A fitting tribute to the man was given by his friend, and fellow pioneer breeder, Wayne Malmberg. He said, “The whole North America cattle industry owes Travers Smith a lot of credit because of what he did, and because he did it without a lot of backing or support from anybody.”
There will be no monuments needed for Travers Smith or Parisien. There’s a lasting monument spread across North America. It’s a living and moving monument, made of Simmental breeders, and cattle. Most of all it’s a change of thinking, and an example of what can be done when a man has a dream and works at making it come true. (BeefTodayYearbook’77:88)
Showing posts with label Malmberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malmberg. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Lasting Monument
With the untiring efforts of Travers and others, many became believers in and benefactors of the Simmental dream. Now almost fifty years—a half a century—have come and gone and the name and legacy of Travers Smith is only remembered by a few, but those who knew Travers and what he dreamed and what he accomplished will never forget him. Ted Pritchett wrote:
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
1.10: Finding Parisien (Friday, August 5, 1966)
(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)
The next 5 days were a whirlwind of activity. Back in Paris by Tuesday morning, August 2, Travers sought out more information on promising herd sites. Both the Swiss cattle people and Canadian Embassy officials directed him to the Pie Rouge (French Simmental) Herd Book at Dijon, France, so by 3 P.M. Tuesday, Travers was in Dijon where the Pie Rouge Cattle Registry people undertook to arrange a tour for the following morning.
There in Dijon at the Herd Registry, Wayne Malmberg, the first Charolais importer, and Ray Woodward, "one of the best Genetists in the U.S." caught up with Travers via telephone. Malmberg and Woodward were in France buying Charolais cattle, but as they had attempted some ground work on the Simmental cattle for Travers, they were interested in meeting him for the Dijon tour along with some of the S.E.P.A men (Societe d'Exportation de Produits Agricoles) of their acquaintance. They recommended tour sites as well. Thus, the next morning (Wednesday, August 3), 2 cars of "Good top men" began a Pie Rouge tour. They travelled 500 miles seeing "good cattle" all along the way. They landed back at Nevers, France that night where Malmberg and Woodward had been staying.
Next day, Thursday, August 4, before Malmberg and Woodward left for Canada, Travers was taken to see some "good Charolais cattle." But by the end of Thursday, Travers still had not seen the Simmental bull calf he was looking for. In the meantime, the Pie Rouge Association secretary had been searching the Association's records to find more unvaccinated cattle of the type Travers desired. The S.E.P.A. men too were making more contacts and on Friday morning, August 5, Travers finally saw the bull he wanted.
Travers’ letter home (Sunday, August 7) does not express his impressions of the 3 unvaccinated bull-calves he selected that Friday, August 5th, but the S.E.P.A. document dated 6 August 1966 shows his first choice as Parisien (No 15.891 c 982, born 16 February 1966), with a farm price of 17.000 Fr. Two alternate choices were required in the event that Parisien failed the health tests. The first alternative, Orkan, was from the Langenieux farm; the second, Oranais, from the Roger farm. First-choice Parisien was from the Henri Rossin farm (C 982) at Saint-Appolinaire, Cote d’Or, only five miles from the Herd Book Office of the Pie Rouge at Dijon.
With the S.E.P.A. documents signed, the animals with their dams were set to enter the requisite testing area on Monday, August 8, 1966, the deadline given by the Canada Department of Agriculture. Travers had beaten the deadline by one day, a Sunday.
First, would came the “on-farm” test and 30-day quarantine. Passing those tests Parisien would be moved on to the quarantine station at Brest, France for more tests and another 30-day quarantine under Canadian control. Passing those tests, Parisien (along with all the Canadian-bound Charolais imports) would be placed on a ship bound for Canada’s quarantine facility at Grosse-Île, Quebec, an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Things were now in process.
The next 5 days were a whirlwind of activity. Back in Paris by Tuesday morning, August 2, Travers sought out more information on promising herd sites. Both the Swiss cattle people and Canadian Embassy officials directed him to the Pie Rouge (French Simmental) Herd Book at Dijon, France, so by 3 P.M. Tuesday, Travers was in Dijon where the Pie Rouge Cattle Registry people undertook to arrange a tour for the following morning.
There in Dijon at the Herd Registry, Wayne Malmberg, the first Charolais importer, and Ray Woodward, "one of the best Genetists in the U.S." caught up with Travers via telephone. Malmberg and Woodward were in France buying Charolais cattle, but as they had attempted some ground work on the Simmental cattle for Travers, they were interested in meeting him for the Dijon tour along with some of the S.E.P.A men (Societe d'Exportation de Produits Agricoles) of their acquaintance. They recommended tour sites as well. Thus, the next morning (Wednesday, August 3), 2 cars of "Good top men" began a Pie Rouge tour. They travelled 500 miles seeing "good cattle" all along the way. They landed back at Nevers, France that night where Malmberg and Woodward had been staying.
