Joe Rule collection of Otto Pohl's Irish Setter materials

Pharmacist and sportsman Otto Pohl (d. 1918) of Freemont, Nebraska established a legendary reputation at Midwestern field trials and bench shows in the early 20th century with his legendary Irish Setters. In 1909, he bought Ch. Drug Law and Ch. Pat-A-Belle, of the famous Law strain, from Walter McRoberts and trained both for prarie chicken and quail shooting. Pohl also brought over an English Field Trial dog, Morty Oge, who figures in the pedigrees of many American-bred dogs of the day. Morty Oge was a large, coarse, dark mahogany dog with a wide head. He was not successful on the bench but was superb in the field. The 17 bitches bred to him produced many good bird dogs throughout the Midwest. Pohl's second import in 1914, Ch. Rheola Clanderrick, won his championship easily and was widely used as a stud. The Claderrick name persisted for more than 40 years.

Pohl widely publicized his show dogs, which were regularly featured in dog literature at the time. Wrote A.F. Holchwalt for a feature on Pohl in Field and Stream, "for primarily Pohl wants utility dog' type and bench qualities are secondary considerations, although he is confident that it is just as easy to have a good looking field dog as a poor one, and so it has come to pass that is known to have the best field as well as the best bench show dogs. His great ambition is to breed Irish setters that will in time be able to win at field trials with the best pointers and English Setters, and to this end he breeds his dogs. He is not in the game for the money; he breeds a litter or two each year and selects what he things are the best for his purposes. [...] he now owns some of the best red setters in America."

Adapted from The Official Book of the Irish Setter (2001, Connie Vanacore) and materials present in the collection