The Leavings of Willow Creek
The term "leavings" was originally applied to a place where a trail left water and wood. It was intended as a warning to travelers to stock up as their next camp was likely to have neither. The Leavings of Willow Creek, later shortened to just The Leavings, refers to the point where the Fort Benton-Calgary Trail left Willow Creek to cross the open plains. In the 1870s Henry Kountz built a stopping house there, providing travelers with a place to stay, and food and water for their horses and cattle. Kountz operated his stopping house until 1882 when John Craig, manager of the Oxley Ranche Company, bought the property. Craig used The Leavings as the first headquarters of the ranch, and Kountz found work as the Oxley cook.
The Oxley Ranche Company was owned by a group of prominent English investors, including the Earl of Lathom and Alexander Staveley Hill. The initial ranch operation consisted of two 40,500-hectare (100,000-acre) leases and a herd of 3400 cattle. Later the ranch grew to over 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) and 6500 head of cattle, before it was sold to William Roper Hull, a Calgary cattleman, in 1903.
In 1884, Craig decided to move the headquarters of the ranch further north up Willow Creek. However, The Leavings was not completely abandoned. In 1886, the North West Mounted Police established an outpost there with three horses and three men.This outpost continued to operate until 1902-03 when it was moved to the growing town of Claresholm.
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