Next day, Thursday, August 4, before Malmberg and Woodward left for Canada, Travers was taken to see some "good Charolais cattle." But by the end of Thursday, Travers still had not seen the Simmental bull calf he was looking for. In the meantime, the Pie Rouge Association secretary had been searching the Association's records to find more unvaccinated cattle of the type Travers desired. The S.E.P.A. men too were making more contacts and on Friday morning, August 5, Travers finally saw the bull he wanted.
Travers’ letter home (Sunday, August 7) does not express his impressions of the 3 unvaccinated bull-calves he selected that Friday, August 5th, but the S.E.P.A. document dated 6 August 1966 shows his first choice as Parisien (No 15.891 c 982, born 16 February 1966), with a farm price of 17.000 Fr. Two alternate choices were required in the event that Parisien failed the health tests. The first alternative, Orkan, was from the Langenieux farm; the second, Oranais, from the Roger farm. First-choice Parisien was from the Henri Rossin farm (C 982) at Saint-Appolinaire, Cote d’Or, only five miles from the Herd Book Office of the Pie Rouge at Dijon.
With the S.E.P.A. documents signed, the animals with their dams were set to enter the requisite testing area on Monday, August 8, 1966, the deadline given by the Canada Department of Agriculture. Travers had beaten the deadline by one day, a Sunday.
First, would came the “on-farm” test and 30-day quarantine. Passing those tests Parisien would be moved on to the quarantine station at Brest, France for more tests and another 30-day quarantine under Canadian control. Passing those tests, Parisien (along with all the Canadian-bound Charolais imports) would be placed on a ship bound for Canada’s quarantine facility at Grosse-Île, Quebec, an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Things were now in process.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
1.04: The Simmental Idea
(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)
[Various articles over the years contain differing versions/memories of founding events relating to Simmental. This writer, referring to letters, accounts, documents, and records preserved by Travers' family, has tried to construct as accurate an account as possible.]
In that first week of January 1966, Travers became distracted from his "Brown Swiss" thoughts after reading Dr. Hobart Peters 1964 Report of travels in Switzerland containing comments on the Simmental breed. This was the first time (January 1966) Travers had heard of Simmental.1 He was immediately taken with what he read, and began to pursue every bit of information he could find about Simmental cattle—calling anyone he thought might know something of the Swiss Simmental. Men like, Hobart Peters of the CDA, Charles Redd of LaSal Utah, Wayne Malmberg, a key-player in the Charolais movement, and others. The more information he gathered, the more enthused he became.
By February 25, 1966 he’d sent his first letter of inquiry to Switzerland. B.Y. (Young) Williams of the Cardston Credit Union, a fellow rancher and a business associate of Travers’ Uncle John S. Smith, became Travers’ sounding board and colleague. Travers would write or tell Young Williams what he wanted to say in his letters to the Commission of Swiss Cattle Breeding Federation and to the Canadian government and Young would type them for Travers’ signature. Those letters (some reproduced herein from carbon copies), set out the early course of events.
The letters to Switzerland took about a five to six week turnaround, so while he eagerly awaited brochures and price information, Travers continued talking up his idea with anyone who would listen.
If he did not already know, from the buzz in the industry concerning the 1965/66 Charolais imports, he soon learned of them and the idea began to form that he could import not only frozen semen (which seems to have been his first thought) but perhaps even Simmental breeding stock.
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1. BetterBeefBusiness, June-July 1969, p. 11, various writings of Travers, & statements by Travers' wife, Belle.
[Various articles over the years contain differing versions/memories of founding events relating to Simmental. This writer, referring to letters, accounts, documents, and records preserved by Travers' family, has tried to construct as accurate an account as possible.]
In that first week of January 1966, Travers became distracted from his "Brown Swiss" thoughts after reading Dr. Hobart Peters 1964 Report of travels in Switzerland containing comments on the Simmental breed. This was the first time (January 1966) Travers had heard of Simmental.1 He was immediately taken with what he read, and began to pursue every bit of information he could find about Simmental cattle—calling anyone he thought might know something of the Swiss Simmental. Men like, Hobart Peters of the CDA, Charles Redd of LaSal Utah, Wayne Malmberg, a key-player in the Charolais movement, and others. The more information he gathered, the more enthused he became.
By February 25, 1966 he’d sent his first letter of inquiry to Switzerland. B.Y. (Young) Williams of the Cardston Credit Union, a fellow rancher and a business associate of Travers’ Uncle John S. Smith, became Travers’ sounding board and colleague. Travers would write or tell Young Williams what he wanted to say in his letters to the Commission of Swiss Cattle Breeding Federation and to the Canadian government and Young would type them for Travers’ signature. Those letters (some reproduced herein from carbon copies), set out the early course of events.
The letters to Switzerland took about a five to six week turnaround, so while he eagerly awaited brochures and price information, Travers continued talking up his idea with anyone who would listen.
