Peek Honored for Industry Work

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum® in Oklahoma City will honor NCBA member Ellington R. Peek with the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award during the Museum’s 46th Western Heritage Awards, April 21, 2007. The Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award is given to a living person, group or institution who has made an outstanding contribution to perpetuate the ideals, history and heritage of the American West, whether by a single remarkable achievement or a body of quality work over a period of years.

Peek, who turned 78 in June 2006, is owner and manager of Shasta Livestock Auction Yard, co-founder and manager of Western Video Market in Cottonwood, Calif., and owner of Ten Bar Cattle Company in Vina, Calif.  He has sold more than 15 million head of cattle with gross sales surpassing more than $10 billion marketing activity.

The Cottonwood facility includes a restaurant, farm supply store, veterinarian clinic and a western wear shop.

Peek learned from a family involved for generations in the California livestock industry. His grandfather was a cattle rancher and his father, Ellington Sr., was a highly respected livestock buyer. In 1955, with nothing but a good eye, enthusiasm for work and a $3,000 bank loan, he leased the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard in Anderson, Calif. In 1959, he went to work for the Red Bluff Auction Yard in California.

In 1961, Peek bought the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard in Anderson and five years later with help from 10 ranchers, he moved the operation to Cottonwood, Calif.