Glossary: Rural Life
Broadcasting:
Early farming was a very labour intensive process. Because the early
settlers did not possess mechanized machinery they had to hand-sow their
crops. Broadcasting was the act of widely scattering or planting the seeds
of a crop by hand.
Canadian Pacific Railway: Canada's first
transcontinental railway connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific coast.
In 1872, the Canadian Pacific Railway was chartered by Parliament in Ottawa as
the fulfillment of a promise to British Columbia to construct a Pacific railway
within ten years of their joining Canadian Confederation. Although the
rail line faced scandals and shortages of money, the last spike was driven in by
Donald Smith, Lord Strathcona. By mid-1886, regular trains were running
through to the Pacific shores, thereby enabling Vancouver to emerge as the new
west coast terminus. In years to follow, the CPR carried settlers and supplies
into the west and far west plains, took their products out to market, and
prospered both on its land sales and mounting western traffic.  Cattle
Branding: The
practice of branding horses and cattle was brought to North America in the 16th
century by the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés. Branding initially involved
the searing of a cows flesh with a hot iron to produce a scar with an easily
recognizable pattern for identification or other purposes. Today branding is
more often done with chemicals, tattooing, paint, tagging, or
ear-notching. Used primarily as a means of  identification and proof of
ownership, branding is also performed to keep records on quality. In many places
throughout the United States and Canada, registration of brands is required by
law, and altering a brand is a criminal offense.
 Cowboy:
Generally a ranch hand that was skilled in various ranch duties such as bronc
busting, roundup, roping, and riding and possessed a great knowledge of
horses. Many Canadian cowboys came to the prairies from the United States
while others were from the British upper-middle classes. Most were
employed on the southern ranches and took part in the annual round-up. The
image of the cowboy has been wildly  romanticized by Hollywood in the twentieth
century as an independent, rough and tough figure bedecked in chaps, with a
six-shooter at his side, cowboy boots and, of course, his cowboy hat. Their
myth, as much as their reality, has come to symbolize the western life and
spirit.
 Flail: Implement
used by early settlers to loosen the grain kernels from the stems the flail has
long wooden handles with a shorter piece attached to its end by a leather strap.
The thresher raised the handle on high and brought down horizontally the short
flail to hit hard the sheaves lying on the threshing floor.
 Harrow:
Animal drawn farming implement used to stir, pulverize, level, and
weed the soil. The typical harrow was a triangular frame covering four to six
feet of ground with iron or wood teeth set to project 6 to 7 inches. The
earliest harrows were supplemented by shovel plows and hoes.
Homestead:
A house that is located on land occupied by the owner, surrounded by
outbuildings, exempt from seizure and forced sale for debt.
Under the Dominion Lands Act, the "permanent dwelling" and
all farm buildings surrounding it were considered the homestead.
Homesteader: A person, or group of people
that lived and worked on a homestead. Many of the immigrants who travelled
to Canada became homesteaders.
NorthWest Cattle Company:
From 1881 to 1902, Fred Stimson and the North West Cattle Company practiced open
range ranching. As Stimson gradually added buildings, corrals and fences and
adapted to changing circumstances the North West Cattle Company soon became the
Bar U Ranch, one of the most successful ranches in Alberta's history. From
1902-1925 the Ranch gained international repute as a centre of breeding
excellence for cattle and purebread Percheron horses while under the direction
of George Lane and his partners. While most of the large ranches of the 1880s
went out of business in the early twentieth century, the Bar U has survived to
the present day. This long history and the structures from the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries provide a direct link with the early years of
ranching in Alberta.
Northwest Mounted Police: Precursor of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (The Mounties), the North West Mounted Police
were a paramilitary force, formed in 1873 to help restore and maintain peace in
the newly acquired territories of Western Canada. After the Canadian government
purchased Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869 the unpoliced
territories were quickly infiltrated by American whisky traders who were causing
great disruptions by trading cheap liquor in exchange for furs with the native
population. The original Force consisted of 300 men who traveled west from
Manitoba and set up their first post at Fort Macleod in what is now southern
Alberta. Once order had been restored the force went on to patrol the borders,
maintain peace in the region, oversee the western extension of the Canadian
Pacific Railway and help waves of settlers adjust to their new homeland in the
west. By 1920 the Force had become national and their name officially became the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
 Plough: Perhaps the
most important farm implement used by the early settlers was the animal drawn
plough. It was used to dig the soil and make it softer and better for the crops
to grow. Most ploughs were pulled by teams of horses or oxen and were equipped
with a ploughshare for cutting a furrow, a blade or coulter for forming the
walls of the furrow and a mould board to shape the furrow.
Remittance Men: During the late 1880s the
British government began exiling men who had committed an
"indiscretion." Such men were often exiled to Canada where they
lived on money sent from their families back home. These "remittance
men" were generally of the upper-middle classes and well-educated.
Many of them found work on the ranches and became a prominent part of Western
Canada's social landscape during the quarter century prior to World War I.
 Round-Up:
Central event in the ranching work cycle. The spring round-up was
generally the largest and consisted of several stages, first riders gathered at
a central point with each large ranch sending a team of riders. Some
riders were hired extra and paid on a daily basis to help with the round-up
alongside the year round ranch hands. Once the cattle had been rounded up,
cowboys sorted them by owner for branding, earmarks and medical attention.
Smaller round-ups were also held in September to collect late calves and remove
spring calves from their mothers for weaning. Mature animals were also
taken from the range for slaughter in the fall. Roundup customs and
techniques were passed from Mexico to the United States to Canada.
Rustler: The terms
Rustler and Rustling had several uses on the western ranches. Cowmen
referred to cattle and horses that foraged well as rustlers. This meant
that some animals could graze on marginal lands. A horse wrangler or camp
cook might also be called a rustler, but the most widespread use of the word
referred to a cattle thief.
 Scythe: A manual
farm implement used by early settlers. The scythe has a long, curved
single-edged blade with a long, bent handle, and was used by early settlers for
mowing grass and reaping (cutting) the harvest.
 Stook: Once the crops
had been cut down, the grain sheaths were tied in bundles, or stooks, that stood
upright in the field so that they could properly dry.
 Threshing: Once
the crop had been cut and properly dried, farmers then had to separate the grain
from the chaff, this was known as threshing. Often farmers would put together
entire threshing crews to help with this chore.
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