The First Cowboy: John Ware

John Ware (1845 – 12 September 1905) was an African-American cowboy best remembered for his ability to ride and train horses and for bringing the first cattle to Southern Alberta in 1882, helping to create that province’s important ranching industry.^[

Ware was born into slavery on a plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina. After the American Civil War he left the Carolinas for Texas where he learned the skills of a rancher and became a cowboy. Ware’s great stature and dedication to hard work made him a natural and allowed him to work his way up to Canada driving cattle from Texas to Montana and then into the great plains that would eventually become Alberta.

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