I agree with oakview regarding the Graham Land and Livestock dispersal in Minnesota. I believe it was 1973, maybe 1974. I remember this sale as if it was two weeks ago. It took over an hour for the bull Great White Hope to be sold. He ended up selling for $8000. Most people thought he was going to sell for many times that, so they did not even plan on bidding on this bull. As the bidding progressed slowly, different breeders were forming syndicates and the sale would stop for a few minutes as breeders put their heads together. Eldon Krebs ( of Angus fame) was working for R Lee Johnson from Ohio at the time. He partnered with myself for a few minutes and we bid the bull up to about $6- 7000 then we bowed out. We were going to call our partnership " Hope like Hell" Cattle Co. as neither of us had much money at the time. The night before the sale, a bunch of breeders had a pool and each person guessed what this bull would bring. I think the lowest guess was $12,000 and the highest was $75,000.
There have been many great sales over the years. The Cates and Cagwin sales are always great events. The Hoyt Central sales at Blair, Nebraska were always excellent events as well. Here in Canada, I always think of the many great days in the 70s and 80s in the exotic craze. I worked many of the Bar 5 Simmental sales in Manitoba. I remember a Bar 5 sale that grossed over $1.2 million. A fullblood cow ( that had not calved in two years) sold for $95,500. An open 3/4 heifer in the same sale sold for $40,000. Half blood heifers sold to $15,000. I also remember that Bar 5 asked me to help haul the sale cattle to the Brandon exhibition grounds. I had 12 open fullblood heifers on the trailer and the highway was a solid sheet of ice from freezing rain. I was scared stiff when I thought of the value of the cattle I had in the trailer, and I was greatly relieved when I got them there. I remember these 12 heifers averaged over $14,000 in the sale.
There have been many other sales that come to mind that have been memorable.
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