What technological development reached Texas in the late 1800s to help Texans transport their goods to markets?

Technological developments such as railways, electricity, automobiles, vaccines, computers, and the Internet have not simply eliminated an old system of ranching. They’ve also offered new opportunities for efficiency and profit.

The costs of owning land and raising livestock have dramatically increased over time. As a result, ranchers have found ways to diversify their operations. These include oil and gas, alternative energies such as wind and solar power, hunting and wildlife, and tourism.

For some ranching families, the rise of Texas’s oil industry has posed a threat to a way of life. For others, it has become a necessary means of survival. The Fisher family in West Texas is one example. The Fishers have owned Bullhead Ranch for over a century, but cattle ranching is not the lucrative business it once was. The family now owns and operates their own oil wells, and the profits enable them to keep Bullhead Ranch and its cattle-raising tradition afloat. Conversely, Texas oil tycoons such as the late T. Boone Pickens have found new profit in ranching. Pickens purchased 2,900 acres of land in the Texas Panhandle in 1971. Over time, he expanded Mesa Vista Ranch into a center of habitat conservation, quail hunting, and hospitality.

A number of historic Texas ranches have adapted in similar ways. In Central Texas, the YO Ranch was one of the earliest to lease out its land for outdoor recreation and game hunting, including imported exotic wildlife from Africa. The Matador Ranch of West Texas is still active in the cattle ranching business, but it has expanded into hunting as well.

Despite these changes, the longhorn remains central to Texas’s rich ranching culture. The Guerra family of Starr County understands this better than anyone. Their ancestors came from Northern Spain to Mexico in 1608. They eventually settled in the Rio Grande Valley, where they became major figures in South Texas ranching and politics. Enrique Guerra was an important advocate for the preservation of Tejano culture and the beloved Texas longhorn through the twentieth century, and the family continues this legacy today.

Finally, the spirit of Texas cattle ranching lives on in the livestock shows and rodeos of cities such as San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth. These are more than a source of entertainment or a place for stock raisers to show off their hard work. They are also auctions where many kinds of animals can be bought and sold, both in-person and online. Most importantly, they encourage younger generations of Texans to actively carry on a proud tradition of stock raising. After more than five hundred years of change and adaptation, cattle ranching remains at the heart of the story and identity of Texas.

Banner image courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.