The weekly herald. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 1906-19??, 1907-07-18
THE GOODNIGHT RANCH AND THE BUFFALO
by Anderson, Livestock Agent the Southern
Railway,
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| the quarter-blood sires successfully
mate with three-quarter, seven
eighths and full-blood Buffalo COWS
with whom they have been reared
and II Is simply a question OF their
maturity TO demonstrate their fur
Their fertility For over fifty years
It has been known on the frontier
that the male Buffalo raised with do
nestle cattle would successfully cross
with such cattle in the production
Of female offspring but that when
the resultant calf was a male that
either the mother COW or calf would
die but that by breeding the pure
Buffalo to the half-blood the birth OF
three-quarter buffalo blood male
could be produced and that such ami
NAL would be non-fertile.
While the female line could be
bred on indefinitely until the do
nestle blood retained would be al
most eliminated. however, to con.
tinue this character of breeding the
blood of the pure bred Buffalo could
be extended along these lines only
by having the Buffalo in his native
purity 10 draw on. Many Of the prac-
teal breeders have been Of the opin-
ion that II 1t were possible TO pro-
duce a halt-blood male that there
was a probability that such an ami
nal might prove fertile and by so
doing that the blood Of the Buffalo
might be carried on for ages In the
blood of domestic cattle so that the
original type Of the Buffalo could
be produced at the will of the breed
er. Acting along that line Of thought
many prominent cattle breeders
thought they could take the male
calf from the COW by cesarian-sec-
ton. Out OF fourteen experiments
where Buffalo bull calves were sired
only two were partially successful,
that of Governor John Sparks OF Ne
yada and w. S. Vanata of Fowler,
Indiana In the former case the calf
was taken from the COW alive but
died Immediately and In the case OF
the latter the calf lived for several
hours. While these heroic efforts
were in vain, Colonel Goodnight con-
ceived the idea OF approaching the
problem another way and bred pure
Angus bulls on half-blood Buffalo
and-Angus COWS with the result OF
the production OF unusually prepo-
tent sires which are now In use on
the "Cattalo" cows OF the quarter,
half, three-quarter, seven-eighths
and full-blood Buffalo heifers above
alluded to-; the product of which now
comes without the fatality which at
tended breeding the other way, Thus
Mr.. Goodinght's efforts in the inter-
est of scientific breeding has over
come what by some was regarded as
natural barriers for the successful
cross breeding Of the Buffalo ami
domestic cattle producing what he
pleases to call the -"Cattalo" and
should the male offspring of these
uuarter-Buffalo sires bred to a sew
en-eighths hefer (the offspring OF
which would be a nine-siXteenths),
nroye fertile, and there Is every prob
ability, that they will, then without
further experiment it will be prac-
tically demonstrated that the Butfa-
10 Americans can be carried forever
In the blood of domestic cattle and
reproduced at the will of the breed
err. Although the facts OF this COM
pllcated work are as | have crudely
presented them above, 1t was not Mr..
Goodinght's desire that anything au-
thoritative concerning his efforts
should be given out as scientific fact
until his present generation of Cat,
tai" arrived at maturity and put the
question of their successful perpetual
ton beyond the possibility Of a cavil
on the part Of closet learned scep-
tics. There is now about $50 head
of variously graded and bred Cat
talo" on the Goodnight ranch and
there is no doubt about the perpetu-
alton of the full bred herd in its pu-
rity nor is there In my mind any