Minnie Lou Bradley

Monte Jack Bradley (1958-1984)

(1) Bradley is a pioneer woman in the field of livestock breeding, having been one of the early Texas Panhandle ranchers to introduce Angus bulls to breed with Hereford cows.

(2) Bradley was in 1953 the first woman to graduate with a bachelor of science degree in animal husbandry from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

(3) In 2006, Bradley was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth. She is also active in the National Angus Association/

Minnie Lou Ottinger Bradley (born December 15, 1931) is the matriarch of the 11,500-acre (47 km²) Bradley 3 Ranch in Childress County in the Texas Panhandle. An inductee of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, she is a trailblazer for women in the field of breeding and ranch management. She is the first woman to have been president of the American Angus Association. The Bradley 3 is located entirely in Childress County but has a Memphis address and an Estelline (both in Hall County) telephone connection.

Bradley was born in Hinton, in Caddo County in western Oklahoma, to Ralph Thomas Ottinger (1904–1970), who was employed in road construction, and the former Zulema Young (1903–1987), a teacher. Bradley had three siblings: Helen, born March 20, 1930, Ted Calvin, born August 27, 1938, and Linda Sue born November 24, 1943. Bradley later lived on a wheat farm near Hydro on the line between Caddo and Blaine counties. Even as a nine-year-old, Bradley participated in the 4-H Club, having shown lambs and pigs. At the time, girls were not permitted in Future Farmers of America, but, spurred by her uncle, Ted Ottinger, she became focused with a career in livestock and ranching, She graduated with distinction from Hydro High School, where she was a member of the state championship girls’ basketball team in 1948.