If he did not already know, from the buzz in the industry concerning the 1965/66 Charolais imports, he soon learned of them and the idea began to form that he could import not only frozen semen (which seems to have been his first thought) but perhaps even Simmental breeding stock.
-----------------
1. BetterBeefBusiness, June-July 1969, p. 11, various writings of Travers, & statements by Travers' wife, Belle.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
1.01: Laying the Foundation ~ The Charolais Advocates
(From Chp. 1 ~ 1966, titled "Foundation Work," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)
From the Charolais breeders' point-of-view the import decision by the Canadian Department of Agriculture (CDA) had been long in coming. They had been operating from a purebred base using Charolais cattle imported from Mexico and the U.S. for about 11 years, but now they had hope of new seed stock from France, the native home of Charolais.
In prior years the Canadian government's answer to repeated requests had been to stress the impossibility of direct European importation because of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease that seemed part and parcel of the European cattle industry at that time.
For many years in Europe, eradication of foot-and-mouth disease was unsuccessful so the focus became control through vaccination. Such was unacceptable to Canadian authorities. The CDA's memory was still fresh with the enormous losses suffered in a 1952 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Saskatchewan. The International Export embargo against Canada at that time had been swift and costly. It was not something the CDA intended to suffer again. Canada would remain free of foot-and-mouth disease at all costs, thus the desire to find exciting new, genetic material was not considered worth the risk of importing a debilitating disease.
But the CDA was also cognizant of the frustrated "back-door" approach that some Charolais breeders were considering to get new breeding stock into Canada. By transporting French Charolais cattle to the French island of St. Pierre, just south of Newfoundland, breeders hoped to somehow get the offspring of these "transports" into Canada legally. At the time, this strategy seemed the most feasible way to approach the Canadian prohibition against direct importation.3
Dr. Ken Wells, Veterinary Director General of the Health of Animals Branch of the CDA, spoke of Canada's import decision to Ted Pritchett of the Simmental Country magazine, August 1987:
In any event, with the Minister's new directive to Dr. Wells, the Canadian government's focus suddenly shifted to the possibilities for direct importation. Fortunately for the cattle industry, Dr. Wells was the proverbial right man in the right place at the right time. His experiences had uniquely prepared him to research and establish—with the help of an able staff—an importation program that would protect the Canadian cattle industry, while at the same time allay the fears of the United States cattle industry.
In the words of Dr. Wells:
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1. "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, hdnote. (See also, http://data.charolais.com/wordpress/index.php/about-2/history/ ; http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/charolais/ . Note however, this Charolais history states 1966/67 as being the first Charolais import year, but other records confirm 1965/66 as the first year. See News and Views: "Charolais Imports — More On the Way" from page 117 of Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science, Vol. 30(4)— April 1966 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494523/?page=1 See also New and Views: "Maximum Security Quarantine Station," Vol. 29(7)—July 1965, pp. 191 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494426/?page=2 ; News and Views: "Health Tests Begin on Charolais Cattle," Vol. 29(10)—October 1965, p. 266 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494454/?page=1
2. For story on "C 15" purchased from Clint Ferris at Tie Siding, Wyoming, see White Gold: The Story of Charolais in Canada by Sharon Henwood and Bonnie Carruthers, pub. by the Canadian Charolais Assoc., 1986, pp. 15-6.
3. For additional information, see "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, 22, & 24.
4. "Maximum Quarantine" by Ted Pritchett, Simmental Country, August 1987, p. 51.
5. Import years are framed as 1965/66, because the cattle were chosen in France in 1965; subjected to various quarantines there; arrived at Grosse-Ile, Quebec Canada in the late fall of that year for a minimum 90-day quarantine; thereafter released to their importers in the early spring of 1966 for a further on-farm quarantine; and finally released into breeding service, usually early summer. It was virtually a year-long process. See references at footnote 1. above to establish 1965/66 at the first import year.
"The history of all European breeds in North America is irrevocably linked to Charolais because the original decision to allow the import of this breed from France to Canada opened the possibility for every other breed in the years that followed."1Wayne Malmberg (1906-1978) was a southern Alberta cattle rancher who was driven to challenge the commercial status quo of "blocky, compact, fat-producing" cattle. In Malmberg's view, rate of gain and lean meat/fat ratio should be re-evaluated in order to produce better cattle and better profits—the same ideas that would later capture Travers Smith, another southern Alberta rancher, 10 years Malmberg's junior. In his quest for “growthier, vigorous” cattle, Malmberg imported the first Charolais bull (C 15) into Canada from the U.S. in April 1954.2 His search soon led him also to the Charolais cattle of France and to becoming a prime mover and pioneer in pushing to open Canada to European importations. Malmberg and his Charolais associates lobbied for several years, but it was not until 1962 or 1963 that direct importation from France was seriously acted upon.
From the Charolais breeders' point-of-view the import decision by the Canadian Department of Agriculture (CDA) had been long in coming. They had been operating from a purebred base using Charolais cattle imported from Mexico and the U.S. for about 11 years, but now they had hope of new seed stock from France, the native home of Charolais.
