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RIDING THE TRAILS CATTLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT TO TEXAS. WHEN SPANISH COLONISTS MOVED INTO THE REGION THAT IS NOW SOUTH TEXAS IN THE I 700S, RETINTO, OR CRIOLLO STOCK OFTEN PRECEDED THEM. ONE METHOD OF DELIVERING THE LONG-HORNED ANIMALS WAS TO BRING THE CATTLE SHIPS CLOSE TO SHORE, THEN DRIVE THE ANIMALS OFF OF THE DECK AND INTO THE WATER WHERE THEY WOULD SWIM THROUGH THE SURF TO SHORE. WHEN PEOPLE ARRIVED IN LATER YEARS, THESE HERDS HAD INCREASED IN THE WILD AND READILY PROVIDED MEAT AND LEATHER TO THE NEEDY COLONISTS. ANGLO-CELTIC COLONISTS FROM THE UNITED STATES DROVE ANOTHER STRAIN OF LONG-HORNED CATTLE TO TEXAS IN THE I820S AND I830S. THESE ANIMALS, DESCENDED FROM ENGLISH LIVESTOCK, MINGLED WITH THE SPANISH BEEVES AND SOON PRODUCED A UNIQUE HYBRID THAT BREEDERS AND STOCKMEN RECOGNIZED AS THE TEXAS LONGHORN. RUGGED, HALF-WILD, MULTI-COLORED, AND ARMED WITH AN IMPRESSIVE SPAN OF HORNS, THESE ANIMALS THRIVED IN THE HOSTILE CONDITIONS OF THE TEXAS SCRUB COUNTRY. BY DR. DONALD FRAZIER Photo: Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau
