Farm History

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English's Buffalo Farm

Owned and operated by John & Sheila English

 

     John had always lived in the country and his parents raised beef & pork for their own use.  I was a city girl but loved animals.  John & I lived in an addition on the west side of Indianapolis for over 17 years and finally decided to move out and buy some property.  In 1992 we purchased 26 acres in Cloverdale, Indiana with a log home and a pond.  We fenced the property and built a large barn.  Then we purchased a beef calf for our son to raise but John wanted more.  We wanted something for our future and our retirement.  We visited several buffalo farms and John was hooked.
 
     In March of 1995 we purchased our first three buffalo, Cherokee, Dakota and Cheyenne (6 month old heifers).  We brought them home and put them in the barn.  They were so wild we couldn't get near them.  We were beginning to think we made a big mistake.  Then in August of 1995 we purchased Chester (a year old bull).  In July 1996 we purchased 5 more animals.  We loved our buffalo and wanted to continue building the herd.  Our 26 acres in Cloverdale would not be large enough for our dream.  In November 1996 we purchased 102 acres in Bainbridge, Indiana.  We spent the next three months fencing our front pasture and moved the 9 animals to our new farm in March 1997.  In June our first calf was born.  The herd has grown from 9 buffalo in 1996 to around 70 today.  We have 30 breed cows & two herd bulls. Cody & General Custer are a plains/woods bison mix. They both weigh in near 2,000 each. In order not to inbreed all animals born on the farm are sold or butchered for our meat business.
 
     In September 1999 we opened our TRADING POST at the farm.  We have had visitors from all over the world.  We meet a lot of interesting people and love to answer any questions about the farm and the buffalo.  You have about a 50/50 chance of seeing animals when you visit the farm.  They have free roam of the farm and pretty much stay together.  We do offer tours of the farm. See the tour page for details.
    
     At the end of 2006, John retired after 30 years from Allison's Transmission in Speedway.  I take care of the TRADING POST.  We have one son, Jason, and two granddaughters Kaitlyn & Alyson.  John's parents, John Sr. & Maxine English, were both retired and in 1998 moved from their Martinsville home of 49 years to help on the farm. We lost John’s dad in March 2009, he was 82, and was a big help on the farm. He is greatly missed. Mom was 86 last year and still helps mow the yard and put out the garden. We still get homemade jelly, jam and cobblers. When we have the round up each year she cooks dinner for all the helpers. She also helps when we have large tour groups at the farm.
 
 
          In our TRADING POST we offer a large selection of Native American Books, Patterns, Kits, Pottery, Figurines, Leanin' Tree Greeting Cards, Mugs, Magnets, Puzzles, Jewelry, Dreamcatchers, Poster Prints, Cedar Boxes and Clocks.  We also have a large selection of craft supplies including feathers, hair pipe, bone, plastic, wood and glass beads, sinew, seed beads, e-beads, looms and much much more.  Most of this is available on line at the gift shop.  Our TRADING POST is open Friday, Saturday & Sunday from noon till 5 pm.  Monday – Thursday is by chance or appointment.   We have purchased a concession wagon so during the summer we may be closed on weekends. Our events will be listed on the web site or call. We are open year round.
 
 
Hope to see you soon.
John & Sheila English