Turning Points
in Texas History--
Senior Division Historical Paper The Texas Longhorn is the symbol of the old west, spirit of freedom, rugged, independent and probably the most recognizable breed of cattle in the United States, not to mention cattle in Canada, Austrailia, New Zealand and possibly China. In the late 1860's the Texas census recorded 4,000,000 head of cattle in Texas, but only 600,000 people (TLBAA 1998,7). The Longhorn has not always been so plentiful though. In the late fifties the breed was all but extinct. In fact the Longhorn had come closer to extinction than either the buffalo or the whooping crane (TLBAA 1998,8). This very integral part of history was being replaced. With the introduction of new meatier breeds from Europe and the decline of the cattle trails, the Longhorn was no longer needed as the major beef breed in the U.S. With its numbers decimated and its popularity rapidly diminishing, six dedicated Texas ranchers and the U.S. Parks and Wildlife Department decided to try and save what was left of these majestic and historic animals. Without these seven genetic families it is not only possible, but also very probable that the Texas Longhorn would not exist today. The seven genetic families are those of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Cache, OK, Milby Butler, Jack Phillips, M.P. Wright, Graves Peeler, "Cap" Yates and EMil Marks. Each of these lines of cattle and the philosop[hies and methods of the men that owned and bred them were different, but these men and the men of the Wildlife Refuge all loved the Texas Longhorn and knew that the breed had more to offer and deserved more than to fade away like the trails that made them famous. The first family of cattle is that of the Wildlife Refuge or WR. Established in 1927 the WR herd is of special importance to history because only once has the Federal Government actively stepped in to conserve a breed of domesticated animal on public lands at public expense (Sponenberg and Christman 1996, 2). This one time, fearing the loss of the history and heritage Longhorn represented, the government provided $3,000 for the purchase of a herd of Longhorn cattle. The task of finding these cattle fell on the shoulders of Mr. Will C. Barnes, who founde it necessary to ravel almost 5,000 miles across south Texas and Mexico to find the twenty cows, four claves and three bulls with which to develop a herd that was the remnants of some 40,000,000 cattle living in the U.S. only sixty years before. These animals were then blood typed to insure that no outside blood was present in the cattle. Unfortunately, the largest of the three bulls showed a taint of Brahman blood, so he and his progeny had to be culled (Recollections of a Refuge Man 1985, 47). Later, the other two bulls also had to be culled. After this another bull was found and purchased (Recollections of a Refuge Man 1985, 48). Today the WR herd is considered the "purest" herd, and WR branded animals demand premium prices (Sponenberg 1996, 14). The next herd is that of Milby Butler. Butler started out raising registered Brahman cattle. When his son Henry left to serve in the military, he left his Longhorns to his father who then developed a love for them (The Seven Families 1990, 24). A typical Butler Longhorn has large horns and is of good frame. They are not the tallest or largest of the seven families, but they are larger than some of the others. Many are light with dark points, but the color is widely varied (The Seven Families 1990, 25). Many of his original cattle included duns from the gulf coast and white cattle from east Texas (Sponenberg 1996, 12). In 1923, Butler decided to keep his Longhorns
separated from his other types of cattle. Over the years,
he added good cattle when he could find them. Eventually,
Butler had a herd of up to 600 head (Sponenberg 1996,
12). Many present day herds carry the Butler bloodline
through their herd sires that may trace their heritage
back to Classic. Classic was a large white bull with red
ears, nice horns and good conformation (Classic 1999,1).
Syndicated for one million dollars in 1983, Classic is a
good example of what Butler's cattle look like (The
Seven Families 1990, 25). |
 |
Get Hooked on
and visit our Sale Pen!