The Longhorns

About this book

The Texas Longhorn made more history than any other breed of cattle the world has known. These wiry, intractable beasts were themselves pioneers in a harsh land, moving elementally with drouth, grass, Arctic blizzards, and burning winds. Their story is the bedrock on which the history of the cow country of America is founded.

J. Frank Dobie was a tale spinner who appreciated the proper place of legend and folklore in history. In The Longhorns, he tells of the Spanish conquistadors, who brought their cattle with them; of ranching in the turbulent colonial times; of the cowboy, whose abandon, energy, insolence, and pride epitomized the booming West. He writes of terrifying stampedes, titantic bull fights on the range, ghost steers, and encounters with Indians.

A tireless prospector of the history and legends of the Southwest, Dobie spent most of his life preparing to write The Longhorns. He was born in the Texas brush country where the Longhorns made their last stand; he back-trailed them into Mexico; he pursued the vivid lore of Texas cowboys and Mexican vaqueros. No historian or naturalist has ever so related an animal to the land, its people, and its history.

Contents

Introductory: Makers of History

I. The First Spanish Cattle
II. The Texas Breed
III. Mavericks and Maverickers
IV. On the Trail
V. Stompedes
VI The Way They Ran
VII. Epitaph on the Lone Prairie
VIII. Bulls and the Blood Call
IX. Cows and Curiosity
X. Smell and Thirst
XI. Vitality, Drifts and Die-ups
XII. Horns
XIII. Rawhide
XIV. Oxen and Tails
XV. Sancho and Other Returners
XVI. Lead Steers and Neck Oxen
XVII. Outlaws of the Brush
XVIII. Hidden in the Thickets
XIX. Molded by Horn and Thorn
XX. Sundown

Photographic Record of the Longhorns
Notes
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

J. Frank Dobie was a folklorist and author of many books about Texas life and culture.