Adventures on the Heritage Day Long Weekend

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Heritage Days

To celebrate Heritage Day long weekend, we would like to pay homage to the ranching families that carry on their traditional way of life today in the Cochrane area.
Start your weekend by stopping by the Cochrane Farmers Market on Saturday. With almost 60 vendors, you will meet local ranching families, artisans, and entrepreneurs!

The Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation

To learn more about ranching history, head up to the Cochrane RancheHouse to explore The Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation/Bert Sheppard Library. It was established to commemorate the builders of Canada’s livestock industry. Integral to this endeavour was the collection of 154 boxes of files of expired brands, original documents kept from 1885 to 1987 that identified owners and their property.

Brands – the family tartans of the prairies

Brand. We take the word for granted these days. From mega sportswear companies to football teams to kitchen appliances, it is all about the brand and how marketers make their products stand out. But I wonder how many of them know the origin of the brand rests with the need to identify your livestock in a time where fences were few and animals grazed freely. The Stockmen’s folk have come up with a very cool way for you to bring part of this history home with you, with their Tartan of the Prairie Experience Tour!

Walking Tour of Cochrane Ranche

The first brands in Alberta were registered in 1881. Historic Cochrane Ranche, Alberta’s first large scale livestock operation, was the 17th to be registered with a simple C, recognizable today. After your visit at the Ranchehouse, take a self-guided walking tour of Historic Cochrane Ranche. The tour requires light hiking ability and will take approximately one hour to complete. Find the numbered posts that correspond to the stops along the trail and learn about the history, landscape, flora and fauna at the Ranche!

An Alberta Caesar at The Gate

Hiking will make you thirsty, so swing by the Texas Gate with a celebratory Condiment Caesar, a drink that was invented next door in Calgary in 1969! Sit on the patio, or dine inside this 116-year beauty, one of Cochrane’s few remaining original buildings and just about the oldest operational hotel in western Canada.

Need other ideas to get you out exploring on this long weekend? Check out the other itineraries and share your adventure with us at #Explorecochrane!!

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