One of the really cool things about having a family that has stayed in the same area and done the same thing for over a hundred years is there is a lot of documented information out there. That makes researching them both gratifying and surprising. For example, in this morning’s edition of our local paper there was a little gem.
Our online edition of our paper
If you recall, I am Lucas three generations back.
Four generations back my great, great, Grandfather operated a ranch and a couple of slaughterhouses. Check out this post I did about it a while back (worth a check out for the pictures alone!).
Instead of being gold miners like most people that moved to California in the 1800’s, my family grew food (California’s true gold, I say), and we still do, now if I could just open a slaughterhouse again…
The timing of this article is perfect too, our pigs are about a month away from slaughter, we’ve been joking how quickly they are gaining and how big they are, and my grass-finished cattle are starting to finish. It’s almost slaughter time on the ranch (it’s like Christmas!).
My great, great, great Grandfather, Paul Lucas said “With good character, good cattle, and good work we will supply Chico with quality beef”. Five generations later I’m still doing it, and working on someday producing pork and poultry too. Feels good.
