The Longhorns

Description

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 this book. 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.

J. Frank Dobie (1888–1964) was a noted Texas folklorist.

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

Additional information

Dimensions	1 × 6 × 9 in