Around the turn of the 20th century, agriculturalist James Bellwood, owner of this property, set aside a few acres as a wooded preserve and imported a pair of elk from Yosemite National Park and Washington State. The elk became a popular attraction along the Richmond-Petersburg trolley, which ran along Jefferson Davis Highway/Route 1, and the herd flourished until it numbered 20 animals. As the United States prepared for World War II, the federal government bought the land from the Bellwood family to build the Richmond Quartermaster Depot and Richmond Holding and Reconsignment Point, now Defense Supply Center Richmond. The Bellwood family required that the elk herd be retained and maintained as a condition of the sale, and the Army agreed, though some elk have since been traded or donated to other herds to maintain herd size and improve genetic diversity. Defense Logistics Agency Installation Support at Richmond oversees the herd's management and care. Over the years, the Bellwood elk herd has become an important part of the installation culture and a source of pride among the workforce, while the Department of Defense continues to honor the original agreement with the Bellwood family. Funding for the elk's care comes from donations and the installation's recycling program. Elk, also commonly called wapiti, use terms such as bulls for males, cows for females, and calves for young; mature bulls at age seven weigh 800 to 1,100 pounds and stand five to six feet tall at the shoulder. Only bulls grow antlers, which are influenced by genetics, feed, and age; they grow a first set at age one, keep them through winter, and shed them each spring, while a mature bull's antlers can weigh 20 to 30 pounds and are covered in velvet until growth stops. Bulls compete for dominance in the fall mating season by sparring and bugling, cows give birth after about 246 days, calves are born from mid-May through July, hide in tall grass during their first week, are born spotted, and develop solid brown coats in six months, and cows with calves sometimes take turns babysitting while others graze. The name wapiti comes from the Shawnee word for white rump and tail.