The $220 Champion Cow
Governor Louis F. Hart's bargain-bin auction purchase becomes a world-record-holding dairy star, valued now at thousands.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A $220 cow has become the champion of her class. Dispatches from Chicago reveal that Canary Snowball Gettie, a cow in the state herd at the Western Washington State Hospital at Fort Steilacoom, is the leading junior 3-year-old Holstein producer of the world. Gov. Louis F. Hart, who has been greatly interested in building up the various state herds, bought Canary Snowball Gettie at a public auction at Elma in 1922. His successful bid was $220. The champion cow’s first male calf, named King Louis F. Hart of Steilacoom, is valued at $10,000 but is not for sale at any price. Governor Hart’s $220 cow could easily be sold for $3,000, if the state would part with her.
“Governor Hart's $220 cow could easily be sold for $3,000, if the state would part with her.”
This story captures the era's obsession with agricultural progress and the prestige of state-run institutions. It reflects a time when the pedigree of livestock was a matter of high-stakes civic pride.
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