The Texas Longhorn...

…is a hybrid breed resulting from a random mixing of Spanish retinto stock and English cattle that Anglo-American frontiersmen brought to Texas from southern and Midwestern states in the 1820s and 1830s. Old steers (four years old and older) had extremely long horns, and the large number of these animals produced the popular misconception that all Texas cattle had unusually long horns. Longhorns, with their long legs, hard hoofs, little need for water, and ability to swim rivers and survive the weather extremes were ideal trail cattle; they even gained weight on the way to market.

During the first half of the 1800's, Texas longhorns were trailed to markets all over the country. They developed an immunity to "Texas fever," which they carried with them and passed on to herds on the way. During the second half of the nineteenth century many states attempted to enact restrictive laws in an effort to fight the fever. After the Civil War, however, millions of Texas longhorns were driven to market. Over the next twenty years contractors drove five to ten million cattle out of Texas, which helped revive the state's economy. The rapid spread of barbed wire fences, fenced lands, a tremendous demand for beef and cross-breeding brought an abrupt end to the dominance of the longhorn. By this time ranchers had begun crossing longhorns with shorthorn Durhams and later with Herefords, thus producing excellent beef animals. Longhorns were bred almost out of existence; by the 1920s only a few small herds remained.

In 1927 the Texas longhorn was saved from probable extinction when the Federal government helped preserve the Texas Longhorn and that part of American Heritage by establishing two herds in wildlife refuges. The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America was formed in 1964 to recognize the Texas Longhorn and its importance in American history.

Artist, Robert Summers, has accurately captured details of the many markings used to identify the cattle on the trails. Each steer is branded on its left hip to identify its owner. A rancher might also make cuts into ears and hides to identify the ages of the cattle.