Texas Longhorn History

 

After discovering the new world in 1492, Christopher Columbus had no difficulty securing financing for a second trip to the new world.  In 1493, Columbus set sail for the Americas with 17 ships and 1200 people.  Columbus was not only to bring back bounty for the government but also to establish colonies in the name of Spain.  He brought horses, sheep and cattle along with other provisions for setting up permanent colonies.  Most historians agree that all cattle originated form Bos Indicus, the humped cattle of Asia or Bos Taurus, the wild cattle of Europe.  Spain, having established colonies in North Africa had imported a strain of Moorish cattle.  It was this strain that accompanied  the Columbus Americas Expedition.

 

These cattle, however never made it to North America since Christopher Columbus landed on the Caribbean Islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and Jamaica.  He established a colony at Santo Domingo, which was later used as a staging area for the colonization of North America.  The cattle did not make it to North America until the explorers Ponce de Leon brought in supplies to Florida, including cattle, in 1512 and Cortez brought supplies into Mexico for his exploration party.  Gregorio Villabos brought Spanish cattle from Santo Domingo to Mexico in 1521 when he established a permanent community.  More cattle were imported in 1536 when Cabeza de Vaca colonized Mexico.

 

With very little human supervision, these cattle were allowed to roam the lands of the new world and nature was to select which animals were to survive.  A cow needed to calve without assistance, fight off predators and survive on sparse grazing lands.  Those who could not measure up to the rigors of life in the wild died leaving only the best to pass on their traits.

 

The English brought their native cattle to the East coast when they founded their colony at Plymouth Rock in 1620.  As people moved west, so did their cattle.  These cattle were used to pull wagons, give milk and feed the settlers.  Due to the harsh nature of the new wilderness, many cattle were left to fend for themselves when their owners suffered failed farms and ranches.  The first herd of cattle, about 200 head was driven from Mexico to a mission on the Sabine River, which is now Texas, in 1690.  Although “Mexican cattle with long horns” proved to be the basic strain of Texas cattle, J. Frank Dobie documented that an infiltration of cattle with the mongrel American blood contributed to the evolution of the Texas Longhorn.  He sets the percentages as 80% Mexican and 20% American.  Thus the Texas Longhorn was created.

 

These cattle were permitted to freely roam the lands of the southwest through the Civil War.  By the end of the war, millions of longhorns, scattered by weather, the need for grass, Indian raids and failed ranch ventures roamed the southwest.  As the survivors of the Civil War returned to civilian life, they found land in Texas selling for fifty cents per acre and cattle bringing a net profit of up to $20 per head.  Ranchers bought more and more land to support larger and larger herds of these naturally selected, low maintenance cattle.  Ten million head were driven north to graze the bountiful Midwestern lands and supply the beef hungry East. 

 

A national convention of cattlemen met in St. Louis in 1884 and made plans for a national cattle trail complete with right of way from the Red River to the Canadian border.  Their efforts were thwarted when Congress failed to pass this right of way bill.  The cattle industry grew despite the hands off attitude of the government and by 1890, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the nation’s cattle population at 60 million head.  At that time most all cattle contained percentages of Texas Longhorn blood because these were the cattle who could stand up to long trail drives, calf with no help, resist disease, fend off wild animal attacks and live with little food and water.

 

As the Twentieth Century dawned, railroads crossed America to the extent that the ranchers did not need to drive their cattle hundreds of miles to market.  The need for a breed that could travel great distances with little sustenance became secondary to a breed that would produce more size and the purebred cattle from Europe and Asia became more and more popular.  Angus, Shorthorn and Hereford cattle became the choice for the ranchers and the strong Longhorn’s popularity waned.

 

Prior to the Twentieth Century, candles had been the chief source of light for nearly 2000 years.  Tallow, the main ingredient in candles is obtained from animal fat.  Soaps, lubricants and cooking oils also require tallow.  As the demand for hardy cattle decreased and the demand for tallow based products grew, the producers naturally switched to the heaviest tallow producing cattle available.  The Longhorn with 80% less renderable tallow than the English breeds became less desirable.

