Photography by: Coralie Nairn, Connie Ellis and Photos by Jess
The History...
The history of how these Bridlehorse traditions made their way north dates back to the early 1800s, a time when California was wild and the cattle, grizzly bears and vaqueros were plentiful. At that time in California, cattle were selling for just $10 a head, while 1300 miles to the north in a town called Barkerville in a part of Canada known at the time as New Caledonia, the same cattle could fetch $100 a head.
Seeing an opportunity, a pair of brothers from San Francisco, California, Jerome and Thaddaeus Harper set off on an adventure to drive a herd of cattle some 1300 miles north to New Caledonia and cash in on this new-found bovine "gold rush". This business venture proved to be a lucrative one and as time went on,
Jerome and Thaddaeus would drive the cattle in herds of around 500 head at a time, moving up to 2000 head of cattle north each year! Eventually, in 1867, they used their fortune to purchase the largest landholding ever sold in Canada, the first section of which was some 16,000 acres lying west of the Fraser River. It would become part of the historic Gang Ranch. The Gang Ranch, still running on the same land today, continues to use their original JH brand to this day!
The Harper brothers of course needed help managing their Canadian ranch holding as well as moving their cattle north, so they hired on a man by the name of Newman Squires. Newman was a cowboy from California who, upon moving North, would come to be considered one of the most influential cowboys in B.C. He had been known south of the border as "the king of the range". Newman had been taught by the early California vaqueros and brought with him the skills and the gear that have become synonymous with the traditions and practices of these men who had traveled across the sea to the new world, importing Spanish Barb horses and the cattle that would multiply across the plentiful, California grasslands.
The Hudson's Bay Company, as early as 1858, also carried much of the responsibility for bringing the traditions of the vaqueros north. Around the middle of the 1800s, more than 22,000 head of cattle crossed the border at Osoyoos into Canada.
Along with the huge number of cattle, there were also many pack trains carrying goods north from California and Oregon for the Hudson's Bay Company. Most of the men who were hired to pack these goods north were Spanish or Mexican vaqueros. These men quickly recognized the value of New Caledonia's vast oceans of bunch grass and many of them decided to stay, settling in what we now know as the Nicola Valley. One of the men who decided to settle in the area was John Clapperton who, around 1870, founded the Nicola Ranch, another one of the few historic B.C. ranches which are still in operation today.
Thanks to the men of the Hudson's Bay Company, Jerome, Thaddaeus and Newman Squires, as well as many others who brought with them the Spanish Barb horses that were common in California at the time, it wasn't long before the Nicola Valley area became known for its production of some of the finest horses in Canada. These men also brought with them the rawhide riata, the slick fork wade saddles, the long tapaderos, the shiny silver spade bits and the cattle-handling practices which have become evidence of the vaquero influence in B.C. and which were essential to creating such desirable horses.
Shaped by the California landscape and influenced by the more relaxed, quieter animal handling practices of the First Nations people (many of whom were employed by the California Ranchos and the Ranches of early B.C.), this "new breed" of cowboy became known as "the Old Californios" and were said to be some of the best horsemen in the world. Those who found themselves a little further east in a less forgiving climate with different needs became known as Buckaroos. It was the land itself, the varying demands that it presented, and the difference in the climate as well as the influence of other settlers in the area which dictated to each branch of the growing ranching community what the best practices for their needs would be and as such resulted in a variety of styles of Bridlehorse methods sprouting throughout B.C.
Although the times have changed and the world has grown up around us here in B.C., the traditions and the horsemanship and stockmanship practices brought north with the horsemen of the mid 1800s are alive and well. The balance-and-signal based system designed for the horse, arguably one of the most beautiful and most respectful ways of partnering with a horse available today, was proven over the 1300 mile journeys that brought it north. This system requires quite a bit more time to fully develop a horse from start to "finish" but the outcome is a strong, powerful, engaged working partner who will defend their mount against an angry cow, chase down a rogue bull, rope a grizzly, or rest peacefully under the shade of a ponderosa pine tree in the late afternoon sun while watching the herd graze.
The bridlehorse system we have chosen to promote known as Californio, the slightly faster paced system referred to as Buckaroo, and the variety of other branches of bridle-horsemanship that have sprouted out of the diverse needs that shaped them present us with an assortment of options that all trace back to the early cowboys and vaqueros who we can thank for passing them along. This group aims to do its part to keep these Californio traditions alive and to support and promote those who are doing their part to do the same.