The First Angus in America
When George Grant transported four Angus bulls from Scotland to the middle of the
Kansas Prairie in 1873, they were part of the Scotsman's dream to found a colony
of wealthy, stock-raising Britishers. Grant died five years later, and many of the
settlers at his Victoria, Kansas, colony later returned to their homeland. However,
these four Angus bulls, probably from the herd of George Brown of Westertown, Fochabers,
Scotland, made a lasting impression on the U.S. cattle industry.
When two of the George Grant bulls were exhibited in the fall of 1873 at the Kansas
City (Missouri) Livestock Exposition, some considered them "freaks" because of their
polled (naturally hornless) heads and solid black color (Shorthorns were then the
dominant breed.) Grant, a forward thinker, crossed the bulls with native Texas longhorn
cows, producing a large number of hornless black calves that survived well on the
winter range. The Angus crosses wintered better and weighed more the next spring,
the first demonstration of the breed's value in their new homeland.
Early Importers and Breeders
The first great herds of Angus beef cattle in America were built up by purchasing
stock directly from Scotland. Twelve hundred cattle alone were imported, mostly
to the Midwest, in a period of explosive growth between 1878 and 1883. Over the
next quarter of a century these early owners, in turn, helped start other herds
by breeding, showing, and selling their registered stock.
The American Angus Association
The American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association (name shortened in 1950s to American
Angus Association) was founded in Chicago, Illinois, on November 21, 1883, with
60 members. The growth of the Association has paralleled the success of the Angus
breed in America.
In the first century of operation, more than 10 million head were recorded. The
Association records more cattle each year then any other beef breed association,
making it the largest beef breed registry association in the world.