The Palmer-Dunn strain/family line of Pineywoods cattle traces back to the Palmer line, which is believed to have originated from the Conway family line.

The Palmer-Dunn strain/family line of Pineywoods Cattle originated with the Palmer strain which are believed to have originated from the Conway family line. In my research, the earliest documented figure in the Palmer line is Mr. Elige Palmer—known in the family as “Uncle Lige”—who was the uncle of Mrs. Muriel Palmer Dunn. If anyone reading this has additional information about the Palmer line, please contact me.

In 1957 Mr. Earl Dunn  and Ms. Muriel Palmer were married  and began their married life in Stateline, Mississippi. I have been told that they received a start of cattle from Mrs. Dunn’s Uncle, Elige Palmer as a wedding gift, I have also read that they purchased their cattle from Uncle Lige.

The couple raised this line of cattle together until Mr. Dunn’s death in 1982. His last words to Mrs. Muriel were for her to not try to keep the cattle by herself. Word has it that she was too attached to the cattle and kept and cared for them until 2006, when they were sold to the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm in Oklahoma.

In 1984 Mrs. Muriel purchased a polled Palmer Bull from Uncle Lige that she was enamoured with. In 2006 Mrs. Muriel worked with Dr. Phillip Sponenberg of Virginia Tech and the Livestock Conservency to register the Palmer-Dunn Cattle. The bull known both as Bully l/ Lige was the first Palmer-Dunn bull registered. I have not come across photos of Bully I, but Bully ll—sired by Bully l/Lige—is pictured here, along with most of the original registered herd that went to the Overstreet Kerr Historical Farm run by Mr. Jim Combs.

Beginning in November of 2005, two Polled Palmer-Dunn heifers and one polled Palmer-Dunn bull calf became residents of the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm in Oklahoma. Shortly thereafter, in 2006, at the age of 84, Mrs. Muriel made the decision to sell the rest of her herd to The Overstreet Kerr Historical Farm in Oklahoma.

Jim Combs was quite a fan of Pineywoods cattle in general and Palmer-Dunns in particular. Many of the Palmer-Dunn line were bred under the KCSA name often outcrossing to Baylis and Carter Cattle that were on the farm as well as maintaining the Pure Palmer-Dunn line.