By going to Switzerland first, Travers also hoped to get what advice he could on best selection criteria and farm locations in France from the Swiss. Because of his delayed flight from Paris, the Swiss Cattle Commission offices were closed by the time of his arrival. The next morning (Saturday), he found their offices closed for the weekend, but was finally able to roust a young man in the building to open up to him. The young man was very helpful in arranging for a cattle guide and Travers was soon on his way by train to Spiez to meet his guide to the Simmental (both cattle and valley). His guide was Mrs. Hofer, a middle-aged widow who spoke 5 languages. Her husband had died about five years previous, but as they had raised Simmental Cattle, she “knew all about them, where to go, and the people to see.”
On Saturday, July 30, under the guidance of Mrs. Hofer, Travers got his first view of the best Simmental cattle in the Simmental (the Simme River valley). He described them as “The most Magnificent Cattle I have ever seen.”1
I spent some hours with a tape measure measuring these cattle and jotting down the figures and just standing and looking at them. It took some time to pull myself away from this scene.2In his July 31 letter to colleague, B.Y. Williams of Cardston, Travers wrote:
I can’t get over them. We can’t get his kind of animal in 100’s of years of breeding with what we’ve got to work with in Canada. If we can get a few over home it will be the biggest break through for Cattle in a long time. … I’m making every effort and contacted [sic] possible to see if we can’t move cattle from here to France for another year. // … I would sell ½ my herd to get a few of these over.3His plans were to stay in Switzerland till Monday or Tuesday before returning to France to select his import animal, a Red and White Simmental [Pie rouge de l'Est]. On Sunday, July 31, after a morning sick-and-dizzy spell (which he attributed to a delayed vaccination reaction: BFS-5), Travers took time to attend his religious services at the LDS Chapel next to the LDS Swiss Temple. Between church meetings, he visited with one of his new acquaintances, Dr. Winzenried, whose farm was located 1½ miles from the LDS meetinghouse.
On Monday morning, August 1, Travers left for Geneva, Switzerland arriving about noon where he met a Mr. Roger Decre, an importer and exporter of cattle between Switzerland and France. Travers spent 2-3 hours with Mr. Decre at the Swiss/French border while Mr. Decre cleared cattle. From there they travelled to Mr. Decre's Mountain Ranch near Gex, France looking at cattle all day. By 11 P.M. Travers was back in Geneva, Switzerland, boarding the train for Paris.
---------------
1. Letter to his wife, Belle, July 31, 1966: (BFS-5)
2. Simmental Shield, Oct 1970:8
3. Letter to B.Y. Williams, July 31, 1966: (BYW-2)
