THE BIRTH OF A "BOOM/' 403 



prices that were now current in England 

 and the East stimulated the rapidly-rising in- 

 terest in Short-horns throughout the entire 

 Union, and it was indeed an historic gathering 

 that assembled at Oakland on the morning of 

 the 8th of June, 1870. Practically all of the 

 leading breeders and exhibitors, not only of 

 the East but of the West, were present. The 

 cattle were tied in line along a fence for exam- 

 ination, and here for the first time the Short- 

 horn breeding fraternity of America may be 

 said to have actually assembled, all former 

 auctions having been more or less local in their 

 character. The sale was held in a grove and 

 no seats were provided for the company. This 

 did not detract, however, from the complete 

 success of the occasion, as the bidding was 

 active and spirited from start to finish. 



Following is the list of females sold for $500 

 or over: 



Mignonette,* red show cow ; sired by Gen. Grant out of his 



own dam, Jessie-C. C. & R. H. Parks, Waukegan, 111. .$3,800 



4th Louan of Oakland, yearling heifer; by 3d Duke of 



Geneva 5562 J. C. Jenkins, Petersburg, Ky 3,650 



Louan 21st, t eight-year-old show cow, bred by Jere Duncan; 



sired by Duke of Airdrie 2743 Geo. Murray, Racine, Wis. 3,600 



* Mignonette, it will be observed, was incestuously bred. She was a 

 very fine show heifer as a yearling and two-year-old, but grew too " lumpy " 

 for the show-yard and did no good as a breeder. She was sold by Messrs. 

 Parks immediately after the sale to George Murray at $4,000. 



t Louan 21st was the best of her family in the herd at this time, although 

 in the opinion of Herdsman Lyall not so good a cow as old Jessie, the dam 

 of Gen. Grant. He describes Jessie as a red of great scale, with good head, 

 excellent quarters and fine quality, altogether the best cow that Mr. Me 

 Millan had ever owned, although inclined to be up on legs. 



