Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-16
LAST OF THE LoNeHoRNs.

LAST OF THE LoNeHoRNs.
Peculiar Breed of Famous Cattle now
Almost Extinct.
The longhorn Texas cattle which in
former years roamed In great herds
almost at will over the vast stretches
Of free range in this state, says an
Encinal letter to the st. Louis Globe
Democrat, have gone the way Of the
buffaloes. They are now so scarce that
they are a curiosity, even to expert
enced cowboys. Occasionally one OF
them Is rounded up in some remote To-
cality. A good specimen Of long horns
from one of these animals Is very val
liable, and whenever one Of these old
time type of cattle Is found upon a
tered for his horns.
A few days ago two fine pairs Of
long horns were shipped from Encinal
to Chicago, where they were sold for
$500. They will be mounted and made
to ornament the home of retired
stockman who made his fortune out
of the cattle of this breed in the early
days.
The chase after these cattle was full
of excitement, and was participated
In by a number Of cowboys. 1t had
been known for the last two years
that two members Of the old longhorn
breed of cattle were upon the Hall
ranch, which borders the Rio Grande
west of here. The animals were so
wild that 1t was only on rare occa-
sions that they were caught sight Of
by the ranch hands. They would tear
away through the brush along the riv-
er the moment they heard the sound
Of horse or man, and to rope them
seemed almost an impossibility. They
were evidently old and the last Of their
race in this part Of the state. Despite
their age, their fieetness Of foot was
greater than that Of the fastest cow
pony that was sent against them from
time to time.
Agile as Deer.
These two longhorns also cared lit
tie for the wire-fence boundaries that
separated the different pastures. They
could Jump the fences with the agil-
| ity Of q deer, and wherever the best
grazing was located there they were
to be found. They did not mix much
with the better blooded cattle upon the
ranch, but they ran together as though
they considered themselves Of high
er type than the more modern breed
with which the ranch had been stock
ed
It was upon the ranch Of James Do
bic, situated north Of here, that the
famous longhorn Dobie steer was cap
tured a few years ago. This animal
has been in captivity ever since, and
has been one Of the interesting sights
at the fat stock shows in Texas for
some time.
A group of cowboys were discussing
the prospects Of capturing the two
longhorns on the Hall ranch recently.
In the crowd was Ched Reder and Bill
Hoxie, both expert ropers. They were
told by Tom Hall, the owner OF the
ranch, that If they would capture the
two longhorns alive he would give
them one-half of the money they
would sell for, for exhibition purposes,
and if they were compelled to shoot the
animals he would share the profits
from the sale Of their horns with them.
1t was supposed at the time that the
horns would sell for probably $25 a
pair. The two cowboys agreed to the
proposition and were permitted to Sc
lect six good riders to aid them in the
roundup. The expedition left Encinal
and was gone one week, returning with
the heads and horns Of the two long
horns. The story Of the chase as told
by Reder is interesting.
| IT was too young to know much
about handling the old breed Of cattle
in the days when the range was un-
fenced, but I thought myself pretty
good hand upon a ranch and capable
Of rounding up and cutting almost any
kind of stuff that had horns and hair"
he said. MY experience Of the last
few days has greatly increased my es-
TEEN for the old time cowboy. don't
wonder that they We're tough lot.
How they ever managed to go through
one roundup with the long-horns
without going wholly to the bad is
more than I can figure.
"These two particular steers which
we went out to capture have all other
kinds Of wild animals beaten mile
when it comes to scenting man and
In making quick getaway from the
spot. We knew about where to find
them, so it did not take much search
to locate them In the first place. We
found the trail, which led down an ar
roya to the Rio Grande, where they
were in the habit of going for water.
We took the back trail on this until we
came to Lorenza creek, and were max
ing our way cautiously through the
brush on our horses when we sudden
ly heard loud w-h-i-s-h! and sound
Of something tearing through the
mesquite and prickly pear thicket a
few hundred yards ahead Of US. We
knew from the sounds that we had
routed the two steers, and that they
were making off at terrific speed. We
rode out Of the arroyo and came into
a glade. Hardly had we entered the
cleared spot when we saw the two
steers tear across the lower end, a
quarter of a mile off, at full speed.
We put the rowels into the flanks Of
our cayuses and away we went after
the animals. The chase was brought to
an abrupt stop on our part by the
dense fringe of another thicket into
which the cattle had plunged as
though their horns were no impedi-
ment to their progress. How the ami
mails managed to get through the brush
with their outspreading horns is still
mystery to me. They went places
| that ue could NOT follow on our horses