George Lane

Who was George Lane?

George Lane was an American-born Canadian politician and rancher and known as one of the Big Four who helped found the Calgary Stampede in 1912.

George was foreman at the Bar U Ranch and eventually returned in the early 1900s to purchase it for $250,000. In 1885 he married Elizabeth Sexsmith and they raised 8 children together.

In the 1913 Alberta general election George was elected as the first member for the Bow Valley riding for the Alberta Liberal Party. He was somewhat of a star candidate for the Liberal Party, and helped keep a critical southern Alberta seat from going Conservative. He defeated Conservative Incumbent Harold Riley who had changed from the Gleichen district. George would spend very little time as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, he would resign a short time later so that defeated Cabinet Minister Charles R. Mitchell could re-gain a seat in the legislature.