The First Angus in America
When George Grant transported four Angus
bulls from Scotland to the middle of the Kansas Prairie in 1873, they were
part of the Scotsman's dream to found a colony of wealthy, stock-raising
Britishers. Grant died five years later, and many of the settlers at his
Victoria, Kansas, colony later returned to their homeland. However, these four
Angus bulls, probably from the herd of George Brown of Westertown, Fochabers,
Scotland, made a lasting impression on the U.S. cattle industry.
When two of the George Grant bulls
were exhibited in the fall of 1873 at the Kansas City (Missouri) Livestock
Exposition, some considered them "freaks" because of their polled (naturally
hornless) heads and solid black color (Shorthorns were then the dominant
breed.) Grant, a forward thinker, crossed the bulls with native Texas longhorn
cows, producing a large number of hornless black calves that survived well on
the winter range. The Angus crosses wintered better and weighed more the next
spring, the first demonstration of the breed's value in their new homeland.
Early Importers and Breeders
The first great herds of Angus beef
cattle in America were built up by purchasing stock directly from Scotland.
Twelve hundred cattle alone were imported, mostly to the Midwest, in a period
of explosive growth between 1878 and 1883. Over the next quarter of a century
these early owners, in turn, helped start other herds by breeding, showing,
and selling their registered stock.
The American Angus Association
The American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders'
Association (name shortened in 1950s to American Angus Association) was
founded in Chicago, Illinois, on November 21, 1883, with 60 members. The
growth of the Association has paralleled the success of the Angus breed in
America.
In the first century of operation,
more than 10 million head were recorded. The Association records more cattle
each year then any other beef breed association, making it the largest beef
breed registry association in the world.
