John Ware was a badass Black cowboy remembered for his superhuman strength and skilled horsemanship. One story claims that Ware could walk over the backs of penned steers without fear.
Other stories suggest that Ware could wrestle a steer to the ground, train the wildest bronco, and easily lift an 18-month-old steer and throw it on its back.
Ware was highly respected. However, this wasn’t always the case. Ware worked hard to earn his status as a legend, but his journey was far from kind.
Ware is believed to have been born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina in the United States. He gained his freedom in 1865 when the American Civil War ended slavery.
At this time, cattle ranching was spreading across the Midwestern US. Ware took this opportunity to polish his skills as a cowboy. By 1882, he was hired in Montana to drive a herd of 3,000 head of cattle from the US to North-West Cattle Company in Calgary, Alberta.
This site is now known as the Bar U Ranch. Ware stayed in the area for a while and worked for other large cattle companies like Bar U Ranch.
However, in 1885, Ware registered his own cattle brand and began blazing his path. By 1887, Ware established his ranch on the foothills near Millarville.
Before long, Ware’s reputation as a skilled cowboy quickly spread across Alberta.
But Ware was more than just a cowboy. He was also an experienced farmer and brought new agricultural techniques to the area.
“John is not only one of the best-natured and most obliging fellows in the country, but he is one of the shrewdest cowmen, and the man is considered pretty lucky who has him to look after his interest. The horse is not running on the prairie which John cannot ride,” wrote an excerpt from the Macleod Gazette.
That being said, not everyone liked Ware. He often faced racism, and his nickname in the area was disrespectful. There was also a ridge named after Ware that included a slur.
In 1891, Ware met his wife, Mildred Lewis. She had moved from Toronto to Calgary with her family. The couple married in 1892 and had six children, one of whom died as a baby.
The family eventually moved to a new ranch along the Red Deer River near Duchess, Alberta. Here, the family’s fortune took a turn for the worse.
Their home was destroyed by a flood in 1902. Ware rebuilt the house on higher ground. In March 1905, his wife, Mildred, died of pneumonia.
In September 1905, Ware’s horse tripped in a badger hole and fell on him. This killed Ware. Ranchers across the region gathered for Ware’s funeral in Calgary.
Mildred’s parents took in the five orphaned five children. None of Ware’s children went on to have kids of their own, but his legacy is very much alive.
Many places across Alberta are named after Ware, including Ware Creek and Mount Ware. John Ware Junior High and the John Ware Building in Calgary were also named after the renowned cowboy.
The Government of Canada also named Ware a person of national significance on June 6, 2022, and unveiled a plaque in his honour at the Bar U Ranch.
“I am pleased to commemorate the national historical significance of John Ware, who embodies the resilience and strength of Black Canadians,” said Steven Guilbeault, Environment and Climate Change Minister, in a statement.
Canada Post issued a stamp with a portrait image of John Ware during Black History Month in 2012.
John Ware was also immortalized in the media. In 2014, Albertan director Cheryl Foggo featured John Ware in her play “John Ware Reimagined.” Foggo later released a documentary film titled “John Ware Reclaimed” in 2020.
2020 was a high point in Ware nostalgia. That year a popular children’s book called “Howdy, I’m John Ware” written by Ayesha Clough and illustrated by Hugh Rookwood, was published.
Although he faced discrimination, John Ware will be remembered for a life celebrating Alberta’s “Can Do” attitude.
