Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Godsal, Frederick William
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1853-1935
History
Fred Godsal was born in 1853 at Stretton Hill, Cheshire, England. A friend of the Marquis of Lorne, he arrived in Pincher Creek in 1882 by way of Fort Benton, Montana. By 1883 he was living in his new ranch house built by Wm. Gladstone, establishing the Butte Ranch. He acquired half of the Garrett brothers 40,000 acre lease. When the leases were canceled he advised the government to reserve certain watering places to be kept open for watering stock. Such was the beginning of the water right system instituted throughout the west. He was a long time member of the Western Stock Growers Association, and it is believed that he named the settlement of Cowley. He retired to Victoria, B.C., and died there on October 13, 1935.