THE FACE OF “TEXAS” IS UPON US

Unless you’re a Texas history buff or a diehard UT-Austin alumnus, you probably don’t hear much these days about Texas Longhorns. Well, get a grip on your belt buckle, pod-nuh, and meet a soon-to-be-famous bull named “Texas USA.”

“Texas” is no regular bull. He’s got a map of Texas on his forehead. No bull. Oddly, “Texas” is no native Texan. He’s a two-year-old, 1,500-pound, red, brown and white furry carpetbagger from Nebraska. Despite his non-resident status, one look was all it took for those historical bureaucrats in Austin to declare him an official commemorative product (“a unique living monument to our Texas heritage”) of the Texas Ses-quicentennial. Soon you’ll be able to see him in person, buy a poster of him or even purchase one of his heifers for $1,500 (the offspring are also official commemorative products).

His proud owner, Kathie O’Brien of Denton, Nebraska, is a very religious lady who thinks “Texas” is a “gift from God,” according to Larry Smith, the bull’s promoter and owner of LS Ranches. Naturally, gifts from God don’t come cheap: O’Brien’s current asking price for “Texas” is about a million dollars.

“He’s got good color, good size, and he’s got the map,” says Smith. “Bui I’m a realist. I think she’s probably got her head in the clouds a bit. I expect the bull to be worth a few hundred thousand by spring or mid-year.” Smith says any other Longhorn would bring in somewhere between $500 and $20,000. “He couldn’t have come at a better time,” says Smith. “I mean it’s a map of Texas on a Texas Long-horn during the Sesquicen-tennial. That’s something that will never happen again.”

Smith worked out a deal with the Sesqui commission to sell each of the bull’s heifers for $1,500 each, $150 of which is donated to the Sesquicentennial. In the event that any heifer-to date there are about 400 in existence-develops the same markings as “Texas,” Smith will buy it back for $50,000. That possibility is so slim, says Smith, that Lloyds of London declined to insure against it.

“He’s going to be promoted pretty heavily,” says Smith. “Hopefully, he’ll create a little excitement.”

Realist or not. Smith says the bull’s possibilities are unlimited. He hopes to convince owner O’Brien to sell “Texas USA” stock to Texans, so anyone in the state can have a piece of the living monument. “He could belong to the people of Texas and his home could be in the Fort Worth Stockyards,” says Smith. “And who knows? Maybe he could be the label for a line of designer jeans.”