In 1901, Dr. W. C. Bailey, armed with an honorary commission from the
United States Department of Agriculture, personally visited every
goat-raising section of Asia Minor, and after seeing hundreds of
thousands, and examining minutely hundreds, secured and succeeded in
exporting two bucks and two does. The Sultan had passed an edict in
1881, prohibiting the export of these animals, as he hoped to keep the
industry for Asia Minor. The undertaking was a hazardous one, and the
expedition was fought with many and almost insurmountable difficulties.
Asia Minor is alive with bandits, and to hold a foreigner for ransom is
a favorite pastime. Then, too, a Christian's life is not considered of
much value by a Mohamedan. The goats were transported for miles on mule
and camel back, carried across the Bosphorus under a boat load of hay,
disfigured by shearing and powdered with coal dust, transported through
the streets of Constantinople in closed carriages protected from police
molestation by the "golden wand," and finally condemned by the Italian
Government because no health certificate accompanied them from point of
shipment, but eventually landed in California in 1901. The bucks
Beibazar and Kjutiah, and the does Moholitch and Eskischehr find the
climate of California suited to their wants. These four goats cost over
$5,000 landed in California.
[Illustration: BUCK BEIBAZAR AND DOE MOHOLITCH.
Bailey Asia Minor Importation 1901. Photo taken by Dr. Bailey on the
plains of Asia Minor, March 7, 1901, while the goats were held by a
Turkish guide.]
Beibazar impresses his qualities markedly on his offspring. His get won
the Sweepstake prizes at the California and Oregon State Fairs in 1904,
and the championship for two-year-old buck at the World's Fair at St.
Louis, U. S. A., in 1904.