DAN PATCH, M.W. SAVAGE & THE INTERNATIONAL STOCK FOOD COMPANY Hardcover – January 12, 2024

The son of a country doctor, Will was born in 1859 in Ohio, but grew up in West Liberty, Iowa.His lifelong fascination with horses began when he was a driver on Dr. Savage’s sick calls. His early skill with horses was saluted by an Iowa liveryman: “I’d trust that kid with our most spirited horses, day or night.” (Savage’s story is told in Fred A. Sasse’s colorful “The Dan Patch Story”).M.W. Savage married in 1881 and was an Iowa farmer until the floods ruined his crops. However, his real career was begun when he began clerking in a West Liberty drug store. Observing the local farmers stock food and drug purchases, Will decided to manufacture the supplies himself. He formed a partnership with a supposed friend who soon made off with their funds, leaving 27 year old Will Savage almost penniless.So in 1886 Savage sought a new start in Minnesota. Minneapolis had become the center of expanding dairy, farming and livestock industries. Also in the Twin Cities could be found experts (including feed chemists) at the State Agriculture College and experiment stations. Starting in a small stock food manufacturing plant and utilizing the local scientists, he startled the business community in a few years with the purchase of the huge Exposition Building on the river in Minneapolis.There he centered his International Stock Food company which soon had affiliated plants in Toronto and in Memphis, and overseas in Scotland, Ireland, England, France, Germany and even in Czarist Russia! In Europe, as in America, Savage drummed into farmers’ awareness his catchy slogan, “Three feeds for one cent.” With his growing wealth, and to satisfy a long cherished ambition to breed champion horses. Will Savage purchased (in about 1895) 750 acres of choice farmland 18 miles southwest of Minneapolis on the Minnesota River near Hamilton — later renamed Savage in his honor. On his estate he built extensive stables, two race tracks (one completely enclosed!) and began buying race horses. Read more