In prior years the Canadian government's answer to repeated requests had been to stress the impossibility of direct European importation because of the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease that seemed part and parcel of the European cattle industry at that time.
For many years in Europe, eradication of foot-and-mouth disease was unsuccessful so the focus became control through vaccination. Such was unacceptable to Canadian authorities. The CDA's memory was still fresh with the enormous losses suffered in a 1952 foot-and-mouth outbreak in Saskatchewan. The International Export embargo against Canada at that time had been swift and costly. It was not something the CDA intended to suffer again. Canada would remain free of foot-and-mouth disease at all costs, thus the desire to find exciting new, genetic material was not considered worth the risk of importing a debilitating disease.
But the CDA was also cognizant of the frustrated "back-door" approach that some Charolais breeders were considering to get new breeding stock into Canada. By transporting French Charolais cattle to the French island of St. Pierre, just south of Newfoundland, breeders hoped to somehow get the offspring of these "transports" into Canada legally. At the time, this strategy seemed the most feasible way to approach the Canadian prohibition against direct importation.3
Dr. Ken Wells, Veterinary Director General of the Health of Animals Branch of the CDA, spoke of Canada's import decision to Ted Pritchett of the Simmental Country magazine, August 1987:
"It all began in 1962 when we attended a meeting of the Charolais Association at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. They were pushing for direct imports from France and Alvin Hamilton, who was the Minister of Agriculture at the time, agreed in principle to look into the feasibility of establishing a Maximum Quarantine Facility for that purpose. I was directed to investigate what we needed in the way of tests and health programs and facilities." (p. 51)Rodney James, "a mover-and-shaker" in the Canadian Charolais Association, recalled that it was during a 1963 visit to France, that The Honorable Harry Hays, Minister of the CDA gave directive to Dr. Ken Wells, Veterinary Director General of Canada, to find a way to open up European importation.
In any event, with the Minister's new directive to Dr. Wells, the Canadian government's focus suddenly shifted to the possibilities for direct importation. Fortunately for the cattle industry, Dr. Wells was the proverbial right man in the right place at the right time. His experiences had uniquely prepared him to research and establish—with the help of an able staff—an importation program that would protect the Canadian cattle industry, while at the same time allay the fears of the United States cattle industry.
In the words of Dr. Wells:
"What followed was an incredible amount of investigation, planning and co-ordination with all the people involved in Foot and Mouth disease. We had to work closely with our counterparts in France, gaining their permission for us to conduct the necessary test, according to our requirements and to negotiate the use of the Brest Quarantine facility in France."4So it was that the efforts of Malmberg and his Charolais associates helped set the stage for the first cattle importations from France in 1965/665 and sparked a revolution in the North American cattle industry. Malmberg became known as "Mr. Charolais of Canada."
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1. "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, hdnote. (See also, http://data.charolais.com/wordpress/index.php/about-2/history/ ; http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/charolais/ . Note however, this Charolais history states 1966/67 as being the first Charolais import year, but other records confirm 1965/66 as the first year. See News and Views: "Charolais Imports — More On the Way" from page 117 of Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Science, Vol. 30(4)— April 1966 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494523/?page=1 See also New and Views: "Maximum Security Quarantine Station," Vol. 29(7)—July 1965, pp. 191 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494426/?page=2 ; News and Views: "Health Tests Begin on Charolais Cattle," Vol. 29(10)—October 1965, p. 266 at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494454/?page=1
2. For story on "C 15" purchased from Clint Ferris at Tie Siding, Wyoming, see White Gold: The Story of Charolais in Canada by Sharon Henwood and Bonnie Carruthers, pub. by the Canadian Charolais Assoc., 1986, pp. 15-6.
3. For additional information, see "The Simmental Story," by Rodney James, Simmental Country, August, 1987, p. 20, 22, & 24.
4. "Maximum Quarantine" by Ted Pritchett, Simmental Country, August 1987, p. 51.
5. Import years are framed as 1965/66, because the cattle were chosen in France in 1965; subjected to various quarantines there; arrived at Grosse-Ile, Quebec Canada in the late fall of that year for a minimum 90-day quarantine; thereafter released to their importers in the early spring of 1966 for a further on-farm quarantine; and finally released into breeding service, usually early summer. It was virtually a year-long process. See references at footnote 1. above to establish 1965/66 at the first import year.
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Year It [Simmental] All Began in North America ~ 1966
[This 1966 timeline was researched, compiled, and written by S.M. Smith, daughter of B. Travers Smith, with reference to articles written by Travers Smith, as well as from original letters and carbons of letters—some of which are reproduced hereafter. Note: Quotations from Travers’ letters preserve his random capitals, haphazard punctuation, and carefree spellings.]
