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)

Travers' Last Days

Many who attended the Louisville, Kentucky ASA meeting did not realize how serious Travers’ condition was; yet cards and letters of appreciation poured in from people whose lives he had blessed. The eventual diagnosis was Adenocarcinoma of the large intestine which had spread throughout the abdomen and into the liver. Within seven days of the ASA Convention, Travers was gone (February 7, 1974). He was just past his 57th birthday. Many from far and near attended his funeral in Cardston, Alberta on February 11, 1974.

Harry Furgeson, D.V.M., one of the early passionate converts to Simmental and a man whom Travers valued as a friend, was one of those asked by Travers' wife to serve as an honorary pallbearer. On February 16, Harry wrote a touching letter:

Dear Belle, / You made me so very humble, so proud. / No one knew how much I loved Travers—how I looked to him for guidance, for counsel. Yet you sensed it. You made me very happy. / I never had a brother by birth—but chose my brother—Travers. He led me as only a brother can. / For the Newsletter I tried to write about him— … / I hope what I have written for my Newsletter meets with your approval. …

Travers funeral program ~ February 11, 1974

Swiss-carved wooden cow awarded to Travers (in absentia) at the
American Simmental Association banquet of Feb. 1, 1974
surrounded by funeral flowers of Feb. 11, 1974.

Performance Reports ~ 1970

The 12-page SBL promo brochure for circa 1970 was full of b&w pictures and performance stats. Here are pages 8-11:

Testing & the Test Facility in Europe

Travers’ fascination with facts to back his enthusiasm resulted in early testing of SBL bulls and in the establishment of an SBL test facility in Europe. In speaking of SBL’s commitment to performance testing, Don Jensen is again quoted:

The 2,000 head [of SBL cattle] included a test herd of 700 cows used to test the genetic potential of the bull battery. We didn’t want the maternal side to influence the test results so Travers brought up Red Angus-Hereford cows from Nebraska. Each of the seven bulls we had by this time were bred to 100 cows and the results gave us factual information on the bulls that we offered to our customers. / … Hans Ulrich was one of the people involved in the operation then and his father lived in Switzerland. SBL built a test facility over there and hired Hans’ father to manage it for them so they could pre-select the calves they brought over. They would buy about 200 calves, put them on test, then select only the top 10% of those to import. The operation became something on a very far-reaching scale. (SC:Aug1987:44)

With its European test facility, SBL was soon able to provide performance data on their imports even before importation took place. In their brochure of 1971-72, entitled, “Simmental from SBL,” they wrote:

As owners and directors of SBL, we are pleased to present our 1971-72 Simmental Beef Sire brochure. This marks our fifth year of importing from Europe and our third year of performance testing in Switzerland. / We are not aware of any other testing program to evaluate Simmental cattle for import to North America that compares with the SBL program. Mr. Hans Ulrich Sr., a reputable Swiss cattle breeder, is employed full time by SBL and carries out our comprehensive system of selection. / These pre-selected calves are then placed on a 100-day feed test. Following the test, the calves are indexed, measured and carefully scrutinized. Only the very best meet or exceed SBL’s requirements. (IFC)

SBL was also promoting its ability to select import animals for other breeders who wanted to import from Europe with a minimum of worry and a maximum of assurance for quality. In a 1971 SBL newsletter, they wrote:

S.B.L. has provided service in selecting animals in Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany; but only in Switzerland do we have an S.B.L. selection and testing program. / In our opinion Switzerland still remains the number one Simmental seed stock country of the world. Switzerland provides the greatest number of animals to select from. / S.B.L. in co-operation with the Swiss Breeders Federation have set up their own selection and testing program in Switzerland. Cattle breeders from Canada and the United States who have visited Switzerland have been high in their praise of the S.B.L. Swiss program. We have endeavored to provide the best possible animals for our customers …

SBL ad in betterbeefbusiness ~ June 1970

Words in Print

B. Travers Smith
June 2, 1972

During this decade, Travers published an article called, “Selecting the First Canadian Simmental” in the Simmental Shield, October 1970, and another called, “New Dawn for the Cowman” in the August 12, 1972 issue of the magazine, Commercial West (pp. 49-50).

In the Simmental Shield article, Travers wrote:

Our story has grown as we have traveled from place to place and met with ranchers with down-to-earth experiences, and spent from one hour to three hours at each meeting, sometimes with one man, sometimes with 40 or 50. In meetings with college and university students there have been upwards of a hundred in a group. Future Farmers of America and 4-H groups with their leaders, the university groups and their professors along with them, all seem anxious to hear the story and take the good tidings to someone else. One meeting we remember in particular was held at Augusta, Mont. where 30 ranchers met together for three hours. At the end of the meeting, one of the ranchers said that it was the best time he had had in years. We picked up a lot of good, practical information from management practices of ranchers and other experiences told at meetings and to others.

So our story has grown—not just on Simmental alone, but a story of the cattle industry and how we can improve it from one end to the other. ...

