Mountain View School Remembers Parisien Ahead of His 60th birthday

Mountain View School (Grades K to 9) in Alberta Canada held a school assembly on Friday, 13 February 2026 to learn more about the great Simmental bull Parisien (1966 - 1978) and the men who dared dream of making a huge difference in the cattle industry. Four of the long-term shareholders were from Mountain View: Travers Smith, Harold Watson, Franklyn Smith, and Fenton Webster. Another initial SBL shareholder (circa 1966-1971), B.Y. (Young) Williams from nearby Cardston also made a huge contribution to the dream as Travers' first associate in writing to governments and Commissions to arrange for import permits and many other matters.

Don Jensen, Parisien's faithful handler during the touring days of the late 60's and 70s (and now 90 years young) was also in attendance Each of these six men had several descendants in attendance with 5 of them having great-grandchildren (around 20) attending the school. The taxidermy head of Parisien, owned by Don, and recently repaired by local taxidermy specialist, Dave Nelson (grandson of B.Y. Williams), was unveiled. The head was donated to the MV school by Don Jensen through his grandson Brad Sommerfeldt and will soon be hung on a wall in the school library as a reminder to the students of what dreams can accomplish and how they can change an entire industry.

The Parisien birthday celebration was a great event thanks to principal Curtis Leishman, school librarian, secretary, and chief aide-de-camp Lisa Walburger, Don Jensen's family, and many others.

One other Mountain View resident that we mistakenly overlooked to mention was Beatrice Tolley, the amazing secretary, starting in 1969, who kept all the men on track with appointments, record keeping, arranging flights, other travel, etc., etc., etc. Beatrice was the one who coined the phrase "Breed 'em all Simmental" — sometimes rephrased "Breed 'em all SBL Simmental." She was an SBL gem.

The 60th birthday commemoration was held on Friday, February 13
               because Monday the 16th was a school holiday.
            February 16, 1966 was the actual day of his birth.

The Westwind School Division report of the event, written by Genevieve Boyd, WSD Communications Officer, can be found here:

From Mountain View to North America:

The Bull That Changed the Beef Industry
https://www.westwind.ab.ca/about-us/news/post/from-mountain-view-to-north-america-the-bull-that-changed-the-beef-industry

 

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.

SBL Employees

Besides the irreplaceable Beatrice Tolley who had been hired as secretary in 1969, and Don Jensen (SBL's first employee in 1967 and Parisien's chief handler while touring), other valuable employees were brought in like Ron Gibson as Director of Ranching Operations (January 1971); and when Ron assumed the position of General Manager of SBL in February 1972, Howard Traweek took over as Director of Ranching Operations. Both had come from the U.S. Range and Livestock Experimental Station at Miles City, Montana. Ron was an honors graduate of Montana State University and had worked at the Miles City Station as the Assistant Superintendent.

These key employees as well as many others played a major role in the efficient management and incredible growth of SBL. Don Sylvester in “SBL means Simmental” observed:

In addition to the emphasis on top quality cattle, there is little doubt that another of the major reasons for the success of SBL is the emphasis on top quality people in both the management and the operation side of the business … / … “Our whole program is more of a people program than anything else,” says [Ron] Gibson. “We couldn’t do any of this without the quality of people we have.” (Nov.1974:34)

Bea Tolley

Beatrice Tolley was hired as SBL’s secretary in May 1969. She lived west of Mountain View, Alberta and commuted to the small, unpretentious SBL office on 2 Ave West—just off Cardston’s main street. Her hiring was long overdue for the amount of work had become overwhelming. SBL director Fenton Webster recalled:

Letters began flooding the SBL office at the rate of over 110 a day. “We were working 18-20 hours a day trying to keep up with the correspondence. It was an exciting time. The term “Breed ‘Em All Simmental” came out of our office at that time. We were putting an ad together, and needing a headline when Bea Tolley said, “Breed ‘em all Simmental.” We liked it, and it stuck.” (Beef Today Yearbook’77:86)

Beatrice was a valued and indispensable employee. She helped keep the SBL head above the flood of correspondence, telephone inquiry, scheduling, administrative matters, etc. that were overwhelming the new company. She was highly efficient with whatever was required of her; and her quick-witted “Breed ‘em all Simmental” has become a catchphrase in the industry.

The picture below is from the last page of a 12-page brochure produced by SBL in the year 1970—the first real SBL brochure. It replaced a folio of photocopied pages and series of photo albums used at information meetings prior to 1970. The brochure was full of black and white pictures and performance testing results. The only spot of color was in their logo as seen below. However, interest and income were picking up rapidly and by about 1971 SBL was into full-color, professional brochures.

(address and phone number above are no longer valid for SBL)