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The Longhorns | 
 enlarge | Author: J. Frank Dobie
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $4.29
You Save: $15.66 (78%)
New (18) Used (22) Collectible (2) from $4.29
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 509534
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 440
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 029274627X
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780292746275
ASIN: 029274627X
Publication Date: 1980
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: A nice copy. Gently used. All pages and cover clear except for writing inside front cover. Binding solid and tight. No creases.
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Product 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.
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| Customer Reviews:
The history of the Longhorns from beginning to end January 11, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As horses were introduced to America by the Spanish, so too were cattle, and both species became feral, then wild, and learned to survive on their own under extreme conditions in the west. Not infrequently some retained some of their domestication. Texas was the land of their beginning as catalysts to a lifestyle peculiarly western because of how they developed. The Longhorns were tough individuals as well as part of a breed apart, and Dobie was just the sort of person to describe them for what they were, and the men who made it their purpose to use them. Dobie is a story teller of exceptional talent as well as an historian of necessity if his stories are to carry any weight. Each Chapter deals with an aspect of the beast and its habitat from which they were removed to form enormous herds driven north by cowboys over tractless miles to railheads when they arrived or to distant markets before their coming. Cowboys were tough, but also gentle as they crooned softly to the cattle on a stormy night hopefully to prevent "stompedes." Dobies' tales of individual Longhorns illustrates that within the being of some was a spirit that exceeded normal expectation, and contributed to human emotions in spite of themselves. The Longhorns began to fade as bloodlines were mixed to improve the breed, and as railheads came closer to the herds. For "improved" cattle had not the prowess or the ability to survive without the help of man as did the pure Longhorns. They were a breed in transition from one life style to another, but their memory remains because of Dobie and his tales. Fascinating reading.
A History of Longhorn Cattle at the Grass Roots January 11, 2001
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
J. Frank Dobie spent his life documenting the grassroots history of Texas and this book is probably his finest examples. I've read all of his books and found this one to be the most informative. There's also a wonderful collection of photographs of many of the different variations of horn and hide at the rear of this book. You'll learn how the cattle came north from Mexico in the beginning and how early settlers rooted them out of the thickets of East Texas to start their herds. You'll learn about many of the principal cattlemen of early Texas including their drives north to the Kansas railhead. If you enjoy Texas history you'll really enjoy this book.
THE BEST STORIES ABOUT LONG HORNS EVER June 2, 2000
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
THIS BOOK WAS GREAT COLLECTION OF STORIES ON THE LONGHORN. IT STARTES WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF CATTLE AND HOW THE LONG HORN CAME TO BE. THERE ARE A FEW TALES OF THE LONG HORNS LONG HORNS,AND AFEW ON WHY IT WAS THE PERFECT ANIMAL FOR TEXAS CATTLEMEN.THE BOOK IS ENDED ON A SAD NOTE THAT TALKS ABOUT THE LAST OF THE WILD LONG HORNS
Tales of Texas November 3, 1999
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Frank Dobie, a University of Texas professor, spent years collecting stories of the old southwest. Many are tales that he wrote down of 19th Century life. Several are collected into volumes about important parts of life at the time, including "Longhorns" and "The Mustangs".They provide great insight into the origin of those animals and their importance to people who lived in those times. Another excellent Dobie book is "I'll Tell You a Tale," with excerpts from these two books and others. The anthology includes tales of gold, stories of irony, Old West characters, and saddle stories.
When Cattle was King October 15, 1999
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book is classic Dobie in style and is "the" book on Texas Longhorns. Dobie takes us through the history of the breed, through the animal, through the men and women that loved, used and abused them, and through the many tales that surround them, both fiction and fact. The animal stands large in this work, but the flavor of the old days, of the hardships, of the ranch life, of the love for the land of the people who lived and died there is a part of it too. For anyone with an interest in this breed, this book is a must read. For anyone else with a feel for the Southwestern United States, Texas, cowboys, or the land, it's time well spent.
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