Born in Montreal, educated in England and at the Ontario Agricultural College, A.E. Cross heeded the call of the west while in his early 20s. He spent two years on a cattle ranch and then established what has since become known as the famous A7 Ranch.

About 1889, Mr. Cross and other cattlemen organized the Western Stock Growers’ Association, primarily for their own protection against cattle rustlers. In the years that followed he served as director and president, thereby playing a prominent part in the development of that organization.

In the early-1890s he organized the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company. To encourage the production of high quality barley he supplied top grade seed to growers.

For several consecutive years, Mr. Cross served in the Legislative Assembly at Regina in the “territorial” days of the North West Council.

Along with other ranchers and stockmen he helped organize a District Agricultural Society, which held its first fair in 1886. Later he became a member of the “Big Four,” a group that played the leading role in organizing the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.