Cattle on the range in the Southwest, circa 1937

About this postcard

A herd of black-and-white cattle grazes and rests on open range, with trees and a line of blue mountains behind them under a pale sky. The printed caption titles the scene "Cattle on the Range in the Southwest" and claims the western ranges feed most of the country, then tells how the herds got there: no cattle in America before the Spaniards came, only buffalo; the Spaniards brought Long Horns with roots in Portugal; wild longhorns overran the Southwest by the time Texas was annexed, and thousands were driven north to market before better stock replaced them. By the time this card was printed, the long drives were a memory. Rail lines and refrigerated cars had reshaped the packing trade, ranches were fenced, and improved beef breeds had largely supplanted the old longhorns, which survived mainly in the brush country of south Texas. The caption's boast about "our finest beef steaks" reflects that shift from open-range roaming to managed herds.