Wye Angus

05/03/2026

“We went no further afield in our search for our first bull than we had for our foundation females. Blakeford Buxton (AAA.543628), the first male acquired, came from Blakeford Farm, only about 7 miles from Wye Plantation on the other side of Queenstown…Owned by George Moffet, an executive of the Corn Products Company, Blakeford Farm was managed by my friend, Guy Harmon…Blakeford Buxton…dropped in the summer of 1937, he was the result of a blending of Blackcap Revolution and Earl Marshall blood, being by Andelot Pride Lad (AAA. 481213) and out of Andelot Blackcap 18th (AAA. 489190), by Glencarnock Buxton. This was the Blackcap family…Buxton was a big bull weighing over 2,000 pounds, a circumstance that enabled us to get him for only $150. There was little place in a 1938 show herd for a bull of that size, so off he went to these neighbors who were so intent on raising big, unfashionable cattle…”
- James B. Lingle, The Breed of Noble Bloods.

Blakeford Buxton was described by Mr. Lingle as “very black , with well-sprung ribs and a fine covering of flesh. His top and tail setting were perfectly straight; his legs were well-placed, straight, and faultless. While his head was plain, massive, and a bit Roman-nosed, it was undeniably masculine. He had a good middle and an excellent…length of quarter. He walked like a good horse.” He recounted stories of an unruly bull. However, in contrast to my research, Mr. Lingle stated that no sons of Blakeford Buxton were used at Wye Plantation. Pedigree records suggest otherwise. For example, Caliban Pride—sired by Capearl, a full brother to Pearl of Wye—appears in the lineage of Lovely Petunia of Wye, and subsequently in Lavonne of Wye, the dam of Landrover.

04/27/2026

In a previous post about Wickwire Farms, it was mentioned that Wye acquired Juryman of Wickwire from the program. As many of you may know, the bull acquisition that followed Juryman was from the same program. Puck of Wickwire, born in 1944, sired calves at Wye Plantation from 1947-1956, which means his tenure overlapped that of Juryman that sired calves born into the program from 1942-1951. In the study of the Wickwire Dispersal Sale Catalog, one would find his sire, Prince of the Night (AAA. 651962) and a full sister in the offering. There was also a guest consignment in that offering by Wye Plantation of 4 Puck of Wickwire daughters and a son. Additionally, there were two maternal sisters to Juryman, out of the paternal & maternal grandsire of Puck, Bemaster of Dalmeny. In 1939 [Wickwire] brought in the third Highland champion bull to come to this country, Bemaster of Dalmeny, who had been purchased in dam by the Earl of Rosebery at the Ballindalloch dispersion. It may be of interest that Puck of Wickwire was the most influential purchased sire in the program in the 1982 study of the herd by Brinks & Katsigianis at 21.9% relation to the 1981 calf crop. Also from the 1982 study it identified Puck as siring the most progeny of the purchased sires, generating 314 progeny. He also generated the second highest number of grand progeny in the same category, second only to Juryman.

The full catalog, minus the cover can be found at:
https://archive.org/details/wickwire-dispersal-catalog

04/26/2026

The Breed of Noble Bloods begins: "With apologies to Herman Melville, let me begin by simply saying, "Call me Jim Lingle." In the person of Ishmael, the young sailor, Melville wove the saga of the great white whale and the men who pursued it. This is the story of the big black cattle and of how Wye Plantation developed them, and I am going to attempt to tell the story in my own words."

Lingle goes on to contrast his story with the reference to Melville's Moby Dick in saying that "this is a happy story of progress and achievement giving promise of better things to come in the world of cattle breeding."

Today in checking through those black cattle, I stumbled upon another white quarry, and perhaps against the heeding of the tale of Moby Dick, I pursued without caution. No worse for the wear, I was able to capture images of the elusive prey. As it turns out, Queenstown, Maryland happens to be the home of a population of white squirrels. Some of those reside at Wye Angus in the vicinity of the Houghton House. They are not albino but a result of leucistic variants which mean that they exhibit pigmented eyes and an undertone of gray color.

