Historical News
Short Stories of Karakul’s Past
Posted on our Contact page by Karen Gosling
A one-page article Karakul Sheep: Their American History, was the inside back cover of The Shepherd magazine in their feature “Focus: Karakuls”, December 2016. This is the story of how Lowry Hagerman got his start with Karakul sheep. Lowry had some of the best sheep in the fur business which produced large numbers of high-priced matched pelts. He wrote the Karakul Handbook in 1951 outlining his selection practices, right before the Persian lamb pelt market collapsed completely.
Two articles in the Livestock Conservancy News on the history of Karakul sheep by Carole George:
Spring 2018 – The Karakul’s Journey to the US
Winter 2018 – Ancient Origins of Karakul Sheep
History of Karakul Imports to North America —
— I wrote this in January 1990 for the Karakul Friends Newsletter, with a short epilogue February 2016 about my goal of following up on stories of Karakul imports. ~Deborah
For the story on our Alliance read How The Alliance Came To Be
Do you have Karakul stories to share? Please connect with me by typing in the box below Leave a Reply and hitting Post Comment. I will receive an email but your comment will not be posted online unless you request. Or email me in private: info@karakulshepherds.org Thank you. Deborah
Updated July 2019
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I thought all you Karakul lovers might like this: My Great Grandfather, William David Watson was born in 1860s in Bradford, Ontario, a descendant of the early Scottish settlers. He started a farm in Aurora, Ontario to breed Karakul Sheep. I believe he was the first. Here is a link to the book he wrote about them. He died before finishing the contents page.
https://archive.org/details/aurorakarakulshe00wats/page/n3
Regards, Karen from Sheffield, England.