GNLC Catman regularly appeared in the Llama Life list of legendary sires. This biography appeared in Llama Life № 26.

Date of Birth: September 6, 1985

Sire: Zorro PL (#48828)

Dam: GNLC Cattail (#53458)

Description: Solid black, heavily woolled.

History: Catman, born on the Patterson Ranch, Sisters, Oregon, was sold in 1985 to Steve and Sue Rolfing, Great Northern Llama Co., Columbia Falls, Montana, when they purchased his dam. Catman was auctioned in 1989 at the first Celebrity Sale for the then record of $175,000 by Catman Associates, which now consists of four Bozeman, Montana, ranches: Will and Renee Gavin, Yellowstone Llamas; Paul and Sally Taylor, Taylor Llamas; Gordon and Jo Hudson, Bridger Vista Llamas; and Bob Taylor and Janine Lyon, Double Diamond Bar Llamas. Catman currently resides at Yellowstone Llamas.

Offspring: Catman has 113 registered offspring as of April 1993; of these 67 are female, 46 male. The oldest registered offspring was born 2/23/89, a female, Shady B’s Ebony (67996). Twenty-six registered offspring were born in 1989; 32 in 1990; 35 in 1991; 20 in 1992. An additional twenty-six offspring born in 1992 have not yet been registered. Two of Catman’s most noted offspring are: GNLC Honky Cat (#72853) and Magnificat (#72858).

This exerpt from Llama Life № 12 covered the Celabrity Sale in 1989:

The female record was broken when Iris and Donald Christ, Bend, Oregon, paid $170,000 for Mirabelle, a gray, brown Fiduciary daughter, consigned by Paul and Sally Taylor, Bozeman, Montana. With this purchase, the Christs topped the record price for a female at a public sale which they had established themselves the previous weekend with the purchase of Miss Chilean Bethany for $113,000 at Hartman’s Harvest Sale in Omaha.

The old record of $150,000 for a male was broken when Catman, a solid black, Zorro) son, consigned by Steve and Sue Rolfing, Columbia Falls, Montana, sold for $175,000 to a five-party syndicate consisting of Will and Rene Gavin, Paul and Sally Taylor, Bob and Margie Harrington, Bob Taylor and Janine Lyon, and Gordon and Jo Hudson. Together the five partners own 132 females, all on ranches in the Bozeman, Montana, area. The Gavins will be managers of Catman Associates, the name given to the partnership.

The successful syndicate was not the only joint venture in the hunt for Catman. Vic and Lori Breeden, Sheridan, Wyoming, and Jim and Betty Burton, Turah, Montana, joined forces to make a strong bid for Catman.

The Rolfings had done a superb job of presenting Catman. They provided a detailed record on his stud service to date. An album with color pictures of his numerous offspring was available and distributed to anyone expressing interest. The effort continued into the show ring. “It was a great touch the way Steve Rolfing showed him. He ran Catman around the ring with such aplomb showing that animal’s flowing wool. Steve and the animal are so athletic it put an electricity in the air. It was not another animal being dragged into the ring,” Iris Christ recalls.

The sale averages entered brave new worlds. Since the promoters provided detailed information, averages can be provided that exclude owner buy-backs. By this barometer, 58 females brought an average price of $31,594, while the 20 males brought an average of $31,000. The males ranged in price from a high of $175,000 to lows of $4,300 and $4,500 on two males. Only seven animals were repurchased by their owners - the repurchase average was $19,500.

The top ten selling lots (combining the sexes) brought an average of $90,650; the top five brought $123,300. The average for all lots sold (excluding repurchases) was $31,208.

The sale may have set another more light-hearted record: the oldest first-time llama buyer when Tim Vincent’s grandmother, Ann Bevens, age 81, bought Wavelength at the sale.