(The Longhorn)T-shirts, sweatshirts, backpacks, posters, mugs, key chains, wallets, coasters, lamps, and more- Longhorn paraphernalia abounds throughout the state of Texas and especially here at its home at UT. If, for some reason, you didn’t like the Longhorn symbolism, it would be impossible to escape its presence on this campus. Right now, for instance, I am wearing a Texas T-shirt and hoodie, and my cup of water rests on a Longhorn coaster. The Longhorn is more than just an image. Ever since I arrived on campus for orientation during the summer, I have begun to invest more and more meaning into the Longhorn and what it represents. And, in some ways, I am proud to say that I am a Longhorn.
(A Longhorn at Bump’s Ranch)When reading Dobie’s writing about longhorns, I found that the Longhorn has two real homes. It resides symbolically here on campus and in our spirits and resides in reality in the Texas wilderness. I have so many associations with the Longhorn as a symbol of UT’s spirit and pride, but not until reading about them and seeing them in person at Professor Bump’s ranch, did I realize their greatness and physical power. The undulating muscles, sharp horns, and lack of fence between me and them especially made me feel vulnerable. The power that radiated from the animals when seeing them suggests the power of place. A rough, untamed environment only adds to supremacy of the creatures that are able to survive in it. The environment and the meaning we give animals make them important, and I agree with Dobie in saying that the “Texas Longhorn made more history than other breed of cattle in the civilized world” (819).
I think I am a Longhorn in that I want to travel but I still strongly identify with my home and family. “He was a drifter at times; he ranged far and could walk to the end of the world; but the Longhorn was also a home lover” according to Dobie (820). I think it is important to stay true to your roots and remember your family. I find, however, that I have not gone home nearly as much (not at all) as I believed I would in college. I think this may be because I still travel to Austin’s neighboring cities even if I do not go home to Houston. This traveling aspect of the Longhorn also mirrors my desire to study abroad. No matter where I am in life, I think that I will maintain a connection with my family.
I also admire the Longhorn’s refusal to blindly follow others. They refused to be “dumb driven cattle” (829). Instead they live by their own law of the wild just as I hope that I can live by my own desires and goals. Of course, many of the longhorns Dobie discusses were bound for shipping pens. Their ultimate destinations were the slaughter yards. I like to believe that I have more say in my life, and that my destiny will not be a dead end. Still, the one longhorn that escaped and was never found again gives everyone hope that we can escape that which seems inevitable.
Similarly, I think it is amazing that the longhorn- originally a symbol of defeat when the Aggies branded the 13-0 score, has become an icon known throughout America. The story of Bevo’s naming from the branding is the ultimate story of making the best out of a negative situation. I identify with Bevo’s human qualities of embarrassment and humiliation, and his (when I say “his” I mean it in a metaphorical way) ability to turn the very embarrassment into greatness.
Indeed, now that I am a Longhorn here at UT, I think there is reciprocity between me and the Longhorn. Just as range horses saved their riders from dehydration in the desert in Dobie’s accounts, so too does the identity and community created by being a Longhorn save me from loneliness or defeat. Living on campus I see that if I did not know the stories, or “ghosts” of the past in this place, I would be missing part of my identity that’s shaped by where I live. After all, “to inhabit a place physically, but to remain unaware of what it means or how it feels, is a deprivation more profound than deafness at a concert or blindess in an art gallery” (249).
