the decade before World War I. Wikipedia adds that he bought out his partners in 1908. The Prince of Wales visited in 1919 and later bought a neighboring ranch, the E.P. Ranch.

Pat Burns Takes Over

Businessman Pat Burns bought the ranch in 1927 at age 71. The purchase included 37,000 acres of deeded land, 58,000 acres of leased land and 6,500 head of livestock. Burns died in 1937, and P. Burns Ranches Limited ran the Bar U until 1950. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that Burns cut costs by phasing out the Percherons and reducing crops, and Parks Canada's account says the changes he made helped the operation survive both the Depression and World War II. The ranch kept running as a commercial livestock business for another thirteen years after his death. Foreman Raymond Clifford replaced Shorthorns with Herefords, and the Canadian Encyclopedia describes 1939 to 1945 as among the ranch's most prosperous years.

Parks Canada says Burns modernized operations by replacing horses with tractors and streamlining the ranch, which helped it through the Depression and the war. In 1950 Burns Ranches sold the headquarters and much of the rangeland to J. Allen Baker, and Melvin Nelson bought it in 1984.

Famous Names at the Bar U

According to the Bar U Ranch article on Wikipedia, Harry Longabaugh, later known as the Sundance Kid, worked as a horse breaker at the Bar U in 1891. Artist Charles M. Russell painted a series of pictures there, and cowboy Everett Johnson is reported as a model for the lead character in The Virginian. Two of the ranch's owners also helped found the Calgary Stampede as part of the Big Four.

Visit the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site

Parks Canada began searching for a ranching site in the 1970s, chose the Bar U in 1991 and opened it to the public in July 1995. The site holds 35 historic buildings, including eight log buildings from the 1890s, and is the only Parks Canada national historic site that commemorates ranching. It is open daily from mid-May to the end of September. For more on ranching, see the farm.FM ranching section and a farm.FM story about the Bar U Ranch.