Grady the Cow ( - July 24, 1961) became famous for being the cow stuck inside a

storage silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used ...

on a farm in

Yukon, Oklahoma Yukon is a city in eastern Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 22,709 at the 2010 census. Founded in the 1890s, the town was named in reference to a gold rush in Yukon ...

, in 1949.Associated Press
"Grady Dies; Famous As Cow in Silo"
'' Reading Eagle''. (Reading, Pennsylvania), July 25, 1961. Retrieved April 30, 2015.

Silo incident

On February 22, 1949, Bill and Alyene Mach's six-year-old Hereford cow, Grady, gave birth to a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The ter ...

calf in a small shed next to a silo.Lee, Robert E. (January 24, 1990). "Cow Due for a Big Day in Yukon". ''The Oklahoman''. p. 43.Sutter, Ellie (January 6, 1997)
"Silo Landmark Torn Down Grady the Cow Only a Memory"
''NewsOK'' (website of ''The Oklahoman''). Retrieved April 30, 2015. Since she was having trouble with the birth, Mach called a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

, D.L. Crump, to help. Dr. Crump tied Grady to a post so she would hold still. When he was finished taking care of her, she was untied. She then whirled around and started chasing Bill, who jumped on a pile of cottonseed sacks to escape. Grady dove for the only light in the shed, which was from the small opening to the silo; the opening was only 17 inches wide and 25 and a half inches high. Mach and Dr. Crump looked toward the silo opening and saw a few red hairs clinging to the edge of the heavy steel silo door. Grady was in the silo. The opening could not be made wider because it was encased in steel. Mach did not want to tear down the silo as it was too valuable, nor did he want to slaughter Grady, who was worth over $1,000. Bill Mach asked for help through his local newspaper, and the response was overwhelming. Mach and his brother received 5,400 letters and 700 telegrams from people from 45 states and Canada and Germany."Remember her 1949 Jump? Grady of Silo Fame Dead". ''The Oklahoman''. July 25, 1961. p. 1-2. Phone calls,

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

s and letters all flowed in; curious people started showing up at the Mach farm in cars and even planes. Grady was featured in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', and newspapers all over the country. People offered a variety of solutions for getting Grady out of the silo. The suggestions included rigging a pole to swing her out the top of the silo, tunneling under the silo, and bringing an attractive bull to the opening to lure her out. An

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

officer said he knew of a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

that would lift but it was in San Marcos, Texas. Three days after Grady's leap, Bill Mach got a call from Ralph Partridge, the farming editor of ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'', who told Mach he was coming to Yukon to get Grady out of the silo. Partridge supervised while a ramp was built from the floor of the silo to the opening.Guffey, Chan (February 27, 1949). "Bossy Slips Out". ''The Oklahoman''. p. 1-2. He coated the ramp and the opening with axle grease. Partridge then smeared Grady with 10 pounds of axle grease, and she was outfitted with two heavy

halter A halter or headcollar is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears (behind the poll), and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. On smalle ...

s. Dr. Crumb recommended that Grady be milked before they attempted to pull her out, so J.O. Dickey Jr., Yukon

vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious c ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

teacher, went in the silo and milked her. After Grady had been brought up to the opening, Dr. Crumb gave her tranquilizers to make her relax."Hypo, Grease Get Grady out of Her Cell". ''The Oklahoman''. February 27, 1949. p. 17. While men outside the silo pulled on ropes attached to her halters, Partridge and J.O. Dicky Jr., pushed. Grady slid through the opening, and veterinarians stated that she had not been injured during the rescue.

Later life and legacy

Grady was a local celebrity for the rest of her life. The March 7, 1949, issue of ''Life'' magazine featured a picture taken from the top of the silo that showed Grady trapped inside it; text at one corner of the picture read, "Imprisoned by the concrete walls of a silo, an Oklahoma cow eyes the tiny opening ... through which she entered and later escaped." She marched in the Capitol Hill '89ers Parade in Oklahoma City on April 21, 1949. Later that year, she was exhibited at the

Oklahoma State Fair The Oklahoma State Fair is a fair and exposition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It takes place in mid-September each year, and along with the Tulsa State Fair The Tulsa State Fair is an annual event held at Expo Square in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The mode ...

. Grady went on to become a mother several times; she had four heifers and two bulls. Tourists regularly came to see her on the Mach farm, and she was such a tourist attraction that Mach put up a sign on Route 66 noting her home. He kept Grady in a special pen by the road. Grady the cow died on July 24, 1961. The old silo was torn down in 1997, and a regional hospital was built on the site. Two children's books have been written describing and illustrating the story of Grady the Cow. The first, ''The Cow in the Silo'', was published in 1950 by Wonder Book Company. The second, ''Grady's In the Silo'', won the 2004 Oklahoma Book Award for Children's Literature. The story of Grady has also been featured in a school curriculum for kindergarten through second grade published by the

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Extension Service.Sutter, Ellie (July 5, 1993). "Grady the Cow Story Used to Teach Kids". ''The Oklahoman''. p. 52.

References

External links

"The Press: Grady & the Postman"
''

''. March 7, 1949. * Townsend, Una Belle (2003). ''Grady's in the Silo''. {{ISBN, 1-58980-098-2 1943 animal births 1961 animal deaths Individual cows Individual animals in the United States Canadian County, Oklahoma