Captain (and later Colonel) Russell Luff Meredith (1892-1965) is considered the father of American Falconry. Interviewed by The New Yorker (April 1938), Luff spoke about his 4 Peregrines and 1 Gyrfalcon. A gem of his interview was the axiom he shared, “a hawk can be trained in six weeks, but it takes three years to make a falconer.” The article states that Luff had been at the sport for the more than 30 years, placing his first years of falconry in the early 1900s.

NAFA gives a Brief History of Falconry in North America and includes Luff as most notable among the early falconers and organizers of local and national clubs (before and after World War II). The IAF gives a 5,000+ year history of falconry, and includes Luff in helping establish falconry in America.

Luff moved to Oregon in the 1950s, joining other national figures of falconry who lived in our state.