Released August 12, 2009
VICTORIA, Kan. — “There’s a new kid in town.” That may have been the feeling when an entirely new breed of beef cattle from around the globe showed up on the plains of Kansas. Clearly, something new had come into the mix. Today in Kansas Profile, we’ll learn about a pioneer settler who imported these cattle into rural Kansas and ultimately transformed the cattle industry.
Mary Pfeifer is the city clerk of Victoria, Kansas. She helped us learn about this pioneering cattle breeder, who made his home near Mary’s hometown of Victoria.
Our story begins in London, England, where there was a wealthy silk merchant named George Grant. Mr. Grant sought an English countryside estate to which he could retire, but when nothing was found to his liking, he came to America in 1872 to explore the central plains.
The plains of Kansas excited him, and in October 1872, he bought 70,000 acres from the Union Pacific Railroad. His goal was to populate the region with a colony of British and Scotch noblemen whom he enlisted to help with his plans.
On April 1, 1873, his delegation of 38 men, women, and children left the harbor of Glasgow, England. They came to New Orleans, sailed up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, and then took the train to western Kansas. On May 17, 1873, they arrived at their destination.
Here they formed a town which George Grant named Victoria, in honor of his queen. South of town he constructed a beautiful villa of native limestone. But hard times and severe weather created serious challenges for the English colony. Grant died in 1878 and most of the colonists dispersed. Volga German immigrants settled in the area, introduced hard winter wheat, and helped the community to grow.
Mary Pfeifer’s great-grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Moritz Baier, bought George Grant’s villa from his descendants. The villa is still owned by the Baier family today. It is located between Victoria and the rural community of Pfeifer, an unincorporated town of perhaps 50 people. Now, that’s rural.
But among those first immigrants that George Grant brought to Victoria in 1873 was a special breed of cattle. These were four black Aberdeen Angus bulls from Scotland.
When these bulls were exhibited at the Kansas City Livestock Exposition, they were considered freaks. In stark contrast to the red and roan cattle which were predominant in that day, these new bulls were solid black and hornless.
Think about the sight of these Angus bulls on the Kansas plains, where only buffalo and longhorn cattle had ranged before. To the onlookers, it must have appeared like a creature from the moon had landed in their backyard.
But George Grant crossed his bulls with native longhorns, and the result was a set of beefy, hornless calves. When spring came, the calves were weighed, and it was found that the Angus-cross cattle had produced more high quality beef than the rangy longhorns or the old shorthorns. Soon Kansans came to realize that these cattle had significant benefits, and a new beef industry would take root in rural Kansas.
The American Angus Association was formed to keep a register of Angus-bred cattle. Today that association includes more than 30,000 members. It is the largest beef breed registry association in the entire world.
On the occasion of the centennial of the American Angus Association, a special memorial was placed at the grave of George Grant in Victoria to commemorate this remarkable pioneer, the first to bring Angus cattle to America.
“There’s a new kid in town.” Many of us know that sentiment, when a new person has come into a group. That may have been the feeling when this new and strange breed of cattle made its way onto the Kansas plains, but those cattle would have an impact which would transform American beef. We commend George Grant and the American Angus Association plus the Baier and Pfeifer families in Victoria for making a difference by sustaining this legacy. The new kid transformed an old industry.
--30—
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ksrenews/story/KSProfileGrant081209.aspx
Writer: Ron Wilson, rwilson@oznet.ksu.edu
