The Economics of Ranching
Ranching had already been big business in the American west when, in 1881,
the Conservative government of Canada established its long-term lease system for
raising open-range cattle in southern Alberta. The land, after all, was ideal
for the purpose: native grasses and streams kept the animals well provided for,
while the warm Chinook winds melted snow, and coulees (deep, flat-bottomed
ravines) kept stock sheltered in otherwise harsh winter conditions. American
merchandising companies began bringing capital, stock, and expertise into the
area while young, privileged men, mostly from Britain, came looking for
adventure. By 1882, the "Beef Bonanza" of the States had found
expression in the Canadian west. And ranching was, in most cases, a lucrative
enterprise.
By 1885, four cattle companies controlled almost half of the leased acreage
land in southern Alberta, and cattle exports from Alberta were totaling over
eleven million dollars a year. Ranchers themselves were most often part of the
social and political elite of the area, participating in civic affairs and
wading into the most swift of entrepreneurial waters. For some, the kind of men
who came to Alberta for the economic and personal rewards of the ranching
business seemed enterprising and vital: most often from upper-class British
families, the owners and mangers of big ranches brought to Alberta much-needed
capital, stability, and an educational tradition the area had been lacking. To
others, it seemed as if most of the credit for the success of ranching was due
to its less-privileged participants: the stock-hands, or cowboys, whose spirit
and intimate experience of the land have become part of our western mythology.
By 1905, however, the ranching boom was already beginning to lose momentum,
as much of the growing rural population began raising crops and diversifying
production. Oil was becoming Calgary’s most economically viable resource, and
a series of bad winters, combined with high tariffs and inadequate shipping
methods, all served to dampen the original success of the cattle industry in the
early part of the twentieth century.
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