Charles Redd

Charles Redd was born in San Juan, Utah, to Lemuel H. Redd, Jr. in a log cabin with a dirt roof and a dirt floor. His education in the school of hard knocks was complemented by formal training in a one-room school. In that environment he soon showed himself to be a natural-born leader. On completion of his training in the lower grades, Charlie's parents decided to send him over three hundred miles away to Provo to Brigham Young Academy, where he enrolled in high school. He was known as a "leader and a pusher," participating in every activity from school plays to baseball. And in the meantime he was learning the routines of ranching in San Juan.

After serving a Northwestern States Mission for the LDS Church, in 1914 he became manager of the La Sal Livestock Company, which later was known as Redd Ranches. Mr. Redd has won wide recognition for his application of scientific knowledge to livestock breeding and range improvement. He insisted that his livestock be more productive and efficient and well-adapted to the often dry and rough ranges in Southeastern Utah. Through extensive brush eradication and grass planting, Mr. Redd increased the capacity 10 times of some of his rangeland. In 1946, the Record Stockman Magazine selected him as "Man of the Year in Livestock."

Redd served as Trustee of Utah State University as Chairman of the Utah Water and Power Board and in the Utah State Legislature. He was director of the Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Utah Historical Heritage Foundation, Utah Power and Light and Amalgamated Sugar 

He was awarded the Honorary Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his “long years of business and social contact in the interest of fostering Anglo-American friendship."

Redd married Annaley Naegle in 1931 and they were the parents of nine children. He passed away in Provo in 1975.

"I would like somehow to get into the hearts and souls of young people the lessons of history, particularly those of Western America. The American pioneer has much to teach us, with his insistence on individual freedom of action, his spirit of adventurousness and his willingness to accept challenge. He reminds us how precious is the heritage of individual freedom. Perhaps more important to youth today is how acceptance of challenge and risk taking strengthens character and contributes to individual growth. Only through the acceptance of great challenges and the struggle with adversity is man's soul enlarged and extended. Learning of the successful settlement of this country, we may gain courage to face squarely the challenges and problems of present-day frontiers."