The Airstreams left the campground in Drumheller in groups of twos and threes (and the occasional one…) as we headed south. Our first destination today is the Bar U Ranch, just south of Longview, AB. We arrived and parked in a large grass field. No fancy RV park tonight!

Founded in 1882 as the Northwest Cattle Company, the Bar U Ranch was one of the first and most enduring of the large corporate ranches established in southern Alberta.

Three key personalities guided the ranch through seven decades of change up to 1950: Fred Stimson set the foundation and infrastructure for the Bar U Ranch, which under George Lane achieved international repute as a center of breeding excellence for cattle and purebred Percheron horses. Patrick Burns and his company modernized the ranch by replacing horses with tractors and streamlined operations which took the Bar U though the depression and World War II.

The Bar U Ranch has one of the largest collections of original ranch buildings in Canada. Treasures include the blacksmith shop, harness repair shop, roundup camp and saddlehorse barn. Also on display are the cookhouse and the Percheron horse barns.

We had a guided tour through the various buildings, learning about life on the ranch 100 years ago.

We gathered for dinner in the Visitors Center. We heard a speaker talk about the history of Alberta, homesteading, and the various ways the people of early Alberta worked to maintain their identity despite ranchers coming in from the south (USA) and pioneers coming in from the east via the railroad. We also had a lovely catered dinner with fresh berry pies for dessert…

On the morning of Friday, June 21, we gathered for morning coffee and a drivers’ meeting…

After our meeting we departed for the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This is an historical site commemorating the methods the Blackfoot people originally hunted Buffalo.

In the fall, the bands (small communities of the Blackfoot) would gradually shift to their wintering areas and prepare the bison jumps and pounds. Several bands might join together at particularly good sites, such as Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. As the bison moved into the area, drawn by water and richer forage than the burned-dry summer grasses, the bands would prepare by building rock cairns, brush barricades, and the like,. When the time was right, they would herd the bison into a stampede. As the path grew narrower the bison approached the steep cliff, tumbling over to their death on the rocks below. This was the traditional method of hunting bison before the introduction of horses and guns.

The people would prepare dry meat and pemmican for the winter. Such dry food stores were used as emergency supplies for those times when the bison were not near. At the end of the fall, the Blackfoot would move to their winter camp locales.

Today the cliff in only about 35 feet high. Thousands of years ago it would have been more than 70 feet tall…

The visitor center now sits on one area of the cliffs… Inside the visitor center they show a reproduction of buffalo falling on the cliff….

Seen from below…

And seen from the top…

There was an excellent short movie to watch. It showed how the people herded and eventually stampeded the buffalo over the cliff… Any buffalo that survived the fall was killed, lest they escape and go back and tell the other buffalo what went on…

In the 1880s the buffalo were exterminated by over hunting, and the Blackfoot could no longer live their traditional lifestyle.

The Airstreams left again, this time heading west into British Columbia, via the Crowsnest Highway, the lowest highway crossing the Continental Divide, at about 5,100 feet.

We arrived at Fairmont Hot Springs. Happy Hours ensued.

On Saturday, June 22, we had a free day to catch up on our lives and enjoy the recreational opportunities in the area.

We, of course, chose to enjoy the hot mineral water pools… These are not chlorinated swimming pools. This is hot mineral water piped in from the natural springs. Every night they drain the pools into the local creek, and fresh mineral water is used to fill the pools again.

In the evening we gathered for another Drivers Meeting, then we enjoyed a “home cooked” meal, prepared by Stacy and Amy, with help from many others…

To celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary we were serenaded by our in-house bag-piper…

We returned to the Villa. An enjoyable time was had by all…