 

By 1927, the United States Government feared the extinction of an extremely important part of our heritage and allotted $3,000 for the establishment of a government herd of Texas Longhorns.  Forest Service Rangers Will C. Barns and John Hatton were assigned the task of forming and caring for this herd of 20 cows, 3 bulls and one bull yearling.

 

Barns and Hatton formed their herd on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Cache, Oklahoma, about 17 miles from Lawton.  Another herd was subsequently established on the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Refuge at Valentine, Nebraska.  In 1931, Sid Richardson of Ft. Worth donated a herd of 30 cows and 3 bulls to the State of Texas.  Professor J. Frank Dobie of the University of Texas and his friend Graves Peeler, who had excellent knowledge of the Texas range country, selected the cattle to make up the Texas herd.  Peeler purchased 10 cows and 1 bull for his own ranch.

 

By 1931, six families had preserved the unique characteristics of The Texas Longhorn in six private locations with Wichita Range being the seventh.  Each of these seven strains had unique characteristics.  All subsequent Texas Longhorns would be descended from and measured by the standards of Butler, Marks, Peeler, Yates, Phillips, Wright and Wichita Refuge herds.

 

The next 29 years witnessed a steady decline in the numbers of Texas Longhorns.  By 1960, there were only 1,500 head alive and 500 of those were in National Parks or zoos.  Ranchers failed to see the need for the Texas Longhorn.

 

Every year since 1943, except for one year during World War II, Texas Longhorn enthusiasts attended the annual surplus Longhorn sale at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  They would gather to swap tales of the trail and buy a few head of Texas Longhorns.  Among these was Charlie Schreiner III of Mountain Home, Texas.  His grandfather had stocked the YO Ranch with Texas Longhorns in the 1870s and since that time, except for a few years from 1940 to 1957 when Schreiner started rebuilding his Longhorn herd, the famous ranch had never been without the breed.

 

At the sale in 1963, Harry Pon, from Burns, Oregon, mentioned that he might start a Longhorn Association.  This sounded like a good idea to Mr. Schreiner, but he felt the Association should be based in Texas.  He came home and got the ball rolling, involving such men as Carter McGregor of Wichita Falls, Texas, an expert in the branding laws of Texas, Julian Howard, manager of the Wichita Refuge at that time and Scotty Light, a San Antonio real estate man.  On May 8, 1964, a Certificate of Incorporation was issued by the State of Texas, officially forming the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America.  An office was established in San Antonio, Texas.

 

The first membership meeting of the new Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America (TLBAA) was held in September 1964 at Lawton, Oklahoma in conjunction with the Refuge Sale.  About 30 members gathered to elect officers and ratify the by-laws. Appropriately Charlie Schreiner, III was elected the association’s first President, an office which he held for three years.

In order to determine what cattle were eligible for registration, the new association hired Claude “Heck” Shrader to visually inspect any animal offered for registration. Mr. Shrader was about to retire from the Refuge and was reputed to have the ability to see a cow years after having seen it as a calf and be able to remember its pedigree without seeing a brand or other manmade marking to refresh his memory.  At $2.00 a head, Heck traveled the country inspecting Texas Longhorns.

 

The first herd inspected was Schreiner’s.  Holding cow registration #1 was YO Carmela, sired by a Peeler dam and sire, and registered by Charles Schreiner III.  Bull #1 was YO Sam Houston, and Schreiner’s YO Big Yeller was designated Steer #1.  Establishing his credibility and displaying the keen eye that had gained him his reputation, Shrader selected several of Schreiner’s proposed Longhorns.  That was okay with Schreiner as it established the procedure for the future.  Also helping make the registry credible, Julian Howard of the Refuge agreed to allow the now famous WR brand to be burned into the hide of Refuge Longhorns and registered their herd.

