Influential Scottish-born draft horse importer and breeder establishing Wisconsin as a Clydesdale epicenter.
1853-1928 | Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876-1936)
Impact & Accomplishments
This Scottish-born horse breeder immigrated to America in 1883, forming Alex Galbraith & Sons of Janesville, Wisconsin, one of the first firms to import Clydesdale horses to the U. S.
Galbraith helped establish Wisconsin as a Clydesdale breeding center, which led to the iconic use of the breed in hitches pulled for Wisconsin breweries. In 1893, he became a lecturer for the Farmer’s Institute at the University of Wisconsin, and the College of Agriculture gave him their Honorary Recognition Award in 1911.
Galbraith moved to Manitoba, Canada, in 1901, where he continued to import and breed draft horses. He relocated to Edmonton in 1915, serving as an agricultural lecturer and provincial superintendent of fairs and institutes.
Did You Know?
In 1892 after a trip to Scotland, Galbraith brought back 15 golf clubs and a number of golf balls. With friends, he established the Janesville Country Club which was officially organized in 1894. It is the first golf club in Wisconsin, the second in the Midwest and the sixth in the U.S.
Overhead view of the Janesville Country Club Photo credit: Angela Major, Janesville Gazette, July 17, 2018.
Borthwick, an imported Clydesdale stallion, owned by Alex. Galbraith, Esq., Janesville, Wis. Photo from "The Horse", by Isaac Phillips Roberts, 1917.