The Alamo and Texas Longhorns No Where But Texas By Neil Dugger, Ed.D. P.S. The Lord is on our side – When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn – We have since  found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels and got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves - Travis      In his famous letter addressed “To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world,” Colonel William Barret Travis referred in the postscript to “20 or 30 head of Beeves.” When Santa Anna’s advance troops entered San Antonio de Bexar on February 23, 1836, the Texians were caught unprepared. The Mexican army was not expected until spring at the earliest, and Travis’ men had to quickly scramble from the town to the old Spanish mission across the river nicknamed the Alamo.      Provisions had not been stockpiled in the Alamo, so one of the most important tasks in this confusing day was to find food for almost 200 men, women, and children. The Texians found corn in some of the houses abandoned earlier by the locals fleeing the coming battle, and a handful of beeves was herded into the makeshift fort. Beeves was a term used at that time as a plural for beef cow. This provided meat for the garrison for the next thirteen days. Of course, this was not just any beeve, but a breed of cattle known today as Texas Longhorns. Ranching had been a major industry in the San Antonio area for years. The Spanish originally brought their horned cattle to Mexico, and as early as 1690 a herd was brought to the northern province known as Texas. In the century and a half that followed, the cattle acclimated to the land like few domesticated animals ever had. The rough country of Texas required these cattle to fend off enemies and live off the land. The horns grew longer for defense, became stronger on their feet to travel over rough country, and cattle would eat almost anything green.      Although any documentation has been lost to history, it is likely the Texians in the Alamo gathered these cattle from area ranches, including one owned by the Seguin family. Don Erasmo Seguin was one of the most influential Tejanos in Texas, helping Stephen F. Austin with establishing his colony. His son Juan was a commander of a Tejano cavalry unit at the Alamo, but he left during the siege to take a message to Sam Houston. Too late to get back to the Alamo, he then led a Tejano cavalry at San Jacinto.      By the Civil War, it is estimated that longhorns numbered in excess of ten million head, mostly living wild in the canyons and mesquite forests. At the end of the war, enterprising cattlemen gathered up the longhorns from their wild habitats and led them to markets in Kansas and beyond. Meanwhile, ranchers began crossbreeding longhorns with other domestic cattle, trying to find the magic breed that put on the beef yet resistant to disease. By the dawn of the 20th century, only a few longhorns could be found on Texas ranches.      In 1927, the United States government realized that the historic longhorn was nearing extinction. Government agents gathered from Texas ranches the best examples of Texas Longhorn cattle and created herds at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma and Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska.      J. Frank Dobie, the noted historian and teacher at The University of Texas, heard stories about the old longhorns from cowboys working on his father’s ranch. These stories were told by Dobie in the classic book The Longhorns, originally published in 1940. Dobie in the 1930’s assisted the state of Texas in establishing its own herd. Yet, this unique breed continued to struggle for the next twenty or thirty years.      The Alamo and the Longhorns crossed paths again in 1959, an event that helped save the breed. John Wayne came to Texas to film his epic movie The Alamo on Happy Shahan’s ranch near Brackettville. In one of the most dramatic scenes, the script called for a herd of 300 Texas Longhorns to be stolen from the Mexican Army encampment, driven through the town, and into the Alamo. The only problem was there was not a large enough herd of longhorns to film the scene.      Governor Price Daniel’s brother, Bill, served as the liaison between the State of Texas and Wayne’s production company. Bill Daniel was charged with putting together a longhorn herd. Starting with his own small herd, Daniel gathered others from friends’ ranches at League City, West Columbia, Marfa, and Liberty. J. Frank Dobie visited the set while the longhorns were gathered inside the Alamo. Dobie’s eyes started tearing up at the sight, and John Wayne asked what was wrong. Gazing at the herd, Dobie said, “We’ll never see the great Longhorns again in number like this.”      While the total number of true Texas Longhorns numbered only about 1500 in 1964, the future of the breed began to brighten. Several ranchers, led by Charlie Schreiner III of the YO Ranch near Kerrville, founded the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America. The TLBAA set out to identify traditional Texas Longhorns and register the animals. Another of the early members, and later President of the TLBAA, was Happy Shahan, the owner of the ranch where John Wayne filmed The Alamo.      Today, the TLBAA reports there are over 250,000 registered Texas Longhorns found on ranches all over the United States and in many other countries. The best of the breed is showcased the first weekend every June at the TLBAA World Show, held in Fort Worth. The highlight is the Friday evening Steer Show, where dozens of big-horned steers enter the arena under special lights and fog.      And once again, the Alamo crosses paths with Texas Longhorns. Walt Disney’s new film about the Alamo was filmed in 2003, and a major scene again focuses on bringing a herd of longhorns into the fortress. When released on April 9, 2004, The Alamo will showcase this remarkable breed of cattle that is so intertwined with Texas history.      The Alamo and Texas Longhorns – No Where but Texas!! A condensed version of this article was printed in the Texas Longhorn Trails in the June 2002 issue.