Cattlemen and Cowboys of Texas
Profiles of beef cattle people connected to Texas.
- 1834-1900Abel Head "Shanghai" PierceA penniless stowaway turned Wharton County rancher, Pierce built one of the biggest cattle outfits on the Texas coast…Texas
- 1866-1934Abel Pierce "A.P." BordenA nephew of Shanghai Pierce, Borden is remembered for importing humped cattle from India that could shrug off a…Texas
- 1839-1922Amanda BurkIn April 1871 Amanda Burks left Cotulla with her husband's herd and drove her own buggy to Abilene.Texas
- est. 1887AmarilloAmarillo grew from a railroad townsite in 1887 into a major cattle shipping point for the Texas Panhandle.Texas
- 1900-1980Anne Burnett TandyKnown as Miss Anne, the granddaughter of Burk Burnett bred champion Quarter Horses and spent her fortune on Fort Worth…Texas
- 1938-2020Anne W. MarionBurk Burnett's great-granddaughter ran the Four Sixes from 1980 and became one of the most honored women in Western…Texas
- livingArther "Bub" Epley IIIHard culling, ultrasound and artificial insemination built a 100-cow herd with some of the strongest EPDs in the breed.Texas
- 1985 (novel)Augustus McCraeGus McCrae is the talker in Larry McMurtry's partnership, a former Ranger whose last request ends the drive.Texas
- 1930sBeefmasterA Texas-bred composite of Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman selected on six economic traits.Texas
- 1952 (novel); 1956 (film)Bick BenedictRock Hudson's Bick Benedict became the screen's model of the old-line Texas cattleman facing oil money and a changing…Texas
- livingBill and Dusty CarrA Texas couple active in the breed since the mid-1970s, built on performance data, visual appraisal and two foundation…Texas
- livingBob MoorhouseA Texas Tech graduate who became the sixth manager of the historic Pitchfork Ranch and one of ranching's best-known…Texas
- fl. 1978-1991Bobby EwingThe good brother of the Ewing family ran the cattle side of Southfork and balanced J. R.'s oil dealings.Texas
- 1843-1929Bose IkardBorn enslaved in Mississippi, Ikard became a skilled drover, a valued partner on the trail and a Weatherford farmer.Texas
- 1849 onwardBrahmanFewer than 300 imported animals, mostly bulls, became the foundation of the breed that made beef production workable…Texas
- 1873-1946Caesar KlebergSecond in command at the King Ranch, he proved that cattle, deer, turkey and quail could share the same South Texas…Texas
- 1838-1927Charles A. SchreinerFrom Alsace to the Texas Hill Country, a storekeeper and banker built one of the largest ranch holdings in the state.Texas
- 1836-1929Charles GoodnightCowman, trail blazer and early bison conservationist, Goodnight turned the Texas Panhandle into cattle country.Texas
- 1837-1919Christopher Columbus "C.C." SlaughterA drover turned Dallas banker, Slaughter assembled more than a million acres across West Texas and earned the title…Texas
- 1866Chuck wagonCharles Goodnight turned a surplus army wagon into a rolling kitchen, and the cattle trail ran on it.Texas
- 1837-1921Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie AdairWidowed in 1885, Adair kept the JA Ranch together through hired managers until her death in 1921.Texas
- built 1908Cowtown ColiseumBuilt for a cattle show in 1908, the Fort Worth Stockyards arena became known as the birthplace of the indoor rodeo.Texas
- 1828-1902Daniel WaggonerA Tennessee-born settler started with 320 acres in Wise County and left a ranch, five banks and a family business.Texas
- 1860-1939Daniel Webster "80 John" WallaceBorn into slavery in 1860, Wallace built a Mitchell County ranch and left an estate reported at more than a million…Texas
- 1871-1969Dave D. PayneA cattleman who started with one cow at age 12 and worked the Panhandle range for nearly seven decades.Texas
- 1923-2010Dolph Briscoe Jr.A South Texas rancher and banker who led cattle raisers, fought screwworms and served two terms as governor.Texas
- died 2017Don OppligerDon Oppliger grew corn for Frito-Lay, bought a Texas feedlot, and built a farming and feeding operation across three…Texas
- 1886-1973Dr. O.M. FranklinA research veterinarian turned a Kansas lab discovery into a company that, by the 1960s, led the world in cattle…Texas
