When you drive south on Highway 22 through Cochrane, you will see a sign at the last set of lights “James Walker Trail.”
Have you ever wondered who James Walker was?
He was the first local manager of the Cochrane Ranch in 1881 and led a very colorful life before and after his short tenure at the ranch.
James Walker was of Scottish descent, born near Hamilton, Ontario in 1846. In 1874 he joined the North West Mounted Police, but before he accepted his position he attended the Royal School of Gunnery in Kingston, Ontario, which resulted in graduating with the rank of ‘Major’.
He was the commanding officer of an extremely large territory consisting of 121,000 square miles covering North Battleford, Fort Pitt, Duck Lake, Fort Carlton and Prince Albert.
Major James Walker married Euphemia Davidson Quarry from Galt, Ontario in 1878 and they had one son, William James Selby Walker, born in April, 1879.
Selby Walker married Ruth Anne Shine from Calgary in 1920 and they had two children, a son, who died at the age of seven years and a daughter, Mary Lynas, who worked in a bookstore in Calgary.
Major Walker was with the NWMP for six years. Before leaving North Battleford, he was made a chief by the Cree First Nation Peoples, who gave him the name “Pee Tee Guack Kee”, which means “the eagle that protects.”
In 1881 Senator Matthew Cochrane had just purchased the first large leasehold ranch in Western Canada, covering an area of 109,000 acres.
Senator Cochrane, who was trying to operate this ranch from his place of residence in Montreal needed a ranch manager and offered the job to James Walker.
Major Walker accepted the position, however Walker and Cochrane had some very different views on how the ranch should be run, which led to many an argument between the two. Senator Cochrane, of course, would always have the final word.
After too many ill-advised orders from the east, James Walker resigned his position as manager of the Cochrane Ranch the following year in 1882. It seems that Walker and Cochrane did part on good terms.
Shortly after James Walker homesteaded land in the Inglewood district of Calgary. He obtained a saw mill from Senator Cochrane, which enabled him to operate a successful lumber business. He also had a blacksmith shop, carpenter’s shop and a boarding house for his 14 employees. Major Walker donated the lumber to build the first Knox Presbyterian Church in Calgary.
When the first Militia unit was formed in 1900, Major Walker received the permanent rank of ‘Colonel’ in the Fifteenth Light Horse.
There were many ‘firsts’ for Colonel Walker: He was the first immigration officer; owner of the first telephone system in 1884 with 30 customers; the first president of the Exhibition Board and responsible for obtaining the Victoria Park site, with the first fair being held in 1886; chairman of the Civic Council when Calgary was incorporated as a town in 1884; organized the first school in Calgary and was chairman of the building committee when most sandstone schools were built; he served on the General Hospital board for 29 years; organized the school cadet movement; and was the first president of the Southern Alberta Pioneers and Old-Timers’ Association.
In 1933 the Canadian Military Gazette noted that after serving 54 years in the military, Colonel James Walker was the longest soldering man in Canada. He began at the age of 18, seeing action in the Fenian Raids, the Riel Rebellion, the South African War and World War One.
Colonel James Walker passed away on March 31, 1936 at the age of 90. This man certainly deserved a road being named after him.