04/23/2026

“...By the time Wye was ready for the services of a second bull, I had struck up a rich acquaintance with George Bailey. His Wickwire Farm was located at Earleville, Maryland. Bailey was about 35 years old at the time. He was short, stockily built, pumpkin-faced, much the same size as Jimmy Dodge. He was a hail-fellow-well-met and delightful man to be associated with…The son of a New York physician, Bailey, himself a Harvard graduate, had refused a position on the English department staff of that university and had instead gone into farming and stock raising…On a rainy day in the early summer of 1941, I visited Wickwire on a search for another herdsire. I had on a raincoat and was standing just inside the door of the old dairy barn. Out in the barnyard were perhaps a hundred black cows, and every time I looked out there I invariably saw the same head. It belonged to a cow call Julianna of Mulben. She was the dam of a calf George had shown me called Juryman of Wickwire…” - James B. Lingle, The Breed of Noble Bloods

The silos still stand, quiet sentinels of a story that refuses to fade. Time has weathered them, but not erased them. At their peak, a small crow’s nest looks out over the same ground that once carried the rhythm of daily work, and just above, an osprey claimed the rooftop as its own. When I visited, it sat there—steady, watchful—as if keeping guard over everything that came before.

A short distance away, Wickwire Drive winds through the landscape, unassuming at first glance. But places like this have a way of holding more than meets the eye. They remind us that history is not confined to pages—it lives in the land, in the paths we follow, and in the connections forged over time.

The legacy stretches further still. The head of Julianna of Mulben sparked the decision to bring in Juryman of Wickwire, a choice rooted in vision and carried forward through generations. And then there’s the cover of the Wickwire Dispersal—preserved within the American Angus Hall of Fame—bearing the name Ira Boggs of Sir Williams and Ankony.

Not just ink on paper, but echoes of ambition, stewardship, and pride. It all lingers, woven together—place, people, and purpose—like a thread that refuses to break, only to deepen with time.

04/21/2026

"...So a search was in order to look for some black cattle. We didn't have to go far. On a fine summer day, with Mr. Houghton serving as chauffeur, we drove to Bennett's Point, a nearby peninsula paralleling Wye, where Max Sherman had a very respectable Angus herd on his Bennett's Point Farm..." - James B. Lingle

August 9th, 1938 the first females of what was to become Wye Angus were purchased. 10 head of half sisters by Blackcapper 24th of Page at $145/head. It would be a few years later and Mr. Lingle would return to Bennett's Point Farms to purchase 8 more heifers, those from a shipment to Max Sherman from Oklahoma. While there were technically other females added through the history of Wye, with additions of Red Angus females and a later purchase of females from the Craigie dispersal, the genetic legacy of the program stems only to these original 18 heifers. Of the original 18 head, maternal decendants of 11 of those females make up the Wye cow families today, 10 of those with active females in the herd today, with a project to restore an 11th family, the Flora line tracing from Capearl, with embryos in the tank to go in cows in the 2027 breeding season.

04/21/2026

Collecting semen at Wye Angus today!

04/20/2026

Loaded up and heading west! Stops being made in KY, ND, SD, MT and WA!
Later this week we have a load going to NY & RI. Then hitting the road south to hit NC, MS and lastly TX!
Thankful for great haulers!!!

04/20/2026

Results from our 48th Annual Sale!

04/06/2026

We are absolutely thrilled with the results of our 48th annual Wye Angus sale. We are incredibly grateful to our dedicated staff, interns, auctioneer, ring men, and most importantly, our buyers for their support in making this event such a success.

We are grateful for the continued interest and confidence in the cattle we offer in our sale each year.

As the nation’s largest beef breed organization, the American Angus Association serves more than 21,000 members across the United States and Canada. The Association provides programs, resources and leadership that improve and promote the Angus breed, enhance the livelihoods of family farmers and r...

04/04/2026

It's Sale Day at Wye Angus!

Tune in on LiveAuctions.tv: https://liveauctions.tv/auction/5070/detail

The catalog is available online at:
https://ia600403.us.archive.org/31/items/2026-wye-catalog-web/2026%20Wye%20Catalog%20Web.pdf

Instructions for phone bidding are in the front of the catalog along with all of the sale details.

The sale order and updates are available at: https://archive.org/details/2026-wye-angus-sale-sale-order

It's a beautiful day for a sale here in Queenstown, MD.

04/01/2026

Here is the sale order for Saturday!

01/07/2026

112 Day Bull Report (taken on Monday, January 5th).