ANGUS
The Angus breed of cattle is originally from the highlands of northern
Scotland, in the counties or "shires" of Angus and Aberdeen. (Many parts
of the world today Angus cattle are known as Aberdeen-Angus) The first
Angus bulls were brought to the United States in 1873 by George Grant, a
native Scotsman, who brought four Angus bulls for use on his ranch near
Victoria, Kansas.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$30
$32
YES
11 MILES/HOUR
BRAHMAN
The American Brahman Cattle Breed is the first breed developed in the United
States. The American Brahman Cattle Breed Originated from a nucleus of
approximately 266 bulls and 22 females of several Bos indicus (cattle of India) types
imported into the United States starting in 1854, today the Brahman breed has achieved
acceptance for their environmental adaptability, longevity, mothering ability and efficient
beef production.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$12
$25
YES
10 MILES/HOUR
Corriente
The Corriente can be traced back to the first cattle brought to the new world by the
Spanish as early as 1493. These cattle were hardy breeds chosen especially to
withstand the ocean crossing and adapt to their new land. They were brought to the
West Indies and south Florida, as well as to Central and South America. Over the
centuries the descendants of these cattle bred for different purposes - milk, meat and
draft animals. They also adapted through natural selection to the various regions in
which they lived. Eventually, their descendants spread across the southern U.S. and up
the coast of California.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$10
$22
NO
12 MILES/HOUR
DEVON
In 1623, two heifers and a bull from north Devonshire, England, were received by a
member of the Plymoth Colony. This was the beginning of the American Devon
Cattle Breed. They were the first importation of cattle from Britain, although the Spanish
had introduced cattle in the south. Their immediate value was as draft animals. Cattle
from Devonshire had long been recognized in England for their speed, intelligence,
strength, willingness to work, and ability to prosper on coarse forage, in a wide range of
climates. In later years, other cattle were imported and contributed to the American
Devon Cattle Breed, which developed as the ideal multipurpose breed. None could
surpass it for draft work; the milk was good for cream and cheese making; and the
carcass developed fine beef on poor forage.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$15
$28
YES
10 MILES/HOUR
HEREFORD
The Hereford breed of beef cattle was established near Hereford, county of
Herefordshire, England, nearly 300 years ago as a product of necessity. Thrifty,
enterprising British farmers were seeing the need to produce beef for the expanding
food market created by Britain's industrial revolution. To successfully meet this growing
demand, these early-day cattlemen needed cattle which could efficiently convert native
grasses to beef, and do it at a profit. Benjamin Tomkins is credited with being a primary
founder of the Hereford breed. He began in 1742 with a bull calf from the cow Silver and
two cows, Pidgeon and Mottle, inherited from his father's estate. Herefords came to the
U.S. in 1817 when statesman Henry Clay of Kentucky made the first importation of a
bull and two females.
COST PER COW SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$12
YES
11 MILES/HOUR
$25
HOLSTEIN
The Holstein breed originated in The Netherlands close to 2,000 years ago. The black
cows and white cows of the Batavians and Friesians were bred and culled to produce
cows that made the best use of limited land in the Rhine Delta region by producing the
most milk. Eventually these animals evolved genetically into the efficient, high producing
black and white dairy cows known as the Holstein-Friesian.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$12
$26
YES
10 MILES/HOUR
Texas
Longhorn
The only American cattle breed to
develop its characteristics without
the benefit of human intervention,
the Texas Longhorn arose from ancestors that
were the first cattle to arrive in America.
The first long-horned cattle were brought to the
Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1493.
These cattle were subsequently brought into
North America by Spanish conquerors to feed the
armies that spread Spanish influence throughout
Mexico and the American Southwest. Allowed to
roam free, the Spanish cattle developed
characteristics that made them ideal for life on the
open plains -- extreme hardiness, disease and
parasite resistance, and the ability to utilize
marginal rangelands more efficiently than most
other breeds.
When the English began moving west they took
their cattle with them. Somewhere in the ranges
west of the Mississippi River the English cattle
began "mixing" with the Spanish cattle. As the two
strains merged, the best characteristics of both strains were reproduced in the offspring,
and by the mid-1800's the Texas Longhorn had become the dominant cattle breed on
the plains that had once been home to vast herds of bison. All the qualities that made
the Texas Longhorn the standard breed seen on the great cattle drives of the 1870's
and 1880's -- the long legs and hard hoofs, hardiness, and ability to actually gain weight
on the trail -- had arisen strictly through natural selection; no single breeder can lay
claim to having selectively bred those characteristics into the Texas Longhorn.
COST PER COW
SALE PRICE
TEXAS FEVER
PACE
$8
$22
NO
13 MILES/HOUR
CATTLE
South Texas varies dramatically in rainfall, vegetation, soil type, and
climate from the humid Coastal areas in the east to the dry Rio Grande
Plains to the west. This range in climatic conditions affects forage quality
and quantity which in turn influences the type of beef cow that is adapted to
the ranges and pastures of this unique area.
CATTLE DRIVES
The 1800’s Texans were looking for a way to make a living. There were no
markets for the abundant cattle abandoned during the Civil War. The
demand of the cattle in the North was high and the North had already
established railways to accommodate the cattle, thus the Great Western
Cattle Trail was developed on the simple theory of supply and demand.
A typical head would move 10 -12 miles a day and included the trail boss, a
wrangler, and a cook. The drive from South Texas to Kansas took about
two months at a cost of $1000 in wages and provisions. At the end of the
trail, cattle sold for $20.00 to $35.00 per head.
 Quote from C.W. Ackerman, "At that time (1873) one thousand pound
beeves sold in San Antonio for $8 per head, sold in Wichita, Kansas
for $23.80 per head."
 Quote from Col. Ike Pryor, one of the great cattlemen of the day,
"Thus, cattlemen who paid $8 a head for the steers in Texas, and
later sold them at $20 ahead in Kansas had a wide margin to
work on."
YOUR JOB
YOU WILL NEED TO LOOK AT PROFIT (SALE PRICE – COST =
PROFIT), SPEED AND THE ABILITY TO CATCH THE DESEASE “TEXAS
FEVER” TO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT THE CATTLE YOU WILL WANT
ON YOUR RANCH.