764 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



heretofore been made to the fact that Messrs. 

 Rigdon Huston & Son of Blandinsville, 111., pur- 

 chased the entire Bates-bred herd of Col. Le G. 

 B. Cannon of Vermont and added it to their 

 Hilldale stock in 1881 at a cost of $50,000 for 

 thirty-two head. The Cannon herd contained 

 several representatives of the Airdrie Duchess 

 tribe, obtained from Hillhurst, and as the 

 Messrs. Huston were among the most practical 

 of our Western breeders they were successful 

 in producing from this purchase a good num- 

 ber of first-class animals. They had in service 

 for a time the 22d Duke of Airdrie 16695 and 

 subsequently bought from Bow Park for $5,000 

 a good rich-roan son of 4th Duke of Clarence, 

 known as 2d Duke of Brant 55479 a bull of 

 admirable quality and character. 



After the death of Rigdon Huston the herd 

 was closed out at auction at Dexter Park, Chi- 

 cago, Nov. 21 and 22, 1888, under the manage- 

 ment of the son, Mr. Theodore Huston.* There 

 were twelve head of Dukes and Duchesses in 

 the sale, all descended from the celebrated 10th 

 Duchess of Airdrie, and like the Hillhurst lot 



* Rigdon Huston was one of the pioneer breeders of the West and was 

 a man of the highest character, universally esteemed. He had from early 

 days been an owner of pure-bred Short-horns, chosen primarily for their 

 individual merit, and he was to the last a consistent advocate of quality in 

 the animal as a consideration paramount. His son Theodore was of a spec- 

 ulative turn of mind and did not engage as a partner in breeding with his 

 father until the purchase of the Cannon herd was consummated. In 1893 

 Theodore Huston, who was in very ill health, was appointed United States 

 Consul at El Paso, Tex., but even the mild climate of that region did not 

 save him from an early death. 