- E. C. LarkinA 2003 Beefmaster Hall of Fame inductee whose name matches a longtime Gulf Coast Cattleman publisher, though the hall…Texas
- d. 2020Ed BarrettA Kansas-rooted feeder who built yards in Emporia and Hereford and handed a 135,000-head family business to his sons…Texas
- 1860-1930Edward Cunningham LasaterA South Texas cattle breeder who started with 7,000 cows, founded a town and a county, and ran for governor.Texas
- 1929-2016Enrique GuerraEnrique Guerra gathered Criollo longhorns from Mexico, led two Longhorn organizations and helped restock the Wichita…Texas
- 1883Fence-cutting warsWhen big ranchers strung barbed wire across grass and water, small stockmen answered with wire cutters.Texas
- est. 1849Fort WorthFort Worth began as a place where drovers rested and grew into one of the largest livestock markets in the country.Texas
- est. 1887Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic DistrictThe Union Stockyards opened in 1887, drew the big packers by 1902, and now anchor a National Historic District with a…Texas
- 1849-1931Fountain Goodlet OxsheerA Central Texas cattleman who built a West Texas ranch network and then watched the end of an era erode his fortune.Texas
- est. 1900Four Sixes RanchSamuel Burk Burnett built the 6666 on Herefords and quarter horses, and oil paid for the rest of the family's century.Texas
- livingFred and Judy LongA South Texas couple turned measured performance and visual appraisal into a Beefmaster program that reached buyers on…Texas
- est. 1881Frying Pan RanchJoseph Glidden and Henry Sanborn used a Potter County cattle ranch to prove that barbed wire could work on the open…Texas
- 1844-1925George Thomas ReynoldsA Confederate cavalryman became a trail driver, then helped build one of the biggest cattle companies in Texas.Texas
- 1854-1933George W. SaundersA Goliad County rancher's son became San Antonio's best-known livestock commission man and the force behind the book…Texas
- 1844-1923George Washington ArringtonA Frontier Battalion captain who cleared rustlers from the Panhandle later ran one of its big British-owned ranches.Texas
- 1842-1920George Washington LittlefieldA wounded Confederate major turned cattle trader, Littlefield built the LIT Ranch, then a bank, and became the…Texas
- 1959-1965 (on screen)Gil FavorEric Fleming's Gil Favor opened most Rawhide episodes with a trail boss's monologue and kept a herd moving for seven…Texas
- 1874-1897Great Western Cattle TrailRunning west of the Chisholm Trail, the Western Trail became the main road north for Texas cattle once Kansas closed…Texas
- Hans WittenburgA Texas A&M animal husbandry graduate ran a John Deere dealership by day and spent nearly five decades building the…Texas
- 1832-1925Henrietta KingLeft with roughly 500,000 acres and $500,000 in debt, Henrietta King held the King Ranch together for four decades.Texas
- fl. 1900s-1950sHopalong CassidyA limping, tobacco-chewing foreman in pulp stories became the black-clad hero of 66 films and one of television's…Texas
- 1852-1937Isaac Thomas "Ike" PryorOrphaned at five, Pryor drove herds to Kansas, built the 77 Ranch, and rose to lead the American National Livestock…Texas
- fl. 1978-1991J. R. EwingThe villain viewers loved to hate ran Ewing Oil from a Texas ranch house and became one of television's best-known…Texas
- 1850-1936; 1857-1949J.D. "Bob" & Almeady Chisum JonesA couple born into slavery who built a ranch, a church and a school in North Texas.Texas
- est. 1876-1877JA RanchFounded by a Texas cattleman and an English investor, the JA grew to more than a million acres and is still working…Texas
- 1840-1916James Alfred McFaddinFrom 130 head on Melon Creek to three Victoria County ranches, McFaddin built a cattle and business career on the…Texas
- livingJames HerringA Harvard MBA from Amarillo turned a feedyard company around in 1989 and championed tighter links between ranch,…Texas
- 1902-1982Jay Littleton TaylorAn Oklahoma-raised oilfield executive who became one of the most influential cattle voices in the Texas Panhandle.Texas
