“An empire built on cheese and butter”
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Cows are inextricably interlinked with the history of California.
Mooing as they arrived, the first cattle were brought up from Mexico around the turn on the 18th century. Their destination was the missions, and they were used in all the ways that cows usually are. So much in demand were these fine beasts that the sale of cowmodities helped to strengthen the trading outposts in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey.
The Russians living at Fort Ross used to export butter and cheese to Alaska, and many of the incoming pioneers brought their own moo cows along. Cows were more like giant family pets than a cowmodity used in big business. When the Russians left, John A. Sutter inherited their cattle, but he later became a lot more busy being the person to discover gold and not end up stinking rich.
All that changed when the first of the Steele family farmers, cousins George and Rensselaer Steele, came to California in 1855. A year later they were joined by George’s brother Edgar, and Isaac showed up in 1857. (He walked much more slowly.) Because of the perishable nature of dairy, it could not be shipped far. The San Franciscans liked their butter and milky goodness, and the Steeles stepped in to supply.
Their story is a classic one of seeing a niche and grabbing it with both hands. Soon, the operations in Marin weren’t enough, so they bought 45,000 acres near Santa Cruz (it’s now Año Nuevo State Preserve.) When that wasn’t enough, they hopped another hundred or so miles and got another few thousand acres there, too.
The Steele Dairy Ranch was in operation for eighty years. Now, all that remains are a few buildings; the barn is used as a visitor center of the abovementioned preserve. But the dairying industry thrived and grew, the industrial revolution provided such delights as automated milking and separation of cream from milk, and today California is one of the largest dairy producers in the USA.
A simple historical marker explains that the Steeles owned an “empire built on cheese and butter.” It’s true. And there’s yogurt in my fridge to prove it.
Linda R. Moore is the blogger-in-chief of Raven’s Roads, a site about her adventures in motorcycling and life. She is the Chief Markeroon at historical marker hunting site Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing (visitors can find information about historic sites and then come back ot the site to log them, journal-style.) The author of a travel book, A Little Twist of Texas, she lives to write and writes to live.
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5 stars just because we love cow success stories!
Heh! Thank you very much.
Right on! Texas is the king of the cow, for obvious reasons, lol.
Oh, yes. You’ll notice I didn’t say *the biggest* producer of cattle.
Texas rocks!
There seems to be a trend going on here LOL. Guest posts relates more to cows than make money online… Hrm… HAHA
Naturally: no topic was originally specified.
I did make it about *business success*, though.
Interesting, but I have to say that as a native of Wisconsin, I got pretty upset when I saw the “Happy Cows come from California” commercials - while in Wisconsin.
I’m sure you could make your own Wisconsin happy cows commercials, but I bet you can’t do the one where they get an earthquake/foot massage.
I vote for more cow-related posting.
I vote for more money making tips and blogging posts
Well, let’s see.
1. Have imagination.
2. Be alert for an opportunity.
3. Have enough imagination to be able to se the potential of the opportunity, and grab it.
4. Succeed, then grab some more opportunities.
5. Learn from the successes of those who came before you.
There, look. Money-making tips.
Moo.
You know, I haven’t had a decent cheese sandwich for about two years. That really sucks.
Bummer. Is the cheese indecent where you live, or did something else happen?