January
Travers Smith, age 49, of Mountain View, Alberta Canada, begins his 20th year of running the family ranch that his grandfather had homesteaded in 1899/1900. In the first week of what will prove an astonishing year, Travers’ long-held passion to improve his cattle herd leads him to read a 1964 report by Hobart F. Peters about Peter’s travels in Europe to study animal breeds, including the Simmental. (Peters is a geneticist with the Lethbridge Research Branch of the Canada Department of Agriculture—CDA.) This is Travers’ first encounter with the word Simmental. He quickly encounters it again in another article and in conversation with Charlie Redd of La Sal, Utah.
January–March
Everything Travers reads and hears about this “new” old breed sets him on fire and he becomes a man with a Simmental mission. He recruits his uncle’s business associate, B.Y. Williams, to help with correspondence to the Canada Department of Agriculture (CDA) and to the Commission of Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Federation.
February 16
A bull calf is born on the Henri Rossin farm (C 982) at Saint-Appolinaire, Cote d’Or, near Dijon, France. Someone names the new calf, Parisien. No one knows the revolution he will initiate, the 100,000 plus miles he will travel, the penthouse ballrooms he will parade through, or the genetic heritage he will bequeath to over 15,000 progeny. He is just an exceptionally fine calf with good prospects—technically French Pie Rouge, but the equivalent of the Swiss Simmental. In fact his sire was a Swiss Simmental, Lausannois (15721) and had been imported from Switzerland to France. His dam was French Pie Rouge named Uree-Etoile (82-876).
April 04
Travers and B.Y. Williams write to the CDA expressing interest in importing the “Red and White Simmental” of Switzerland.
April 30
After becoming aware that Switzerland is firmly closed for direct importation because of animal health restrictions in Canada, Travers directs a written request to the CDA for “the number of Red and White Simmental cattle allowed under one permit” for importation from France.
May/June
Travers continues correspondence with the Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Federation, firmly convinced that Switzerland can be opened for direct importation if Swiss and Canadian officials will just jump through enough hoops to make it happen.
June 29
Anxiety mounts as no word comes from the CDA regarding the permit request, so the duo fire off another letter to the CDA. B.Y. Williams remembers it thus:
The “overlooked” CDA permit for the “importation of 1 cattle from France” is mailed to Travers. The date of its receipt is not recorded, but time is of the essence because an unvaccinated bull calf under 9-months of age must be in the system no later than August 8. (An approximate 30-day on-farm quarantine is required before the Brest, France quarantine which is set to begin September 1.)
July 27
Travers boards his first-ever air flight in Lethbridge, Alberta bound for Zurich, Switzerland trusting that he can get his passport during a 5-hour stopover in Ottawa. Delays en route reduce his time in Ottawa to 3-hours, but he gets his passport and somehow finds time to also obtain “some good leads” for French contacts from the CDA Vets and from Trades and Commerce in Ottawa.
July 29
After a major airline delay in Paris, Travers arrives in Zurich and takes the evening train to Berne, arriving at 9 P.M.—7 hours behind schedule.
July 30
It is Saturday and the Swiss Cattle Federation office is closed, but Travers manages to roust a young man in the building who helps arrange a cattle guide—a Mrs. Hofer from Spiez—who takes Travers on a tour of the Simme River Valley. Travers writes home the following day, “The most Magnificant Cattle I have ever seen.” He will later recount
Travers attends Church services, visits with a new acquaintance, Dr. Winzenried on his farm near Berne, and writes to B.Y. Williams:
Travers proceeds to Geneva; meets and travels with Mr. Roger Decre, a French cattleman from Gex, who is an importer/exporter between Switzerland and France; spends the entire day with Mr. Decre (and Decre’s cousin who serves as interpreter); and then takes the night train to Paris.
August 02–06
After spending the morning at the Canadian Embassy getting contact information, Travers arrives in Dijon at 3 pm on August 2:
August 07-12
Travers returns to Switzerland and spends his time:
Upon returning home, Travers continues his telephone and letter campaign hoping to get Switzerland open for importation to Canada. At the same time, he begins directing cattle selection in Switzerland through his two Swiss contacts (Aegerter & Hofer), trusting in their expertise and trusting that the Canadian government will open Switzerland for the upcoming importation year. (This will prove a nail-biting experience for these first Canadian Simmental believers and investors. When at last it seems too late, they will receive eight permits for France/Switzerland, dated July 19, 1967.)
Travers’ long-suffering bankers have not been overly impressed with his latest idea, so in order to finance the Simmental “gamble,” several local investors finally respond to Travers’ enthusiasm. His vision of what the Simmental breed can do to improve productivity, performance, and profitability in livestock operations somehow slips into every conversation. By late August, seven men commit to help Travers finance this venture that has so captured his focus.
August 30
Six of the eight initial contributors of capital meet to determine the type of organization they want to transact the future business of the contributing group. According to the minutes, those present at the meeting are: “B. Travers Smith; Dr. Orson T. Bingham; Harold Watson; Guy Bowlby; H.J. Blackmore; B.Y. Williams.” Those not able to attend are: Dr. S. B. Williams and Franklyn Smith. Each contributor’s investment is $500.00 in cash with a further $500.00 guarantee to the bank to secure a $4,000.00 loan. Thus, their working capital for the project is $8,000.00. Their Parisien venture will take almost all of it.