- livingJerry BairdA lifelong Texas cowboy who built ranches, cooked from a chuck wagon, announced rodeos and taught the state's heritage…Texas
- 1978-1981 (on screen)Jock EwingThe founding father of television's best-known Texas ranch family, played by Jim Davis, was an oilman first and a…Texas
- 1844-1907John Thomas LytleFrom a Pennsylvania-born sergeant to the manager of one of Texas's largest trail-driving firms, Lytle organized the…Texas
- 1825-1908John V. FarwellA dry goods merchant who financed the Texas Capitol and ended up running one of the largest fenced ranches in the world.Texas
- livingJohnny TrotterA Hereford, Texas, feeder who reopened a shuttered yard in 1983 and grew it into one of the largest individually owned…Texas
- est. 1882Kenedy RanchMifflin Kenedy, a steamboat man turned rancher, assembled La Parra on the Texas coast, and three generations of his…Texas
- est. 1853King RanchFounded in 1853 on cheap, contested South Texas land, King Ranch grew into one of the largest ranching operations in…Texas
- est. 1904KingsvilleKingsville grew out of a railroad built across King Ranch land and became the working town of the ranch's South Texas…Texas
- Charlie 1949-2021; Kit livingKit & Charlie MoncriefA Fort Worth couple who paired oil-patch success with working ranches, cutting and reined cow horse breeding, and…Texas
- 1951-presentLBJ RanchPresident Johnson turned a worn-out family ranch into a registered Hereford operation, and the National Park Service…Texas
- livingLouise O'ConnorA seventh-generation Texan has spent four decades photographing and interviewing the people of Coastal Bend ranching…Texas
- 1860-1941Lucas Charles BriteLuke Brite drove a herd to the foot of Capote Mountain in 1885 and built a ranch whose Hereford bulls won the Cudahy…Texas
- fl. 1958Major Henry TerrillA proud rancher and his rival wage a feud over water in William Wyler's 1958 Western, with a newcomer caught between…Texas
- 1824-1873Margaret BorlandAfter three marriages, three widowhoods and a ruinous blizzard, Margaret Borland set out in spring 1873 to take 2,500…Texas
- 1839-1926Mary Ann "Molly" GoodnightIn 1877 she set up the first ranch household in the Texas Panhandle, and her decision to keep orphaned bison calves…Texas
- 1867-1951Matthew "Bones" HooksA top horse wrangler of the Panhandle, Hooks became one of Amarillo's most respected civic figures.Texas
- 1818-1895Mifflin KenedyRichard King's partner went on to build two big South Texas ranches, among the first fenced, and helped finance…Texas
- livingMike CollierStarting in 1987, a Brenham builder grew a few replacement females into an exporting Beefmaster seedstock operation.Texas
- 1931-2025Minnie Lou BradleyA pioneering Oklahoma State graduate and Angus breeder who broke barriers in livestock judging, ranching and breed…Texas
- fl. 1978-1991Miss Ellie EwingThe family matriarch anchors Southfork, the Ewing ranch, and ties the cattle family to its land.Texas
- Sr. 1911-2003; Jr. born 1946Mollie Taylor Stevenson Sr. & Jr.Mother and daughter stewarded one of the oldest Black-owned ranches in America and became the first living African…Texas
- founded 1969National Ranching Heritage CenterTexas Tech's outdoor museum gathers historic ranch buildings from across Texas into one walkable park, free to visit.Texas
- livingNolan RyanAfter 27 seasons in the majors, Ryan put the same attention to detail into a Beefmaster-based cow herd on the Texas…Texas
- 1812-1867Oliver LovingLoving moved Texas herds north years before the famous railhead trails, and his partnership with Charles Goodnight…Texas
- 1929-2024Paul EnglerFrom a first herd bought as a boy to one of the largest private fed-cattle companies in the country, Engler helped…Texas
- fl. 19th centuryPete StaplesFew details survive on Staples himself, but his name marks the Black cowboys who worked the first drives north from…Texas
- 1824-1885Richard KingA runaway cabin boy became a river captain, then used the money to put together one of the biggest ranches in America.Texas
- 1896-1974Robert J. Kleberg Jr.Grandson of Richard King, Robert J. Kleberg Jr. ran a Texas ranch of up to 900,000 acres and is best known for the…Texas