 

Since the formation of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association, the breed has grown dramatically.  As we enter the new millennium, the number of registered Texas Longhorns is about 250,000.  Many ranchers have recognized the qualities of this naturally selected breed.  The females calf easier than any other breed.  They milk well and are protective of their young.  Longhorns are hardy and very disease resistant while being easily handled.  Many ranchers specializing in other breeds are crossing their cattle with longhorn bulls to gain the self-sufficiency and calving ease of the Longhorn.  Their meat remains with 15% less saturated fat and 30% less in muscle fat than the traditional British breed.

 

The recreational market will always provide a steady demand for Longhorns.  Team roping, team penning and cutting are reaching new highs in popularity each year.  The Texas Longhorn is perfectly suited for these sports due to their body size, disposition, athletic ability and of course horns. 

 

The western nostalgia market is probably what brings most breeders into the business in the beginning.  Owning a piece of living history can only be surpassed by the bond between the rancher and is prize bull, steer, cow or calf. 

 

The Seven Longhorn Families

 

Butler

 

In 1923, Milby Butler began separating Longhorns from his other breeds.  After separating the longhorns, he further selected cattle to promulgate his favorite color.  Milby and his son Henry owned a slaughterhouse.  They would search through the herds that came through and select the finest examples they could find to add to their herd.  The Butlers collected duns from the Gulf Coast and white cattle with colored points from East Texas.  Butler maintained a herd of 600 head and carefully instituted a stringent breeding program that included almost no contact with other Longhorn families.  The Butlers actively bred for horn length and as a result, Butler Family Longhorns are known for their long twisted horns.

 

When Milby Butler died in 1971, approximately 80% of his herd was sent to slaughter.  Fortunately, an active group of Butler enthusiasts purchased the finest examples of his herd and continue to propagate the Butler Family herd.

 

Butler Longhorns are known for their horns and are varied in color with a tendency toward white with dark ears, eyes, nose and ankles.  There are probably more well known Butler bulls than anything else.  The first bull with a horn measurement of over 60 inches was the Butler bull Classic.  Other well known bulls are Bold Ruler, Tabasco, Blue Horns, Superior, Unlimited, Dixie Hunter, Dixie Rebel, Man O'War, Conquistador, Sam and Monarch. 

 

According to the Texas Longhorn Journal of July/August 1999, the Butler family is the most popular probably because it pure bloodlines. 

 

Marks

 

The Marks family has as its namesake, Emil Marks, a cattle rancher who began a preservation program for the longhorn in the 1920's.  Marks noted that Longhorns seemed to be getting more and more scarce at the market.  Thus he deliberately held back some of his best cattle in a one-man preservation effort.  "We are gonna need these cattle someday," Marks told his daughter. 

 

Marks described the perfect cow according his son:  "She has a long body, a long hip, she stands up, she can travel an she has good legs.  She has a calf every year."  His preference for the function of the long horn has greatly influenced the fact that Longhorns are long-lived, hardy and productive. 

Marks cattle were reds, duns, browns and brindle with horns set high to the extent that they almost resemble Brahmas.  They were quiet docile and easy to train even to the extent of riding or pulling.  The Marks herd is one of the oldest, purest and smallest in numbers.  Since no major breeders are working to preserve this line, it is becoming extinct. 

 

 

Peeler

 

The Peeler family was named for Graves Peeler a veteran Texas Ranger and brand inspector for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.  In 1927, Peeler and J. Frank Dobie rounded up five cows, a bull and a steer for the WR herd.  In 1931 Peeler's father, Thomas Peeler, started raising longhorns after losing several head of European cattle in a blizzard.  Two years later, in 1933, Peeler was commissioned by Sid Richardson of Ft. Worth to assemble a herd of Longhorns as a gift for the State of Texas.  Graves Peeler once again called on his friend J. Frank Dobie to help him with his task.  The two eventually found thirty cows and two bulls that fit the specifications of the herd.  From this herd, Peeler bought for himself ten cows and one bull and thus carried on the Longhorn tradition of his father.  Graves Peeler had the honor of owning the first registered cow, YO Carmela. 

