'Last great roundup' in Alberta

English chef Arthur Harwood enjoyed his adventures on the wild Canadian frontier. Cowboys in leather, Indians in buckskin, remittance men in fading Saville Row finery, gamblers and drummers: this was frontier Pincher Creek on a Saturday night in 1905 as cattlemen drank, gambled and danced away a week's dust and sweat. For all of their wild dress and language, few could compete with Arthur Harwood's new employer, old Fred Kanouse, for colour. The young English cook was spellbound by tales of his employer's adventures as a fur trader, whisky peddler, cattleman, gambler and guide, and soon learned the reason for his Kanouse's maimed left arm -- the result of an Indian's musket ball. Even Kanouse's pretentiously named Waldorf Hotel added to the heady atmosphere of wild frontier with its swinging doors, spittoons and rustic bar. Another throwback from history was Kanouse's best friend, Kootenai Brown. With his long, flowing hair, bushy white moustache, buckskins and spurs, the leathery old plainsman could have passed for Buffalo Bill. And the resemblance went deeper, Mr. Harwood soon learned, for Kootenai had known almost every kind of adventure in a lifetime on the plains...canada.com