Key Number:	HS 70167
Site Name:	William Roper Hull Ranche House
Other Names:	Bow Valley Ranche House Burns Ranche House
Site Type:	0501 - Farming and Ranching: Farm or Ranch House

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			22	1	5

Address:	15979 Bow Bottom Trail SE
Number:	79
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Calgary
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	L
Storeys:	Storeys: 2 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	High Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Dormer Type: Gable, Projecting Eaves Roof Trim - Special Features: Finial Roof Trim - Special Features: Drop or Pendant
Exterior:	Covering: Brick with vertical knotty pine siding on north elevation of west wing. Roof Type: High gable with high additional gables on 4 sides; west wing is a 1 storey low gable with 3 additional gables on south elevation; all gables have pendants and brackets; half timbered, gingerbread with finials. Northeast wing low gable with gable dormers; east and west elevation eaves are boxed plain wood soffits, raking is boxed with frieze and fascia and brackets. Small open deck over front entrance, porch partially enclosed with lattice work in gables; an enclosed porch on east half north elevation windows have shelf over. Bays on west and east elevations of two storey portion have half hip roofs. Chimneys are brick, corbelled and very intricate. Original section has H ceilings. Floors, trim, windows are all original.
Interior:	N/A
Environment:	Fish Creek Park SW Large trees planted along lanes.
Condition:	Good to Fair (1984).
Alterations:	Addition on west elevation. 1945 - complete remodelling. 1957 - new one-storey wing added. Interior renovated.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1896/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Private residence - ranch home Not in use	1896/01/01 1984/01/11
Owner:	Owner Date:
N/A

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Bow Valley Ranche. This house is closely linked with three pioneers: John Glenn, William Roper Hull, and Patick Burns. It was built on land owned by John Glenn, is the only former home of Hull, still standing, and formed part of the Burns Great Meat Packing Empire. 1880 - government established a supply farm called 'the Government Farm'. - Original log house burned. 1896 - present building erected; - on the 500 acres, Hull was the first man in Alberta to apply modern irrigation to the growing of grain. 1902 - purchased by Pat Burns to be used as a feeding station in connection with his meat packing plant. The house was partially deserted for some years but the ranch expanded to 14,500 acres. 1945 - became the permanent home of Mr. and Mrs. John Burns (nephew of Patrick) and was completely remodelled. 1957 - new one-storey wing added which closely matches the original exterior attempts were made to match the original brick from the old Cochrane kiln.     *                   *                            * RESOURCE             Hull Estate House ADDRESS             Bow Valley Ranch, Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary BUILT             1896 STATUS             National Historic Site /Potential Provincial Historic Resource APPLICANT             The Ranche at Fish Creek Restoration Society   HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE Hull House estate, located on the Bow Valley Ranch site in Fish Creek Provincial Park is situated southwest of Calgary at the confluence of the Bow River and Fish Creek.   This Tudor style home is unique among early Alberta ranch houses which tended to the either two-storey, four square homes or sprawling, one-storey wooden structures.   This very opulent house and estate reflect both Hull’s wealth and architectural tastes. In 1874-75, John Glenn, one of the first settlers in the region, acquired land on Fish Creek. The property changed hands and use (farm, ranch, Government Indian Supply Farm and training centre) several times between 1874 and 1892 at which time William Roper Hull, a British Columbia entrepreneur with interests in the meat processing and ranching industries, purchased it from a Quebec-based land speculator. During his tenure as owner he expanded the size of the ranching operation and established an efficient irrigation system that was widely touted by the Dominion government. Following a fire in 1896 that destroyed the first residence Hull commissioned pre-eminent Calgary architect, James Llewellyn Wilson, to design and build the existing Tudor style manor.   