September 20 (abt)
The Canadian Charolais Association advises that some testing delays have occurred and that “present plans are to move the cattle from the farms to Brest quarantine station within the next few days. It is expected that the plans will then be pretty much as scheduled, arriving at Grosse Ile, late October.” (Undated CCA letter to importers)
September 25
Parisien goes into quarantine at the Brest Quarantine Station in France. (S.E.P.A. letter dated September 28, 1966)
September 26
Simmental Breeders Limited (aka, SBL) is incorporated with B. Travers Smith, chairman; and B.Y. Williams, secretary with the remaining investors as directors.
October 21
The Royal Bank of Canada receipt of this date shows a currency exchange of .22, resulting in a total cost of $3,630.00 Canadian dollars that Travers and his fellow investors send to finalize matters with S.E.P.A. In subsequent correspondence by Travers, it appears that the original farm price for Parisien was 15.000 Fr., but is increased to 17.000 to cover extra costs relating to the transport, testing, etc. of the two alternate bulls at 1.000 Fr. each. Only one of the alternate bulls with dam is delivered to the testing area, so the adjusted price paid is 16.500 Fr. The extra 500 Fr. is for transport costs to get Parisien to Brest, France after he passes the first tests.
October, late [29th]
After a period of quarantine at Brest, France, Parisien and 228* other imports (mainly, if not totally, Charolais) are loaded onto a cattle boat for the 8-day ocean voyage to Grosse-Ile, Quebec—Canada’s quarantine facility in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here, Parisien will spend his first Canadian winter. (*CDA letter of Sept. 15, 1966 states cattle imports authorized for 1966 total 229.)
December
This pivotal year ends with Parisien’s anxious owners looking forward to an early spring thaw so their “great expectation” can wend his way to the Canadian mainland and overland to Alberta for his last quarantine phase—a 90-day on-farm quarantine on Travers’ ranch. In Travers’ view, things are looking up for every farm and ranch family in North America—every family, that is, who will lend him their ears and their eyes for even just a minute.
Those of you who remember Travers knew him as a man of deep faith. In a letter to his children in 1971, he wrote of this first Simmental trip, saying “… the Lord softened the heart of a customs man that I got a passport after [brief] hours in Ottawa. He led me to the right people in Switzerland, in France; unbeknown to them He influenced men to organize trips for me to see cattle. He gave me ideas and understanding of Cattle and the attendant business far beyond my natural powers. In the past He prepared through men’s management of Genetics, a Bull that started the biggest revolution for good in the cattle industry on this continent.”
And it all began—a mere 40 years ago [now 44].
[The above Timeline, written by SM Smith, was first published in Simmental Country, June/July 2006, World Congress Special Edition, pp. 120-128.]
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Note: this author is aware that Simmental was referenced in North America in the late 1880s and early 1900s, but did not survive as a distinct breed here, thus Simmental became one of the "exotics" in the heady days of the 1960s and '70s.
January
Travers Smith, age 49, of Mountain View, Alberta Canada, begins his 20th year of running the family ranch that his grandfather had homesteaded in 1899/1900. In the first week of what will prove an astonishing year, Travers’ long-held passion to improve his cattle herd leads him to read a 1964 report by Hobart F. Peters about Peter’s travels in Europe to study animal breeds, including the Simmental. (Peters is a geneticist with the Lethbridge Research Branch of the Canada Department of Agriculture—CDA.) This is Travers’ first encounter with the word Simmental. He quickly encounters it again in another article and in conversation with Charlie Redd of La Sal, Utah.
January–March
Everything Travers reads and hears about this “new” old breed sets him on fire and he becomes a man with a Simmental mission. He recruits his uncle’s business associate, B.Y. Williams, to help with correspondence to the Canada Department of Agriculture (CDA) and to the Commission of Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Federation.
February 16
A bull calf is born on the Henri Rossin farm (C 982) at Saint-Appolinaire, Cote d’Or, near Dijon, France. Someone names the new calf, Parisien. No one knows the revolution he will initiate, the 100,000 plus miles he will travel, the penthouse ballrooms he will parade through, or the genetic heritage he will bequeath to over 15,000 progeny. He is just an exceptionally fine calf with good prospects—technically French Pie Rouge, but the equivalent of the Swiss Simmental. In fact his sire was a Swiss Simmental, Lausannois (15721) and had been imported from Switzerland to France. His dam was French Pie Rouge named Uree-Etoile (82-876).
April 04
Travers and B.Y. Williams write to the CDA expressing interest in importing the “Red and White Simmental” of Switzerland.
April 30
After becoming aware that Switzerland is firmly closed for direct importation because of animal health restrictions in Canada, Travers directs a written request to the CDA for “the number of Red and White Simmental cattle allowed under one permit” for importation from France.
