John W. Springer
Denver, Colorado
1898-1903

Springer served five years as president, longer than any other in the association’s history.  After three years he asked to be replaced, but some of his peers called him “the ideal president” and went on to re-elect him two more times.  A nationally-known orator and a master organizer, he began his career as an attorney and state representative in Illinois , then as a banker in Dallas , before moving to Denver , where he was involved in banking, mining, ranching and politics.  After serving as mayor of Denver , he was a Colorado nominee for vice president of the United States .  An eloquent speaker and inspiring personality, he unwaveringly pushed his organization, his industry and his brother stockmen to higher plateaus.

Frank J. Hagenbarth
Salt Lake City, Utah
1904-1905

A large rancher in Utah , Texas and Kansas , he was president of the National Live Stock Association when it still represented cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and horses… when the market plummeted to $15 per head… and when “rebels” split off to form the American Cattle Growers Association.  Known as a man of reason, humility and patience, he later was called upon at conventions to “lift the sprits” of fellow cattlemen.   He also was president of the National Wool Growers Association for 21 consecutive years.

Murdo Mackenzie
Denver, Colorado
1906-1907; 1911

An affable, cunning and forceful Scotsman, he became manager of the large Matador Land and Cattle Company, in Texas and a half-dozen other states.  Instrumental in the first merger, Mackenzie was the first President of the resulting American National Live Stock Association, and later returned in 1911 to serve a second hitch.  He then moved to Brazil to form the Brazil Land, Cattle and Packing Company, the largest ranch in the world, with nearly 10 million acres and 250,000 cows.

H.A. Jastro
Bakersfield,CA
1908-1910; 1912-1914

A German-Jewish immigrant, Jastro was one of the few Association presidents active in the Democratic Party.  An imposing man physically, he also was known widely for his business acumen, prominence and influence.  As manager of Kern County Land , Cattle and Water Company and two cattle companies in New Mexico , he and his companies finished 30,000 head of cattle, 25,000 sheep and 10,000 hogs annually.  He also served on the Kern County Board of Supervisors for 24 years.  Jastro Park , in Bakersfield , was named for him.

Dwight B. Heard
Phoenix, Arizona
1915-1916

His ranch, a show place with purebred Herefords and Shorthorns and Thoroughbred horses drew many visitors, including Teddy Roosevelt who came to Arizona to dedicate the Roosevelt Dam.  Born in Boston of a wealthy family, Heard moved to Phoenix and purchased 8,000 acres that eventually became the southern half of Phoenix .  He also was publisher of the Arizona Republican newspaper and established the famous Heard Museum in Phoenix . 

I.T. Pryor
San Antonio, Texas
1917-1918

Pryor had a colorful career.  He was born in poverty, orphaned at age five, moved about from Florida to Alabama to Tennessee , and at age nine, fought in the Civil War.  At the age of 18, he moved to Texas and became a trail driver, taking 15 herds “up the trail”.  He was a shrewd real estate investor, loved by neighbors.  The town of La Pryor , Texas is named for him.

J.B. Kendrick
Sheridan, Wyoming
1919-1921

After driving a herd of cattle from Texas to Wyoming , he met a rancher’s daughter, married her, and stayed to become Governor of Wyoming, then United States Senator.  While serving in the Senate, he was elected President of ANLSA; reportedly solving the Association’s lobbying needs for a while. During that time, Kendrick wrote and pushed through the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921.  The West is yet to produce his equal, writes one historian.

Fred H. Bixby
LongBeach,CA
1922-1925

“We are a militant, fighting, non-partisan, non-political, non-comprising body of cattlemen,” he declared, after serving four years as President.  He also boasted that the ANLSA was “the largest Association in the United States ,” without offering proof.  A jolly rancher, farmer, feeder, packer and banker, he frequently led the call at conventions for donations or pledges to “keep the Association going one more year.”