While assisting with a cattle roundup in the spring of 1886, my husband’s great-great-great grandfather, Joe Hudson, captured a bull bison calf from the plains of western Nebraska. He brought the bison, which he named “Jumbo,” to Wyoming and eventually bred it to his cows with the idea “beefalo” would be the wave of the future: easy to calve, comfortable in Wyoming’s inclement weather, robust, and quick-growing like wild bison; while being easier to handle and producing domestic meat similar to beef. Joe only raised a few hybrids before selling Jumbo to his brother in 1890, but many great family stories involving the ”Jumbo” have been passed down for the past six generations. 

At the time, Jumbo represented family economics, both in the long-term vision of “beefalo” as well as the special appearances in area towns and local fairs where they were paid to display him. When Joe and his brother Noah were struck with the desire to move further west, they brought Jumbo and their herd of hybrid “cattleo” on a grand adventure across Wyoming, before settling a series of ranches and farms between Laramie Peak and Wheatland. 

In the 1890s Jumbo was shown at Elitch’s Garden in Denver, then around 1900 he was sold to the Denver zoo. After his death he was mounted and displayed in the Denver Museum of Natural History. 

The story of Jumbo is found in My Life on the Frontier By J.A.W. Hudson was compiled and edited by Sibyl Hudson Goerner in 1993 based on interviews her mother, Crystal Adams (Hudson) compiled in the 1930s.