| Show U. U S. S Officials Say We Should Add to Our List of Vanishing Americans The Name of the Famed Texas Longhorn I Hy fly ELMO SCOTT WATSON VATSON Released by Western Newspaper Union DD to the list of Vanishing Vanishing Vanishing Vanish AD D ing Americans the famed Texas longhorn At least that's what a report report report re re- re- re port of the biological survey indicates for lor it says that this animal which once loomed large in the history of the West is on the verge of extinction ex ex- Once there were nearly of these rangy beasts Now out of that vast number there are only strain pure-strain longhorns le left t. t They are fewer lewer than the buffalo buffalo falo lalo which they succeeded on the Great Grent Plains and once rivaled ri rivaled rivaled ri- ri in numbers Unlike the buffalo however the longhorn was not decimated to the point of near-extinction near by ruthless slaughter lie He is being bred out of existence In his veins now flows the blood of the Shorthorn Shorthorn Short Short- horn and the Hereford which reduced reduced reduced re re- re- re the length of his horns put meat on his lanky sides and cooled his wild spirits Its It's all due to economics or or more specifically to the economic law of supply and demand Back Dack Dackin in the days which followed the Civil war when Texans began gathering up the oversupply of cattle running wild over her broad prairies and trailing them north to the Kansas cow towns where eastern buyers met them America Amer Arner- ica lea became more of a eating beef-eating nation than it had ever been before be be- fore The Texas longhorn was the chief source of supply and he continued continued con con- to be thus for more than two decades Then American meat-eaters meat began demanding a better quality meat So the stockmen stockmen stock stock- men in the West used the hardy wild half longhorn as the foundation foundation tion for crossing with superior beef breeds And that revolutionized revolutionized the cattle industry and the whole economy of the West Vest I The longhorn was a picturesque feature of the western landscape but he was also an economically wasteful feature So he was doomed to go By Dy the middle it was apparent apparent apparent ap ap- ap- ap parent that the typical time old-time longhorn except for a few specimens specimens mens in Wild West Vest shows or rodeo exhibition companies and and a few running wild in various parts of the Lone Star state was rapidly approaching the point of extinction Then Ten a few Texans remembering that this animal had been one of the chief foundation foundation tion stones upon which the prosperity prosperity pros pros- of their commonwealth had been built declared that it would be something of a tragedy to let him be wiped out of existence existence exist exist- ence and decided to do something about it Among the leaders was J. J Frank Doble Dobie professor of English English Eng Eng- lish at the University of Texas and a noted author of western books A Move to Save the Longhorn At a meeting of the Old Trail Drivers association in San Antonio Antonio An An- tonio he proposed that a longhorn longhorn long long- horn preserve be established Inthe in inthe inthe the ranch region of south Texas and a resolution was adopted indorsing indorsing in in- dorsing the plan Next the Texas Folklore society passed a resolution tion thin recommending that the legislature legislature legislature legis legis- lature appropriate sufficient funds and provide adequate means to preserve In its purity for future generations the Texas longhorn breed the breed the most historic breed of cattle the world has ever known In the meantime the United States Department of Agriculture had become interested in the plan to preserve the longhorn For several years it had tried to Secure secure se see cure an appropriation from congress congress con con- gress for that purpose but to no 1 t. t avail Finally in 1927 through the efforts of Senator J. J B D. D lIend rick of Wyoming a small sum was granted for the purchase of ofa a few cows and some bulls and it was decided to place them on a preserve in tl U j Wichita national forest in Oklahoma To Will C. C Barnes Darnes a veteran cowman connected con with the forest service Inthe in inthe inthe the department of agriculture and another forestry official was was given ghen the task of finding the necessary necessary necessary essary animals The story of their quest is told by Mr Barnes Darnes as follows At Fort Worth San Antonio and other points the general feeling feel ing was that their quest would be unsuccessful A A few old cows might be found they were told away down in the prickly pear country of the lower Rio mo Grande or in the dense mesquite thickets of the plains But Dut bulls 1 I Well that was something else again Everybody doubted the possibility ity of finding them I The forest officers first plunged into the prickly pear country between between be be- tween Laredo and Brownsville on onS ft the Rio mo Grande and Corpus Christi Christ S on the gulf Every nook and corner cor cor- li y ner ncr of this region was hunted out using using- every elery imaginable kind o of transportation 4 S I to SS fY S S S M tet t 4 1 5 j S S SF t F PS S 55 A ti 4 C r J A TYPICAL C TEXAS S LO LONGhORN I It- It Photo courtesy y of the United t I States Department of Agriculture In two weeks they had spotted I ten cows and one bull in that corner cor cor- ner ncr of Texas as meeting their requirements requirements re reo re- re picking one here one there They hired a cattleman who knew the country to gather them at a central point of shipping shipping ship ship- ping and having exhausted this end cad of Texas they moved up into the great coastal plains region between between be be- tween Houston and Beaumont Deaumont Here was an entirely different country one of the great range cattle sections of the state The region was combed thoroughly and ten excellent longhorn cows and two good bulls were gathered Inasmuch as the steers are the ones Mies that developed the extremely long horns three glorious animaLs ani ani- mals nals with sized good-sized horns were brought wrought to be kept as an exhibit of f what a longhorn should be They are ore all young and their horns iorns will probably grow at least 18 inches more in a few years Branded U S S. S The two shipments were concentrated concentrated con con- at Fort Worth and dipped lipped three times at seven-day seven intervals to free them of the deadly deadly dead dead- ly Iy Texas fever tick and tested for