Hull sold the property to Pat Burns in 1902. The character of the ranch changed almost immediately as Burns implemented modifications to increase and improve beef production to supply his processing and packing plants. Social functions were largely restricted to those involving family members and employees of Bow Valley Farm. Also Burns paid little attention to Hull’s extensive and innovative irrigation system and it was soon rendered useless. The ranch remained in the Burns family for several decades and underwent several major modifications during the forties and fifties, including the addition of a large family room, an in-ground swimming pool, tennis courts and significant changes to the grounds. The estate was acquired by the Alberta government in 1973 as part of the Fish Creek Provincial Park. The Hull Estate Home was designed by Calgary architect James Llewellyn Wilson, described as the most prominent architect in Calgary between 1888 and 1900. It was built in 1896 by contractor Jean Watson. Built of brick with wood detailing the gables, this was one of the largest and most imposing houses in the Calgary area. Stylistically, the Hull Estate House shows the influence of the Queen Anne style, which was very popular at the time. Its varied roofline, large chimneys, fishscale shingles, and bow windows are all features of this style. Originally, the proportions of the house appeared more vertical – also a feature of the Queen Anne style. Alterations have changed this impression: the large verandah has been closed in, and a one-storey window has been added to the north. However, the former is reversible, and the latter is largely in character with the main house. The two storey masonry/frame residence is in generally good structural condition. The enclosed verandah is being removed. ============= Bow Valley Ranche - SITE HISTORY While native people probably hunted in the Bow Valley as early as 1,000 years ago, white men arrived in this region only recently. The earliest European explorers reached the foothills of the Rocky Mountains about the middle of the eighteenth century; as far as is known, the first white man to set eyes on the Bow River was David Thompson, who visited the confluence of the Bow and the Elbow in 1767. Following the explorers came a slow trickle of fur traders, and following them came the missionaries. It was not until the 1870's that the first homesteader established a permanent farm in the Bow Valley area. The homesteader was John Glenn, an experienced farmer, trapper, and prospector, who had searched for gold in California and the Cariboo and traveled through much of the West before coming to the Bow River country. The homestead he chose - an ideal site where Fish Creek joins the Bow - "had everything a settler could desire". It was with John Glenn that the history of Bow Valley Farm began. Glenn built a log house and barns, and cleared nine acres of land. He also set up an irrigation system, the first in Alberta - on the bottom twenty-one acres of his farm. The rich glacial silt produced good crops, up to 220 bushels of potatoes per acres. By 1879 he was comfortably established. Two years earlier, in 1877, the Blackfoot Confederacy, along with the Sarcee and Stony tribes, signed a treaty with the federal government. By the terms of the agreement Treaty No. 7, as it was called - the Indians exchanged large tracts of land for cash payments and reserves of approximately one million acres. The government also agreed to teach the native people how to farm their land. John Glenn's homestead was purchased by the government as an instructional farm, for $350, a cow and a calf. A superintendent, John Lyman, was hired to teach the Indians, and the produce grown was distributed to the Indians living on the reserves in the area. After several years the instructional program was phased out, and the government decided to re-sell the property. The new purchasers were William Roper Hull, who later became one of Calgary's most prominent citizens, and his brother, John Roper Hull. In 1883, the Hull brothers were driving 1,200 head of horses from Kamloops via the Crowsnest Pass to Calgary. Impressed with the country, they decided to become permanent residents. First securing a contract with the Canadian Pacific Railways to be the sole suppliers of beef to the railway gangs in British Columbia, they quickly expanded their operation until they had a chain of fifteen butcher shops. Needing facilities for finishing cattle for slaughter, they offered to buy the 4,000-acre Government Supply Farm - as the Bow Valley Ranche was then called - for a rumored price of $30,000. The Hulls made numerous improvements, including the replacement of the original log house with a two-story brick ranch house. Charlie Yuen was hired to "do odd chores and feed the crew". Under his supervision, the ranch became a showplace that welcomed many local and foreign visitors. With the developing community, land use changed from farming to ranching. In 1902, the Hulls' farm was purchased by Patrick Burns, a leading Calgary rancher and meat-packer. Burns also acquired adjacent sections of land, as they became available. Eventually the Burns Ranch included some 20,000 acres bounded on the north by what is now Stampede Park, on the east by the Bow River, on the south by 146th Avenue, and on the west by MacLeod Trail - a large property by any standards, but only a small segment of Pat Burns' 450,000 acre ranching empire. Patrick Burns was one of the major forces behind the growth of ranching in Alberta. He purchased large herds of purebred Hereford stock, which he used to help fellow ranchers improve the blood lines of their own cattle. A pioneer of cold-weather ranching, Burns put up 250,000 tons of hay for winter feed, and convinced other