In the fall of 1972 the dairy industry brought $10,000,000 yearly to the economy and Moo-la was called the “$10,000,000 Cow”. A sign was placed on each side of the pedestal holding Moo-la. One side said, “This is Dairy Country” and the other side read “Moo-la $10,000,000 Cow”. Her fame quickly spread throughout the nation, and even the world, with write-ups in many trade magazines. She brought visitors to town from places around the world. Probably the best international publicity came from Hoard’s Dairyman, the “Bible” of the nation’s dairy industry. In 1973 several Frenchmen who had read about Moo-la in a French publication, visited Stephenville. Many West Coast dairymen moved to our area, as well as a dozen or so dairymen from Holland. The dairies brought with them veterinarians, equipment suppliers, testers, lot cleaners, hoof trimmers, milk haulers, truck, car, and tractor dealerships. In fact, it was difficult to find any business in this area that was not dependent to some extent on the dairy industry.

Sometime in the mid-80’s Erath County became the number one milk producing county in the state and number 10 in the nation. While many counties around Erath and on toward the west suffered from a slowed economy, Erath continued in prosperity, a situation directly linked to the production of milk. The dramatic increase from the past 20 years was due largely to the symbol of a dairy cow on our square which proclaims to the world that we appreciate what the dairy industry does for our area.