Frank Teer, a rancher in Houston from 1965 to 1999, was dubbed a “Ranching Pioneer” in the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame early this year.
“He spent his life as a working cowboy, competitive in horse sports. [He was] a pioneer, a horseman, and a family man with four generations of family involvement in cowboy activities,” wrote his daughter Frances Teer in a memoir of her dad.
Frank died in 1999 and in 2013 was recognized in the Cowboy Hall of Fame as a “Ranching Pioneer.”
His son Dale and grandchildren Nicole and Dallas Oben accepted the plaque award on Frank’s behalf at the Williams Lake Rodeo April 21.
Frank’s memoir in the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame book two says, “Frank was dedicated to his family and taught his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren the cowboy way of life.”
Frances says Frank was born in 1916 in Big River Saskatchewan and worked with cattle and horses from a young age, under the guidance of his Uncle Paddy - an experienced horse veterinarian who worked in the Boar War in Africa.
Frank joined the army at 26 and fought in World War II until his honourable discharge in 1945, when he went back to Big River for two years.
In 1947 he came to B.C. and worked on ranches in the Clinton area for several years, where he met and married Aldythe Bates (Teer) in 1950.
Frank and Aldythe bought their own 60-acre ranch in 1956 just north of Clinton where their four children, Frances, Colleen, Dale and Caroline, were born.
But Frances says Frank wanted more land to raise cattle, so when he heard there were large spreads of land available in the Bulkley Valley, he applied for a veterans grant of 160 acres of land and 320 acres of grazing rights.
The family of six moved to Houston in 1965, and had to start their pioneering by building a kilometre-long road from Buck Flats Road to their property.
“The road was a muddy goat trail back then,” said Frances, adding that now it is the paved road known as Teer Road.
As they built up the place, Frank bought cattle, leased more land and in 1971 bought his first registered quarter horse stallion, getting his first crop of foals in 1972.
In 1980 they had 120 cow-calf pairs and 22 head of horses, including six brood mares, a stallion and six good riding horses that Frank and his children rode in competitions.
Frances says Frank taught all of them how to train, show, rope and rodeo horses and he and his children all competed in horse shoes, rodeos and parades.
“The children have been competing in every western horse competition since the mid-1970’s,” reads the B.C. Cowboy Hall of Fame book two.
Franks two oldest daughters, Frances and Colleen started the first saddle club in Houston, and spearheaded the development of the 80-acre rodeo grounds at Four Seasons Park.
Frances says all Frank’s children have become knowledgable stock people and live the ranching lifestyle to this very day.
His grandchildren and great-grandchildren are following the lifestyle too, she said.