ranchers to utilize winter feeding methods themselves. He renovated the corrals and feeding pens on his ranches, and also introduced modern feed-lot techniques to finish cattle for market. Charlie Yuen continued to welcome and personally supervise the comforts of any visitor to the ranch. Special mention should be made of Patrick Burns' interest in conservation. Recognizing the value of the trees in Fish Creek Valley, he directed his foreman to erect fences around the groves of aspen and poplar as protection from the cattle. They also planted some 2,000 poplar along the MacLeod Trail adjacent to Bow Valley Ranch. After Patrick Burns' death in 1937, his nephew and business successor Michael John Burns came to live in Bow Valley Ranche House. Under his supervision, the ranching operation continued to prosper and he also preserved the established tradition of true western hospitality remembered by many Calgarians. In failing health, Michael John Burns moved to Calgary in 1950, and his son Richard T.J. Burns came to live at the ranch. Under his management, many more improvements were made, including the construction of a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a one-story addition to the Ranch House. Richard T.J. Burns lived at the site until 1970. Between 1970 and 1973, The Ranche House was leased to Robert Peters, a Calgary stockbroker. In 1973, acting on citizens' interests, the Provincial Government purchased some 1,400 acres of the Bow Valley Ranche along Fish Creek from MacLeod Trail to the Bow River, as well as other land adjacent to the Bow. On June 29, 1975, the Hon. Peter Lougheed dedicated what is now the eastern part of Fish Creek Provincial Park as "a park for all people". In 1995, local residents, Larry and Mitzie Wasyliw recognized this pivital landmark of Canadian history and established The Ranche At Fish Creek Restoration Society, with a mandate to restore the the Bow Valley Ranche to its original turn of the century grandeur. The Foreman's House was first restored in 1997 and The Ranche House restoration was completed in 1999. The Native Gardens, occupying the area between these two buildings was opened in 2000. ================= Bow Valley Ranche - INTERESTING STORIES Pack of Western Wolves In the early 1890's the pack of Western Wolves originated quite by accident. W. Pierce and a group of friends leased an old box car to be used as a club house, which they named the "Wolves Den." There they could play a little poker and plan the future industrial West. For the work conscious, duty bound bunch, those times were a crazy respite. One old cowboy remembered, "By God, when Cross and Cochrane came to Calgary could they celebrate!" Bill Cochrane always made sure there was a barrel of 10-year old whiskey on hand, prohibition or not. One night the thoroughly squiffed friends left the box car and caroused through the streets of Calgary howling like a pack of wolves. Arrested and hauled before the magistrate, the recalcitrant bunch was defended by James Lougheed. Defence called the policeman to the witness stand and said, "Sir could you please recreate this particular noise which was found so offensive!" Squirming before the court, the constable couldn't emit a squeak. The case was dismissed. This original pack of 27 "Western Wolves" paid $50.00 each and incorporated themselves to become a private club, known today as the Ranchmen's Club. The "Pack of Western Wolves 2000" has been established in honour of W. R. Hull "a successful wolf." W. R. Hull was a Pioneer rancher, entrepreneur, land developer and played a prominent role in western Canada's early economic development. In the late 1880's, Hull was the first Albertan to integrate cattle raising, meat processing and retailing on a large scale. By the mid-1890's his business empire included property in British Columbia and Alberta. Included were several ranches in the Calgary area and extensive holdings in the city itself. Hull developed the Bow Valley Ranche into a regional showplace. It was renowned both for its irrigation methods and for the social events staged at his elegant ranch house. (Parts of article reprinted from Calgary Herald, September 21, 1997) Maude Bannister's eyes sparkle like sunbeams reflecting off the nearby creek when she talks of her mother, Annie. "She had beautiful auburn hair - it was almost a bronze color - with beautiful green eyes, flecked with brown," says Bannister. "My mother was a wonderful rider. Oh, she loved to ride and we had a beautiful black horse that Mr. (Pat) Burns gave to her. And she loved to dance, she was a beautiful dancer. "Bannister is sitting in a sunny corner of Annie's Bakery Cafe, named for her mother, who was the wife of Billy Bannister, foreman of the historic Bow Valley Ranche. Annie's Bakery Cafe, a new spot for coffee and I light meals, opened just a few weeks ago in the old ranch house nestled in the Fish Creek Valley where Maude Bannister spent a good part of her early childhood. Today, behind the broken windows and beneath the sculpted wall-to-wall carpet, there are glimpses of those heady years. Wandering the former parlor and dining rooms that flank the central