Memorials

From the Simmental Scene, March 1974:


The Southern Simmental magazine ~ March 1974

Travers may be gone from his active role in Simmental but his memory will live on in all of us who knew him as a tough, headstrong, courageous man with a streak of humility, compassion and kindness seldom encountered in any man. (p. 13)

From the Simmental Shield, March 1974:

I only heard one negative comment about him in the intervening years. A Montana rancher phrased it like this: “If only he wasn’t such a lousy salesman I’d have bought 500 or maybe 1,000 ampules of Simmental semen when he first visited me. And if I had bought that much I’d be a millionaire today! Darn him anyway!” (p. 12)

Belle received many kind remembrances. Miles R. McCarry, Director of Agricultural Relations at Curtiss Breeding Service in Cary, Illinois wrote of a visit he and his son made to Alberta:

Travers—although busy—dropped whatever he was doing and devoted his entire day to giving us the grand tour. / We wound up finishing supper—in Fort McLeod—after dark. … / I can think of 101 more similar incidents over the years that I was privileged to know Travers Smith. / He was a pioneer, a thinker and a doer. A busy man who never got too busy to help a friend—or show a kid a bunch of Simmentals. / A rare combination, I agree. But then, Travers Smith was a rare individual! In all sincerity, I rank him among the three or four truly great men I ever knew. (Letter: March 28, 1974)

Charles R. Koch, Editor & Publisher of Koch’s North American Beef Sire Directory, wrote to Fenton Webster at SBL and said:

With his importation of Parisien he became a major figure in the development of the North American cattle industry. That importation we now know was one of the most fortuitous events of modern cattle history. It made Travers something of a modern Bakewell. And Travers carried off the honor with the calm dignity of the gentleman that he was. / My frequent visits with him at stock shows and meetings will long be remembered. … (Letter: Feb. 26, 1974)

From the Montana Simmental Association Newsletter, February 19, 1974:

… It is with a great deal of sorrow that we say farewell for now, to you Travers. We know you were needed in greater pastures and we know you will do your work well beside our Greatest Cowman. We know too, that in only a short while we will be with you again, looking to your guidance as we have been guided by you for these many years. / … The wisdom and leadership you have given us while you were here will make you the Immortal Cattleman of the Century.

An MSA Newsletter quoted from Travers’ 1971 letter to his children, and commented:

Occasionally, as we pass thru life, some of us are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend some time with great men. Those of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with Travers Smith knew a great man. Not a great man only in the field of livestock, not great because he was wise enough to import the first Simmental into North America, but great because of his love of God and his family. (MSA:March1974)