OTHER MAKERS OF WESTERN CATTLE HISTORY 467 



111 response to a request from the author of this 

 volume the following statement relating to this cele- 

 brated bull was prepared by Mr. VanNatta's herd 

 manager, John J. Steward, some years ago : 



"Fowler was a calf of medium size. I well re- 

 member taking him in my arms time and again, 

 carrying him from the calf pen to his dam's stall at 

 suckling time. By this you will see that he started 

 out in life a pet. His dam being an extra good 

 milker the calf was kept up in the barn longer 

 than usual; he was unable to take all his mother's 

 milk until between two and three months old, and 

 consequently got more handling and notice than the 

 general crop of calves did that early. My old friend 

 George Waters at that time had charge of the Hick- 

 ory Grove Herd, and many a time together we 

 looked at this calf and guessed and prophesied as to 

 what he was likely to make. 



"As most of your readers know, Fowler was bred 

 by Fowler & VanNatta, although Mr. W. S. Van- 

 Natta was always the actual managing partner. One 

 of his chief ideas often expressed to me in those 

 early years of his cattle-breeding operations was 

 this: 'I am going to widen out and improve the 

 hindquarters of these cattle.' So when this calf 

 was dropped, being so strong in that respect he was 

 soon selected for future use in the herd. It almost 

 seemed as though he came on purpose. He got his 

 name Fowler on account of his great promise, being 

 considered good enough to be named after the senior 

 partner of the firm. 



' * Before saying more about Fowler let us go back 

 a little further and mention his sire, imp. Tregre- 

 han 6203, quite a noted bull in English showrings 

 and several times a sweepstakes winner after his 

 arrival on this side. He was a very low-down, thick- 



