John Ware: Legendary Black Cowboy | Strong and Free

John Ware was one of the first Black cowboys in Canada. Known for his strength and horsemanship and his innovative ranching techniques, he was widely admired as one of the best cowboys in the West, even at a time of widespread anti-Black racism and discrimination.

The audio in this story is from Strong and Free, a six-part podcast from Historica Canada, produced by Media Girlfriends. Because Black history is Canadian history.

Born into enslavement, John Ware became a successful rancher – one of the first Black cowboys in the West – and eventually settled near Calgary. In the Strong and Free podcast, we speak with Cheryl Foggo, author, playwright, screenwriter, and director of John Ware Reclaimed and Karina Vernon, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, to learn more about this legendary Black hero who had a hand in shaping Canada’s prairie culture.