Red Allison has been riding pretty much his whole life, and now at 86 years young, he’ll still load a horse in his trailer and head out to the range, often in the Green Lake/Watch Lake area, by himself, to check the critters.
The following just barely touches on why he was inducted into the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Red Allison was born June 27, 1926 and grew up in Kamloops. Other than a short stint in the Second World War, when he had to herd war prisoners instead of cattle, he’s never really moved away from British Columbia.
Since his last school year in 1944, and one semester of college, Red has always either owned cattle and/or horses, or worked on a ranch.
After finishing school, he worked for Art Bishop at 57 Mile, and then Henry Cornwall at Cherry Creek.
In the spring of 1948, Red rode the five-day horseback trip to Alkali Lake where he worked until the end of winter.
In 1949, he spent most of the year back at Cherry Creek before heading once again to Alkali Lake for the winter.
In the spring of 1950, Red worked for the Circle S and was the cow boss until 1958. It was here that he met his wife, Dionne, whose family ran the Dog Creek Store, and in 1954, they were married – now Red had to start herding kids – four boys.
In the spring of 1959, he accepted a job as the cow boss at the Gang Ranch. In 1960, he was herdsman for Tranquille Farms.
In 1961, they bought, and moved to, the Riske Creek Store. Five years later, they sold the store and moved to their own ranch – still in Riske Creek.
During the 11 years in Riske Creek, he worked for the Gang Ranch and managed the steer pasture, Ray Thompson’s ranch, sorted cattle at the livestock yards in Williams Lake and Quesnel, and broke horses for the public.
Before he was married, Red rodeoed and then he was a well-respected pick-up man for several years. In the early 1960s, he helped start the Interior Amateur Rodeo Association, which became known as the Interior Rodeo Association, and then the B.C. Rodeo Association.
Red did quite a bit of stock contracting, too, supplying livestock to rodeos, including the 100 Mile House Rodeo.
He has been a director and president of the Clinton Cattlemen’s Association, and a director for the BC Cattlemen’s Association.
Anyone who had anything to do with cattle in the Cariboo would know Red, as he has been a bonded livestock dealer since the 1960s and continues to this day.
In the early 1970s and for a decade to follow, he managed the OK Cattle Co. in Big Bar and had 20 per cent ownership before moving to their current location on Mound Road in Clinton.
During the time spent at Big Bar, a friend of Red’s, Ronnie Tomlinson, wanted help buying Twilight Ranch at Big Creek. Red went in as a shareholder and kept his cows there.
Now, here’s where the story gets interesting – and we see Red Allison’s true character …
Ronnie passed away and it was thought that there was no will, so Twilight Ranch was left to Ronnie’s mother and she sold the ranch.
Later, Red got a call from a Williams Lake lawyer, and it turned out there was a will, but apparently the lawyer who made it had passed away and the files were passed on to a new lawyer. The new lawyer told Red that legally he could go after the money he had been willed.
Red said no, “don’t bother the poor little old lady. She already gave some to her family … no, I couldn’t do that.”
Now, that’s the cowboy way! And it’s part of the reason he was inducted into the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Mark McMillan is the president of the BC Cowboy Heritage Society.
