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Head ’em up!
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 [Photo: Irv Green] The Longhorn steer, product of interbreeding in the early 19th century, is one of the remaining, true images of the Old West. |
By ANDREA GROSS
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 22, 2002
A tour through Longhorn country on Texas' Chisholm Trail is a cowpuncher's view of the Old West, the birthplace of ornery sorts who roped a piece of history. |
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In Western movies, Longhorn cattle look ominous as they move up the trail toward northern markets, their horns sharp as spear points and spreading 6 to 8 feet from point to point.
The Longhorns on Marks' ranch are friendly with visitors. When she stepped out of the truck to feed them, they ambled over -- no pounding hoofs, no horns clashing together. Still, when one steer named Powder Puff turned in my direction, I hastily stepped back.
Longhorn cattle plodded the trails from 1867 to 1884. That was less than 20 years, but with the aid, first, of dime novels, then Hollywood films and finally television, those years helped mold the world's image of a special piece of America: Cowboys made us feel strong, vigorous, independent.
 [Photo: Irv Green] |
| Mock cattle drives are held twice a day in Fort Worth, Texas.
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It used to take trail drovers -- the tough men doing the herding -- three or more months to cover these 260 miles. You can drive it now in 4 1/2 hours.
Or you can do as my husband and I did: mosey along, take abundant side trips and be transported back in time to the years of the great cattle drives.
* * *
Cattle were introduced to Tejas (the Spanish name for Texas) by Franciscan friars who came to the New World to "civilize" and proselytize the native peoples. Therefore we began our journey with a side trip from San Antonio to Mission Espiritu Santo at Goliad, built in 1749 and, according to the local literature, "the birthplace of Texas' cattle industry."
"I belong here," said mission manager Lupita Barrera. "My ancestors were Indian, Mexican, American."
Dressed in American Indian garb, with bright pink socks -- "The pink comes from an insect that grows on cactus and is used for dye," she explained -- Barrera and other costumed guides showed us the site that once held as many as 40,000 cattle, used for both beef and barter.
When South Texas missions were secularized around 1830, many cattle ran wild and interbred, creating the new Texas Longhorn. After the Civil War, men gathered the free-roaming cattle into herds for the long drive north.
Cuero, a small town between Goliad and San Antonio, sits on land that once belonged to Mission Espiritu. Now it's prosperous ranching country and, having made advance arrangements, we spent the afternoon watching cowboys "work the cattle."
"We're just doin' what needs doing," said Railey Morrow as he, his father and 11-year-old son separated calves from their mothers, gave inoculations and herded them onto trucks to go to auction.
* * *
 [Photo: Irv Green] Maudeen Marks, 83, is determined to preserve the Longhorn, which nearly became extinct when cattle drives ceased near the end of 19th century. |
Figuring that Chisholm Trail cowboys had needed different skills, we headed to the Mexican rodeo at San Antonio's Charro Ranch. The sport dates back to the early days of what became Texas, when Mexican laborers tended cattle owned by Mission priests and Spanish landowners (charros). In their spare time, the laborers (vaqueros) held impromptu competitions to display their horsemanship.
Our favorite event was paso de muerte, or "jump of the dead." Riders chased a wild mare, leaped onto its back and hung on.
To see the famed Longhorns up close, we drove to Bandera, 40 miles northwest of San Antonio and the self-proclaimed "cowboy capital" of the world.
This is where Maudeen Marks has her LH7 Ranch: 1,200 acres, 10 rental cabins and 200 head of cattle. "Not just any cattle. Genetically pure Longhorn," she tells visitors.
She works with geneticists at Texas A&M University, who blood-type her cattle for purity and use them for research. Her goal: to ensure that enough authentic Longhorn, which nearly had become extinct, remain as a tribute to the past.
* * *
 [Photo: Irv Green] Cowboys in Cuero, a town between Goliad and San Antonio, “work the cattle” on modern ranches. |
Fifty miles north of Bandera, in Fredericksburg, 76-year-old Joe Gish also quietly goes about the business of preserving the past. Gish has been collecting Western artifacts for more than half a century. When his collection outgrew his home, he built a building next door that now is crammed with chaps, boots, badges, saddles, vests, bandannas, pistols and knives. He willingly displays it all to visitors.
Proper gear, we learned, was serious business out on the trail. Cowboys often paid more than a month's wages, about $30, for a pair of boots, almost as much for a good hat. It was a matter of survival.
Hats, for example, were multi-use items. Far more than sun-shields, they served as water holders, fire-fanners, seat cushions, pillows and even horse whips.
"A Texas hat should remind you of the people who settled Texas," said third-generation hatmaker Joella Grammage-Torres. Her shop, Texas Hatters, is just south of Austin.
"My daddy used to say they had the durability and strength of the mesquite, the endurance and stamina of the Longhorn."
Grammage-Torres is one of fewer than 40 custom hatmakers in the United States, and Texas Hatters is as much mini-museum as workshop and store. Her family has made hats for five presidents and a host of film stars -- proving that trail necessities have become fashion luxuries.
