Alfred Ernest Cross

Born in Montreal, Cross was the oldest of seven children.[1] He trained as a veterinary surgeon.

Cross moved to Alberta in 1884 to work at a ranch near what is now Cochrane, Alberta[2] owned by Matthew Henry Cochrane.[3]

In 1899 he married Helen Rothney Macleod (1878-1959), the daughter of North-west Mounted Police Commissioner Colonel James Macleod, who gave Calgary its name.[4]

By 1886 Cross owned his own ranch, the A7 Ranche, located near what is now Nanton, Alberta.[2]

Cross returned to Montreal for hospital treatment for appendicitis. He returned to Calgary in 1891 holding a diploma that he had been trained as a brewer's apprentice[2] and established the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company, the first brewery in what was then the Northwest Territories.[2]

That same year Calgary's oldest and most exclusive club, the Ranchmen's Club, was established; and A.E. Cross was a founding member.[2]

In 1898, Cross entered politics, and was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for East Calgary.

Cross was active in community affairs, serving as a director and president of Calgary General Hospital, as president of the Alberta Exhibition Association, and as president of the Calgary Board of Trade (now Calgary Chamber of Commerce) in 1909.[2]

In the summer of 1912, Cross, along with Patrick Burns, George Lane, and Archie McLean ("The Big Four") put up the combined amount of $100,000 to finance the first Calgary Stampede held in September 1912[5]

Cross died in 1932. The following have been dedicated in his name:

• A.E. Cross Junior High School located in Calgary, Alberta.[6]
• The Big Four Building at the Stampede Grounds in Calgary, Alberta.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfred Ernest Cross.

• A Business History of Alberta by Henry C. Klassen