Rufus Goodstriker

Rufus Goodstriker

The synonym for trailblazer in the Kainai Nation was Rufus Goodstriker — in rodeo, politics, boxing, chuckwagon racing, horse racing and spiritual healing.   Rufus was born July 26, 1924 to Frank Goodstriker Sr. and Marion Weasel Fat, and was one of the foremost Kainai athletes ever produced, at a time when Indian cowboys and horse race …

Trail Blazers - Dec/Jan 2012 - John Henry Tunstall

John Henry Tunstall – The Man Who Started the Lincoln County War

Billy the Kid, one of the most iconic legends of the Wild West really began in Victoria B.C., and it was John Henry Tunstall’s fault. Starved for adventure and driven to succeed in his ranching and business affairs, young John Henry arrived in Victoria from England in 1872 to make his fortune. John Henry’s father …

trailblazers1012_02_600

Razors

Shaving on the Range When the West Was Wild Hot water was scarce, you could give yourself a nasty cut, and in the dry prairie wind the soap could cake on your face like plaster. Conditions on the 19th century cattle drives made shaving with a straight razor so challenging that many cowboys favoured full …

traiblazers0812_01_250

Bert Coffey

Hold Ups & Cowboy Humour Coffey and nearly 30 relatives had migrated to the Ribstone River area along the Alberta /Saskatchewan border in 1905. They ran cattle on their homesteads and helped develop the towns of Czar, Hughenden and Provost. Busy ranching, the clash between Bert’s idea of a joke and the banking system didn’t begin …