they never bagged anything, but they
came back full of stories about “cowboy
country.” So my favourite book when I was
12 years old was “Three Against the Wil-
derness,” a book published by Eric Collier,
about homesteading in the Cariboo coun-
try and making a life in the wilderness.
Many years after Dad gave up hunting,
I decided to return to some of the places
that he had told us about, and I retraced
his footsteps, starting in Clinton, B.C., at
the southern edge of that part of the prov-
ince known as the Cariboo. From there, I
drove up the Jesmond Road, a well-main-
tained gravel road, heading towards Cou-
gar Point lookout. I found the lookout and
was amazed at the sight of the valley of the
broad Fraser River, as it rivalled the Grand
Canyon in splendour. Then, on up dusty
backroads and across a high suspension
bridge to the Gang Ranch, founded in
1863, and for many years the largest ranchin North America. Now it’s the second-
largest in Canada, after the Douglas Lake
Ranch. This really is cowboy country. The
landscape is generally rolling with grassy
hills interspersed with stands of aspen
and pine. Cattle dot the hillsides, and
fences and gates are common features.
There are even warning signs about cat-
tle-rustling.
If you’re not properly prepared, this
country can be unforgiving. As I pulled into
a lodge-style motel in Clinton, a warning
light blinked on my dashboard indicating a
loss of tire pressure. Sure enough, the soft
hiss of escaping air meant a flat tire. Late
on a Thursday afternoon in a small town, I
wasn’t feeling too optimistic about finding
a tire shop that was open. “Just knock on
Darcy’s door” was the advice from the desk
clerk. Hesitantly, I approached Darcy’s
home next door. Sure enough, he took me
out to his shop in the back and had my tireAbove: The
Gang Ranch
brand (the J and
H connected)
was formed from
the initials of the
original owner,
Jerome Harper,
in the late
1860s.
10 More of Our Canada JULY 2019