7X10" pen & ink and watercolour. The Bar U Ranch, one of the famous Big 4 ranches who started the Calgary stampede, is now preserved as a National Heritage Site. Just 68 mi south of Calgary, guests are free to wander the trails and dirt roads to see the cattle, saddle horses, chickens and other farm animals. Venture into the 100-year-old barns, slaughterhouse, post office and cookhouse to get a taste of traditional ranch life. The Stoney Nakoda encampment on the banks of Pekisko Creek provides opportunities to visit a tipi, and hear traditional stories told by Indigenous interpreters. I always go find one of the chuckwagons down by the creek, shaded by cottonwoods, and enjoy a cup of cowboy coffee, fresh off the boil over the fire.
