A lasting tribute to the men who drove some of the original cattle herds into Southwest Saskatchewan was placed during a day-long celebration in Val Marie on Saturday.
A marker signifying the crossing of the Great Western Trail into Canada culminates a four year effort to preserve the history of the cattle driving route which stretched 2,000 miles from Mexico to Canada.
"These markers serve as tangible symbols of the friendship and cooperative spirit of Rotarians and citizens of nine US States, Canada and Mexico in preserving and promoting our shared western heritage across the international borders of two countries," explained Texas Rotary Club member David Mason.
Originally a centennial project of the Vernon Rotary Club in Texas, they took up the challenge to mark the Great Western Trail across 20 counties across Texas to help preserve history and promote tourism.
The Texas Longhorns which were driven north were among the original herds at the Turkey Track, The 76 and T Down Bar Ranches to name a few.
Historically the Great Western Trail is estimated to have moved seven million head of cattle from Mexico and Texas to the northern United States and into Canada during the 12 year period of 1874 to 1886.
"History records that the major entrance point for the cattle and horses Great Western Trail was where the Frenchman River crosses the border at Montana. Some 40,000 to 60,000 head of cattle and horses were brought north," noted Rick Mitchell, President of the Rotary Club of Regina.
The Regina Rotary Club was the group which partnered with the Vernon Texas Rotary Club to bring the project to Canada. This first marker and plaque was dedicated in Regina on July 28, and Saturday marked the unveiling of the marker in it's permanent location.
A mini cattle drive and a marker dedication ceremony was hosted in Val Marie on Saturday to mark the arrival of the project into Canada. Approximately 50 people participated in the effort to move a small herd of longhorn steers from a PFRA pasture to a corral just outside the village.
It was a small effort compared to the herds of 2,500 to 3,000, driven by just 11 to 12 cowboys, which were moved just 10 to 15 miles a day on their journey north.
Saturday was the 34th marker ceremony, completing the link from Mexico to Canada.
"We hope this is just the beginning of greater things to come," explained Gene Griffith, Chairperson of the Rotary Club of Regina's Great Western Trail Committee. "We, as Rotarians, feel we are the catalist for this, and we'd like to see the members of the Cattlemen's Association pick this up and take it farther. Because we think it's important to record our heritage and give tribute to the people who came before us."
In addition to paying tribute to the cowboys who drove cattle northward and those original ranchers who began the livestock industry in Saskatchewan, the plaque and marker also helps preserve the lore and legend of the cowboy.
Sylvia Mahoney, Vernon Texas Rotary co-chairperson of the Marking the Western Trail Project, said the trail represents a shared heritage and way of life all along the Great Plains.
Mahoney noted that those early cowboys had tough traits, but today that shared western attitude and tradition makes Saskatchewan and Texas cattlemen not that difference.
"The cowboys tended to have the same traits. The cowboy was a survivor, and he was a very independent person, as he is today, but he also knew how to respect the authority of the trail boss. As several of us have said today those values are important to us and we feel like the more we maintain those values the better our countries will be for it."
Unfortunately the introduction of barbed wire fences, the desire to end the spread of tick fever in cattle, and railroads moving west combined to spell the end of the Great Western Trail. But the legacy of the seven million head of cattle moved along that trail, which lasted from 1874 to 1893, can still be seen today.
