Jerry Ambler

and in magazine issue February/March 2018

Rodeo Legend Set The Standard Rodeo cowboy Jerry Ambler is the man credited with revolutionizing saddle bronc riding, taking the competition from a showdown of brute strength to a display of balance and grace. Born in 1911 in Minburn, Alta., Ambler’s father raised horses and supplied rodeo bucking stock. By nine years old, Ambler was …

Wilf Carter

and in magazine issue December 2017/January 2018

The Father of Canadian country Music Wilf Carter is commonly recognized as Canada’s first country music star. Also known as the Yodelling Cowboy and, in the United States as Montana Slim, Carter had a profound impact on Canadian country music from the 1930s until the end of the 1950s. Born in 1904 in Nova Scotia, …

Canadian Confederation – Part 6

and in magazine issue October/November 2017

Changes and Adaptations “All is change. The cattle came from elsewhere. So did the horses.” —When the Indians Became Cowboys, Peter Iverson For the Sioux in Canada, the winter of 1879–80 had been long and hungry. The insufficient return of the buffalo made it clear that the old way of life was doomed. If they were …

Canadian Confederation – Part 5

and in magazine issue August/September 2017

TESTS OF SOVEREIGNTY “The meat of the buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border.” —Sitting Bull The Cypress Hills Massacre and the arrival of Sitting Bull tested Canadian sovereignty in the West. The massacre on June 1, 1873, near Abe Farwell’s trading post, involved a group of American and Canadian hunters and …