Ballad of the Badlands

Arthur Peake first looked down on the meandering Red Deer River in 1897, and spent the next 50 years ranching there. Using the pen name Loco, he recorded observations of the country, the people and the events around him in singing rhymes.

Blizzards, cattle roundup, sodbusters, school days, the Prince of Wales’ visit, the government, remittance men, Indigenous People, dinosaurs and his beloved Red Deer River Valley were all subjects for Arthur’s pen. Twenty-five of his poems have been collected here, along with a short biography of his life be Cyndi Smith.

But Arthur also worked with his hands like he worked with words creating beautiful carvings on cottonwood bark, bringing whimsical dinosaurs and images of ranch activities to life.

Written by Arthur Peake

Published in Jasper Alberta