Newspaper clipping taken from the Calgary Daily Herald; describes George Lane's life.

The Diamond O, which he bought from James Mauldon, of Dollon, Montana. He also bought other brands from various men, and purchased the pick of the Flerry bunch and all that of the S.t. bar horses of the Sanns Cattle Co., twenty-five hundred head in all, which were placed on the Little Bow ranch. At this time there was a general depression in the money market throughout the United States, and on account of the introduction of the bicycle and electric cars there was a panic in the horse market, and it was thought that the horse would soon be relegated to the museum.

Faith in the Horse George Lane’s faith in the horse remained firm, however, and the magnificent horses of the Diamond O were bought for twenty dollars a head, and the balance for from five to fifteen dollars a head. His reason for buying these horses was because he believed that Manitoba was destined to become one of the greatest wheat growing countries in the world, and his judgment has since been more than justified. When he asked his partner, W.H. Fares, of Winnipeg, to join him in this venture, he deferred for some time, fun finally joined Mr. Lane and has ever since had a great respect for Mr. Lane’s judgment.

Purchased the Bar U About the year 1905 the George Lane, Gordon, Ironsides and Fares Company bought the Bar U ranch of 1800 acres of deeded land, with five thousand head of cattle and one thousand head of horses, for $220,000, from the Allans of the Allan TransAtlantic Steamship Co.

Believed in Irrigation Mr. Lane’s next venture in ranching was in the Bassano and Brooks section in Alberta, under the irrigation system. He had always been a firm believer in irrigation and believed that alfalfa would be king of the soil in this country.

His Reflections The old cattleman’s first recollections of Alberta and the northwest date back to 1876, when it was known as the North West Territories, and when the Red River of the north was navigated by small boats as far as Winnipeg, carrying the fur traders, and their outfits. He conversed with several of these traders, who had been in the northernmost part of Canada for several years, this being while he was a resident of Montana. Many men from Alberta had been north to the Peace or Smoky rivers, and when they came back they invariably had glowing reports and told of the mild winters. When the Dominion government made its treaty with the Indians they had to import beef for them from the United States, which came principally from Montana, and the men who brought the cattle across the border were always favorably impressed with the country.

In 1882 Frank Strong, who was a representative of I. G. Baker and Co., and a man who will be remembered with great respect by many of the old-timers, delivered to Senator Cochrane four thousand head of cattle from Montana. Upon Mr. Strong‘s return to Montana from this trip he gave Mr. Lane a great deal of valuable information in reference to the wonderful possibilities of Alberta and said that he intended returning to this province to live and strongly advised Mr. Lane to join him, advice which Mr. Lane followed.

Magnificent herd Mr. Lane had the largest and most magnificent herd of Percheron horses on the North American continent. His Percherons have taken innumerable prizes, both at home and abroad, and he has sold many thousand dollars worth of the breed annually. The culture of fine breed Percheron horses was part of his life work. George Lane was married in Calgary in 1885 to Elizabeth SexSmith, who was born near Ottawa, Ontario. They have eight children, Lily, Mabel, Ernest, Roy, Elsie, Mildred, Clifton and George. Mr. Lane had a summer home at his ranch, the “Flying E,” where he was wont to spend part of each year with his family. Among Mr. Lane‘s personal acquaintances, who’ve been eminently successful from a small beginning, have been Charles Brown, Victoria; John Norris, Victoria; John Franklin, of Macleod; John Reed, medicine hat,; J.H.Brown and Frank Bedingfield, both of Pekisko; Herb Miller, also of Pekisko; Charles Kettles, Pincher Creek; Billy Henry, Tom Henry and James Clendenning, all of High river; Charles McKennon, and Alex Nesbertt, of Bassano, and Dr. Mackintosh, of Nanton. Most of these men worked for wages and later became rich men. George Lane used to say that he never knew of a failure in the cattle business in Alberta, where the parties engage or sober and industrious and continued in the business for not less than 10 years.