History of the Breed
Friday, April 27, 2007
History of the breed
East Or/Wash News
Terence L. Day
Freelance Writer
Friday, April 27, 2007
Texas Longhorns are America's oldest breed of cattle. Although their numbers were once numbered in the millions, they nearly became extinct before rebounding through a rescue effort and now have a secure place in the U.S. cattle industry.
Their history is somewhat obscure, with some authorities saying the stock from which they developed came from the Canary Islands to Bermuda on Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1493.
Other authorities, including those at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge northwest of Lawton, Okla., trace the foundation stock to calves that Gregorio de Villalobos, viceroy to "New Spain," imported from Santo Domingo.
Early explorers such as Coronado brought Longhorn cattle from Mexico into what is now Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
In 1540, Coronado brought 500 head of Longhorns into what is now the United States. Historians believe the majority of these cattle escaped to run wild and breed through natural selection.
Twelve years later the estimated cattle population of "New Spain" reached into hundreds of thousands, according to Alan B. Hoyt, author of "History of Texas Longhorns," an 11-part series published in the "Texas Longhorn Journal" between 1882-1884.
Eventually, Texas Longhorns numbered in the millions. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service article estimates 10 million longhorns were drained off the Texas ranges and driven up the north trails from 1866 to 1890.
Stewart H. Fowler, a Milton, Fla., beef cattle consultant, said, "The Texas Longhorn was fashioned entirely by nature right here in North America. ... It became the sound end product of 'survival of the fittest.'
"The Texas Longhorn is the only cattle breed in America which - without aid from man - is truly adapted to America," Fowler reports on his Web page.
"An almost forgotten reservoir of unique genetic material, the Longhorn is literally an old source of new genes! In fact, the Texas Longhorn may prove to be a real 'genetic gold-mine' in the future of our beef industry."
While remarkably adapted to the vicissitudes of nature, the Longhorn needed the help of man to survive the changes they encountered as America's great prairies were fenced and plowed and ranchers began intensive crossbreeding to imported cattle with quick-maturing characteristics.
The Texas Longhorn was seriously threatened by 1900. Rescue from extinction began in 1927 as a few Southwestern cattlemen and the U.S. government joined forces to rescue them. In that year, after inspecting more than 30,000 head of Texas cattle with longhorn type characteristics, Forest Service employees assembled a herd of 20 cows, three bulls, three steers and four calves and shipped it to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America estimates that by 1964, when it was formed, there were fewer than 1,500 head of genuine Texas Longhorn cattle in existence.
Today, it appears the future of the Texas Longhorn is secure.
- Terence L. Day
History of the breed
East Or/Wash News
Terence L. Day
Freelance Writer
Friday, April 27, 2007
Texas Longhorns are America's oldest breed of cattle. Although their numbers were once numbered in the millions, they nearly became extinct before rebounding through a rescue effort and now have a secure place in the U.S. cattle industry.
Their history is somewhat obscure, with some authorities saying the stock from which they developed came from the Canary Islands to Bermuda on Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1493.
Other authorities, including those at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge northwest of Lawton, Okla., trace the foundation stock to calves that Gregorio de Villalobos, viceroy to "New Spain," imported from Santo Domingo.
Early explorers such as Coronado brought Longhorn cattle from Mexico into what is now Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
In 1540, Coronado brought 500 head of Longhorns into what is now the United States. Historians believe the majority of these cattle escaped to run wild and breed through natural selection.
Twelve years later the estimated cattle population of "New Spain" reached into hundreds of thousands, according to Alan B. Hoyt, author of "History of Texas Longhorns," an 11-part series published in the "Texas Longhorn Journal" between 1882-1884.
Eventually, Texas Longhorns numbered in the millions. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service article estimates 10 million longhorns were drained off the Texas ranges and driven up the north trails from 1866 to 1890.
Stewart H. Fowler, a Milton, Fla., beef cattle consultant, said, "The Texas Longhorn was fashioned entirely by nature right here in North America. ... It became the sound end product of 'survival of the fittest.'
"The Texas Longhorn is the only cattle breed in America which - without aid from man - is truly adapted to America," Fowler reports on his Web page.
"An almost forgotten reservoir of unique genetic material, the Longhorn is literally an old source of new genes! In fact, the Texas Longhorn may prove to be a real 'genetic gold-mine' in the future of our beef industry."
While remarkably adapted to the vicissitudes of nature, the Longhorn needed the help of man to survive the changes they encountered as America's great prairies were fenced and plowed and ranchers began intensive crossbreeding to imported cattle with quick-maturing characteristics.
The Texas Longhorn was seriously threatened by 1900. Rescue from extinction began in 1927 as a few Southwestern cattlemen and the U.S. government joined forces to rescue them. In that year, after inspecting more than 30,000 head of Texas cattle with longhorn type characteristics, Forest Service employees assembled a herd of 20 cows, three bulls, three steers and four calves and shipped it to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
The Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America estimates that by 1964, when it was formed, there were fewer than 1,500 head of genuine Texas Longhorn cattle in existence.
Today, it appears the future of the Texas Longhorn is secure.
- Terence L. Day
posted by Michael Bunker at 9:15 AM
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