After a stint in Korea serving his country, Ellington came back home to resume buying and trading cattle in Angels Camp, then the Stockton area, and eventually expanded his territory up into Oregon. Ellington and Betty had four children: Andy, Callie, Laurie and Brad. Betty took care of the day-to-day family responsibilities while Ellington was on the road. In 1955, Ellington was asked to run the Susanville Auction Yard. While there, he learned that the Shasta Auction Yard in Anderson was up for rent, so with a $3,000.00 bank loan, Ellington and Betty signed a three-year lease and started working for themselves.

After the lease was up and the owners would not sell, Ellington took an offer to build and manage a new auction yard in Red Bluff for Producers Livestock Co-op. After a year working there, Ellington decided he needed to work for himself and run the business the way he thought best for himself, as well as the ranchers that trusted him. Within two years, he was back in Anderson. Ellington and Betty bought the old yard and started Shasta Livestock Auction Yard. Under Ellington’s ownership, the sales quickly outgrew the facility in Anderson, so in 1966, Shasta Livestock Auction Yard moved to a new facility in Cottonwood. It became the highest volume auction yard west of the Rockies and one of the largest in the country.
The business evolved into a truly family-run business. Andy and Callie started working at Shasta Livestock in the late 1970s, eventually taking on the roles of yard manager and office manager, respectively. Shasta Livestock is also a business that has had a great family of long-time employees that have contributed to the company’s longevity. After Andy’s passing, Brad took on the general manager role.

In 1990, Ellington joined John Rodgers of the The Stockman’s Market to establish the Shasta/Stockmans Livestock Video Auction at the urging of Andy and local ranchers. It would eventually become known as Western Video Market. Today the company is an industry leader producing cattle auctions throughout the Western United States that are broadcasted on the Internet and Dish Network to a nationwide audience.




The Shasta Livestock Auction Yard facility closed in 2021, to allow the family and management to put more focus on the company’s country and video sale marketing divisions. Ellington has always been on the forefront and the company continues to adapt to the changing times.
Ellington has been recognized for his many contributions to the livestock industry, including being named the 1993 California Livestock Man of the Year Award, receiving the 2007 Chester A. Reynolds Award at the Western Heritage and National Cowboy Museum, and the 2009 National Cattlemen’s Foundation Beef Industry Vision Award, along with John Rodgers, for Livestock Marketing. In 2021, Ellington was recognized with the Livestock Marketing Association Icon Award for his remarkable impact on livestock marketing.