The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, located near

Longview, Alberta Longview is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Canadian Rockies foothills, on Cowboy Trail, 32 km west of High River and 64 km south of Calgary. Highwood River flows west of the village. Longview is known for ...

, is a preserved

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

that for 70 years was one of the leading ranching operations in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. At its peak, the ranch extended over with 30,000 cattle and 1000

Percheron The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray or black in color, Percherons are well muscled, and ...

horses. Two owners were instrumental in the establishment of the

Calgary Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and featu ...

, forming part of the Big Four. The ranch was founded by Fred Stimson, whose North West Cattle Company kept cattle on of open range between 1881 and 1902. Stimson used the Bar U

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

for NWCC stock. From 1902 to 1925 the Bar U was operated by George Lane and his business partners, whose business ventures included meat packing, mills and other farms and ranches. Lane renamed the operation the Bar U Ranch, buying out his partners in 1908. Lane raised both cattle and Percherons. From 1927 to 1950 the Bar U was part of a group of ranches operated by Patrick Burns totally 700,000 acres. Burns grew grains on the ranch, which remained one of the largest ranches in Canada during the period. After 1950 much of the ranch land was sold. The present National Historic Site is the central remnant, owned by Parks Canada, which bought the property in 1991 and opened it to the public in 1995. A number of prominent personalities were associated with the Bar U. In 1891 the notoriously infamous

Harry Longabaugh Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (1867 – November 7, 1908), better known as the Sundance Kid, was an outlaw and member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the American Old West. He likely met Butch Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker) during a huntin ...

was a horse breaker at the Bar U, later becoming the outlaw and Wild West gun fighter "the Sundance Kid". Edward, Prince of Wales visited the Bar U in 1919 and was so taken with it that he bought a neighboring ranch, which he named the EP. Charles M. Russell painted a series of paintings at the Bar U. Ranch cowboy Everett Johnson was reportedly studied as the lead character for the novel '' The Virginian'' and the later

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bar U Ranch Foothills County National Historic Sites in Alberta Ranches in Alberta Museums in Alberta Agriculture museums in Canada 1881 establishments in the Northwest Territories