John Ware, a Black cowboy from Alberta, has been recognized with a historic plaque/University of Calgary

John Ware was a Black cowboy who built a successful ranching career in Canada despite having been enslaved in America and then enduring racism and rough frontier conditions. Now he has been designated as a person of national historic significance under Parks Canada’s National Program of Historical Commemoration.

The designation was commemorated last week with a plaque at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site — south of Calgary in Alberta — that will be on permanent display at the Saddle Horse Barn.

In 1882, Ware entered the District of Alberta on a trail crew driving thousands of cattle to the site of what became known as the Bar U Ranch. He wrangled the herds of large ranching outfits before building his own ranch with his wife Mildred and their children. He achieved success in a white-dominated industry largely controlled by well-financed corporations. "Ware’s generosity and superior skill as a cowboy earned him an enduring reputation and a prominent place in the mythology of the Canadian West," said Parks Canada.

The plaque for cowboy John Ware will hang at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site in Alberta/Parks Canada

The federal government, through the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, recognizes significant persons, places and events that have shaped the country as one way of helping Canadians connect with their past. The designation process under Parks Canada’s National Program of Historical Commemoration is largely driven by public nominations.

"We still have a lot to learn about the experiences of Canada’s Black cowboys. The National Film Board’s John Ware Reclaimed by Cheryl Foggo exposed some difficult aspects of Ware's story, ones we don’t like to see because racism is out of line with our western Canadian values of freedom and merit,” said Janet Annesley in a news release. She nominated Ware as “a positive reminder that anyone of any colour or background can have a place in Canada's story. Our rich diversity has never been a threat to who we are. It makes us who we are.”

Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, said in a news release that Ware “embodies the resilience and strength of Black Canadians.”

“Recognizing John Ware as a person of national historic significance illuminates him and his beautiful family,” said Cheryl Foggo, the author, playwright and filmmaker who also nominated Ware. “It makes his accomplishments in agriculture and his skills as a horseman visible to all who will read this plaque, while honouring the complexity of his life and situation. It also simply acknowledges that he was here. We were and are here.”

People gathered at Bar U Ranch National Historic Site for the John Ware plaque unveiling/Parks Canada

The details of Ware’s early life are unclear, but histories suggest he was born as an enslaved person in the American South and worked in Texas after 1865 once he gained his freedom. In 1879, he traveled north, hired as a cowboy to drive 2,400 cattle to Montana, where he stayed for several years.

In 1882, he met an agent of the North West Cattle Co. in southern Idaho looking for cowhands to drive more than 3,000 cattle north to the District of Alberta. The company was establishing a ranch on the traditional territories of the Iyarhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda), Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot), and Ktunaxa (Kootenay) First Nations. This extensive cattle operation would come to be known by its brand, the Bar U. Ware was hired for the cattle drive and stayed to work at the ranch until 1884 when he joined the newly established Quorn Ranch, which trusted him with the management of expensive breeding stock.

In 1888, Ware established his own small ranch on Sheep Creek, close to the Quorn outfit. His herd quickly grew to hundreds of cattle. Ware continued to work for wages at the large ranches around his homestead, and in 1890 worked for the High River Horse Ranch.

In 1892, he married Mildred Lewis, the daughter of a Black homesteader and cabinetmaker who had recently arrived in Alberta from Ontario. For a decade, Ware ranched on Sheep Creek, but moved east as surrounding grazing lands began to be fenced by new settlers. In 1902, Ware established a new ranch on the Red Deer River, in the Duchess area, northeast of Brooks.

Ware had five children. In 1905, Mildred died from typhoid and pneumonia and John was killed when his horse stumbled in a badger hole. "Famous in the region during his lifetime, stories of Ware’s horsemanship, generosity and strength are still told today, demonstrating his enduring legacy," said Parks Canada.