Jim Brown - Double Four Angus
BROWN - James "Jim" Mr. James "Jim" Brown, long time resident of the Erskine area, passed away on February 5, 2010 at the age of 80 years. Jim is survived by his wife, Jean of Erskine; children: Marjorie (Bob) Blacklock of Saskatoon, Lee (Laura) Brown of Erskine, Lynne Brown of Vernon and Neil (Deneen) Brown of Erskine; grandchildren and great grandchildren: Curt (Jamie) Blacklock and their children Colt and Waylon, Camille (Jon) Scott and their children Shelby and Bow, Trish (Tim) Henderson, Jackie Brown, Rob Wasiliew, Ali Wasiliew, Danny Brown (Brittany Konowalyk) and Daylon Brown: sisters: Isabel Norris, Alice (Dale) Norris, Gladys "Toots" Anderson, Edith Olhausen and Audrey (Wally) Ward; brother Dave (Margaret) Brown; sisters in law Bernice Brown, Norma Brown and Wilda Gibbon; numerous other family members and many dear friends. Funeral services for the late Jim Brown were held on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at the Stettler Community Hall, Stettler, Alberta. e following is the commentary on Jim and Double Four Angus as appears in the book ‘Canadian Angus History Update’ written by Lloyd Pickard and published in 1985. James A. Brown Double Four Ranch, Erskine, Alberta The Double Four Ranch as known today was not always that way, for the small part of that which Jim Brown acquired in his youthful days was a quarter section of the homestead variety, and on which Jim had to learn how to feed pigs and milk cows as well as how to properly use a walking plow. After a few years of being resourceful by necessity, and taking time out to get married to Jean who was a lady of like energies, land holdings gradually increased with grain farming being a major endeavour. Coupled with that the feeding of commercial cattle came into being with that not relinquished to the Page 16
Spring Edition 2010*
present day. That feedlot had quite a bearing on the future activities that would be pursued, for through it went some three hundred Angus steers who had been purchased over a three year period from the large registered Angus herd bred by Marius Smith of Veteran. That feedlot became so efficient that when the combined artificial units in Canada went in search of an operation where exotic-cross heifers could be calved out to progeny test those “new breed” sires, it was Jim Brown’s Double Four Ranch that was chosen for such a purpose. At that time, Jim Brown was already into the Angus business, but he sure learned first hand which breed he could live with. The purebred Angus commencement at Double Four had a fast beginning. The first female group to unload had been on-loaded at the famous Spady Ranches and were of their finest families. When sales at Double Four Ranch commenced, twelve entries were from those Spady-bred dams, and of which the “Georgina” line were highly prominent. Several of those came into ownership of the Stampede Station and made quite an impact, with several of those later becoming part of the commencing Ken Caryl herd. There has hardly been a Spady Sale held since which has not seen some of the extreme ‘tops’ move to Double Four Ranch. A small group of Rocketing Bay females were also obtained from a sale held in Stettler by Geo. Salmon and Sons. It would be about 1967 or 1968 when a dozen females were obtained from Dale Chapman of Stettler who would have a mighty impact to later events, as would a smaller female group obtained from Victor Schierman which included at least three sired by Bar McHenry, the sire of ‘Great Northern’. The first herdsire was a son of ‘Model’ obtained from the Alberta Association ‘Star Time’ Sale, however as his bloodlines were viewed with some suspicion, most of his progeny probably went through the feedlot. Those Chapman females were all sired by Rowena Footprint 18’63 who had been purchased by Chapman through the 1965 Cross-Country Sale. Three females had been obtained from the Riverbend Dispersal of 1967, and that proved to be a masterstroke, for one of those was Cody Lawnwood 28S, and it was her’Colossal’ bull calf carried in-dam and named Lawnwood Chance, who really set up a chain of events for Double Four. He grew into a magnificent sire with extreme body length, and proceeded to sire progeny groups such as have seldom been seen. From his first crop came a rather sensational bull named Chance of Double Four 17B who handily topped the 1972 Cross-Country Sale at $9,500 to the Mabee Ranch in Texas. His dam was one of those Chapman females by the ‘Footprint’ sire, and a daughter from her would Angus World
sell for $5,100 at the 1975 Cross-Country Sale. A full brother to ‘17B’ would sell for an exceptional price privately to the Ken Caryl Ranch. Still another son would be Chance of Double Four 40C from one of the ‘Bar McHenry’ dams, and in whom 1/2 interest would sell for $7,500 to the Dinedune Corporation in Ontario, with interests being retained by Double Four and Waco. Several years later, Jim Brown would re-purchase that interest back because of the excellent job that ‘40C’ had done for Dinedune. Lawnwood Chance sired the $5,000 top selling bred heifer at CrossCountry ‘74 sold to Missouri, and was also sire of the $5,100 second high selling bred heifer at Cross-Country ‘76, purchased by Bill Gibb of Skillymarno. Another son became Reserve Grand Champion at the 1974 California State Fair for Dunipace Ranch, and many daughters by Lawnwood Chance helped bring the Double Four brand to prominence. He was a breeding bull. If any program evolved at Double Four, it was simply that of bidding last on many of the best obtainable, with those generally becoming expendable after having one or more progeny in Double Four pastures, and when other headliners could be obtained to repeat the performances. It was highly noticeable too, that if purchased animals did the required job, then Jim Brown would consistently add others from the same sources. At the 1967 Cross-Country Sale for instance, a ‘Juana’ from Prospect Farms was purchased, from whom several descendants were featured at Double Four Sales, and some of their descendants have since come back to Double Four. He purchased an ‘Elburnice’ from Prospect Farms at the 1971 Cross-Country, and she too was a moneymaker. Those probably set the stage for his purchase of the herdsire, ‘Prospect Adventure 43G’ from the 1977 CrossCountry, and who proved to be a herdsire with few peers in siring modern-day Angus type. Many extensive female purchases were made every year, generally at or near sale-topping prices, and in 1974 he was the volume buyer at the Stampede Sale, with progeny by and services to ‘Canadian Colossal’ being strongly in evidence, and for many years thereafter. The job that Lawnwood Chance had done was a key factor in influencing the high place which ‘Colossal’ took at Double Four, with the highlight of many of those being his super daughter Stampede Lassie 379’72 who was the $6,000 high selling bred heifer at Cross-Country ‘75. Double Four certainly were not loathe to pay whatever was necessary to obtain elite females, and were involved with both buying and selling of several at Canadian record prices. A few of those would include: $9,000 Dina Mabel Ole