The LaPerm originated in 1982 with the birth of a kitten named Curly on Linda and Richard Koehl's cherry farm in The Dalles, Oregon. She appeared rather odd with her sparse coat but as she grew her fur became thicker and curly and she became a favourite on the farm. She was part of a colony of working farm cats; over the next ten years she and her offspring spread the new dominant Rex gene through the whole colony.