Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

After serving during World War II, Montgomery attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, now Tuskegee University. In May 1950, Montgomery graduated magma cum laude. For one year he worked in Mexico City for the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a project to eradicate farm animals of hoof and mouth disease. He began to think about starting a family with Doris and opening his own veterinary practice. One of his former classmates had told him that many Oklahoma cattle farmers lacked animal care. In LeFlore County alone were 30,000 head of cattle, a golden opportunity for a young veterinarian.

Did you know that the origins of Oklahoma cattle raising go back to the 1830s? Tribes removed from the southeastern regions of the U.S. that resettled in Indian Territory brought large livestock herds with them.

Image 1: Dr. John W. Montgomery treats one of Fox Wood III's bulls. Year Unknown. Oklahoma Hall of Fame Archives

Image 2: Hereford cattle grazing on fescue and ladino clover. Photograph by Lemeul Ball, September 20, 1961. Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society.