Transcript The American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum Presents:

The American Quarter Horse
Hall of Fame & Museum
Presents:
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 Exhibit
A Ranch Remuda is defined
as “ the herd of horses from
which those to be used for
the day are chosen.”
Artworks
Artwork
Dan Casement
Inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1986
Known 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.