ROYAL ALBERTA RANCH.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 213, 8 September 1923, Page 19

ROYAL ALBERTA RANCH.

PHINCE OP WALES' CATTLE j FARM. i "LORD RENFREW'S" VISIT. Picture rolling uplands and wide plateaux whose green is slowly turning to gold as the July eun cures the standing buncii grass. Picture brush-clad stretches flankinr a swift river, clear as crystal in the shallows, and jade-sreeu at depth. Picture Held* of grain and herds of cattle, sleek on the rich pasture land!-, and in tne western distance the jagged ridge or tne Rockies, capped betimes with shining soon-. Such is a panorama of tne rancu in Alberto foothills whltuer the Prinre of Wales win soon Ijc going. KISH AXD GAME APLBM'V. A snug little bungalow nestling under lialm of iJileads will be spick and span to welcome the young heir to the throne. And when he arrives en route, in Calgary, the manager of his flocks and herds. Prof. W. L. Carlyle. a graduate of Toronto S.P.S., will l)e (here to carry him off rarichwards In tt Rolls-Royce car over the .historic Maeleoa Trail. So finer month than that of September conkl the Prince select fur a hollJny at the ranch. Pishing season still being open, he villi be able to cast v fly iv the waters of the adjacent nighivood River, whicn teems with cut-throat and bull trout. The prairie sloughs will be fllle'a with fat wild duck—mallards, spoonbills, pintails, teal. And on the hills the prairie chicken will he at their best. The Prince will almost surely have a taste of coyote bunting on horseback with a pack of half-bred hounds. And if he lingers on into Octoher he wtll i amble off some day with Indians and a pack train to seek deer and mountain sheep and goats and bear iv the forested fastnesses of those mountains which are an eternal lure to any man who loves the out-of-doors. It Is a pleasant prospect that the Prince has before him in that western land whore, a* Owen Wister declared, tne sunclear air is like the eliilr of everlasting youth. , THE -E. P." CATTLE BRAND. Bang up against the famous Bar-U is the 4000-aere tract purchased by the Prince or Wales In 1919. It Is known to-day as the E. P. ranch. These two letters branded in the flanks of his cattle and horses apprise other ranchers that euch animals wandering off on other ranges are royal property. They say thnt a joyous day spent on the Bar-tT with Its genial proprietor, George Lane, decided the King's son to locate in that country. Fagged ont with speechifying and shaking hands, the Prince wns carried on* one day by a pioneer cattle man for a complete rest and relaxation. An formality -was dispensed with and for twenty-four hours a royal young man chummed with the cowboys, learned how it felt to ride in a Mexican saddle, practised throwing a lariat, and thoroughly enjoyed himself, just pottering abont the place. On guying good-bye to his hosts, the Prince told Mrs. Lane that if he had his way, he would spend a whole fortnight with them and that it was one of the most dellglitiol experiences lie lied tmd In liis vsried Me. GEORGE LANE'S NEIGHBOUR. It was then and there that he decided to become George Lane's neighbour and to bay out. If possible, the adjoining property. Some dny he might be able to spend a portion of each year on it. Thus the heir to the throne began negotiations to become an Alberta rancher. The ranch in question haa long been the property of the BcdingfeW family. Away back in 1883, Col. and Mrs'Bcdlngfeld, very well connected Englisn people, among the pioneer settlers in AN herta, had located in this choice spot. When the Prince visited Canada, Mrs. Bedlugfeid, a charming old lady, and her son Frank had long, been running the ranch. Though they had refused many former offers, they accepted that of the Prince and retired to their old homo In England. Frank Bedingfeld, who «erred overseas, though no longer young, died seTcral years ago. Bedingfeld and his partner "Seven U" Brown were typical western cattlemen in appearance and pioneers of a stamp that is fnet disappearing. PRINCE AND CATTLE KING. One could scarcely imagine greater contrasts in looks than those of the Prince and his stalwart neighbour George Lane, a cowman, whose big frame and rugged countenance tell of struggles faced ana overcome. Though 6S, he is more active than many men of 83. This man with the ruddy hair, big moustache, keen grey eyee and alert movements is, for all his strenjttn of body and brain and the aggressiveness necessary for success, a kindly man beloved of his employees. Less than forty yean ago he was a foreman for the Allans or Montreal on the Bar-U getting 40 dollars a month. To-day he is a cattle king, a mounted monarch, living in the midst of hi« herds nnd keeping a watchful eye on the stock of his young neighbour, the future King of England, whom he hopes to meet on the fall round-up.