May/June
Travers continues correspondence with the Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Federation, firmly convinced that Switzerland can be opened for direct importation if Swiss and Canadian officials will just jump through enough hoops to make it happen.
June 29
Anxiety mounts as no word comes from the CDA regarding the permit request, so the duo fire off another letter to the CDA. B.Y. Williams remembers it thus:
[A few] days later Travers got a telephone call from Ottawa with apologies and the information that, due to an error, his permit application had been overlooked but had been granted. He had until August 8 to have his calf in farm quarantine in France. Not much time. Five thousand bucks quick, and something to back it up, and a bull required within less than six weeks. We had no problem with money at the time, not having any. We just decided to raise five hundred dollars each and get the same amount from a like number of friends, and we were in business. / Travers had contacted Charley Redd previously and he had said, “If you ever get a permit, I want to pick the bull for you.” So Travers got on the phone. No dice. Charley Redd’s calendar was full. So Travers booked the next suitable reservation he could get for Berne, Switzerland. Switzerland wasn’t open at the time for export, but he wanted a look at the native breed in the country of their origin. (SSh:March1974:30)July 07
The “overlooked” CDA permit for the “importation of 1 cattle from France” is mailed to Travers. The date of its receipt is not recorded, but time is of the essence because an unvaccinated bull calf under 9-months of age must be in the system no later than August 8. (An approximate 30-day on-farm quarantine is required before the Brest, France quarantine which is set to begin September 1.)
July 27
July 29
After a major airline delay in Paris, Travers arrives in Zurich and takes the evening train to Berne, arriving at 9 P.M.—7 hours behind schedule.
July 30
It is Saturday and the Swiss Cattle Federation office is closed, but Travers manages to roust a young man in the building who helps arrange a cattle guide—a Mrs. Hofer from Spiez—who takes Travers on a tour of the Simme River Valley. Travers writes home the following day, “The most Magnificant Cattle I have ever seen.” He will later recount
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. (SSh:Oct1970:8)July 31
Travers attends Church services, visits with a new acquaintance, Dr. Winzenried on his farm near Berne, and writes to B.Y. Williams:
I can’t get over them. We can’t get this 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. (BYW-2:July31/1966)August 01
Travers proceeds to Geneva; meets and travels with Mr. Roger Decre, a French cattleman from Gex, who is an importer/exporter between Switzerland and France; spends the entire day with Mr. Decre (and Decre’s cousin who serves as interpreter); and then takes the night train to Paris.
August 02–06
After spending the morning at the Canadian Embassy getting contact information, Travers arrives in Dijon at 3 pm on August 2:
Met Mr. Plenat at Pie Rougue Cattle registry. he had interperater told him what I was looking for. he said to get hotel and by morn would have a list of men to see. Just as I was ready to leave Wayne Malmberg called from Nevers. He & Ray Woodward had done a lot of ground work on these cattle for me and were ready to come up with the S.E.P.A. [Société d’Exportation de Produits Agricoles] Men next morning. Next day [Wed., Aug. 3] we had 2 cars Good top men Knew Country & Cattle, we saw some Good cattle. Had a good visit with Wayne and Ray Woodward who is one of best Genetists in U.S. He helped develope the Line 1 Miles City Cattle we bought. Travelled 500 Miles and landed back at Nevers. Next day [Thursday, August 4] saw some Good Charlaise Cattle Sepa Men contacted more men [p. 3] and next day [Friday, August 5] went back North of Jidon [Dijon] Saw more good Simmintal. Picked 3 Calves to test, One has to have at least 3 to start with for some fail on health tests. Made all arrangements with S.E.P.A Organization on cattle next day [Sat., August 6]. They will handle everything to Brest France the Quarantine Station. We only pay them at end of test for the bull that gets on boat for Canada. Wayne & Ray Left for Canada Thursday [Aug. 4] I missed train for Berne Swiss Last night so am travelling today Sunday to Berne. be at sacrament meet[ing] there tonight. Want to see more cattle in Switzerland. Then back to Paris Friday [August 12]. have a reservation for Plane Sat. be home Sunday I hope. … (BFS-6:Aug7/1966)The S.E.P.A. document dated 6 August 1966 lists Travers’ first choice as Parisien, with a farm price of 17.000 Fr. (See October 21 entry below.) Two alternate choices are required in the event that Parisien fails the health tests. The first alternate, Orkan, is from the Langenieux farm; the second, Oranais, from the Roger farm. First-choice Parisien is found a mere five miles from the Herd Book Office of the Pie Rouge at Dijon. With the S.E.P.A. documents signed, the animals with their dams were set to enter the requisite testing area on Monday, August 8, 1966—the deadline given by the CDA. Travers had beaten the deadline by one day, a Sunday. Things were now in process, being superintended by the well-organized Canadian Charolais Association (CCA), acting as agent for all Canadians importing from France. Everything will proceed like clockwork from one stage of testing and quarantine to the next.
