A HOME WHERE THE LONGHORNS ROAM

It didn’t look as though the young Longhorn bull and the two younger heifers standing beside him liked being stared at by a bunch of bug-eyed humans. All they wanted to do was to get out of the small pen at the city-owned Samuell Farm and find some grazing room and a shade tree. But for the moment, that was impossible. Whether they liked it or not, they were the center of attention.

The long-legged, bearded man near the gate seemed to understand their restlessness. He had brought them to the farm for everyone to see, and he seemed proud of them. After all, raising Longhorn cattle is John R. Ball Jr.’s business-and pleasure.

On this special occasion, Ball, owner of the Lodge Creek Ranch near Jacksboro, was donating the three Longhorns to Samuell Farm so that children and adults alike could visit the turn-of-the-century farm and see the animal that is a Texas legend. Ball is a former president of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, a group that aims to produce the most genetically pure breed of Longhorns possible, but he made this donation on his own.

Ball learned of the farm at a meeting of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board when he presented his plan of making a daily Longhorn cattle drive through the Trinity River bottoms during the Republican National Convention last August.

Ball believes that Samuell Farm is the perfect place for the Longhorns, since many people who move to Dallas (or other parts of Texas) have never had an opportunity to see the animals or to understand what life was like on a farm or ranch. “I grew up in Oak Cliff, and the only animals I ever saw were in the zoo,” Ball says.

Ball, who is a civil engineer by profession, says that the three Longhorns should begin producing calves within a year. To see the Longhorns, take Interstate 20 east to the Belt Line Road exit and stay on the service road until you see the farm on the right. Admission is 50 cents for adults and free for children.