The National Western Stock Show (NWSS) has always been known as the show where cattle business gets done. Never was this more the case than during World War II, when Angus took on Hereford’s dominance of the West, and a new breed would be formed: Red Angus.
Hereford’s lock on the Western range market had been fairly complete since it won the 19th century race with dual purpose (milk and meat) Shorthorns. This was accomplished by Herefords outliving the Shorthorn crosses after a droughty summer in 1886, which was followed by one of the most severe winters on record. In what became known as the “big die up” in the spring of 1887, the Herefords tended to live through the winter, while the dual-purpose Shorthorns were unlikely to have survived.
Thus, from the time the NWSS was started in 1906 up until World War II, NWSS was as described in “A Historic Angus Journey” by Keith Evans: “virtually the private property of the Hereford breed.” However, during World War II, the International in Chicago would be canceled for four years (1942-45), so the American Angus Association used the resources from the International to invade Hereford’s sovereign ground, the NWSS.
The resources Angus could put toward the effort were substantial, as Chicago’s International was the association’s largest promotional event. The Angus Association breed executive at the time was the long-tenured W. H. Tomhave, who had previously been the department head at Penn State University. To attract exhibitors, the American Angus Association raised the premiums on the various shows to a total of $8,350, which equates to $142,203 in 2022 when adjusted for inflation. This was inducement enough that all the major herds made the trip to the 1943 NWSS.
One of the goals was to market Angus bulls to commercial producers, so Angus held two sales during the 1943 NWSS, which marketed 192 bulls and 17 females. With professor Tomhave managing the sales, they were first class. Labor was scarce during the war, so these Angus bulls found a ready market, being primarily purchased for calving ease to breed heifers. From this starting point, Angus would build decade after decade until it supplanted Hereford as the dominant Western breed.
Two of the most ardent spectators of this Angus invasion during the war were Waldo and Sally Forbes of Beckton Stock Farms near Sheridan, WY. Both Waldo and Sally came from established New England families, and in the 1930s, Waldo took over the active management of the ranch that had been owned by the Forbes family since the 1890s. After marrying Waldo in 1939, Sally moved to the ranch “sight unseen” in 1940, where she would spend the rest of her life.
Waldo and Sally were intrigued with the possibilities of what Angus could offer Western ranchers, but they were completely turned off by the overfed show cattle and what they felt was the artificial environment they were being selected in. After a series of meetings with the then-young Jay Lush trained geneticist Dr. H. H. Stonaker at Colorado State University, the Forbeses learned of the then-embryonic movement of selecting cattle objectively.
By 1945, the Forbeses were convinced that performance testing was the future, and they started putting together a herd of red coat color Angus to test the theory. They used professor Tomhave to locate their foundation stock to ensure they were getting quality, purebred Angus seedstock. Using reds could only be described as being contrary, as the red color was considered a genetic defect in the U.S., and the Forbeses also kept a herd of black Angus that they selected based on conventional practices.
Although the Forbeses had developed the foundation herd of the Red Angus breed, others started to take their lead, the most notable of which was George Chiga of Oklahoma. By 1954, they felt they had gained enough critical mass to start an association. With seven founding members, this new association would be built around the principles of performance testing, even though most of the practices had yet to be worked out.
For instance, weaning weights were required to register an animal, but the 205-day standard adjustment had yet to be determined. Therefore, there was a blank until it was decided to use 200 or 205 days. Waldo was the one who incorporated the new association. With a board made up of men and women, including one minor, Colorado was the friendliest to the association’s bylaws, so the new association’s corporate address was the Exchange Building on the NWSS grounds until well into the 2000s.
Whether it was Hereford’s domination, Angus’ try at a new market share or the formation of the Red Angus breed, the NWSS was and is where people gather and get business done. — Dr. Bob Hough, WLJ correspondent