August 07-12
Travers returns to Switzerland and spends his time:
… making arrangements for the future, contacting all the government and export people possible, as well as their veterinarians. My inquiries for top quality cattlemen in Switzerland to do a selection job for us in the future led me to two persons—Ernst Aegerter, who had for most of his life headed up the export of cattle out of Switzerland, and a Mrs. Ida Hofer, who was a real cattlewoman in her own right, being of a famous cattle breeding family in Switzerland and also married into one. (SSh:Oct1970:9 from “Selecting the first Canadian Simmentals,” by Travers Smith, Simmental Shield, October 1970, pp. 8-10.)August 15 onward
Upon returning home, Travers continues his telephone and letter campaign hoping to get Switzerland open for importation to Canada. At the same time, he begins directing cattle selection in Switzerland through his two Swiss contacts (Aegerter & Hofer), trusting in their expertise and trusting that the Canadian government will open Switzerland for the upcoming importation year. (This will prove a nail-biting experience for these first Canadian Simmental believers and investors. When at last it seems too late, they will receive eight permits for France/Switzerland, dated July 19, 1967.)
Travers’ long-suffering bankers have not been overly impressed with his latest idea, so in order to finance the Simmental “gamble,” several local investors finally respond to Travers’ enthusiasm. His vision of what the Simmental breed can do to improve productivity, performance, and profitability in livestock operations somehow slips into every conversation. By late August, seven men commit to help Travers finance this venture that has so captured his focus.
August 30
Six of the eight initial contributors of capital meet to determine the type of organization they want to transact the future business of the contributing group. According to the minutes, those present at the meeting are: “B. Travers Smith; Dr. Orson T. Bingham; Harold Watson; Guy Bowlby; H.J. Blackmore; B.Y. Williams.” Those not able to attend are: Dr. S. B. Williams and Franklyn Smith. Each contributor’s investment is $500.00 in cash with a further $500.00 guarantee to the bank to secure a $4,000.00 loan. Thus, their working capital for the project is $8,000.00. Their Parisien venture will take almost all of it.
September 20 (abt)
The Canadian Charolais Association advises that some testing delays have occurred and that “present plans are to move the cattle from the farms to Brest quarantine station within the next few days. It is expected that the plans will then be pretty much as scheduled, arriving at Grosse Ile, late October.” (Undated CCA letter to importers)
September 25
Parisien goes into quarantine at the Brest Quarantine Station in France. (S.E.P.A. letter dated September 28, 1966)
September 26
Simmental Breeders Limited (aka, SBL) is incorporated with B. Travers Smith, chairman; and B.Y. Williams, secretary with the remaining investors as directors.
October 21
The Royal Bank of Canada receipt of this date shows a currency exchange of .22, resulting in a total cost of $3,630.00 Canadian dollars that Travers and his fellow investors send to finalize matters with S.E.P.A. In subsequent correspondence by Travers, it appears that the original farm price for Parisien was 15.000 Fr., but is increased to 17.000 to cover extra costs relating to the transport, testing, etc. of the two alternate bulls at 1.000 Fr. each. Only one of the alternate bulls with dam is delivered to the testing area, so the adjusted price paid is 16.500 Fr. The extra 500 Fr. is for transport costs to get Parisien to Brest, France after he passes the first tests.
October, late [29th]
After a period of quarantine at Brest, France, Parisien and 228* other imports (mainly, if not totally, Charolais) are loaded onto a cattle boat for the 8-day ocean voyage to Grosse-Ile, Quebec—Canada’s quarantine facility in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here, Parisien will spend his first Canadian winter. (*CDA letter of Sept. 15, 1966 states cattle imports authorized for 1966 total 229.)
December
This pivotal year ends with Parisien’s anxious owners looking forward to an early spring thaw so their “great expectation” can wend his way to the Canadian mainland and overland to Alberta for his last quarantine phase—a 90-day on-farm quarantine on Travers’ ranch. In Travers’ view, things are looking up for every farm and ranch family in North America—every family, that is, who will lend him their ears and their eyes for even just a minute.
Those of you who remember Travers knew him as a man of deep faith. In a letter to his children in 1971, he wrote of this first Simmental trip, saying “… the Lord softened the heart of a customs man that I got a passport after [brief] hours in Ottawa. He led me to the right people in Switzerland, in France; unbeknown to them He influenced men to organize trips for me to see cattle. He gave me ideas and understanding of Cattle and the attendant business far beyond my natural powers. In the past He prepared through men’s management of Genetics, a Bull that started the biggest revolution for good in the cattle industry on this continent.”
And it all began—a mere 40 years ago [now 44].
[The above Timeline, written by SM Smith, was first published in Simmental Country, June/July 2006, World Congress Special Edition, pp. 120-128.]
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Note: this author is aware that Simmental was referenced in North America in the late 1880s and early 1900s, but did not survive as a distinct breed here, thus Simmental became one of the "exotics" in the heady days of the 1960s and '70s.
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