The Longhorns

by J. Frank Dobie

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.

Genres: History, Westerns, Nonfiction, Folklore, Historical, Nature, American History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Called the "Storyteller of the Southwest," James Frank Dobie was born in 1888 on his family's cattle ranch in Live Oak County. During his long life, J. Frank Dobie would live astride two worlds: a rugged life on a Texas cattle ranch and the state's modern centers of scholarly learning.

Dobie came to Austin in 1914 to teach at the University of Texas. In time he pioneered an influential course on the literature of the Southwest. By the late 1920s, Dobie discovered his mission: to record and publicize the disappearing folklore of Texas and the greater Southwest. Dobie became secretary of the Texas Folklore Society, a position he held for 21 years.

J. Frank Dobie Dobie was a new kind of folklorist—a progressive activist. He called for UT to admit African-American students in the 1940s—long before the administration favored integration. Dobie's vocal politics led to his leaving the University in 1947, but he continued writing until his death in 1964, publishing over twenty books and countless articles.

The inscription on Dobie's headstone in the Texas State Cemetery reads: "I have come to value liberated minds as the supreme good of life on earth." J. Frank Dobie was not content to simply preserve Southwestern heritage within libraries and museums. He gave life to that heritage and informed generations of Texans about their rich history.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting tales of a brand of beast, from first European contact to TX and the trail north to (near) extinction. I was interested to learn of the ubiquitous "black Spanish cattle" of colonial days, the history of the concept "maverick," the swings in worth of cattle according to fluctuations in capital markets in the East and in methods of transport, and the desperation with which cowboys sang lullabies during thunderstorms to avert 'stompede'.

[Joshpherigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

You better like books about cattle! Before The Longhorns, I tried and failed three times to finish another famous bovine read: Earnest Hemingway’s nonfiction bullfighting ballad Death in the Afternoon. A killer title and very readable prose can take me halfway through just about anything, but page-after-page of Hemingway’s eulogies for dead Spanish bullfighters and the dead bulls they fought did not conjure up the kind of interest my internet-addled brain needed to actually finish the thing. The Longhorns was my redemption. Famed folklorist J. Frank Dobie’s history of Texas’ most famous beast is in equal parts a history of the animal, the wild land that shaped its existence and the Texans who sought to tame them both. Like Hemingway in Death, Dobie’s stamina and interest in the minutia and tedium of the subject matter can often surpass his reader’s. Dobie’s detailing of herd counts and descriptions of iron brands, for example, gets a bit monotonous. But a generous sprinkling of cowboy stories, most relayed to Dobie directly by the old-timers themselves, makes the book immensely rewarding for anybody interested in the history of Texas or the American West.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I did not want it to end. I read it about 20 years ago and I always wanted to re-read it. It is a series of short accounts of the Longhorn, (an amazing animal) the horses the men and the country in which they all lived at the same time. It was a short lived time from about the mid 1800s to the start of the 1900s. The original book was published in 1941. My copy is dated 1943 so original language has been left in. It would be good reading for young people today to know what their ancestors were capable of in work and survival skills.

[Bob Mustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For writers seeking research on a subject, it's axiomatic that there are books on any subject. The challenge is finding them. I'm embarking on a project that may take me two to three years, and the research is done - - for now. One book found on my subject is the one referenced here. Dobie gives me far more than I need, but then Dories Betts' advice to me a couple of decades ago was that we use only 20% of what we know on a subject when we write fiction. Otherwise it's probably more reportage than fiction.

Dobie's book not only gives a history of cattle introduction into the western hemisphere but the history of cattle drives, the nature of the beast that made the longhorn so popular. He does this through gathered anecdotal information in the cowboys' and cattlemen's own language. The book is replete with terms, slang, uses of longhorn "parts," connections with Native Americans, comparisons of traits of longhorns and buffalo, as well as more "modern" cattle. The book ends with a chapter on the passing of this wild and valuable beast - valuable to the denizens of that time as well as to the national history.

Also included are a number of excellent line drawings by Tom Lea, and a full section of longhorn photos and descriptions at book's end. The book is thoroughly annotated and indexed.

My rating: 19 0f 20 stars

[Eric Graves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it was a bit unorganized and reading it seemed like a conversation with an old rancher who diverted from the topic to tell different stories. The first chapter was great, but the rambling continued to a point where I could not continue.

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first selection in our fall 2020 Read and Discuss (RAD) Texas group. The unique mixture of facts and folklore presented by Dobie made this an interesting read and will serve as a good basis for the rest of our series on Texas History and Historical Novels.

[Mark Greathouse]

Tales of the longhorns that populated the southwest by the millions. Dobie is the premier Texas folklorist.

[Marcelino Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially liked the story of Sancho, the returner, wonder if all the elements of this particular account are real.

[Ben Ballard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moo

[Jack Friedland · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book written in the 1940's is all about cattle and especially the iconic Texas Longhorn. He writes of Texas cowboys, rustlers and catches the terrible excitement of the stampede, the poetry of lighting on a sea of seething horns. No historian or naturalist has ever so related an animal to the land, to men, and to history. I liked this book because it taught me a lot about Texas history and also a lot about longhorns, which is one of my favorite animals. The reason I gave it only two stars was because it was kind of boring at some parts and just seemed to droll on so I had to re read these parts. But I'm glad I read this book, I enjoyed it.

[Cws]

W Dob

[Rickeclectic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history and lore of Longhorn cattle (the animal in Texas). Full of interesting stories, well written, by a legendary Texas historian. You don't have to love cattle to like this book.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western folk florist J. Frank Dobie has written a collection of stories about longhorn cattle. He discusses their evolution and traits.

[Ralph Estes]

Fairly dull, but full of detail & history

[Bren Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The power of rawhide! Great read on the history of the longhorn.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being born to a Texas family that has been here since the 1800's. Anything written about her is intriguing but I also raise longhorn cattle to boot. Very informative and inspiring to read about, not only the cattle but the men that worked with them. Well written and easy to read.

[Adrianne]

The HRC at UT Austin has both the archives of Frank & Tom Lea (it was the illustrations of Tom Lea that caught my eye and got me wanting to read the book) http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/collections...