The American Quarter Horse

Hall of Fame & Museum

Presents:

Ranchers and Cattle Drives

Longhorn Cattle

Cattle have been in Texas since the Spanish brought the famous longhorn, whose horns spread a distance of four to eight feet from tip to tip into the country during the mid 18th century.

A Widespread Endeavor Cattle were a huge source

of meat and provided hides that were made into much needed leather goods.

The meat and goods created by these animals were sought after by many people all over the Americas.

Cattle drives eventually became a widespread endeavor across the country to the California gold rush areas where cattle prices were higher.

Thousands of cattle were moved by cowboys on horseback and a typical drive from Texas to California would take up to six months.

Ranches began to spring up

everywhere… Cattle had to be branded

or ear marked to let cowboys and ranch hands distinguish the herds if they got mixed or lost.

After barbed wire was introduced, this problem subsided, and a new one was presented as the land was divided thus preventing easy crossing.

The cattle drives had to deviate from their fastest routes to avoid the new property fences.

The Old Chisholm Trail One of the most prominent

cattle drive trails through Texas was the Chisholm Trail that stretched between the North Canadian and Arkansas rivers.

This trail led cattle from Texas north to Abilene, Kansas.

When the railroad began to establish travel, the old Chisholm Trail was no longer needed and began to fade away around 1884.

The Goodnight-Loving Trail A prominent man named

Charles Goodnight, who was the first cattle rancher in Texas, began an important cattle trail through West Texas up to the rocky Mountain mining regions.

He used the Butterfield stagecoach route to the southwest to avoid Indians.

This route was much longer, but it was safer.

His partner Oliver Loving used this trail many times before he was mortally wounded by an Indian attack in 1869.

The Remuda

Cattle drives are a rarity these days, but there are ranches that still use the old fashioned cowboy techniques of riding and roping.

The American Quarter Horse Association gives an award each year called “The Best Remuda Award” to the working ranch that has the best group of American Quarter Horses still used to work livestock today.

Museum Artifacts:

The Best Remuda ExhibitA Ranch Remuda is defined as “ the herd of horses from which those to be used for the day are chosen.”

Artworks

Artwork

Dan CasementInducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1986Known as “Mr. Dan,” Dan Casement was a respected cattleman and horseman. He was also part of the nucleus that founded AQHA.

In 1911, Casement purchased his first “Steeldust” horse, buying Concho Colonel sight unseen from William Anson of Christoval, Texas. Casement liked the stallion so much he bought Concho Colonel’s best son, Balleymooney. This started a passion in Casement for the breed, and he began researching the origins of Steel Dust.

Casement wrote an article about the Steeldust horses in 1927 and it caught the eye of Robert Denhardt. Denhardt traveled to Casement’s ranch in Manhattan, Kansas, to meet and visit with the breeder. When the idea of establishing a registry was proposed, Casement supported it.

Casement was a part of the organizational meeting held during the 1940 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, and was elected as a director for AQHA.

During the first meeting in 1941, Casement proposed a resolution concerning conformation, and the AQHA Executive Committee adopted it. The resolution stated that a stallion needed bulldog-type conformation to be registered in the studbook.

Through the early years of the Association, Casement continued to support the bulldog-type Quarter Horses. He thought speed and cow sense were essential qualities to the breed. He also believed if people concentrated solely on speed for racing, then bloodlines and conformation would be sacrificed. Casement’s personal herd of Quarter Horses produced Red Dog and The Deuce. Ranchers from all over the Southwest traveled to Casement’s ranch to buy horses.

Born in 1868 in Ohio, Casement moved with his family to Kansas when he was 15. His father bought land and raised cattle, and Casement continued the legacy, raising champion Hereford cattle.

Casement died in 1953, and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1986.