Sooners and Longhorns Owe Each Other
Posted on Friday, October 20th, 2017
Strange But True, Longhorn and Sooner Fans Owe Each Other!
By Barbara Sessions, co-president, OU Club of Love County (Marietta, OK)
Some recent research by the OU Club of Love County reveals how much Longhorns and Sooners owe each other.
Without Texas, There Wouldn't be Sooners
Historian J. Frank Dobie, author of the Longhorns, tells us on pages 47-49 that back in the days when the Longhorn cattle had the run of Texas, there were no fences. Owners of cattle branded their own and hunted down unclaimed animals. There came a time when it was more conveninent and fairer to both cattle and owners to establish a branding season.
Beginning about 1870, cattlemen in a county agreed to fix dates for the beginning and end of range work. Kind of like hunting season, every owner in the county would have an even break to round up strays and brand them for their herd.
But, writes, Dobie, "some people were always rushing the branding season, getting out there a little bit before the official start. The name they gave to these jumpstarters was Sooners."
Twenty years later, on April 22, 1889, Oklahoma Territory was opened to settlement. The land boomers were told to wait until the noon signal from the U.S. Army before rushing into the territory and staking a claim to 640 free acres. Some people jumped the gun, and Sooner took on a new meaning -- not cattle rustler but land grabber.
The University of Oklahoma was established in 1890 and adopted Sooners as their nickname, meaning, you know, people with ambition, people who are a little ahead of the rest. Thank you, Texas, for giving us the Sooners!
Without Oklahoma, There Wouldn't be Longhorns
From a history of the Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge, we learn that in the early 1900's, pure Longhorn bloodlines had been nearly bred out of existence by intensive crossbreeding. There was the feeling that the Longhorn breed, so important to Texas, should be saved from extinction.
In 1901, President Theordore Roosevelt issued a proclamation creating the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton as the nation's first big-game animal refuge. A remnant herd displaying the strongest characteristics of the true Longhorn was moved from Texas to Oklahoma.
Over the years, through selective breeding and carefully documented recordkeeping, the wildlife refuge has preserved this true-to-type Longhorn bloodline.
The third Thursday of every September, they hold their annual Longhorn auction to maintain the herd at 300 animals.
So each time the burnt-orange-clad (color of the Longhorn) Texans gaze upon mascot Bevo the steer, they say: "Thank you, Oklahoma, for saving our Longhorn from extinction!"
Hook 'em Horns! Boomer Sooner!