Grasslands Through History

Grasslands have changed constantly throughout recorded history.  For thousands of years before European settlement, the grassland ecosystems provided food, clothing, fuel, and shelter for aboriginal people. 

Aboriginal people maintained the open grassland landscape with fire, to remove brush for improved travel and encourage new plant growth for game animals. The impact of burning by aboriginal people was greatly reduced by the late 1800s.  Between the 1900s and 1930s, European settlers burned to clear land for crops, but by the 1960s the BC Forest Service effectively eliminated large fires.  By late 1900s, the effect of forest vegetation creeping into the grasslands was evident.

In the nineteenth century, the introduction of livestock also began to alter the characteristics of the grasslands.  The introduction of horses in the early 1800s changed the lifestyle of the aboriginal people by improving labour and mode of travel and therefore increasing trade and food supply.  The aboriginal people highly prized their horses; they became a clear indication of wealth in many bands. 

Cattle, and then sheep, were introduced into the interior of BC in the mid-1800s following gold mining, exploration, and rail and road construction.   The BC beef industry was the first to develop in Canada.  The first cattle drives occurred in BC when the Hudson’s Bay Company moved cattle and horses from Fort Vancouver at the mouth of the Columbia River to Fort Kamloops and Fort Alexandria around 1840.

Between 1858 and 1868 about 22,000 cattle entered into BC from Oregon Territory to bring beef to the miners during the gold rush.  Many cattle were wintered in the valleys of the Thompson River and its tributaries, to facilitate an earlier start to the gold fields in the spring. Miners came and went, but some that stayed saw the grazing potential in the land.  The first pre-emption act was passed in 1860 which opened the way for settlers to take up 160 acre parcel of land and commence improvements.  

The oldest ranches in the southern interior were established during the 1860s with the establisment of Nicola Valley, Chilcotin, and East Kootenay areas occurring 10 to 20 years later.  Jerome and Thaddeus Harper, founders of the legendary Gang Ranch, (near what is now Kamloops) were among the first to realize the interior’s grassy slopes were ideal for raising cattle.  As settlers created ranches on the grassy valley bottoms and mountain plateaus, and began to ship their beef by rail to markets beyond the boundaries of their valley, communities grew up around them. 

In those days, livestock grazed year-round and as a result, the grassland plants were often damaged.

Many of these ranchers had emigrated from lands that had relatively moist summers, like the North American prairies or Europe.  Interior British Columbia has hot, very dry summers that put the plant community under considerable ‘natural’ stress.  This fundamental factor was not recognized by many ranchers, which resulted in major die-back of the more desirable bunchgrass species, like bluebunch wheatgrass and rough fescue.  

The first ranchers thought it was unnecessary to feed cattle in the winter.  Over the years, cold winters with deep snow covering the grass and the changing markets forced the ranchers to begin raising hay and crops for winter feed and vast acreages of grasslands were cultivated.

By 1900, most of the remaining grasslands were overgrazed. In the twentieth century the profession of rangeland management developed, and with it came the recognition of the dangers of overgrazing and the application of grassland management practices to bring about improvements. 

Ranchers whose livelihood depends upon grass, had the most urgent need to advocate for grassland protection.  Research and education has made available much practical information to ranchers and range managers to enable them to sustainably manage grasslands.  The staff at the Agriculture Canada Range Research Station in Kamloops, and others in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as various Canadian universities, have made significant contributions to this body of knowledge.

As society shifts from the pioneer days of exploitation of natural resources to sustainability and conservation, grassland stewardship and sustainable ranching have become ever more closely intertwined.

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To learn about present day practices and the future of the industry, click on the links below.