tuberculosis Then the whole bunch were put through a branding brand ing chute and branded U S. S on the left hip The longhorns were shipped from Fort Worth to the Wichita national forest It was like old times to sit in the caboose of a along along along long freight train with a a acar car of cattle ahead and crawl over the top of the train in the dark to tomake tomake tomake make sure the cows were all S I L i. i OLD ALAMO IO This famous longhorn steer was crippled In a stampede during the filming of Emerson Boughs Hough's North of 36 and had to be destroyed there Cache and the Wichita forest were eventually reached and the cattle placed in the pasture pasture pasture pas pas- ture provided for them Swarms of people came out from surrounding surrounding sur sur- rounding cities to look them over and the time old cowmen of the region all agreed that the bunch which had been collected were really fine specimens of the theold theold theold old longhorns perfect longhorns perfect types with which to build up a modest herd of or head and thus preserve preserve pre pre- serve the breed for future generations generations genera genera- of Americans to study and admire By Dy 1929 1029 the original herd of 24 longhorns in the Wichita national forest had increased to 40 and since then there has been a small increase each year But Dut the recent recent recent re re- re- re cent statement made by biological cal cat survey officials that there are arenow arenow arenow now only strain pure-strain longhorns longhorns long long- horns including no doubt the herd in Oklahoma and scattered numbers in other parts of the West indicates that this animal is nearing the end of the trail and it is not inconceivable that an epidemic or sickness or some other other oth oth- er unforeseen circumstance might I easily wipe the breed out of exist exist- ence Origin of the Longhorn It has been a long trail in more than one sense that the longhorn has traveled Ills His history history his his- tory traces back to the days of Cortez The Spanish conquistadores conquista- conquista dores brought the first cattle to North America from the hills of Andalusia in southern Spain Two centuries before any cattle were sent to Texas the Spaniards were successfully suc raising good ones in Mexico The first herds crossed the Rio Grande into Texas Tex as when the missions were bui bur Around each mission the padres padre kept sized good-sized herds of beet beef d cattle and oxen for transporting trans porting heavy loads As the years passed numbers of these cattle escaped and became became be be- came wild running as free on the endless prairies as the bison and the antelope Inbreeding caused deterioration and settlers arriving from the states east of the Mississippi late in the Eighteenth Eighteenth Eight Eight- and early in the Nineteenth centuries found herds of scrawny wild cattle everywhere with I horns out of all proportion to the animals animal's size They were fleet tough creatures as well adapted to the arid region as the antelope and deer or the buffalo herds that were growing less numerous In the years before the railroad came to Texas without a rod of offence offence offence fence anywhere between the Rio Grande and Kansas the longhorn roamed at will wUl over the vast range There became so many in Texas then that tha t often they were killed for their hides alone Occasionally Occasionally Oc Oc- Oc herds were driven to New Orleans which is miles From San Antonio and to Mobile and Vicksburg They rarely sold for more than 5 a head and the demand was not very brisk Then came the Civil war Texas couldn't and wouldn't send herds northward and the Union blockade blockade blockade block block- ade of the Mississippi river was wasso wasso wasso so effective that only one or two droves got through swimming almost under the guns of warships below Vicksburg Their numbers were greatly diminished the remnant remnant remnant rem rem- nant finally reaching the Confederate Confederate erate army When the war ended the cattle industry in Texas was nearly ruined It was during this hour of depression depression de de- de that a ranchman conceived con con- i the idea of driving cattle to the North If the buyers wouldn't come to Texas for cattle he would take his cattle where he could sell them or at least where the prospects were good He selected Abilene Kap Kan end of rail on the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe So in 1867 the first herd of longhorns went up trail They arrived at their destination were sold at a good profit and the cattleman went back to Texas for another herd The news of his success spread like wildfire and the next year other herds were driven northward northward north north- ward with varying degrees of success But Dut Texas cattlemen were used to hard luck and Within two or three years year trail driving became an established established established business and in one year three-fourths three of a million head arrived in Kansas The longhorn was in the heyday of his glory and the cattle industry thrived in Texas Disaster on the Range Rane It continue 1 to flourish with the discovery by the cattlemen that by driving their steers to the northern north north- ern em ranges and fattening them there they could Increase their profits By 1880 the land was badly overstocked and under nourished Then came the drouth I of 1885 when cattle perished by bythe bythe bythe the thousands around tanks and This was followed a afew afew afew few years later laler by severe winters which wiped out whole herds Other factors which spelled the doom of the longhorn were the coming of the barbed wire which marked the end of the open range and the settling setting of the West Vest by homesteaders Long before the last great herd went up the trail in 1895 progressive progressive pro pro- cattlemen had been introducing in in- blooded stock and cross cross- in ing them with the longhorns Shorthorns were tried first but the shorthorn wasn't so good at rustling for his grass In the Hereford the cattlemen found the animal that crossed with the longhorn long long- horn was ideally adapted to the Texas ranges So the lanky old longhorn was through as a beef type lie became became be be- came a hybrid and began losing his individuality in the red-coated red white As a pure strain he exists now only as a curiosity onit on oni i it few ranches randles in Texas at live livestock livestock stock shows and in the reservation reserva I tion set aside for him in Okla OkIa homa lie He is a Vanishing Amer ican k I |
