Tributes to Parisien

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Parisien
▪  born February 16, 1966 on the Henri Rossin farm, at Saint Appolinaire, Cote d'Or, France
      (France Reg. No. 15.891 c982)
▪  weight: January 1, 1968 - 1,770 lbs.; July 1, 1973 - 2,800 lbs.
▪  died December 12, 1978 in Cardston, Alberta  Canada
      (SBL 1X; CSA #1; ASA #1; progeny over 15,000; 1st Simmental Golden Certified Meat Sire).



 Ted Pritchett wrote:

It all began with a bull too. Parisien. He’s regarded as the greatest Simmental bull today, not just because he was first, but for what he did and didn’t do in the cattle industry. / He was impressive, himself, and that alone won him a lot of friends at hundreds of shows and exhibits. He was structurally correct, and didn’t have many of the faults found in bulls that followed. / He gave good, growthy calves, that an ordinary cow could have without problems. While he impressed a lot of people, he didn’t get anyone in trouble. He wasn’t an extreme bull, but a useful bull that crossed well on British breeds. He was tailor-made to be a bull to establish a breed. Reflect, if you will, on the position, of not just the Simmental breed, but every breed which was to follow, had Parisien been a very hard calver, left calves that didn’t cross well on British breed cows, or that didn’t grow, or were structurally unsound. If Parisien hadn’t proven successful, it’s doubtful whether there would’ve been a Simmental breed, and all the subsequent changes it brought. (BTY’77:87-88)

In the “Guest Editorial” of Simmental Country, August 1987, Wes Alm wrote:

Yes, Parisien arrived on the winds of change. The commercial cattle industry was still suffering from the dwarfism or pony cattle era of the 1950’s. Parisien, and those who followed were the beginning of a Revolution in the bull industry that will be documented in the pages of history for all time. (p. 50)

In fact, Parisien became too popular for the liking of some. Miles R. McCarry of Curtiss Breeding Service tells the following:

… We suddenly started hearing rumors that Parisien—and his offspring—were “wilder than hawks.” We never knew who started it. Parisien found a way to stop it. / By this time, he was big, mature, and super-impressive. Travers was displaying him, along with some of his daughters, at several USA shows. We were collecting semen along the way, too. / At Las Vegas, a jump cow ran out from under Parisien. His front feet returned to earth in a hurry. One of his horns narrowly missed me. The other landed squarely on Glenn Allen’s head. / No damage. Glenn’s Stetson cushioned the blow. He walked away without a headache. Or, at least he did until the rumors started anew. Mean bull! Almost killed that Curtiss guy! / That same night, Parisien, with Travers on the lead strap, marched in a parade of exotics at the rodeo held in conjunction with the show. No problems until they got back to the barn. / There, they arrived just [in] time to walk within five or six feet of a Limousin bull celebrating the end of the march by trying to kill his leadsman. / Actually! There were screams, shouts, and blood all over the place. Parisien paid them no heed. He was more interested in getting back to eating hay in his pen! / “Tough bull to handle,” slow-grinned Travers as he hung up the show halter and watched the stand-by rodeo ambulance scream away with the poor Limousin cowboy. / Perhaps he smiled because he knew something that the rest of us were just starting to realize! Parisien was much, much more than a great bull to handle. He was a great bull. Period. …
He launched what has to be the greatest single success story in the entire history of animal agriculture—the story of the Simmental in America. / Who—except maybe Travers Smith—would have bet that Simmental registrations would outnumber those of Polled Herefords less than 20 years after Parisien got here? / That happened last year [1986], you know. And, the Simmental breed out-registered Limousin, Charolais, and Shorthorns combined … moved into third place behind Angus and Hereford. / None of this would have happened if Parisien had turned out to be less than great. … / Parisien was one heckuva bull—for a “Backwoods Guernsey.” Fact is, he’d have been one heckuva bull if he’d been purple-spotted. Honest. (SSh:July 15,1987:6A)

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)

Travelin’ Travers

With the first crossbred progeny results in for this “new” breed, Travers and SBL began promoting Simmental anywhere they could get an audience. As noted, the reception seemed better in the United States, for many in Cardston and area seemed skeptical—especially the ones that Travers had envisioned would and could profit most from this venture. He had seen so many of them struggle year after year like himself—like their fathers before—and never seemed to get ahead. And so, in the face of their skepticism and sometimes ridicule, Travers turned his attention to those who were more open, hoping for the time when the local people—the “doubting Thomases”—would see the results and be converted for their own good.