Watching her steam a hat into shape is special; watching a bootmaker create a boot is akin to seeing a sculptor mold a statue.
For Chisholm Trail accuracy, we went to Waco, further up Interstate 35. After ogling the 1879 Suspension Bridge, which enabled cattle to walk rather than wade across the Brazos River, we turned onto a backroad to reach Mike Jass' boot shop in Clifton.
Myth says oldtime cowboys preferred pointy-toe boots so their feet would slip easily into the stirrups. "Not so," said Jass, who has researched the subject. When one of his customers requested an exact replica of 1870-era boots, Mike developed a special technique to build them.
"Back then, bootmakers only used two pieces of leather; today most use five, not including decorative additions," he explained. His historically accurate boots are square-toed. They are high-heeled, to keep the foot in the stirrup, and have high, wide tops to fit over pants and provide protection from thick, thorny brush. These are workmen's boots that are much too attractive to work in.
* * *
 [Photo: Irv Green] Hats worn by cowboys were less a fashion item than a tool of their trade. Joella Grammage-Torres, a third-generation hatmaker, is steaming a hat. |
A week after starting our trip, we were in Fort Worth. Once a supply stop for trail drivers, later a major railhead with one of the largest stockyards in the world, the city celebrates its history with museums and herd drives.
Standing in front of the Livestock Exchange Building, now a museum of Old West memorabilia, we watched the daily Herd Drive. More than a dozen Longhorn strolled past, gently prodded by costumed wranglers in a mini-re-enactment of a trail drive.
Cameras flashed and a little boy, happily decked out in a red cowboy hat and leatherlike chaps, scrambled to the hood of a parked car to get a better view.
Having watched an old-time rodeo near the beginning of the Trail, it seemed fitting to watch a modern one at the end. We went to the Mesquite Rodeo near Dallas. The arena was draped with red, white and blue, and when The Star Spangled Banner blared, spectators rose to put a hand or hat (mostly cowboy hats) over their hearts.
Obviously the cowboy mystique, born among the scrub of the Chisholm Trail, has outgrown Texas. It has become an integral part of America.
-- Freelance writer Andrea Gross lives in Asheville, N.C.
If you go
GETTING THERE: As the Longhorns knew, the Chisholm Trail is made for ambling. You will get more out of the experience if you leave plenty of time to talk with locals and discover the unexpected. Driving times provided here reflect road conditions (narrow country roads vs. multi-lane Interstate):
- San Antonio to Goliad, 115 miles, three hours.
- Goliad to Cuero, 30 miles, one hour.
- Cuero to San Antonio, 90 miles, 21/2 hours.
- San Antonio to Bandera, 40 miles, one hour.
- Bandera to Fredericksburg, 50 miles, two hours.
- Fredericksburg to Austin, 75 miles, 21/2 hours.
- Austin to Waco, 100 miles, two hours.
- Waco to Clifton, 35 miles, one hour.
- Clifton to Fort Worth, 90 miles, 21/2 hours.
- Fort Worth to Dallas (Mesquite), 50 miles, one hour.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the following Convention and Visitors Bureaus:
- Cuero and vicinity: toll-free 1-800-792-1112 (the Texas Parks and Wildlife agency); www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/goliad.
- San Antonio: toll-free 1-800-447-3372; www.SanAntonioCVB.com.
- Bandera: toll-free 1-800-364-3833; www.banderacowboycapital.com.
- Fredericksburg: toll-free 1-888-997-3600; www.fredericksburg-texas.com.
- Austin: toll-free 1-800-926-2282; www.austintexas.org.
- Waco: toll-free 1-800-321-9226; www.wacocvb.com.
- Fort Worth: toll-free 1-800-433-5747; www.fortworth.com.
For more information on specific sites mentioned here, contact:
- Mission Espiritu Santo: Texas Parks and Wildlife, toll-free 1-800-792-1112.
Ranch visits:
- Cuero Chamber of Commerce: (361) 275-2112.
- San Antonio Charro Association: (210) 532-0693; most rodeo events are held on weekends.
- LH7 Ranch: (830) 796-4314; advance reservation required.
- Gish's Old West Museum: (830) 997-2794; advance reservation required.
- Texas Hatters: 15755 I-35 South, Buda; (512) 295-4287; www.texashatters.com.
- Fort Worth Herd Drive; 131 E Exchange, Fort Worth; (817) 336-4373; www.fortworthherd.com. Mesquite Rodeo; 1818 Rodeo Drive, Mesquite; (972) 285-8777; www.mesquiterodeo.com.
REFERENCE BOOKS: Texas Handbook, by Joe Cummings; Avalon (Moon) Travel Guides, 1998, $18.95. 100 Years of Western Wear, Tyler Beard and Jim Arndt, 2001, Gibbs Smith Publisher, $19.95. The Texas Cowboys, by David Stoecklein and Tom Saunders, 1997, Stoecklein Publishing, $60.
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
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