staircase, Maude Bannister remembers the house she was born in back in 1900. "I was born here in the Hull house," says Maude, describing the small room up the back stairs where Billy and Annie Bannister first lived with their young family after their marriage in 1899. Billy and Annie had three children, including the eldest Maude, and were expecting a fourth when a new bungalow was moved to a spot west of the main house, by then owner Patrick Burns. "I was three or four when we left the big house," says Maude. "Mr. Burns decided the family was growing too big and he brought this house in." The foreman's house, moved to the property in 1905 from the M. Patterson ranch at Bayfield, is changed only slightly from those times, despite its new life as a café. Inside the front door is the old parlor where Maude remembers dark green velvet draperies encircling a space where children were not allowed. "Every room had (wall)paper and in the parlor where we weren't supposed to go, I remember a mass of green velvet," she says. "We had quite a collection of really nice dolls that people use to bring to us, but we weren't allowed to play with them. They were displayed in the parlor, on those curtains. "Her father, Billy Bannister, was the ranch foreman, first hired by Hull in 1886. He remained at the helm of the ranch after Burns purchased the property in 1902. Billy, who left his home in Collingwood, Ont. at the age of 15, was 34 when he married Annie Louise Birney a 19-year-old woman whose family lived on a farm near what is now MacLeod Trail and Heritage Drive. "He became a very good cattle man, with a reputation for being honest," says Maude. "He used to take cattle back and forth along MacLeod Trail and at that time my mother lived at Heritage station. That's where they used to stop, for a drink of water or whatever, They married in 1899. "One of the other ranch employees was Yuen Chow, or Charlie Yuen, the Chinese cook, gardener and caretaker who kept the house and fed the ranch hands there for more than 50 years. Charlie cooked for Annie and her family when the Bannisters lived in the main house, and planted the ranch's large vegetable and pretty perennial gardens. He kept the house a showpiece for visitors and was always in the kitchen, as comfortable cooking for dignitaries as he was for the ranch hands. Still, Charlie stayed on as cook and gardener. Even after the Bannisters moved to Inglewood in 1910 when Billy took a new job as head of the Burns stockyards. Annie often brought her children out to visit their friend, the Chinese cook. "She used to bring us all out for a piece of his pie - we always looked forward to Charlie's pie," says Maude, remembering the gazebo down by the deep swimming hole on the creek's edge, where they came for summer picnics. "Whenever he returned from trips to China, he would bring my mother bolts of silk. We had a beautiful silk table cloth in the parlor, with tassels all around, from Charlie. "One of the few original items left in the ranch house is a dining table, constructed by Billy Bannister, presumably with design help from Charlie. Like the tables common in Chinese restaurants, with a rotating central area, Bannister built the legendary round table, where ranch hands passed the pickles and roast beef by spinning the wagon wheel at its centre. "My dad built this but he must have got the idea from Charlie," says Maude, fingering the table's rough edges. "When we came out to visit Charlie, we always sat around this table." "Ann's Story - A Great Ranching Empire And The People Who Made It Work" (Parts reprinted from "Ann's Story - A Great Ranching Empire And The People Who Made It Work" by Ann Clifford, 1995) The Bow Valley Ranche comprised of ten thousand acres. The Burns Company, or P Burns Ranches as it was known later, owned a frontage of 12 miles of the Bow River extending down river from the Captain Gordon place, now Burn's Feedlot. This Bow Valley was the sorting point for thousands and thousands of cattle. The big cattle ranches of the south such as Maunsell's, 7-U Browns Cartwright & Thorp's, Ings, and others sold their cattle directly to Mr. Burns at his Calgary office. He would send one of his managers. They would be required to go down to Nanton, MacLeod or wherever the shipping point, look over the stock and see about getting them shipped. Nearly all the cattle came to Midnapore first. A Mr. Willans had to supervise getting them unloaded if they came by rail. Those from closer were trailed right to the Bow Valley. The Farm was really a ranch. It was the clearing point for cattle from the Q Ranch at Kew, and the Milk River Ranch which he owned. So the herds would come in and the sorting would begin. There were huge corrals just west of the buildings and there was a weigh scale there. These scales would weigh about 5 or 6 animals at a time. Raymond was sent down to help. There happened to be two hefty men swinging on the gate and Mr. Burns was there too. He said you get those guys off those gates. I don't mind you paying by the pound for the cattle, but tow guys are making the cattle pretty hefty. He was a very sharp old fellow. When these cattle arrived, some