Phillip Armour, who at the age of 20 walked from his home—a farm near Stockbridge, New York—to California and arrived there six months later, tried his hand as a ditching contractor, decided that was too much work—even after earning $8,000 in five years—and opened a meat market, carving up hogs and cattle in Placerville. Armour took his profits from his California business and established a plant in Milwaukee. The Armour packing industry became the foremost meat supplier in the country.