Mingled Legacy: The archeological profile of southern Alberta's Milk River valley reflects the diversity of people that were drawn to the area's oasis-like abundance of food, water and shelter, and the other-worldliness of its landscape. Although remnants of tools and weapons, fire pits, tipi rings, buffalo jumps, graves and even a medicine wheel suggest that a long succession of nations visited the Milk River's hunting grounds and spiritual sites of the Milk River Ridge, precise details of the area's chronological human history remain vague.

Even today, the world-famous pictographs and petroglyphs of the Writing-On-Stone archeological site are difficult to date; some are thought to have been created more than 1000 years ago, while others may be no more than a century old. Standard methods of archeological dating, including radiocarbon dating and stratigraphic comparisons, cannot be applied: the grooves of the petroglyphs do not contain measurable amounts of organic matter, and the rock art is not buried in sediment.

No matter what their exact ages and origins, the intricate series of paintings and carvings reflects the dramatic changes brought about by European contact. Guns and horses are clearly represented in pictographs that are believed to date from the 1730's. These paintings are almost certainly the work of the area's most recent aboriginal inhabitants, the Blackfoot Nation.

Among the many First Nations that camped and hunted along the Milk River before the demise of the buffalo, the scourge of disease, and the arrival of ranches and railroads are:
• The Shoshoni, who resided in southern Alberta prior to 1750, until they were displaced to the south by the tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Shoshoni are credited with creating the earliest petroglyphs (rock art) found along the Milk River.
• The Kutenai (Kootenay), a plains-adapted people who favoured the hunting grounds of the Milk River Ridge. They were pushed west, to the Rocky Mountains, by Blackfoot dominance in the 1700's.
• The Atsina (Gros Ventre), of Algonkian origin, a southeastern Alberta tribe that formed an alliance with the Blackfoot Confederacy. They eventually clashed with the Confederacy over horse ownership disputes, and shifted further south to Montana.
• The Blood, an Algonkian-speaking tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy that originated in the woodlands of the Great Lakes area and moved west to the Great Plains by the early 1700's. They wintered along the Old Man River.
• The Peigan, also Algonkian members of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Northern and Southern versions of the tribe extended through northern Montana and southern Alberta. They were known to have hunted along the Milk River Ridge.
• The Blackfeet, another Algonkian member of the Blackfoot Confederacy that had migrated west to a nomadic, buffalo-hunting way of life. Their wintering grounds included the Bow River at Blackfoot Crossing and the Red Deer River.
• The Sarcee, a small tribe that allied with the Blackfoot Confederacy, based on the Red Deer River.
• The Nez Perce, a southern tribe based in Idaho and Oregon, that hunted as far north and east as the Milk River.
• The Crow, from central Montana, traditional enemies of the Blackfoot.
• The Cree, Stoney and Assiniboine, northern tribes that were active in the European fur trade. They made territorial inroads to the south after European contact.
• The Sioux (Dakota) from southeastern Montana, who fled north to the Milk River with their chief, Sitting Bull, after the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1877, before returning to the northern plains of the United States.

Peaceful Police Post
The year: 1897. The place: the Milk River North West Mounted Police Post, at the mouth of Police Coulee, just north of the boundary between Canada and the United States. A detachment of 5 Mounties and 2 hired horse rangers fight boredom and banality at the lonely outpost, patrolling up to 1,000 kilometres of border each week. Living conditions at the outpost have improved since wooden buildings replaced the tent camp of 1887, but the isolation and tediousness of the job have not changed. Rather than intercepting American whiskey smugglers, or protecting ranchers from cattle rustlers, the Milk River patrol spends much of its time putting out grass fires and herding straying American cattle back across the border.

In 1887, 4 years after the first contingent of the North West Mounted Police stopped to rest on the Milk River Ridge on their way to stop the whisky trade at Fort Whoop-Up, Mounties were sent back from Fort MacLeod to guard a long stretch of border between the Rocky Mountains and Manitoba. But few problems occurred, and by 1905, only 1 constable was stationed at Milk River. The post closed in 1918, and was destroyed by fire a short time later.

Like an unofficial roll call, "Signature Rock" at the entrance to Police Coulee records the names of many North West Mounted Police officers who served at the Milk River post. The men filled the dreary hours by scratching their initials into the cliff, taking their cue from the aboriginal rock carvings found throughout the area - and unwittingly setting in motion several years of damaging vandalism.

Overextended Officers: Although liquor smuggling, cattle rustling, horse raiding and gunfights were a dangerous reality in Canada's western frontier, a shortage of manpower often hampered the law enforcement capabilities of the North West Mounted Police. In addition to patrolling large areas, officers were responsible for overseeing the settlement of First Nations reserves, protecting the civilian population and providing a wide assortment of government services. With much of their energy devoted simply to assuring their own physical survival, patrol officers often suffered low morale, and sometimes deserted their posts.

Early Ranching in Southern Alberta
In 1879, when retired North West Mounted Police officer and pioneer cattle rancher George Maunsell put 103 cattle out to range on the Milk River Ridge, he blamed their subsequent disappearance on rustlers. But over the next decade, as thousands of head of cattle were turned out on the lower plains to fend for themselves, it gradually became apparent that a low-overhead, low-maintenance approach to cattle-ranching was not productive. Without feeding, fencing and sorting, huge herds quickly dwindled away, destroyed by cold, starvation, fire, wolves, disease and cattle thieves. With only 1 or 2 cowboys driving and tending up to 1,000 head, many cattle simply disappeared.

Big Ideas: Records of early land leases in southern Alberta reflect the grandiose visions of both ranchers and federal government policy-makers. In 1888, about 70% of leases in southern Alberta exceeded 4,000 hectares, with some extending to 80,000 hectares. Officially, any individual or ranch company could lease up to 40,000 hectares for the cost of 1 cent per acre per year; operators would have 3 years to stock their ranch with a minimum of 1 head of cattle for every 10 acres of land. Leases went to the highest bidder at auction, and lasted for 21 years.

Small Scale Success: By the late 1890's, however, southern Alberta ranchers had realized that smaller herds and careful livestock management were the key to profitability. Ranches began to decline in size, fences and corrals were built, and hay and greenfeed crops were cultivated. Ranchers upgraded the quality of their cattle, and carefully monitored their health. Combination mixed farm/cattle ranches, with 200 head or less, emerged as a more reliable formula for success.

Milk Ridge Advantage: For large-scale ranchers, the high country of the Cypress Hills and the Milk River Ridge proved to be more rewarding than the dry, windswept, shortgrass plains. Here, mixed native grasses were taller and more abundant, drinking water was close at hand, and valleys and canyons provided natural protection from blinding blizzards and chilling winds. Some of the most successful Milk River ranchers came north from Montana, bringing with them many years of experience on the American frontier. In 1894, American William McIntyre purchased a 25,000 hectare tract of land at the foot of the Milk River Ridge, leasing an additional 32,000 hectares cattle range between the U.S. boundary and the north branch of the river in 1902. The leased land was eventually settled by homesteaders, but a modern-day version of the McIntyre Ranch still exists, operating approximately 60 kilometres south of Lethbridge.