Cattle drive

[piedmontese]

What do you all think them LH's weighed back in the 1800's and early 1900 cattle drives? Even today a yearling LH can be pretty dang small.

 

[kenny thomas]

My thought are that they might have been a lot older than yearlings, maybe 2 or even 3 years old. I have no proof but just my thoughts.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Some thing else to think about is how small the rest of the breeds were at that time.

 

[Taurus]

These 1800-1900's longhorns were less beefier than today's longhorns.

I found a very old cowboy history book that contains cattle drives. The book mentioned a Longhorn x Angus composite being used and more common in some areas before more breeds arrived in the Americas.

 

[piedmontese]

Yea from what I have read and pics I seen it looked like they had pretty much all ages including pregnant cows that calved on the drive.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Some thing else to think about is how small the rest of the breeds were at that time.

That's for sure, a 700 pound carcass hanging on a rail back then would of been a monster, and fed a couple Irish families for a winter. :lol2:

 

[TexasBred]

These 1800-1900's longhorns were less beefier than today's longhorns.

I found a very old cowboy history book that contains cattle drives. The book mentioned a Longhorn x Angus composite being used and more common in some areas before more breeds arrived in the Americas.

Would have been very late 1800's and not many of them as first angus came to US in 1873.

 

[piedmontese]

For some reason I always thought Herefords were the first x they used. I guess maybe because that's what u normally see n the movies.

 

[cross_7]

Everything I've read was Durham bulls were some the first to be used on the LH cows

 

[cross_7]

For some reason I always thought Herefords were the first x they used. I guess maybe because that's what u normally see n the movies.

I think Hereford was used early on also but they were a little later in 1800
Whitefaced cattle was a sign of a good cattlemen and not just a shoestring outfit

Edit
Wiki says 1816 was the first then 1840 was really when they shipped big numbers over

 

[TexasBred]

For some reason I always thought Herefords were the first x they used. I guess maybe because that's what u normally see n the movies.

Pied ever notice in those old westerns one shot of the stampeding herd will show nothing but Herefords, the next shot shows nothing but longhorns. :lol2:

 

[piedmontese]

I like them old bonanza episodes when they show a Hereford bull and go on about how big he is when he looks to be 1300 at most. I guess that was big back then.

 

[Taurus]

I like them old bonanza episodes when they show a Hereford bull and go on about how big he is when he looks to be 1300 at most. I guess that was big back then.

You ever heard of an old movie called "Rare Breed"? It's about the Herefords arrived in the Americas and are breeding with the wild longhorn cows and proved few folks that the Herefords can do well out in the West.

 

[Bigfoot]

Henry clay of Ky is who I was taught brought Herefords to this country. That would have been very early 1800's.

 

[piedmontese]

I like them old bonanza episodes when they show a Hereford bull and go on about how big he is when he looks to be 1300 at most. I guess that was big back then.

You ever heard of an old movie called "Rare Breed"? It's about the Herefords arrived in the Americas and are breeding with the wild longhorn cows and proved few folks that the Herefords can do well out in the West.

Is that the one where they lose a bunch of them the first winter?

 

[Taurus]

Yep that's one.

 

[TexasBred]

I like them old bonanza episodes when they show a Hereford bull and go on about how big he is when he looks to be 1300 at most. I guess that was big back then.

You ever heard of an old movie called "Rare Breed"? It's about the Herefords arrived in the Americas and are breeding with the wild longhorn cows and proved few folks that the Herefords can do well out in the West.

Is that the one where they lose a bunch of them the first winter?

Actually he only finds one calf after the hard winter. Jimmy Stewart played in it I think.

 

[Taurus]

Is that the one where they lose a bunch of them the first winter?

Actually he only finds one calf after the hard winter. Jimmy Stewart played in it I think.

The movie shows he found just one calf, but it's possible that there are more of these whitefaced calves after that one. They ended up have a whole herd of Herefords and Hereford x Longhorns with few purebred longhorns at the end of the movie.

Interesting fact: The Hereford bull that died in the winter and the bull at the end of the movie are same animal.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

Here's a pretty story on Joesph McCoy
http://www.kansascattletowns.org/abilen ... story.html

 

[TexasBred]

Is that the one where they lose a bunch of them the first winter?

Actually he only finds one calf after the hard winter. Jimmy Stewart played in it I think.

The movie shows he found just one calf, but it's possible that there are more of these whitefaced calves after that one. They ended up have a whole herd of Herefords and Hereford x Longhorns with few purebred longhorns at the end of the movie.

Interesting fact: The Hereford bull that died in the winter and the bull at the end of the movie are same animal.

I always thought it amusing how that calf looked so purebred yet was half longhorn. Guess they brought in some hereford cows to get the herd of herefords.