Santa Gertrudis beef cattle are back grazing on the pastures of the former King Ranch after an absence of 20 years. They were brought up to West Marlborough from Texas because of the severe droughts there, and more are expected to arrive shortly.
You can see the reddish-brown beasts grazing on the east side of Route 82 north of Blow Horn.
In the olden days, I'm told, watching the cowboys offload the cattle from trains was a highlight of the year that brought out the whole community. And their return to our Unionville pastures brought forth an outpouring of nostalgia among longtime residents this past week.
Retired Unionville schoolteacher Don Silknitter recalled, "We used to march the kids
across the field near Blow Horn to check out the lime kilns. The cows
used to follow us, and then surround us. On one local history tour we
found a cow that fell into one of the kilns. Rusty [Wilmont]'s dad had to rope and
drag it out because the way it was laying it could not get up. He told
me if we wouldn't have shown up when we did it would have probably died
in about an hour or two."
"They're cute when they are
little... Ugly as a full-grown monster though," said Rob Mastrippolito Jr. "I saw a pair of 'em beat
the daylights out of a Ford pickup truck with two white-faced cowboys
inside when I was a little kid."
According to the King Ranch's website, the Santa Gertrudis breed "is recognized worldwide as being able to function
productively in hot, humid and unfavorable environments. In order to
accomplish this goal, King Ranch breeding experts selectively crossed
Indian Brahman cattle with British Shorthorns." It was the first beef breed developed in the United States.
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