Field Trip: American Milking Devon Oxen at Three Eagles Ranch

The Johnsons have spent more than ten years raising, preserving, and promoting this critically endangered breed on their ranch. The Milking Devon is the first breed of cattle imported in 1623 from England to the American colonies.

The seed stock, three heifers and a bull shipped from north Devonshire by King James, supplied milk and beef as well as draft animals for the Pilgrims. In the 1800s, during westward expansion, Milking Devon pulled covered wagons over the Oregon, Santa Fe and other trails heading west.

But with the building of the railroads, the invention of tractors and trucks, and the predominance of other breeds of cattle which produced more milk or more beef, the number of Milking Devon declined.

During westward expansion, Milking Devons were the preferred breed. They were docile, intelligent and quick to learn. Strong for their size and fast walkers, they were able to pull a covered wagon up to six miles per hour. They did well on native grasses, were able to walk and eat at the same time and were cheaper than a pair of horses or mules.