The map shows the basic physical and political features of the Canadian ranch country circa 1885. The viability of the ranching enterprise is related directly to a particular physical geography. The better watered higher elevations offered superior winter shelter and therefore were the first areas occupied by the cattlemen. While the prairies to the east and to the south provided excellent summer grazing, drought was more common and the winters always more severe. A good water supply was essential and the headquarters of the various ranchers, therefore, were strung out along the major streams and rivers that traversed the region. First entry to the region was via the trail from Fort Benton, Montana and the first cattle herds were driven northward along this route beginning in the mid 1870's. The ranchers, unlike the farmers, did not require close access to railway shipping facilities. It was not too difficult to drive cattle a hundred or so miles to be shipped to market. With the Canadian Pacific Railway skirting the eastern edge of the cattle country, the situation was ideal - the railway was sufficiently close for the cattlemen and too far away to make settlement in the grazing region attractive to farmers.