were kept at the Bow Valley Farm and fed, only to be sent in as needed. There was no grain feeding on ranches, just good old prairie hay. No steers under three years were killed for beef, and many were three to fives years old. The stocker steers were divided into bunches of varying sizes and put out on straw piles around the country, some as far south as Okotoks. The first manager at Bow Valley was Billy Bannister. He eventually went into Burns Plant to work. Mr. Willans was manager until 1918 and Ed Hoschka until 1950. Lee Alwood was manager from 1950 to 1953. Mr. Burns always referred to Bow Valley as the Government Farm because the government survey crew and horses were kept and wintered there when they first surveyed the country. Raymond can remember threshing at the north bank of Fish Creek, Lacombe Home afterwards. Hauling grain to the Home, unloading at one of the buildings outback. The Father from the Home used to come over to the threshing outfit and stay all day. He'd stay for lunch. One time when Raymond had to go into town for gas, he told the Priest he would have to fill up the truck with gas. The Priest said he would go along. Raymond says he always had to move the bulls. One time he was sent out to Maloney Flats or Moccasin Flats east of the Bow River, riding a Bay horse owned by C.J. Duggan (Burns partner at the time) with a huge Hereford bull in tow. It was halter broken. Sometimes I was pulling him and sometimes he was pulling me. I would tie solid to the horn of the saddle and then he would take off. That was quite an experience. The older fellows never got these jobs. They either knew better or were never around when these bulls were to be moved. Moccasin Flats is Douglas Dale Estates now. The Maloney Flats or Moccasin Flats, east side of the Bow River, was farmed from the Feedlot. A six-horse team was sent over to seed a green feed crop. Bob Cruickshank, Jim Laverty, Bill Wright and Raymond Clifford were the ones sent to farm this land. Bob Cruickshank was a Scotsman. A very big man. He was a gunner in World War I. They would ride one horse and whip the other, making them run right to the front line. There were six horses on these outfits. The training in England was really tough. If you fell off the next outfit would run over you. There was a farm hand or teamster by the name of George. One of his jobs everyday was to take a wagon load of oats into the Burns Plant from Bow Valley. After the delivery, he would go to the Shamrock Hotel and get loaded. He would start home with a team and empty wagon. The road was very rough with deep ruts. As he went along the wagon would tip this way and that but he would always sit very straight, no matter the level of the wagon. One fall, Raymond was sent down to Bow Valley to help cut the crop with other farm help, a team and binder. Bob Foster had also been sent to the Bow Valley from the Ricardo Ranch as a farm hand. He decided he would teach these young fellows how to cut the crop in a hurry. Foster went ahead on the lead. These young men pushed their teams for all they were worth all day long. Foster had to admit he was beat and gave up. At that time there were 15 binders in the field. Four horses on each binder. Later Bob Foster was sent to the CK Ranch as manager. One time when Raymond was chauffeur for Mr. Burns, he drove Mr. Burns to the CK Ranch. Bob Foster was entertaining some ladies for tea. They were sitting on the front porch. Mr. Burns met them and said isn't it nice Bob has such nice neighbors! Mr. Burns pretty well ran the Bow Valley himself with the help of the foreman, Ed Hoschka and hired help. Mr. Burns donated the land the Lacombe Home sits on. When Raymond was Mr. Burns's chauffeur he said Raymond, I am going to take you to the Grande Theatre to see the Dumbells. They were men dressed as women. Live Theatre from London, England. Mr. Burns liked Raymond and thought he would enjoy the Theatre. Pat Burns had a lot of good men. Some could handle the cattle and some could farm and put up the hay and all around handy men that would do anything to keep working. All these men had great respect for P.B. as some would call him. The McGuiness Place was part of Bow Valley farming on a big scale. We called it "the big field". It consisted of a five-roomed house and out buildings. Later the Board of Directors added a lovely barn and pig barns and colony houses for the growing pigs. This area is now Midnapore Mall and extends into Sundance, a huge building development. The names of these different places were named after the previous owners. The Glenn Place was the farming part of Bow Valley and is part of Canyon Meadows now, on the north side of Fish Creek bridge at McLeod Trail. There was a railway spur track right where they are developing today and all the manure from the stock yards were loaded on flat bed cars and taken out on this spur line and dumped. It is not many years ago when the spur trails were removed to make room for the highway.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal A List Provincial Historic Resource	2001/04/03

Register:	09-107

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0797