Jewish Cowboys, Cattlemen, and Poultry Raisers Collection

The Miller family came from Lithuania in 1890s. Robert Lazar Miller was one of the founders of the Denver stockyards and became the chief buyer for the K and B Meat Packing Company. The Averch family arrived in Denver from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s and later founded the Capitol Meat Packing Company in 1925. Holocaust survivor Jack Stern came to the US as a refugee in 1949, moved to Denver and became a cattle buyer for the Averch family packing house. He later operated his own farm and had a 5,000 to 6,000 herd cattle feedlot in Eaton, Colorado. Russian born Louis Dinner arrived in New York in 1910 and in 1914 he came to Greeley, Colorado. Louis Dinner became an important Colorado cattle rancher and his son Albert took over the operation. At the peak of their cattle business the Dinners bought and sold cattle in 27 states. Polish born Abe Auerbach began by buying and selling cattle in Colorado. Abe Auerbach and his son Ralph bought the Lyco Meat Company. Louis Sigman came from Russia as a boy. He founded the K and B Packing in 1912 and it became the largest packing plant in Colorado. He also had several ranches and a feed lot in Colorado and packing plants in Kansas and Nebraska. Sam Pluss came from eastern Europe to Greeley, Colorado, around 1912. He partnered with his sons Julius and Sam and opened the Pluss Poultry Company in 1933. After WWII, the Pluss family went into the turkey business and were joined by relatives Morris Strear and his sons Leonard and Sydney Strear. The Pluss and Strear families formed a company called Longmont Food Company and sold the company ConAgra in 1987. Leo Stillman quit high school to work in his father’s butcher shop. Later, Leo Stillman and Jack Freyer formed the Fryer and Stillman Packing Company. The company was sold in the 1960s to United Packing. The collection contains digital images related to Jewish Cowboys, Cattlemen, and Poultry Raisers RMJHS program and film. The collection also has a framed color photograph of Jack Stear and family members at the 1997 National Western Stock Show in front of their prize winning hog.