2023 Honour the Brand - The Main Family

Bill Main started the MX ranch in 1948 with 20 Hereford heifers and one bull. He had purchased his land from the Alberta Ranch, the old Harold Russel place. The MX ranch was beginning of the MX Ranches cow calf operation. Four years later, in 1952, Bill married Janet McDowell, who was also from a racing family in Beaver Mines.

They had four children starting with their daughter Cas, followed by three sones, Doug, Mac and Ian. Can had a small calf cow operation of her own. Doug and Ian continued on with careers in engineering. Doug returned to live in the area and bought land from MC Rancho to build a home of his own, as did Ian. Cass used Nic Lane’s 000 brand.

Mac continued in the family tradition of ranching. As a young cowboy he left the area to work at the Douglas Lake ranch in B.C. where he met his future wide Wendy Sibhu. Mac and Wendy got married in 1985 and by then had moved back to Southern Alberta where Mac could continue his life’s passion in ranching.

In 1988, Mac and Wendy were blessed with their first son Wyatt. The same year they moved to Fort St. John B.C. to experience racing in the north. in 1992 they retuned home and entered into a partnership with Janet Main and Charlie Straessle. By then the MX had relocated and is now 14 km sight of Pincher Creek and 6 miles north of the forest reserve boundary. This partnership thrived for several years, until together Mac and Wendy took over the MC Ranch.

In 1996, they welcomed their second son Mickey. Both Wyatt and Mickey are fifth generation ranchers and love their family tradition of proving beef for Canadian consumption. Wyatt, who is a mechanical engineer and lived in Lethbridge comes home on the weekends to work the ranch. Mickey also took engineering in Instrumentation Technology and has recently returned to the MC Ranch and works daily with Mac and Wendy. in 2005 after 35 Years Mac bought the Jimmy Miller, Wineglass brand from Marjorie Day who is Jimmy’s granddaughter. Carrie Daholke, Marjorie’s daughter put the first Wineglass on a calf since 1890.

Many researchers and environmentalists are interested in the land and wildlife that the Main family co-exist with. They have had many experiences with wolf pack dens, cougars, black and grizzly bears. They have experiences many losses of cattle due to predators but have been creative in their ranch management to protect not only they cows but these beautiful creatures who share the land.

On an interesting note, Wendy is Indo-Canadian whose family hails from Northern India. Her maternal grandfather raised racehorses in what is now know as Parisian. The Main children get their love of horses from both sets of grandparents. It has always been a small joke in the family that Mac and Wendy are our Cowboy & Indian.

No ranch runs on its own. The Mains would like to give their appreciation and gratitude to all family and friend for their support given throughout the years. We have been ranching here since Mac’s great grandfather William David McDowell started in Windymere in 1907.