In the 1960's, a woman named Ann Baker from Riverside, California began breeding Ragdolls by mating a white female long-haired (possibly similar to an Angora) cat to a Burmese-like cat.  She used cats from a feral cat population that resided at her neighbor's house.  She named the white-Angora-type cat "Josephine".  The burmese type cat was named "Blackie".

Josephine was hit by a car at some point.  Prior to this she would not let anyone touch her.  After her accident, Josephine supposedly became more tame and allowed Ann's neighbor to take her to the vet for treatment. After her recovery, Josephine moved back into the colony and became pregnant with a litter of kittens. Josephine had lost her feral behavior and had become laid-back and affectionate.  Ann Baker was very taken by a kitten from this litter, a mitted sealpoint brother of Blackie.  She believed that the accident had caused Josephine to produce kittens with calm and affectionate dispositions. She took this kitten for her breeding program and named him "Daddy Warbucks".  At some point Ann also obtained a daughter of Josephine: a black female that she named Buckwheat.  Buckwheat was like a Burmese but not like a Siamese in structure. Ann also obtained Fugianna, a mismarked bicolor.  Fugianna and Buckwheat were bred to Daddy Warbucks and formed the foundation of the Ragdoll breed.

It is possible that the reason the breed has a wonderful disposition might be explained by the fact that the foundation cats had these traits by nature.   It is also possible that breeders over the years have worked to keep these traits in the breed.  Either way, the laid-back, docile nature of Ragdoll cats, makes them the perfect companion for any person.

Ann Baker accomplished having the breed recognized in 1965 in the NCFA, a cat registry association that no longer exists.  Ann founded an organization called IRCA for registering breeders of her Ragdolls.  Her organization had very strict rules for those breeding her Ragdolls.   One of the breeders working under Ann did much of the work to get the breed accepted for competition in other cat organizations.  Ragdoll cats are at this time accepted for competition in all cat associations.

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