- 1931-2020Robert JosserandA Kansas-born animal scientist who moved to Hereford in 1971 and rose to lead the Texas and national cattle…Texas
- 1883-1896Rocking Chair RancheA Scottish and English aristocratic investment in Collingsworth County, managed from afar, shows how foreign money met…Texas
- est. 1880sSMS RanchesNamed for Swedish immigrant S. M. Swenson, the SMS ranches grew from railroad and scrip land into a long-running…Texas
- 1861-1938Sallie Reynolds MatthewsA third-generation cattle family daughter, she turned a letter-style family history into one of the best firsthand…Texas
- 1849-1922Samuel Burk BurnettFrom a teenage trail boss to the owner of 200,000 fenced acres, Burk Burnett set up the ranch that still carries his…Texas
- est. 1867San AngeloSan Angelo started as a village serving soldiers and became a hub for the sheep and cattle ranches of West Texas.Texas
- 1940Santa GertrudisThe deep red Texas breed that the USDA recognized in 1940 as the first beef breed developed in the United States.Texas
- built 1970Southfork RanchA family house built in 1970 became one of the most recognized ranch homes in popular culture.Texas
- livingStephen J. "Tio" KlebergA fifth-generation King Ranch cowboy who rose to run its agricultural operations and became a national voice for…Texas
- 1816-1896Svante Magnus SwensonA Swedish immigrant turned a frontier store into hundreds of thousands of acres, and his sons turned the land into the…Texas
- est. 1876TascosaA village of never more than 300 permanent residents, Tascosa served the big Panhandle syndicates and paid a high…Texas
- 1500s onwardTexas LonghornThe rangy descendants of Spanish cattle fed the trail drive era, nearly disappeared, and survive today because of a…Texas
- built 1903-1904Thistle HillA Georgian Revival mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue links the Waggoner and Scott cattle fortunes.Texas
- 1948Thomas DunsonIn Howard Hawks's first western, John Wayne plays a ruthless Texas rancher who stakes everything on one long drive.Texas
- 1871-1938Thomas Loyd BurnettBurk Burnett's son built his own ranching empire, drilled for oil on it, and looked after cowboys through the…Texas
- est. 1849-1852Waggoner RanchStarted with a few hundred Longhorns near Vernon, the Waggoner grew to about 520,000 acres and still raises cattle,…Texas
- 1899-1997Watkins "Watt" Reynolds MatthewsA Princeton graduate went home to Lambshead, lived in the bunkhouse, and spent a lifetime on cattle, wildlife and old…Texas
- 1920-2018Watt CaseyA veterinarian who spent less than a year in practice, Watt Casey chose the ranch and bred Beefmaster cattle for…Texas
- livingWilliam D. TateTexas's longest-serving mayor is also a lawyer, a title company operator and a keeper of Grapevine's local history.Texas
- 1985 (novel)Woodrow F. CallLarry McMurtry's taciturn former Ranger insists on driving cattle to Montana, and the trip defines him.Texas
- 1885-1912XIT RanchThe XIT covered ten Texas counties and, at its peak, ran about 150,000 cattle on land the state paid out for its new…Texas
Also honored
- Arlon Baize living Working cowboy, Sagerton
- Bill Breeding living Veterinarian and Hereford breeder since 1957
- Craig Huffhines living Hereford industry figure
- Dale & Mary Barber living Pioneered blending horned and polled Hereford genetics
- Don Lively fl. 1980s-90s Led the Texas Kobe Breeders group of about 14 recorders, bred early Wagyu cows and supplied embryos including to David Blackmore.
- Gary & Kathy Buchholz living Desdemona Hereford breeders
- Jim Perry 19th c. Black cowboy on the XIT
- Jim Scott fl. 1990 Helped form the AWA in 1990 and became its first executive director; earlier owned some of the first Charolais in the US.
- Jimbo Humphreys Jr. living Working cowboy
- Jimmy Powell living Fort McKavett Hereford breeder
- Joe N. "Buzz" Thorp living Working cowboy
- Lloyd Whitehead living Hereford breeder; past AHA and Texas Hereford president
- Ray Record fl. 1990 As vice president of operations at Granada Land and Cattle, helped form the American Wagyu Association in 1990.
- Steve Olson living Angus breeder
- Tom Moorhouse living Texas working cowboy