Beef ranches in West Marin are known for their Herefords and Angus, but another type of cattle - the Texas Longhorn - has been introduced to ranches near Nicasio and Soulajule reservoirs in the last three years.
About 60 million longhorn (named for their horns spanning four feet) roamed the American West a century ago.
But the cattle, leaner than shorthorn breeds, were selectively excluded from tallow and beef markets. By the 1930s, they were nearly extinct. Congress then rounded up 27 longhorn and propagated the breed. Several hundred more survived on private ranches in Texas.
Today there are more than 100,000 longhorn in the US, and associations market them as a pure breed. About 120 longhorn live in West Marin.
West Marin rancher and veterinarian Bruce Daniels keeps 60 longhorn near the Soulajoule Reservoir off the Marshall-Petaluma Road. Daniels this week said his longhorns represent a link to the past and cowboy heritage.
"I was born in the wrong era," Daniels said, laughing. He described an old roping arena at Point Reyes-Petaluma Road and Highway 1 in Point Reyes Station. The self-described cowboy and several other local ranchers 20 years ago kept about 10 longhorn for the sport.
Daniels said he quit roping after nearly losing a thumb when, after lassoing an animal by the longhorns, his horse pulled the rope taut around his saddle horn. Nowadays, Daniels sells some longhorns when training horses for competition.
"I use the horses around the cattle," he explained. "They learn to trust the rider. It teaches them bravery, and by the time they're in the arena with eight fences up, they don't think anything of it," Daniels added.
Feedlot owners "think I'm nuts" Daniels said, noting that the cattle industry, which buys and sells by weight, isn't attracted to the leaner longhorns. "They're not easy to market unless they're pure breeds," Daniels said. "I just like them."
Daniels said he recently discovered his longhorns are not alone in West Marin. "I drove by [Nicasio Reservoir], looked up, and thought, 'Damn, my cows are out again.' If they get out they'll travel for miles."
But Daniels' longhorns now have neighbors, those of Mike Casey, perhaps Nicasio's newest rancher.
Lured by a market for different beef, Casey brought purebred longhorns to his ranch, Fairlea, where he rides an all-terrain vehicle through his pastures and talks enthusiastically about his herd and the beauty of West Marin.
Before starting his longhorn operation on 120-acre Fairlea, "I didn't have a clue about cattle," Casey said. "[My wife Jeanie and I] just found this spot and fell in love with it."
The ranch is on the foothills of Black Mountain. A lagoon of Nicasio Reservoir lagoon lies to the east, and people driving along the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road can sometimes spot Casey's longhorns above the roadway.
The Caseys' 1873 home at Fairlea once was located in San Geronimo, where it belonged to the Roy family. A movie company trucked it to its present location as a prop for Shoot the Moon.
A civil-law attorney by profession, Casey said he moved from Ross to Nicasio three years ago. He got interested in longhorns through a relative who rears them south of San Jose.
In searching for livestock to graze on his ranch, Casey knew that his sheep crop grass was very short. Alpacas and llamas, he decided, were too expensive. Longhorns, however, have advantages, Casey said. They drink less water than shorthorns because they're lighter grazers. He keeps 35 longhorns in a pasture that would hold only 25 shorthorns.
Longhorns are also self-sufficient, he added. "You don't have to worry about coyotes or mountain lions; the longhorns take care of themselves," Casey said. "They basically circle their wagons with their horns pointed out and dare the coyotes to come near."
At present, a herd of 25 longhorn graze across a creek from the old Roy ranchhouse. Casey said he is developing a stock herd for what he predicts will be a booming business. A board member of a longhorn breeder's association, Casey touts longhorn beef as containing less fat than shorthorn breeds.
"In the long run, I think there will be many more longhorns - as an alternative beef product," Casey said. Their meat "could compete with poultry. It has about the same saturated-fat content as turkey."
Daniels said he agrees the beef from young longhorns is lean and "tasty."
Will ranchers elsewhere in West Marin switch to longhorn production?
"I would have to answer that with an emphatic no," Daniels said, noting that breeds that weigh more fetch higher prices because cattle are sold by the pound.
"Anyone in the cattle industry would think it's nuts that raising longhorns could turn [markets] around," Daniels said. "But with a fat-conscious society, it's worth serious, scientific study."
Longhorn calves are born "about the size of a jackrabbit," and that eases a cow's first birth, the veterinarian said. And because longhorn births usually occur without problems, Daniels said, the stress that can weaken a cow's health occurs less often with longhorns.
Casey added that longhorns generally have a gentler disposition than their shorthorn cousins. He contrasted longhorns to the Holstein dairy cattle that were grazing on his ranch when he first bought it in 1993.
"Holstein bulls are nasty creatures," Casey said. "It wasn't fun walking around here not knowing when you were going to be charged."
Daniels too noted that longhorns behave differently from other breeds. When grazing, he said, "the standard beef cattle are all spread out, but the longhorns are all grazing together.
"When you go to drive them, they get right into line. I think that's how cowboys were able to drive them so far." said Daniels.
The rancher said he is reading We Pointed Them North by Charles Abbott, one of the last long-distance cattle drivers. "There was a herd of more than 2,000," Daniels said, "with only six guys driving them."