Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch

The Ya-Ha-Tinda, Stony-Assiniboine Indian for Little Prairie in the
Mountains, has been the home to Parks Canada's horses since 1917. The 9,750
acre ranch near Sundre, Alberta embraces beautiful rolling landscape, partly
wooded and covered with prairie grass over several hundred acres. Before
1917, the winter grazing of park horses was carried out at suitable areas
either within or outside park boundaries.


The site of the ranch and its amazing possibilities as a horse-grazing area
was first brought to the attention of the Department of the Interior in
1904. Two men from Banff who ran a pack train outfit for tourists, applied
for a grazing lease in the vicinity. The ranch then formed part of the Rocky
Mountains Park (now Banff National Park) and the application was rejected as
being inconsistent with the provision of the Rocky Mountain Parks Act.


The application was resubmitted and finally granted on the third try and Jim
and Bill Brewster had 48 cattle and 150 horses on the ranch in 1909. The
ranch was used to raise and "break" horses for an extensive guide and
outfitting business.


In June of 1911, the area of Rocky Mountains Park was substantially reduced
and the Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch was left outside the new park boundaries as part
of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve and the Forestry Branch of the
Department of the Interior took over the administration.


On September 18, 1917, the boundaries of the rocky Mountains Park were
extended and the Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch again became part of the park. Later that
year the department regained possession from the owners and the ranch was
used as headquarters of a park warden district and as a winter grazing area
for park horses.


Over the years, the ranch buildings grew. A bunkhouse was built in 1918
along with a barn and a ranch house was added in 1920, built of logs with
few modern features that gave its occupants little comfort in the winter. A
farm labourer's residence went up in 1942 and a blacksmith shop was built in
1946.


The post-war years witnessed considerable building development in all
national parks and the Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch shared some of the funds. A frame
storage shed for a tractor was built in 1951, another frame building for
storage of fire fighting equipment went up in 1952.


A new ranch house constructed in 1960 for the use of the ranch foreman and
his wife made life much easier with all its modern conveniences. Further
additions included a small bungalow for the assistant foreman, a new power
house and a new stable.


A period of jurisdictional difficulties began in 1930 when the ranch was
again put outside park boundaries. The ranch lies about two kilometres
northeast of the Banff National Park boundary.


After much discussion over mineral rights and boundaries, a compromise on
land jurisdiction was reached with the Province of Alberta and the federal
government was given title to surface rights only in 1958.


Ya-Ha-Tinda Ranch now serves a dual purpose. It provides winter grazing
range for horses transported primarily from the national parks in the rocky
Mountains and serves as a site for the breeding and raising of horses
suitable for use by the national park warden service. The ranch also serves
as a winter grazing area for a large herd of elk.


The horse-breeding program got underway in 1960 when the ranch acquired a
quarter-horse stallion. In 1961, a Percheron stallion was given as a gift to
improve the strain of pack horses. In 1968, the royal Canadian Mounted
Police closed a remount station and donated a stallion called Brun who was a
former race horse. Other stallions have been added over the years but none
so illustrious as Brun.


In the normal course of events, foals are taken in hand at the age of six
months by ranch personnel. They are then halter broken, gentled and trained
until they reach the age of three. At that time they are allocated to one of
the warden districts in the western national parks.