The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-06-12
HOW Ct1AS SAUNDERS STARTED IN THE
SHORTHORN CATTLE BUSINESS
Story Told By Himself And Catalogue Recently

| could see, and there l saw the first
Shorthorn bull that l had ever seen
He was red and white, and l heard a
man say they called him Duke, and
had paid $1,5OO for him, and by the
way, he looked as big as box car
though box cars were not as big in
those days as they are now. Think
of hearing a man say $1,000 for bull
and knowing that cow could be
bought most anywhere for $40. What
an impression it made on me. The
summer l was fifteen l went to work
| for Mr.. John Wilson and he gave me
calf to feed, sired by this bull, that
had seen at the Dane county fair,
and we called him Duke after his sire,
and he grew as fast as any calf that l
ever tried to feed, or that is the way
it looks to me now. How l wish l
could see that calf again, and have
my boyhood days over again. They
would be different, but time changes
everything. I came to Iowa the next
spring and when I got ready to come
Mr.. Henry Wilson said: Charlie, you
will go to Iowa on the cars, but the
wind will blow you home again.
came, and l am here yet. The wind
has blown a great many ways, some
times for good and some times not so
good
l bought the first 40 acres of what
now comprises Greeley Stock farm in
the spring of 1878; bought it on &C.
count of spring that you will see
is still in use, and thinking that those
hills would never be plowed and that
We could raise cattle on land that was
owned by others. But time brings
many changes, so it changed me, also
these hills, into some of the best farm
ing land on earth. My start in breed
ing pure bred cattle was unique. My
first pure bred was Hereford COW
bought of Mr.. T. J. Ryan, of Irwin,
Iowa. This was in the spring of 1895.
After the sale was over l went into
the barn to see my purchase, felt of
her udder to see what kind of a milk
err she would make and landed in the
barnyard, leaving a hole in the barn
just as large as l was, through which
came. l never looked back, as II
knew she was tied, and hunting up|
the man that had bid just before Il
did, sold her for IS less than l gave,
and now think at great profit to
me, as I have long since recognized
the value of the Shorthorn disposition.
Later l went to Sh0rthOrn sale of
Henry Davis, at Defiance, Iowa. and
here is where l first heard that dean
of auctioneers, Col. F. NJ. Woods. l
heard him say, as he was selling a |
roam heifer and calf, buy her, young
man, and in ten years you can have
II head and sell them for enough to
buy 100 acres of Iowa land So
thought l would buy her, and many :
changes have been wrought since then
At that time l was in the horse bus
mess and was raising them and had
to take them 1000 miles from home
into the woods of Wisconsin and Mich
igan to sell them, and sometimes
trade them for lumber, shingles, cedar
posts, etc., getting from SIS to 500
for the very best kind of horses, and
from four to seven years old. After
the sale l owned one pure bred fe-
male, some grades, but no bull Learn
ing of Shorthorn sale to occur at
Vail, Iowa, from the herd of J. c.
Robinson on what was called Rocky
Run. l made plans to attend and
found on. sale day a string of % red
bulls, all tied in row. The first
thought that came to me was, could
they sell them all, but they did, did
not get any, bid on all of them, but
stopped too soon, as did not just
like them, and l thought they went
a little high, selling as high as my
horses did, though only eight to
twelve months old, and the horses, as
l have said, from four to seven years.
This impressed me that | was in the
wrong business, so when the females
were offered l bought thirteen cows,
making me then fourteen cows, but |
no bulls. l got busy looking up adj
yertisements in the Homestead, as
that was the only agricultural paper