TAMING THE PLAINS
This map shows the location of big Texas ranches of historical significance, along with the state’s ecological zones. Many of the ranches are located in the rolling plains zone, which has a high percentage of arable soil and receives enough rainfall to support shortgrass prairie species such as Indian grass and buffalo grass or to grow wheat. The PŽrez Ranch sits below the Edwards Plateau at the junction of desertic brush country and the more cattle-friendly Blackland Prairie zone. The King Ranch, whose history will be told in our next installment, occupies an area of humid coastal grassland bordering the Coastal Sand Plain, which settlers called the Wild Horse Desert. Listed acreages are historically maximum holdings; most operations are now smaller or are no longer in existence as ranches.
A cowhand and his partner “head and heel” one of the last authentic longhorns on the JA, about 1911. Longhorns, descending from a strain of Spanish cattle imported during the conquest of Mexico in the 16th century, have come back into fashion for a number of reasons including disease resistance, ease of calving, soundness and the lean quality of their meat. The Schreiner family of the Y-O Ranch is credited with saving the historic longhorn from extinction and for establishing a registry with modern record-keeping, genetic testing and pedigreed bulls who will carry the strain into the future.