Cochrane, Alta, town, pop 13 760 (2006c), 12 041 (2001cA), inc 1971. Cochrane is located 35 km northwest of Calgary, on the BOW RIVER. It is named for Senator M.H. COCHRANE, who in 1881 founded the COCHRANE RANCHE, which was declared a Provincial HISTORIC SITE in 1977. Cochrane became a Canadian Pacific Railway shipping point for cattle and is still a farming and ranching centre. A dormitory town for Calgary, it has recently become an important regional tourist centre focusing on the western and ranching heritage. There is a weekly newspaper, Cochrane This Week.