|
Of all the cattle breeds in North America, the Texas Longhorns are unique in being formed from the land on which they have lived for hundreds of years due to selective breeding. The first Longhorns came to the New World from Spain. In 1541 Coronado brought the Longhorns to Texas from Mexico. They were also brought to Texas years later by LaSalle. In fact, the area where LaSalle brought these cattle was named Lavaca Bay which means “The Cow Bay.”
For the next few centuries, the Longhorn cattle were allowed to roam freely on the Texas plains. It was during this period that the Texas Longhorns developed their unique characteristics. One of the amazing qualities of the Longhorn cattle is the ability to feed off quite common plants on the ranges such as willows, mesquite, yucca, and many kinds of weeds that ordinary cattle find to be inedible. This quality has allowed ranchers to make more efficient use of their land due the fact that the Longhorns can feed off a wide variety of plant life other than standard cattle fare.
Another quality of the Longhorns that enables it to flourish in the wild is its high rate of survival of unassisted births which amazingly is over 99%. This is partly due to the low birth weight of Longhorn calves coupled with the wide birth canal of Longhorn cows. Add to this longevity in excess of 20 years which explains why the Longhorn herds multiplied rapidly.
Resistance to disease is another quality helpful to this breed’s survival. Following the Civil War, when other cattle breeds were dying because of the Texas fever tick, the Longhorn cattle flourished due to their resistance to this disease. Because of this, the Texas cattle industry was saved and provided much needed relief for that state’s economy that had been so devastated during the Civil War. Another reason for this surplus of Longhorn cattle at the end of the Civil War was that many of the ranchers had left their lands during the war, leaving the Longhorns to roam freely and multiply in the absence of herding. It is estimated that there were five million Longhorn cattle roaming the Texas ranges following the Civil War.
However, despite the large numbers of Texas Longhorns following the Civil War, by the turn of the century this breed was almost extinct. This was mainly due to crossbreeding with European cattle breeds brought onto the ranges. The Longhorn breed was saved only due to two factors. One was that a handful of ranchers were convinced of the value of the unique genetics of the Longhorn and maintained small herds of them. The other reason was that in 1927, in an effort to preserve this breed, the United States government set aside wildlife refuges for them in Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Today, the Texas Longhorns have made a comeback in part due to a recognition of their unique genetics and also because for Texans, Longhorns represent a link to their past. Because of this process of preservation, there are now seven distinct breeds of Longhorns.
| 
