Fonds med-548 - Barney Crockett fonds

James Barney Crockett was born in 1883 in the Galloway Hills of South Scotland and grew up on an estate where his father was a gardener. He came to Canada in 1903 at the age of 21, with his brother, Bill. He went to work for Tom Hargrave at his Fort Walsh ranch in 1903, riding the range as a cowboy. In 1919 he purchased his own ranch near Many Island Lake (originally the Bob Rutherford homestead). In 1911 he married Hannah (Cis) McRae and had two children Jim, who eventually moved to Victoria, British Columbia, and Minnie, born 1913, who died in infancy and is buried in Walsh Cemetery. In 1932, Barney joined the RCMP as a special constable (stock detective). Much of the time he was in search of horse and cattle thieves. Barney was "one of the best public relations people the Force ever had". Barney retired from the Mounties in 1951 and signed on with the Alberta government as a brands inspector. He was required to know over 35,000 brands. He died in 1959.