We have also been privileged to tell the story at other conventions of cattlemen, such as P.R.I. at Sheridan, Wyo.; on two occasions at Dr. Ensminger’s Beef Science School in Phoenix; a program shown at the Curtiss booth at the livestock show in Denver; Western Stock Growers’ Convention at Calgary, Alta., and a Beef Science School at Banff, Alta. We have also given presentations at A.I. technician schools back and forth across the land, but most of all the story has spread by word of mouth. People have seen the calves that have been dropped from Simmental matings with almost every breed you can imagine in the United States and Canada – from Austin Rugge’s Shorthorn cows at Garnett, Kan., to Adam Schweitzer’s Simmental-Hereford crosses at Geyser, Mon. People have seen our own calves here in southern Alberta, the purebred heifers here, and also the bulls at the A.I. studs.

All of these things spread the story, and it keeps being told over and over. We are so enthused over the possibilities of this breed that we will keep telling the story, and those who have calves on the ground and others who are interested will continue to tell the story for us. (p. 10)

For a time, SBL also produced a newsletter about the successes of Simmental. SBL’s belief in the value of Simmental was borne out time after time in performance testing programs, as well as in carcass weights. Several grand and reserve championships were won by 4-H members and by others who participated in showring and other competitive events.

1st Progeny Export ~ Amor 1A

August 1970 proved a high-profile month for SBL, with Tuesday, August 11th also being an historic day in U.S. cattle history. That was the day that Amor 1A, a year-old bull sired by Parisien, crossed the Alberta-Montana border as the first fullblood Simmental import into the United States. He had been sold by SBL to a private U.S. syndicate called Simmental Breeders of North America comprising Oklahoma (1) and Texas (6) cattlemen for a record price of $154,000.00 U.S. It was a great day in the rapidly unfolding story of Simmental in North America.

The story with picture was covered by the Lethbridge Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta) in the August 12, 1970 edition, second section, p. 15.

Sale of Amor - August 11, 1970
L to R: Ruben Reyes, Albert West, Jesse Malone, Travers Smith
Photo © Lethbridge Herald - used with permission
(ownership & copyright retained by Lethbridge Herald)

ad in Simmental Shield magazine, August 1970, p. 18
Bert Reyes & Travers Smith with Amor

 

 

Show & Tell Circuit

In the beginning, with Parisien in quarantine, SBL didn’t have a lot to show except brochures and pictures from Switzerland. Thus, there was one “soon-to-be-available” bull and a whole lot of talk (that some thought might just be bull, too) with slides .

But for Travers, it was a story whose time had come and negatives did not faze him. He knew what he knew. He just needed cross-bred facts to sink the message home. As it was, one bull was going to have to carry the Simmental message for a whole year pretty much by himself. His would be the first cross-bred Simmental calves on North American soil. The first to be compared. The first to test the performance waters. The first to prove the enthusiasm. The first to knock up against the entrenched N.A. breed practices.

In the meantime, dissemination of information was critical. The first SBL brochures were apparently supplied by the Swiss Cattle Breeders Federation with SBL appending its name, though soon SBL’s name was part of the Swiss printing.

Front & back covers of 4-page brochures used by SBL circa 1967-69

With the demand for more information, SBL soon wrote up legal-length, loose-leaf folios to hand out. By 1969 they had their own mostly black-and-white, 12-page brochure with pictures and performance testing data.

Back & front covers of an SBL 4-page brochure, circa 1969

back cover of a Swiss-printed, 8-page brochure, circa 1970

By about 1970, SBL had professional brochures, beautifully photographed and planned by Walt Browarny Photographics, Calgary. Each year required updates to profile new imports. (I am hoping to be able to repoduce the covers of these to insert here at some future date.)
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1. Beef Today Yearbook: ’77:84

Progeny Pictures

1st half-blood Simmental in North America.
Born March 17, 1968 on K. N. Stewart Ranch near Cardston, AB.

From Parisien and average commercial Hereford cow owned by B.Y. Williams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All pictures are from one of a set of identical photo albums
that SBL used in its promotional meetings beginning 1968

2.07: Spreading the Simmental Word (& Semen)

(From Chp. 2 ~ 1967, titled "The Dream Lives," in a book begun several years ago by SMSmith to document the early history of SBL and Simmental in North America.)

With Parisien, the only Simmental (Pie Rouge) bull in North America, beginning his final stage of quarantine in Alberta (April to July 1967) the SBL men became intent on getting the word out; and with A.I. being the only way to get Simmental spreading rapidly throughout North America, semen collection began almost immediately. Don Jensen, a local A.I. technician, did the collection until shortly after the on-farm quarantine ended when Parisien was moved to Prairie Breeders (PB) near Calgary—the first company contracted to handle semen collection and distribution.¹

Inspection Certificate releasing Parisien from Canadian on-farm quarantine

Travers wrote:

Our first objective in bringing Simmental to this country was to improve our own herds, but after the first bull had arrived we saw the great potential of spreading the breed further through artificial insemination. After some discussion, our group decided to use the personal contact method to tell the story. We had received many pictures on slides from Switzerland of their cattle. We made a slide presentation with a lecture to go along with it and then made our contacts with the A.I. units’ field representatives to set up meeting in different areas. As we progressed with this program, the press and agricultural periodicals gave us good coverage and so the story was spread also by this means.²

It soon became evident that the United States was going to be SBL’s best market so SBL went looking for additional organizations to handle the distribution of Parisien's semen. By October 1967, Curtiss Breeding Service in Cary, Illinois was contracted to handle the U.S. distribution of the frozen semen collected by PB.

