What does Calgary Alberta have to do with the wild west?

To Canadians Alberta does pretty much represent our "wild west". It's dry country, and west of Calgary is the sort of rolling foothill semi-desert high country often associated with the wild west, and it is certainly cowboy country, lack of water and harsh winters keep it used mainly for ranging cattle.

Further west it rapidly becomes mountainous, and BC is a land of broad mountain ranges and narrow fertile valleys, and with the exception of the Okanagan has nothing really "wild west" about it. (and even the Okanagan is largely irrigated fruit farms nowadays). Also, BC was settled from the coast, so Alberta really represents the end of Canada's westward expansion. Culturally speaking, too, Alberta is much more "wild west" than BC to the west, or Saskatchewan to the East.

It is important to note that Canada never really had a "wild west". Our westward expansion was relatively peaceful and orderly, and oh-so typically Canadian. Things got a bit rough during the gold rushes, but that was about it.

Ironically, today, Calgary has matured from a western boomtown into a relatively sophisticated large city - the fourth largest in Canada - which has largely left its ranching past behind.

By the way, Calgary is as far west as Phoenix or Salt Lake City, and is further west than most of Montana and Wyoming, both of which are fairly central to the American "wild west" mythology. To Canadians, the "West" actually starts quite far east, Manitoba is often considered "the west".

They had nothing to do with it? Au contraire! They were very much a part of it. They were on the western plains - the Rocky mountains effectively cut the prairies off from the West Coast in the early days - that would mean the days of Fort Whoopup and other early day centers. Calgary has retained its 'cow town' image and enjoys being part of the wild west.

Actually, Calgary isn't anywhere near the middle of Canada. That would be somewhere on the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border area - and at one time, that was considered part of the Wild West also.

Calgary, Alberta is more west than Ontario, Manitoba or Saskatchewan. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are considered to be "western Canada and the prairie provinces. BC (British Columbia) is also west, but it's not prairies. There is a lot of ranching in Alberta and their history has had a lot more than "nothing" to do with the wild west.

Are Montana and Wyoming "west"? Alberta is just north of Montana. How about North and South Dakota and Nebraska? Alberta is further west than the Dakotas.

Canada's west wasn't as wild as the US, but it was just as far west. The native people crossed over the border into Canada when being persecuted by new Americans of European descent. And then crossed back. Louis Riel was a famous person, though his history is linked with Manitoba (further east than Alberta)

http://www.shsb.mb.ca/Riel/indexenglish.htm

Here's an introduction into the history of Canada's "wild west"

http://www.thelastbestwest.com/last_best_west.htm

http://www.alittlehistory.com/Mounties.htm

http://www.scirpus.ca/palliser/wcanhist_chron.htm

http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/index.html

Learn something new today. :-)

Calgary has a "Wild West" feel to it mainly for three reasons:

1) Their is a lot of cattle ranching and people are riding horses outside the city of Calgary.

2) The area around the city is very similar to the landscape of Montana. Wide open prairies at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Many times, Alberta has filled in for the midwest USA in movies and TV shows. The movie "Open Range" was filmed almost entirely in Alberta. Same for "Brokeback Mountain".

3) The Calgary Stampede was introduced in 1912 by a group of rich cattlemen from Alberta. They wanted to do something to celebrate the western lifestyle. The fair was so successful in its first year that they decided to make it an annual event.

And as for Calgary being in the MIDDLE of Canada, you may want to take another look at a map of Canada. Calgary is only 1000km (600mi) from the Pacific Ocean, while it is almost 5000km (3000mi) from the Atlantic. Certainly seems MORE west to me..

Calgary is very west! It is as west as Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and even California (almost). It is further west than Wyoming, Texas, and New Mexico.

It was absolutely part of the Wild West - Fort Whoop-up was in the area. It began as a trading post, and grew to become a cow-town until oil was discovered. Cowboys (real ones) still abound there, on ranches all around the city.

People in the west aren't the only ones that have ever had that culture...Alberta is a prairie province where a lot of farming and rodeos and such go on....so I don't see why they wouldn't have a 'wild west' type culture.

The fact that they both suck.