Dear Ed.

"Thanks for your concern about the back breeding of some of the cattle."

Looking at some records I have and what I can bring back, there never was any artificial insemination used in my Speckle Park breeding program, except for 'Big M'. The first bull we kept was a Spotted Bull 'A', which was mostly white with some spots. That bull was the sire of Number 6, and her mother was a black cow. The mother of that black cow was Spotted Number 2, by the Angus bull Clover lake Revolution 5W. We also used the following purebred Black Angus Bulls: Bardolier of Altario 7X, Bandolier of P.O. and Dillabough's Old Post, a Regina Grand Champion. We bred cow Number 27 to Old Post, which produced Speckle Post for us - a good sire! The one we called The Leopard was sired by Spotted Bull 'A', and was out of a spotted cow in Dan Lamont's pasture that wasn't in our records then

It must have been about 1970 when Lloyd Pickard of Olds sent up 6 vials of semen from Big M, a purebred Angus that was doing so good for John Grant of Edam. Big M carried red genes, we found out later.

Jim Haydock of Lenwall School District in the Hillmond area stored the semen and A.I.'d Number 6 cow. That was the only artificial insemination to ever take place in my Speckle Park breeding program, and if I didn't know, then who would! The calf from that mating was red and white. We didn't use anymore of that semen. We did use that bull calf a little, but he was shipped at two years of age.

About 1973 we used a black, polled, part Limousin bull to breed my Angus cows. This bull sired Number 20 and she turned out good so we kept her.

When I had those spotted cows in your pasture at Coleville, I remember Bill Dillabough came over and got five of them. He intended at the time to breed them to two S. and W. Bulls. On the way he got a "better" idea and took them over to the Miller's pasture and turned them in with what he called "The Miller Bull". (Note: That was a Murray Grey bull. Ed Melchior has this in writing from Dave Miller.) I remember Bill Dillabough teasing you and me, not telling us.

Anyway, these matings produced Humungous and three good heifers. In turn, Humungous sired Norton. I had a white heifer get in calf when she was four months old to one of Rod Ferguson's bulls, part Simmental (part Angus). She was later shipped and I don't know when her off-spring got shipped, as her calf became Christine's line.

We can afford to be picky now, but when we started out we had so few to work with. Present day breeders have no idea of the troubles we ran into.

That's it;

Bill