SESQUI SAGAS Planting the Seeds of Greatness

He was one of the more interesting stories to come out of an otherwise sluggish Sesquicentennial year. He was “Texas USA,” a two-year-old, 1,500-pound, red, brown, and white furry bull who made his way to a home in the Fort Worth Stockyards all the way from Nebraska just in time for Texas’s big year. Ordained as the state’s official Sesquicentennial Bull because of the Texas-shaped marking on his face, the bull was commissioned to mate with 150 heifers in hopes that one or more of the offspring might produce the same Texas spot.

However, Texas USA died in June of a broken back, an injury apparently sustained in an accident while patriotically performing his official Sesquicentennial mating duties.

D doesn’t normally run poetry, but Texas USA’s career was characterized by its own unique rhythm. So, as a special tribute, contributing editor Mike Shropshire composed a short poem to honor the end of this bull:



Like the heroes at the Alamo, he responded to the call To answer the bugle of destiny. The bull was standing tall when he took the fall And passed into eternity.



His noble soul has left us now On the wings of a mystic zephyr. Leaving behind a lovesick cow- The Sesquicentennial Heifer.