The ranch was said to have been a very modern operation.

The layout of the ranch was as shown on the sketch by Roy Banta. I have scribbled notes according to additional information on the plans.

The whole operation centred around the river and the water well. This hand dug well was equipped with a windmill for pumping the water. There was rarely any problem for lack of wind in that country. The water was stored in a cement cistern about four feet in diameter up on the hill above the ranch buildings and probably contained about five hundred to a thousand gallons of water. The top of the cistern was equipped with a float and wire level indicator through the cover so that, from the ranch house, one could see the level of the water. If more water was needed or the water pressure was down, a cowboy could be called to go to the pump, engage the windmill, and fill’er up. There was lots of water for the cattle as well.

The main building was Michael and Annie’s house. There was a large barn and corral complex; some ingenious round corrals for separating and handling, treating, feeding, branding, and or watering cattle; a blacksmith’s shop where branding irons and horse shoes were made and later, cars were fixed. At one point, there was an R.C.M.P. shack – equipped with R.C.M.P. Apparently there had been some cattle rustling in the area. There was a small house in which a couple by the name of Bob Brodie and his wife Georgia lived, a bunkhouse, and a large hay storage building. Most of the corrals and fences were made from logs that swept down the Red Deer River in the spring flood - lost from logging operations up-river, Sundre way.

Eventually came a house for Mike’s only son, Murray. Murray’s house was built shortly before he was married to Patricia Lemna, a local girl who worked for Michael and Annie.

Murray’s house was Aladdin Log Home, prefabricated in Winnipeg in 1927 and shipped by train to Jenner – without blueprints. Each part had a number but that didn’t help without the plans.

Roy Banta was sent off day after day with a stone boat and horses to fetch some suitable rocks to be split for basement construction. By the look of things, Roy did a pretty good job of rock choosing. Those granite boulders split by the stone mason and cemented in place are still there today, with A finger inscription in wet cement 1927 still set in the sill of one window opening.

Some of the cattle came from the United States. They drove a few Longhorns up from Texas. The other cattle were Herefords, that could handle the winters better than most other breeds. These were probably brought from the Calgary area.

When the ranch was going full-out, the herd numbered some 2,000 to 2,500 head. In 1926 and 1927 Roy Banta and others, the “odd sheep herders” looked after an additional 3,000 head of sheep and probably 500 horses, or more.

They said, The Stapleton’s didn’t order a car, they ordered a train. when they sold cattle into the Chicago exchange markets.