Bev Christensen’s Too Good to Be True: The Story of the Gang Ranch provides an extensive corporate and social history of the iconic Gang Ranch, one of the largest and most legendary cattle operations in North America. Christensen details how the ranch was founded in the 1860s by the Harper brothers along the dramatic river breaks where the Chilcotin and Fraser rivers converge, expanding across hundreds of thousands of acres of deeded and leased rangeland traditionally stewarded by the Secwépemc and Tsilhqot'in. The work chronicles the management regimes, international financial ownerships, and grueling cowboy logistics required to run massive cattle herds across the rugged benchlands of Dog Creek, Empire Valley, Alkali Lake, and Big Creek. Christensen captures both the romanticized lore and the complex financial cycles that shaped this massive pastoral empire across more than a century of interior ranching.

Alkali Lake (B.C.), Big Creek (B.C.), British Columbia Cariboo Region, British Columbia Chilcotin Region, Cariboo (B.C.), Cattle trade British Columbia History, Dog Creek (B.C.), Empire Valley (B.C.), Gang Ranch (B.C.) History, History, Ranch life British Columbia, Ranches British Columbia History

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.