Of this beginning promotion, Travers wrote:

The Curtiss representatives met me first at Sioux City, Neb. and our first meeting was at O'Neill. The second showing was given the following morning in a ranch house on a refrigerator door. The rancher was immediately sold and ordered enough semen to cover his whole herd. / Excitement continued to follow us as we told our story from place to place through Nebraska and South Dakota and the on to Billings, Mont., where we attended the annual meeting of the Montana Beef Performance Association. We were well received there by 30 or 40 members of that association in a quickly called meeting in a room at the hotel.³



early interest expressed in a letter to
betterbeefbusiness, January 1968


SBL's first sheaf of promotional information was an 11 page, legal-size, Swiss-generated compilation of facts, figures, and sales pitch for the Simmental breed called, "The Simmental Story." There were no glossy pictures, just that lengthy, type-written summary. Swiss Cattle Federation brochures were also used for a time.

And of course, as soon as it was possible, the SBL men began breeding their own cattle to Parisien. They knew the proof would be in the progeny.

Subsequent Semen distributors: By the time the second group of imports had arrived (Spring 1968), B.C. Artificial Insemination Centre at Milner, BC (BCAI) and Western Breeders Service Ltd. at Balzac, Alberta (WBS) had also been contracted. In early 1970, Parisien was moved from PB to WBS at Balzac.

Over the next few years, several other breeder services would also become distributors for SBL including: ABS of DeForest, WI; Carnation Breeding Service of Carnation, WA; Cache Valley Breeding Association of Logan, UT; and KABSU of Manhattan, KS.

And during the many long months when Parisien began the promotional tour-circuit, mostly in the U.S., his handler (and SBL's first employee), the A.I. technician, Don Jensen, made the many arrangements to keep collection and distribution flowing steady.

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1. In 1969, the price per vial for Parisien was listed at $10.00.
2. Simmental Shield, October 1970, p. 9
3. From pp. 9-10 of BTS notes as published in Simmental Shield, October 1970, pp. 8-10

Pictures ~ 1967 Imported Bulls

Imports were selected in 1967 and were released from Canadian on-farm quarantine in the spring, 1968. These are early photos probably taken shortly thereafter of the bulls: Sultan (SBL 2X), Capitaine (SBL 4Y), and Firn (SBL 5Y). These photos were part of a set of photo albums prepared by SBL for information purposes. Each album contained about 30 pictures which were generally numbered and accompanied by relevant information. There were several identical albums and were an influential part of SBL's early promotional and information strategies.



Travers Smith is in all the photos



Parisien Pics ~ 1967

Parisien would become SBL 1X; ASA #1; and CSA #1, and would become the first Simmental Golden Certified Meat Sire in the world. (As noted at p. 2 of the SBL Beef Sires brochure of 1971.)


from The A.I.Digest ~ Dec. 1967



SBL Shareholders

This photo, probably taken in the early 1970s, shows the long-term shareholders of SBL.

 Back row, L to R: Travers Smith, Harold Watson, Frank Smith, Fenton Webster // Front row: Hans Ulrich, Dale Lynch
Photographer is unknown at this time.

Parisien's Dam

This picture was probably taken sometime between 1968 and 1973. The photographer is unknown.

Uree-Etoile (Parisien's dam), Travers Smith and a French cattleman

Travers before Simmental ~ Part One

Like his fathers before him, Travers was interested in obtaining the best cattle he could, and also like his fathers, those cattle were mostly Herefords. When Travers learned of a performance-testing program in the United States he considered it a tremendous idea whose time had come—to improve productivity through performance.

From the Beef Today Yearbook ’77, Fenton Webster¹ recalled:

Travers was always interested in performance testing, crossbreeding and AI. He really believed that was the coming thing, at a time when none of those ideas were popular or accepted by the cattlemen. Performance testing, to the cattlemen, was still something the college professors played with, and AI, they felt could never be used on the ranches. (BYT’77:78)

But then Travers was always an innovator. For his herd sire, he went looking for the best performing bull he could find and soon purchased (13 April 1964) a Hereford bull, HH Advance A-326, that was registered with the Performance Registry International as a high performance bull. HH became quite an awesome presence at the ranch in the 1960s.

-----------

1. Fenton Webster was a fellow Mountain View Alberta rancher; became an investor and subsequent shareholder in SBL.

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:

[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

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

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.