Bar U Ranch: Grass Into Money

For seven decades, the Bar U operated as a corporate ranch, with thousands of cattle fattening up on protein-rich fescue grass in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills. But that grass has a history of its own, co-evolving on this landscape with a different grazer - the bison - over thousands of years. Through the history of three animals who’ve left their hoofmarks upon the prairie grasslands - bison, cattle and horses - we look at Canada’s “beef bonanza” that employed a colourful cast of cowboys, cooks and capitalists, turning grass into money at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site.

Special thanks to Jessica Hill.

Learn more:

• Bar U Ranch National Historic Site
• Plan Your Visit
• Google Arts and Culture Exhibition: Bar U Ranch
• Ranching Industry National Historic Event designation
• John Ware, National Historic Person
• (Old) Women’s Buffalo Jump National Historic Site
• Heritage value description of each Bar U building
• Bison conservation and breeding programs at Elk Island National Park 
• Plains Bison reintroduction in Banff National Park

Other Media:

• Like Distant Thunder: Canada's bison conservation story by Lauren Markewicz
• John Ware Reclaimed - Filmmaker Cheryl Foggo re-examines the story of John Ware, the legendary Black cowboy in this National Film Board documentary film.
• First Marriages - a story from the Women’s Buffalo Jump near the Bar U Ranch (video from the Siksika Consultation Office)
• Restoring Historic Buildings at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site (Parks Canada video)

Questions about the ReCollections podcast or any of the episodes? Please contact us at ⁠nouveauxmedias-newmedia@pc.gc.ca

Do you have a suggestion for a new National Historic Person, Site or Event? We’d love to hear it! Visit https://parks.canada.ca/commemorate for details on how to submit a nomination.