 

Peeler cattle are usually red in color with V shaped horns.  Most Peeler cattle were beefy and slightly Brahman in appearance with a slightly roman nose. 

 

Phillips

 

The Phillips Family, named after for Jack Phillips started collecting Longhorns on the Battle Island Ranch as early as 1930.  Jack began selecting his herd from the cattle that roamed free near his ranch in East Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas. 

 

Most of the cattle selected were naturally wild in temperament with large horns, long Texas Ranger JP bodies, long heads and high tailheads.  Phillips liked a long tail with a heavy switch that reached the ground.  He liked his bulls to have long legs, a heavy front quarter and light hindquarter.  He preferred bulls with horns that came straight out from the head and swept upward and slightly forward.  The bulls range from 1800 to 2100 pounds at maturity and often have horns in excess of 50 inches.  Their colors are quite varied although solid colors were very prevalent. 

 

The leading sire of all time, Texas Ranger JP, had the greatest percentage of Phillips blood in the industry .He was the first bull certified for artificial insemination.  The Phillips bloodline is considered to have the greatest effect on the Texas Longhorn Breed. 

 

Wichita Range

 

The Wichita Refuge herd was established in 1927 on the Wichita National Forest and Game Preserve near Cache, Oklahoma when the U.S. Congress appropriated $3,000 to preserve the historic Longhorn breed. 

 

Two U.S. Forest Service employees, Will Barns and John Hatton, traveled thousands of miles for seven years throughout Texas and Mexico to assemble a herd of twenty cows, four of these cows had calves by their sides, three bulls and three exhibition steers.  In shipment, one cow was trampled and died shortly after being unloaded.  Within weeks, an old bull, reportedly the best of the bunch died.  Another bull was judged to have too much Brahma blood and was never bred.  In 1928 two cows died and in 1929 two more died. 

 

This herd became Wichita Refuge foundation.  The cattle they choose had bodies slightly smaller than normal.  Their horns are of average length and twist upward and outward, sometimes into a spiral.  When crossed with Butler genetics, they produce exceptional horn length and shape.  Their color and pattern is varied and their pedigrees have been meticulously maintained and are of tremendous help to most breeders.  WR cattle are the most abundant of all the families and therefore can be purchased very reasonably. 

 

The specific management objective for the WR herd has been and probably always will be "T o maintain and preserve under reasonably natural conditions, with as little change and as true to type as is possible, a herd of historically significant Texas Longhom cattle for the enjoyment and study by present and future generations."

 

Wright

 

M.P. Wright of the south Texas Bow and Arrow Ranch owned a slaughterhouse in the late 1800's.  The slaughterhouse acted as a clearinghouse for the Wright family.  Mr. Wright collected his Longhorns much as did Milby Butler.  In 1940, he purchased 60 head from John Webster.  This new blood complemented the already traditional Longhorn traits and from that time on, the herd continued to grow and flourish. 

The old herd tended to be mostly red, duns and line backs with plenty of horns.  The Wright cows are very feminine with fine features, straight necks and straight backs.  Wright cows are currently very desirable.  The first cow to sell for over $10,000 was Wright 498 and mother of the most influential cow of all time, Doherty 698 who was voted the "the greatest Texas Longhorn cow of all time" by Texas Longhorn Journal readers in the July/August 1999 issue. 

 

Yates

 

The Yates family was named for I.G. "Cap" Yates who owned ranches in southwest Texas.  Yates had previously been a ranch foreman and learned his cattle through practical experience.  After WWI, Cap Yates purchased many Longhorns out of Mexico and developed the reputation for breeding for stamina.  The Yates Longhorns were known for their ability to survive on the desolate ranges of south and west Texas.  Mr. Yates was quite careful to keep his Longhorns separate from all other cattle except other longhorn herds.  He was known to trade with Emil Marks, Wichita Refuge and Graves Peeler. 

 

Yates cattle tend to be rather small, coarse and small horned.  They are usually solid colored.  Many are sway backed with a high tail set and have long heads.  Their horns tend to be twisted.