Don Jensen said:

“Everywhere Travers went in Canada, he was met with amusement and people laughed at him, but his perseverance carried him on. He was so dedicated and sincere, you couldn’t help but believe in him. / “He spoke anywhere and everywhere he could get an audience with only the meager material he had on hand. At this time, it was pictures he had taken in Europe and the photos of Parisien as a calf and after quarantine. / “There was scanty information and it was just through his dedication and enthusiasm that he got people to use some semen. The Grass Range Hutterite Colony were the first to breed Simmental outside Travers himself and his brother Frank and this came after Travers showed a bunch of slides on the fridge door and gave them a talk. / … “Travers spoke at the Lions Club in Cardston and one of the first questions asked of him was if he really believed all the things he was saying. Well, I tell you, that was the wrong thing to say to Travers because when he got finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. That’s how dedicated he was.”¹

Travers showed slides in public meetings, in hotel rooms, in private homes, on screens, walls and fridge doors. He had a drive and enthusiasm that he had never had before about anything. He was driven by a profound belief in the quality of his product and its potential to improve the lives of thousands of farm and ranch families.

From the article, ‘At SBL They “Breed ‘em all Simmental”’ in Cattlemen, August 1971, we read:

In 1968, as an ambassador of Simmental, Smith visited 20 states in the U.S. where he found an encouraging degree of enthusiasm, and many parts of Canada where the level of enthusiasm was different—in the process he picked up the nickname “Traveling.” (p. 13)

Travers’ pleasure in promoting Simmental was his rest and relaxation. Don Jensen said:

If anybody would listen he’d stay there [promoting] 24 hours a day.

In speaking with Ted Pritchett, Don Jensen recalled how:

Travers would be on that cement for 14 hours a day sometimes until his ankles would swell up so bad he could hardly walk. But he always invited folks back to the room to show them slides and the room was crowded with people almost every night. I’ve never seen anything like it — I don’t know where the man got all his energy, because I never saw him down. Not once in all the years I travelled with him, did I ever hear him wonder if all the work was worth it. He never deviated from his goal and he never lost his dedication.²

In the Simmental Shield, July 15, 1987, Miles McCarry of Curtiss Breeding Service wrote:

All we had to do was “sell” Simmental to people who had never heard of the breed and AI to cattlemen who didn’t want to hear about it. After that, Travers said, Parisien semen would sell itself! … / Travers took a bunch of good slides while he was in France. Later, he got some great shots of Parisien calves. He literally hit the road with them—and with almost missionary zeal. / He traveled wherever grass grew. He spoke at meetings set up by Curtiss distributors. Between meetings, he “talked” his slides in bunkhouses and kitchens. / Travers, to coin a phrase, was the kind of guy you would buy a used car from. His honest enthusiasm sold the Simmental idea—sold it well enough to get a lot of cattlemen “messing” with AI, too. / Net result: Parisien calves started popping up all over the place. People who saw them wanted some just like them. Simmental sizzle! We started to gain momentum! (pp. 1A, 6A)

But even with the frenetic pace of these early days, Travers took time in (January-?)1968 and January 1969 for further education at The Stockmen’s School, sponsored by the Agriservices Foundation and conducted in cooperation with Arizona State University at Tempe. He was always open to new ideas and improved methods.

portion of a news item from the Fort Collins Coloradoan, October 1968

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1. Simmental Country:Aug1987:37
2. Simmental Country:Aug1987:44