George William (Bill) Boothby, the eldest son of John (J.W.) Boothby and Nancy (Nan) Boothby née Harbidge, was born in the spring of 1926. As a boy Bill was an exceptional student, a fixture in the local athletic scene, and a gifted rider. His reverence and connection to his horse shaped Bill into adulthood where that horsemanship was displayed at local gymkhanas and even as an outrider for Slim Fenton’s outfit in the 1948 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby.
Bills formative years led him to a life devoted to agriculture. After years of work experience as a hired hand for his father and numerous local ranchers Bill was given the opportunity to start his own ranch and raise a family on the site of the former ‘Just Home Ranch’ on the edge of the Big Hill Creek valley north of Cochrane in 1957. The existing infrastructure of this ranch in concert with Bills practical innovation paved the way for what has remained a fixture in the local ranching community to this day.
The landscape of the Bow Valley, with its windswept grasslands, alluvial topography, and volatile climate, made agriculture a very unforgiving and demanding way of life. Open range grazing, unmaintained overland trails, and primitive equipment made commercial cattle husbandry a very time consuming, meticulous endeavour. Bill learned early on that the land and the environment dictate the terms of your operation, which meant that feeding cattle in the winter involved travelling with the feed to wherever an open water source was, every single day. As with every aspect of ranching in Big Hill Country, what it provides always comes with a price. The springs and open water sources are a blessing; however, they are typically found in gravelly, nutrient depleted soil located miles away from the fertile hayland. Bill paid the debt to Big Hill Country every single day, rain or shine; warm westerly chinook at his face or steady crippling north wind blowing through as many layers of clothing that you can put on; dry trail conditions or drifted snow. None of it mattered, a job needed to be done and Bill never took a sick day.
As Bill’s ranching career progressed, the backdrop of the area as a frontier village in the age of pioneering and exploration waned and the roots of this next generation of Albertan’s took hold. A strong sense of community was instilled in Bill by his parents, and especially his mother Nan. Bill was a member of the Cochrane Lions Club and Cochrane Curling club for many years, including a time as draw master for local bonspiels. Deftly navigating the challenge of a compelling draw for all participants was something Bill excelled at.
Bill’s mantra that the Big Hill country dictates the terms on which you operate is guiding beacon of the ranch to this day. The natural shelter of the brushland, the year round open waters sources, and the hardy native grasslands are the linchpins of the operation; advances in modern equipment, iteration, and generational knowledge of this unique piece of the Alberta foothills have made the land more forgiving to raise cattle on; and the Just Home Ranch has become Boothby Ranches, raising commercial black angus cattle on the same native grasslands. On Big Hill country’s terms, of course.